Israeli sappers remove remnants of an exploded rocket fired
by Palestinian militants from Gaza at southern Israel, in a
street in Beersheba, southern Israel. (AP Photo/Yehuda
Lahyani)
Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired a new wave of
rockets that landed deep inside Israel, defying Israeli
retaliatory attacks and threats.
As the violence threatened to escalate the day after a deadly
Jerusalem bombing, Israel got a boost from the visiting US
defence chief, who said no country could tolerate the
"repugnant" attacks on its soil.
Police said Gaza militants fired 10 rockets and mortars
toward Israel on Thursday, including two rockets that landed
north of the city of Ashdod - a first since Israel and Gaza's
Hamas rulers reached an unofficial truce following a
three-week war that ended in January 2009. Israeli airstrikes
hit a number of Gaza targets in retaliation throughout the
day.
Neither side reported injuries or said they wanted a new
fight. But the new hostilities could easily spin out of
control, especially if civilian deaths mount.
Wednesday's bombing killed a British tourist, and five
members of a Jewish family were slain while they slept in a
West Bank settlement earlier this month. Israel has blamed
Palestinians for both attacks.
Also this week, Israeli shelling killed three children and
their uncle in Gaza. The army said it was targeting
militants.
The fighting in Gaza has been the fiercest since Israel went
to war there to try to curb years of rocket attacks. The
fierce three-week offensive killed some 1400 Palestinians,
including hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis also died.
The volatile border has remained largely calm since.
But Israel says Hamas has used the lull to rearm with longer
distance rockets that can reach as far as Tel Aviv.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak blamed Hamas for the rocket fire
and vowed to strike back.
"Israel will not tolerate these terror attacks and we will
not allow terror to rise once again in the region," he said.
His tough stance was backed by visiting US Defence Secretary
Robert Gates, who said no sovereign state could tolerate
rockets fired at its people.
"Israel, like all nations, has the right to self-defence and
to bring to justice the perpetrators of these repugnant
attacks," he said.
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