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Paramedics evacuating a Sderot resident after he was seriously wounded in a Qassam strike on Saturday. (David Buimovich / Jini)
Last update - 23:07 09/02/2008
2 brothers, 8 and 19, seriously hurt in Qassam strike in Sderot
By Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff and Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies
Tags: IDF, Gaza, Israel, Hamas

Two Sderot residents, brothers aged eight and 19, were seriously wounded Saturday evening when a Qassam rocket struck the backyard of a home in the city.

The two were rushed to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon with the 8-year-old suffering serious wounds to the lower extremities.

"The child was walking in the street when the rocket fell," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
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A medic, who only gave his first name, Gil, said he heard a loud explosion and rushed toward the scene.

"I found two injured people, one boy very seriously wounded in the legs," the medic told Israel Army Radio. The younger brother's legs were at least partially severed by the explosion, Army Radio reported.

The boys' mother and another brother were brought to the hospital suffering shock, medics told Channel Two TV.

Israel threatened retaliation Saturday, with government spokesman David Baker saying "Israel will take resolute and decisive measures to protect our citizens."

"We will not allow Israeli families to be victimized by Palestinian rockets in the heart of their own cities," he added.

The rocket that wounded the brothers was one of three that hit the rocket-weary city Saturday evening. Three additional rockets were fired into southern Israel earlier Saturday, causing no casualties or damage.

The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, Al-Quds Brigade, claimed responsibility for Saturday evening's Qassam attack.

Also Saturday, the Israel Air Force targeted four Qassam rocket-launching squads in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, following a barrage of 30 rockets Friday that pounded southern Israeli communities.

Earlier Saturday, the IAF struck another Qassam-launching squad in Beit Hanoun, seriously wounding a militant believed to belong to the Popular Resistance Committees, a small militant group with ties to Hamas.

Friday's Qassam attack struck several houses in the Negev town of Sderot. Three people were consequently treated for shock, one man was treated for chest pains, and two people were injured when they tripped while trying to run for shelter following the siren indicating an imminent rocket strike.

All six were taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for medical attention.

In earlier attacks, four Sderot residents were treated for shock and a warehouse was damaged.

Palestinians in Gaza also fired a mortar shells into southern Israel.

On Friday afternoon, five rockets were reported to have struck near the coast, south of Ashkelon, one of which struck the grounds of Kibbutz Zikim.

The militant Palestinian groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the weekend's Qassam fire. On Thursday Palestinians fired a dozen rockets and eight mortar shells.

Late Thursday, Israel cut back one percent of the power it supplies to Gaza, Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said. Israel will continue gradually scaling back electricity until the territory's Hamas rulers put an end to the rocket fire, he said Friday.

"It's their choice. They need to choose if they want to keep investing in
rockets and in attacking Israel or if they want electricity from Israel," Dror said.

Hamas said Friday it would not be deterred by Israel's power cuts, as its militants continued to bombard southern Israel with Qassam rocket fire.

"The Zionist enemy must understand that the policy of assassinations, of attacks, of embargo, of cutting electricity and fuel will not halt the resistance and will not break the back of the Palestinians," said a senior Hamas official, Ismail Radwan. "We warn them of a large volcano that will erupt if their aggression increases."

The electricity cut, in which the flow on one of the 10 high-tension wires into the territory was cut by five percent, was the first since the Supreme Court approved cuts in the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip as a legitimate means of economic pressure - a move sharply criticized by human rights groups.

Thursday's reduction in the supply of electricity marks the beginning of an incremental process aimed at gradually deepening those cuts and reducing Gaza's dependence on Israel, Israeli officials said. They said the decision to step up cuts in electricity supplies will depend on security assessments and the humanitarian needs of the population there, and may include more power lines.

During the first week, the supply will drop by one megawatt of the total of 124 MW Israel supplies the Strip. Israel aims to eventually lower the amount of electricity it supplies the Gaza Strip to a mere five percent of the original total.

Human Rights Watch said Israel's electricity cuts "amount to collective punishment of the civilian population, and violate Israel's obligations under the laws of war." It said the cuts are affecting civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, water-pumping stations and sewage-treatment facilities.

Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Friday that the human rights groups should be out protecting the children of the Negev who are being targeted by Qassam rockets.

Israeli security sources described Thursday's move as gradual and proportional, stressing that the defense establishment would keep its commitment to the Supreme Court not to undertake actions that would result in a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

"We need to diminish the dependency of the Gaza Strip on Israel in a variety of areas," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Thursday during a visit to Sderot and Ashkelon.

"The Supreme Court ruled that on the matter of the electricity we are acting properly. Our intention is to begin to lower the electricity supply in moderate amounts, while the residents of Gaza build the infrastructure for an independent supply of electricity," he added.

Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem criticized Vilnai's remarks Thursday, saying that his "statements that the aim of the cuts is to assist the Strip to free itself from dependence on Israel is a new peak of cynicism and contradicts the arguments made by the state before the Supreme Court. At this stage Israel prevents the Gaza Strip from developing its independent energy supply - which has caused a deficit of 20 percent in the electricity supply in the Strip, compared to the needs of the population."

Egypt and Israel supply 70 percent of electricity consumed in the Gaza Strip and the rest is produced locally.


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      1.   destroy all the bulldozers 02:13  |  real vision 08/02/08
      2.   DO NOT REDUCE ELECTRIC - CUT IF OFF 02:47  |  * BEN JABO 08/02/08
      3.   repeat of Lebanon 02:54  |  Pablo B 08/02/08
      4.   The bulldozers are Caterpillars 03:35  |  Chaim 08/02/08
      5.   Why There`s no one in Israel that does the obvious? 04:47  |  Rondi 08/02/08
      6.   #3 Pablo B - who said it will be a land invasion 04:59  |  * BEN JABO 08/02/08
      7.   it`s time for B`tselem 05:10  |  larzbeach 08/02/08
      8.   5 percent cut - that will teach them 05:15  |  avi 08/02/08
      9.   cut eletricity totally tell hr groups they are ignorant, and naiv 06:02  |  ralph 08/02/08
      10.   Bomb them and show true face 07:09  |  Truths 08/02/08
      11.   just take out the PAL power stations in gaza 08:00  |  vik 08/02/08
      12.   #6 JABO - Did I specify a ground invasion anywhere? Repeating Leb 08:02  |  Pablo B 08/02/08
      13.   To all you who want the electricity cut off NOW 08:08  |  Johnboy 08/02/08
      14.   Israel`s actions 08:13  |  rm 08/02/08
      15.   Human rights groups slam Israel for cuts in power supply to Gaza 08:13  |  martin list, m.d. 08/02/08
      16.   Israel: A nation run by and for village idiots 08:17  |  Natallie Durson 08/02/08
      17.   The more things change the more they stay the same... 08:21  |  bat yam 08/02/08
      18.   Better idea than power cut, raise their electric bills. Ooops- 08:25  |  practical pete 08/02/08
      19.   HUMAN RIGHTS SHOULD BE A TWO-WAY STREET...... 08:25  |  Hanah 08/02/08
      20.   International law and Gaza. 08:50  |  Malka Ziv 08/02/08
      21.   Rockets vs. electricity 09:06  |  ?? 08/02/08
      22.   Hunan Rights Groups: Get Into the 21st Century 09:19  |  Brad 08/02/08
      23.   #4 Tell it to the Methodists, Chaim 09:52  |  MaryRose 08/02/08
      24.   If Hamas manages to take out the pylon.... 10:02  |  MaryRose 08/02/08
      25.   Do they also blame victims for being in the way of bullets? 10:15  |  Adam 08/02/08
      26.   We need reoccupation of parts of Gaza, nut cuts of electricity. 10:18  |  Vital 08/02/08
      27.   Human rights have a choice.. They can accept Israel 10:21  |  viking 08/02/08
      28.   Who is going to repay the Egyptians for 10:22  |  ChanahS 08/02/08
      29.   Thank G-D you dont need electricity to launch more missiles 10:23  |  Jay 08/02/08
      30.   Human rights groups slam Israel for cuts in power supply to Gaza 10:25  |  Gerald Zang 08/02/08
      31.   WHY THEY DONT HAVE THEIR OWN ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS ? 10:32  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 08/02/08
      32.   WHO STOPS PALESTINIANS TO HAVE THEIR OWN NEEDS ? 10:32  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 08/02/08
      33.   IF SAUDI ARABIA WANTS TO GIVE 1000 BILLION DOLLLARS TO PALESTINE 10:36  |  WHO STOPS IT ? 08/02/08
      34.   You mean cutting 5% of power was ineffective 10:46  |  Avi 08/02/08
      35.   Human Wrongs Watch 10:52  |  Joe Sittizen 08/02/08
      36.   #6 And look at what that achieved 10:53  |  Outsider 08/02/08
      37.   #8, avi... 10:54  |  Silvienne 08/02/08
      38.   #5, Rondi.... 10:55  |  Silvienne 08/02/08
      39.   #6, Ben Jabo... 10:58  |  Silvienne 08/02/08
      40.   #11, "viking" 10:59  |  Silvienne 08/02/08
      41.   There is one kind of newspaper NOONE should trust 11:07  |  A Jew 08/02/08
      42.   Israel`s Security and Gaza`s Electricity are DISCONNECTED 11:25  |  Tzfonit 08/02/08
      43.   Brutality and Cowardice of Israel 11:31  |  ali 08/02/08
      44.   The actual power cut is 1KW which is less than 1% 11:43  |  Zev 08/02/08
      45.   The aggressor pays little price 12:05  |  Minda 08/02/08
      46.   to Larzbeach 12:08  |  Goldenberg 08/02/08
      47.   Destroy the terrorists. 12:20  |  Malka Ziv 08/02/08
      48.   Ben Eliezer right 12:22  |  John 08/02/08
      49.   Ali from Izmir 12:25  |  Goldenberg 08/02/08
      50.   #24, Ali in Izmir 12:26  |  Mike 08/02/08
      51.   Bee-stings to the Bully 12:46  |  Milo 08/02/08
      52.   Dependency must end. 12:55  |  Colin 08/02/08
      53.   Silly Silvienne # 26 13:06  |  ChanahS 08/02/08
      54.   Silvienne # 29 13:07  |  ChanahS 08/02/08
      55.   Ali from Izmir # 32 13:10  |  ChanahS 08/02/08
      56.   Replaying an old favorite 13:12  |  Natallie Durson 08/02/08
      57.   Ali from Izmir # 32 - by the way .... 13:13  |  ChanahS 08/02/08
      58.   Minda in NY 13:14  |  ChanahS 08/02/08
      59.   Electricity cuts are not the solution... 13:17  |  Stephen. 08/02/08
      60.   war 13:26  |  rico 08/02/08
      61.   Who the heck collectively punishes the civilians? 13:50  |  Tom Smitsloo 08/02/08
      62.   Qassam rocket fired at Israel kills two children in Gaza Strip 13:58  |  Allon 08/02/08
      63.   Qassam rocket fired at Israel kills two children in Gaza Strip 14:19  |  Allon 08/02/08
      64.   Collective Punishment - War Crime 14:19  |  chet 08/02/08
      65.   More Like "MONKEY`S RIGHTS GROUPS" 14:19  |  Smart Person 08/02/08
      66.   IDIOTS! RETAKE GAZA,W.BANK,STOP TERRORISM,EXPAND JEWISH HOLYLAND) 14:24  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 08/02/08
      67.   # 22 Brad...I agree with you on the Human Rights 14:25  |  Lynn 08/02/08
      68.