Jerusalem: Palestinian militants on Saturday
bombarded Israel`s southern territories with a barrage of over
50 rockets that reportedly left at least two people injured.
The rockets began to land in the early hours today,
with most of them landing in open areas in southern Israel`s
western Eshkol region.
In the pounding, two people were reported to be
lightly injured and two homes damaged - breaking a relatively
long period of lull in violence at a time when Fatah dominated
Palestinian Authority is in reconciliatory talks with Islamist
Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip.
Police forces rushed to the area in order to record
where the rockets had fallen, and where they had exploded.
Residents in the area were ordered to remain inside
their houses and in shelters.
Eshkol Regional Council head, Haim Yalin, said the
protected spaces proved themselves.
"They really save lives. What happened here this
morning is something which we unfortunately call an emergency
routine.
"So we`ve managed to seize a ship, but who knows how
much they have already smuggled into the Strip. The
communities` emergency squads did their job and the residents
remained in protected spaces," Yalin said.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has instructed the
Israeli envoy to the UN to lodge an official complaint in
response to the rocket fire, Ha`aretz reported.
"The offensive this morning, which took place while
the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas were speaking about
reunification, shows that the international support for a
Palestinian state that the Palestinians are trying to garner,
will actually be support for the creation of a terrorist
state," Lieberman wrote in the message meant to be conveyed to
the UN.
The future Palestinian state`s "first and foremost
goal is the destruction of Israel," the Israeli foreign
minister stated.
Two gunmen belonging to Hamas` armed wing, the Izz
al-Din al-Qassam Brigades were killed during an Israeli
aerial strike in Gaza on Wednesday.
The attack was launched in response to rocket fire
from Gaza on Israeli territory earlier in the day.
Hamas has tried to maintain an informal ceasefire with
Israel following the Jewish state`s three week offencive in
the coastal territory more than two years ago, but the recent
week has seen an escalation in violence.
PTI
