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Clearing away a Qassam shell near Sapir College in the western Negev last week. (Limor Edrey)
Last update - 18:47 04/11/2007
IDF strikes kill 4 Gazans as Qassam volleys hit Negev
By Avi Issacharoff and Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press
Tags: Palestinians, Qassams 

The Israel Defense Forces killed four Palestinians on Sunday in two separate incidents in the Gaza Strip, amid fresh salvos of Qassam launches that damaged a house in the rocket-battered town of Sderot.

Three Palestinians were killed when an Israel Air Force aircraft opened fire on them in northern Gaza early Sunday morning. Hospital officials said that all three were civilians.

Palestinian witnesses said that an Israel Air Force missile struck a trailer near the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia. Hospital officials identified the three dead men as Zaher al Aaer, 40, his 18-year-old son, Youssef, and their 23-year-old neighbor, Mohammed Abu Herbet.
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Another Palestinian was killed by IDF troops later in the day during a ground incursion into Gaza. The identity of the fourth casualty was not immediately clear.

An IDF spokesman confirmed both attacks, saying that in the first, an aircraft had fired at three men who had just launched rockets into southern Israel.

He said the second had targeted from the ground a militant preparing to launch a rocket. The spokesman added that Palestinian militants have launched more than 1,000 rockets at Israel in the past four months.

The attacks came shortly after Palestinians in the Gaza Strip launched three Qassam rockets at the western Negev earlier Sunday. There were no casualties or damages reported. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the three rocket attacks.

Two more rockets fired later Sunday landed in the western Negev town of Sderot. The first hit an electrical pole, causing a power outage in the town. The second landed in the backyard of a home, causing some damage. One woman was treated for shock.

Separately, an explosion ripped through a training camp of Hamas militants in central Gaza on Sunday. The IDF, which generally acknowledges its activities against militant groups, denied involvement, raising the possibility that explosives were mishandled.

Palestinian medical officials said two people were wounded. The IDF said it was looking into the report.

Sunday's tensions arose as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is visiting the region, began meetings with Israeli officials and Palestinian leaders from Fatah, Hamas' rival faction, to discuss a peace conference planned for later this year in Annapolis, Maryland.

An aide of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, accused Israel on Sunday of trying to force fledgling peace negotiations into an impasse by escalating violence.

"Israel wants the current negotiations to tread water and to create a security issue in order to deflect attention from the political issue of ending the occupation," Abu Rdeneh said.

On Saturday, an IAF air strike killed a Hamas operative near Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border. The dead man was identified as Mohammed Siyam, 34. Two other Hamas operatives who were in the car with him when the missile hit were wounded.

According to the IDF, the strike was in response to a barrage of some 15 mortar shells on southern Israel on Friday. Three of the shells hit Moshav Netiv Ha'asara, but caused no casualties.


Related articles:

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  • State waffles on timeline to rocket-proof Sderot-area schools
  • Livni, Rice meet in Jerusalem in bid to overcome impasse in peace talks
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      1.   So long as the authorities in Hamastan do not stop attacking 08:46  |  Albert 04/11/07
      2.   I bit Jews enjoy killing these helpless civilians 08:49  |  German 04/11/07
      3.   They are always aaaaaaaaaaa`covo;oans" 08:52  |  Yonatan 04/11/07
      4.   Alberto...how about the authorities in Talmudistan 09:05  |  Rita 04/11/07
      5.   You are right, Rita, it is useless to talk morality 09:22  |  Albert 04/11/07
      6.   German.. 09:42  |  Nephtaly 04/11/07
      7.   ISRAELI RESPONSE FAR TOO LENIENT 09:49  |  B.Hedem 04/11/07
      8.   In a war as in a war bad things happen to bad as well as 09:49  |  Avihu 04/11/07
      9.   When will the pals learn 09:51  |  Adrian de Klerk 04/11/07
      10.   #2 German 09:52  |  Yonatan 04/11/07
      11.   Hey german 09:52  |  Adrian de Klerk 04/11/07
      12.   The pals will never offer peace 09:55  |  Adrian de Klerk 04/11/07
      13.   morality 10:05  |  Dangor 04/11/07
      14.   killing 4 Palestinians 10:08  |  Mauricio 04/11/07
      15.   Why Israel is racist? 10:08  |  Aklas 04/11/07
      16.   Having Palestinians for breakfast? 10:08  |  Singer 04/11/07
      17.   A failed state led by thugs and creeps 10:26  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      18.   For "B.Hedem" # 7 10:30  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      19.   For Avihu # 8 10:32  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      20.   Aklas 10:34  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 04/11/07
      21.   Clearly unstated 10:39  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 04/11/07
      22.   Reply to Aklas 10:41  |  Maerton 04/11/07
      23.   #15 Aklas - Mabrouk! 10:47  |  Yonatan 04/11/07
      24.   #16 Ginger - Yummy! 10:51  |  Yonatan 04/11/07
      25.   Lessons from WWII 10:54  |  Amos 04/11/07
      26.   German # 2 10:59  |  Sabra 04/11/07
      27.   Rita # 4 11:03  |  Sabra 04/11/07
      28.   WRONG HEADLINES Haaretz. Whos side are you on 11:17  |  Lemar 04/11/07
      29.   18#thefool# ISRAELI RESPONSE TOO LENIENT 11:24  |  B.Hedem 04/11/07
      30.   Adrian de Klerk #9 11:32  |  TonyL 04/11/07
      31.   Yonatan: Do you think Germans ought to approve every 11:34  |  German 04/11/07
      32.   Nephtaly..or whatever...so all people are ignorant unless 11:37  |  German citizen 04/11/07
      33.   #26...when you bsar people from food and work,,they 11:39  |  German 04/11/07
      34.   For "B.Hedem" again # 29 11:48  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      35.   #31# A MAKE BELIEVE GERMAN WITH WORRY BEADS 11:56  |  B.Heddem 04/11/07
      36.   The operatives - mass murder gangsters - attacking Israeli 12:04  |  Yaron 04/11/07
      37.   i cant be bothered to click on clickfool 12:06  |  brighton rock 04/11/07
      38.   Clickfool a copycat 12:06  |  dovale 04/11/07
      39.   #34# OBVIOUSLY ACCIDENTS HAPPEN IN WAR 12:07  |  B.Heddem 04/11/07
      40.   civilians...possibly... 12:13  |  fadi 04/11/07
      41.   #19 Clickfool 12:15  |  Or 04/11/07
      42.   Aklas #15 12:16  |  TonyL 04/11/07
      43.   For Dovale # 38 12:18  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      44.   For Brighton Rock # 37 12:20  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      45.   #31 German 12:25  |  51 shekels 04/11/07
      46.   No, it doesn`t, "B.Hedem" # 39 12:27  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      47.   i notice clickfool has posted something to me 12:31  |  brighton rock 04/11/07
      48.   #12 12:44  |  straight forward 04/11/07
      49.   TonyL #42 re Aklas #15 12:47  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 04/11/07
      50.   #46 Same with Pals Fool 12:49  |  51 Shekels 04/11/07
      51.   #46# The Fool : YOU KNOW FULL WELL ISRAEL WANTS TO HARM NOBODY 12:50  |  B.Heddem 04/11/07
      52.   #21 Margie`s Drama 13:05  |  anti-drama 04/11/07
      53.   German citizen 13:06  |  Nephtaly 04/11/07
      54.   For Or # 41 13:16  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      55.   Stop the war on Israel and people will stop getting hurt, 13:16  |  Rami Khouri 04/11/07
      56.   The attack against civil population 13:26  |  GF 04/11/07
      57.   For Rami Khouri # 55 13:44  |  Clickfool 04/11/07
      58.   Drop transmission of electricity to Gaza NOW 13:48  |  GF 04/11/07
      59.   Where is the report 13:49  |  jackie 04/11/07
      60.   Qassams vs. Sabra & Shatila 13:54  |  Mahmoud 04/11/07
      61.   False Reporting (as usual) Islamic Jihad Claimed them 13:56  |  Mark Hamil 04/11/07
      62.   Clickfool, no, you have it wrong. Israeli society treats the 14:00  |  Rami Khouri 04/11/07
      63.   # 2 German,"Jews are like all underdogs..." 14:06  |  Haham me Bat Yam 04/11/07
      64.   anti drama 14:12  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 04/11/07
      65.   #2 German 14:16  |  H 04/11/07
      66.   #52 letter to Margie 14:22  |  H 04/11/07
      67.   Rami about the likes of Clickfool 14:22  |  Fawaz 04/11/07
      68.   @15 bravo aklas!!! are you unique or there are 14:23  |  vladimir 04/11/07
      69.   Hamas launche Qassams cut of electricity to Shderot. 14:24  |  Max Zamir 04/11/07
      70.   1000 Rockets in four months!!!! WHERE`S THE GOVT??? 14:25  |  SLAVO