Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., February 12, 2008 Adar1 6, 5768 | | Israel Time: 09:56 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Paramedics evacuating a Sderot resident after he was seriously wounded in a Qassam strike on Saturday. (David Buimovich / Jini) Last update - 08:14 11/02/2008 IAF fires missile at two armed Palestinians in north Gaza By Mijal Grinberg, Yuval Azoulay and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Sderot, Israel The Israel Air Force fired a missile aimed at two armed Palestinians in the northern Gaza town of Jabalya late Sunday night. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson confirmed that the IAF scored a direct hit on the target, but there was no word of injuries. In an exchange of gunfire at the Gaza Strip border on Sunday evening, IDF troops killed a Palestinian militant after he opened fire on them. Advertisement At nightfall, about 20 IDF vehicles rolled into northern Gaza, where most of the rockets are fired, witnesses said. The IDF called the operation routine. By nightfall Sunday, the IDF said Palestinians fired one rocket and five mortar shells at Israel, after firing dozens the days before. Earlier Sunday, the IAF killed a Hamas militant in Gaza, hours after two brothers, aged 8 and 19, were seriously wounded when a Qassam rocket struck the backyard of a house in the southern town of Sderot. The IAF carried out four strikes in the Gaza Strip before dawn on Sunday, wounding three militants and killing Mohammed Matir, a commander in Hamas' military wing. The IAF targeted, among other sites, an arms storage facility in a refugee camp in Rafah. Defense officials said that the Israel Defense Forces were planning to step up its Gaza operations as well as targeted killings of specific militants in response to the ongoing Qassam rocket fire. An IDF spokeswoman said the target of the air strike was a Hamas militant who had been involved in smuggling. She added a second strike targeted a Hamas post near the Gaza town of Khan Younis. The two brothers hurt in Saturday's rocket barrage, Osher and Rami Twito, were taken to the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, where doctors were forced to amputate the leg of the younger brother. The older brother, Rami, was in recovery and conscious. Their mother Iris was treated for shock, and moved between the hospital rooms of her two sons. Defense officials threatened retaliation for the Qassam attack, for which the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, but said that for now Israel would not employ "new methods." "Israel will take resolute and decisive measures to protect our citizens," government spokesman David Baker said Saturday. "We will not allow Israeli families to be victimized by Palestinian rockets in the heart of their own cities." Sources close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he told Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, who visited Israel last week, that he is "under pressure" to launch a massive ground operation in Gaza. Defense officials told Haaretz they thought the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip were stepping up their efforts to fire Qassams into Israel in retaliation for the IDF strikes last week that killed seven Hamas men. The rocket that wounded the brothers was one of three that hit the rocket-weary city Saturday evening. Three other rockets were fired into southern Israel earlier in the day, causing no casualties or damage. Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigade, claimed responsibility for Saturday evening's Qassam attack. Hamas said that since last Tuesday, its own militants have fired 154 rockets and mortar shells at Israel. Earlier Saturday, two IAF strikes targeted several Qassam rocket-launching squads in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip, following a barrage of 30 rockets Friday that pounded southern Israeli communities. The rocket that wounded the two brothers was also launched from Beit Hanun, defense officials in Jerusalem said. The second IAF strike in Beit Hanun Saturday seriously wounded one militant, believed to belong to the Popular Resistance Committees, a small militant group with ties to Hamas. Related articles: ANALYSIS: Major IDF operation in Gaza back on the agenda Israel begins reducing electricity supply to Gaza Gaza power plant shuts down due to fuel blockade Bookmark to del.icio.us   Google N for Nakba Israeli town sues Google over claim it was built on ruins of Palestinian village. A Belgian treat U.S. Jew says he was kicked out of a Bruges cafe because he was wearing a skullcap.   1.   How Can that SOB Olmert Sleep ? 01:45  |  Tod Zuckerman 10/02/08   2.   Olmert Must Go 02:03  |  Ron 10/02/08   3.   Rocket Attacks against innocents 02:06  |  Dan 10/02/08   4.   Best protection for israeli citizens is to get out Palestinian 02:16  |  lakshmi 10/02/08   5.   Any one in their right mind... 02:21  |  Mike 10/02/08   6.   Olmert`s reaction 02:31  |  eddie 10/02/08   7.   Jews are right 02:44  |  Arab 10/02/08   8.   When is the time for a revolution? 02:44  |  Shlomo 10/02/08   9.   WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU OLMERT? 02:51  |  Nechama 10/02/08   10.   What are kids doing in a war zone 03:11  |  Mike 10/02/08   11.   Hamas must be eradicated to the last man. 03:16  |  Stephen in New York 10/02/08   12.   OLMERT: QUIT NOW!!! 03:17  |  Ben 10/02/08   13.   We need a leader not a politician 03:23  |  Dennis Slapo 10/02/08   14.   You put 1 of ours in hospital, we put 10 of yours in the morgue 03:23  |  Elliott Ness 10/02/08   15.   I wonder 03:47  |  Paul 10/02/08   16.   Zuckerman 03:51  |  Paul 10/02/08   17.   hamas 03:55  |  tom 10/02/08   18.   What is olmert waiting for? 05:39  |  MP 10/02/08   19.   Israel incompetence 05:44  |  Edifice 10/02/08   20.   Rocket attacks on Israel 06:16  |  Naim S. Mahlab 10/02/08   21.   Military logos and animation 06:25  |  Paul 10/02/08   22.   ISRAELS GOVERMENT IS NOT PROPERLY DEFENDING CITIZENS IN SDEROT 06:51  |  Jorge 10/02/08   23.   Zuckerman 07:14  |  Calyxcrater 10/02/08   24.   Olmert Needs to Resign 08:11  |  Ron 10/02/08   25.   Do the Israeli leaders understand the gravity of the Islamic dang 09:04  |  Malka Ziv 10/02/08   26.   out now 09:13  |  Moshe 10/02/08   27.   Tod, I agree with everything you say but... 09:39  |  Judah 10/02/08   28.   olmert 09:54  |  english jew 10/02/08   29.   Pathetic 10:05  |  Palestinian Brit 10/02/08   30.   kadima more hot air and inaction ! 10:13  |  v hardman 10/02/08   31.   AGAIN HAMAS baby killers target 8 yr old.IDF kills Hamas members 10:17  |  PETER SM 10/02/08   32.   Who will sit on the erupting volcano 10:24  |  Nora 10/02/08   33.   Defense officials: Cancel alternate side oft the street parking 10:30  |  Avi 10/02/08   34.   #12 Palestinian Brit 10:34  |  * BEN JABO 10/02/08   35.   #7 Mike - they live there! 11:02  |  Shlomo 10/02/08   36.   to #2 Mike 11:27  |  Ruth 10/02/08   37.   #4 lakshmi Mighty generous of you! 11:54  |  Shlomo 10/02/08   38.   Todd Zukerman (Post No. 1) 12:27  |  Johnny Weintraub 10/02/08   39.   Shlomo (Post No. 35) 12:34  |  Johnny Weintraub 10/02/08   40.   Sounds like your well on your way to all out war 12:38  |  Who was it that said 10/02/08   41.   No country would permit the flow of electricity and petrol and 12:58  |  Ruti 10/02/08   42.   Lackshmi 13:37  |  Rozz 10/02/08   43.   is israel a natural state?? 13:41  |  Dr. Fadi 10/02/08   44.   so much hatred 13:50  |  Clemencehutin 10/02/08   45.   For Dr Fadi # 43 14:18  |  Clickfool 10/02/08   46.   To # 43 Dr. Fadi - A most Unnatural Question 14:21  |  Dolly 10/02/08   47.   Where Is The Anti-Rocket System? 14:22  |  Jeff Northridge 10/02/08   48.   For Peter SM # 31 14:47  |  Clickfool 10/02/08   49.   Olmert 14:47  |  Rozz 10/02/08   50.   Sholmo # 35 You`re right of course!!!! 15:11  |  Petra 10/02/08   51.   Sheetrit says: 15:12  |  Rozz 10/02/08   52.   PALESTINIAN BRIT AND PATHETIC 15:13  |  Brant 10/02/08   53.   Continuing as PM of Israel 15:19  |  Rozz 10/02/08   54.   Hey Bibi !! why so silent ?? 15:51  |  Bill Gordon 10/02/08   55.   Dr. Fadi-you are SO wrong 15:57  |  Maurice 10/02/08   56.   Dr. Fadi it doesn`t matter what you believe 15:59  |  Sorry dhimmi 10/02/08   57.   mizrahim wake up against this racist state controlled by ashkenaz 16:21  |  dovdevan 10/02/08   58.   in. re.: clemencehutin 16:57  |  albert paul ortiz 10/02/08   59.   Break Their Backs 17:03  |  Brooklyn Boy 10/02/08   60.   Ah, Clickfool, life must be so cozy in Sussex 17:25  |  Joe Sittizen 10/02/08   61.   Dr Fadi and Clickfool 17:25  |  James 10/02/08   62.   lakshmi #4 best protection for israeli citizens is to carpet bomb 17:25  |  terrornator 10/02/08   63.   Israeli policy leading to Gaza invasion 17:40  |  Tosefta 10/02/08   64.   #4 Mike 17:52  |  Paul Wood 10/02/08   65.   unfortunately, working people in Isr 17:58  |  bozhidar bob balkas 10/02/08   66.   Dr. Fadi 17:58  |  Gary 10/02/08   67.   To 43. Dr Fahdi. We understand 18:00  |  Altalena 10/02/08   68.   dovdevan talks BS 18:24  |  Danite 10/02/08   69.   Advice to Hamas 18:38  |  Tosefta 10/02/08   70.   Lakshmi Sings: There`s No Protection Like Sharia 18:49  |  Tex 10/02/08   71.   To Pal Brit, Clickfool, Lakshmi, etc. Here is what to expect 19:27  |  Altalena 10/02/08   72.   We need Shas NOW! 19:35  |  Yechiel 10/02/08   73.   quassams get the pals no where 19:57  |  Adrian de Klerk 10/02/08   74.   # 69 Tosefta...Hamas rule will be over 20:11  |  Lynn 10/02/08   75.   Dr. Fadi get used to hearing about people getting killed 20:22  |  terrornator 10/02/08   76.   # 63 Tosefta...Hamas has rejected Abbas offer 20:36  |  Lynn 10/02/08   77.   olmert must go directly to front line and live there 20:41  |  ralph 10/02/08   78.   dovdevan in Paris 57 - Bullocks 20:45  |  ChanahS 10/02/08   79.   Response to Johnny ( #38) 20:51  |  Tod Zuckerman 10/02/08   80.   #69 Advice to Tosefta 20:52  |  Hamas 10/02/08   81.   FOR CLICKY THE TRICKY # 45 21:03  |  dovale 10/02/08   82.   #76 Lynn needs to start reading CAREFULLY 21:06  |  Tosefta 10/02/08   83.   #45 Re:The evil genie needs to be put back in the bottle 21:10  |  Dutch 10/02/08   84.   #80 Hamas to Tosefta 21:10  |  The real Hamas. 10/02/08   85.   To 80 Hamas No clue 21:13  |  Altalena 10/02/08   86.   More sick murder of Palestinians by the IDF 21:14  |  Dutch 10/02/08   87.   Consequences of a new Gaza takeover by Israel 21:21  |  Tosefta 10/02/08   88.   To Palestinian Brit 21:25  |  dovale 10/02/08   89.   Hey Clickfool 21:31  |  leo 10/02/08   90.   80 hamas 21:35  |  alan 10/02/08   91.   Plese Post My Reply to Judah (27) 22:00  |  Tod Zuckerman 10/02/08   92.   #85 Altalena re Hamas 22:05  |  The real Hamas 10/02/08   93.   Dutch # 85 What Are You Talking About? 22:09  |  Jeff Northridge 10/02/08   94.   Educating Dovale # 81 22:45  |  Clickfool 10/02/08   95.   For Leo # 89 22:52  |  Clickfool 10/02/08   96.   Jeff, When are you going to get things straight? 23:22  |  Dutch 10/02/08   97.   Tosefta, you are so smart, I would nominate you to PM of Hamas 23:42  |  Figaro 10/02/08   98.   Enough with the threats--Time for Action 23:44  |  Hilda 10/02/08   99.   Go IDF!! 23:54  |  Arnold Taubman 10/02/08   100.   EDUCATING CLICKFOOL 23:56  |  Brant 10/02/08   101.   # 82 Tosefta.....LYNN always reads carefully 00:02  |  Lynn 11/02/08   102.   3 95 Dutch ...the firing of rockets, mortars into 00:09  |  Lynn 11/02/08   103.   #96 dutch & her hypocracy 00:13  |  Adrian de Klerk 11/02/08   104.   # 82 Tosefta.....LYNN always reads carefully 00:46  |  Lynn 11/02/08   105.   #96 Dutch the peaceful 01:33  |  mirror 11/02/08   106.   56 Sorry dhimmi 01:33  |  alan 11/02/08   107.   LAKSHMI 02:03  |  JW 11/02/08   108.   CFOOL PALchidren brainwashed in martyrdom,not sent out to"scratch 02:05  |  PETER SM 11/02/08   109.   #96 dutch cant read 03:58  |  Adrian de Klerk 11/02/08   110.   ELLIOT NESS 05:31  |  TOBIA 11/02/08   111.   #29 I HEARD THAT SONG BEFORE 05:34  |  TOBIA 11/02/08   112.   #44 SO MUCH HATRED WHY 05:39  |  TOBIA 11/02/08   113.   Dutch Posts 05:49  |  Jabotinsky 11/02/08   114.   IAF Rockets 07:30  |  Paul 11/02/08   115.   Dutch "More sick murder of Palestinians" 07:51  |  Gary 11/02/08   116.   #43 northbridge: $0.50 solution 13:22  |  MOSHE 11/02/08   117.   Destroy Gaza Period 17:05  |  Petra 11/02/08   118.   Kadima`s worries 19:37  |  Be happy 11/02/08   119.   #4, lakshmi is correct... 07:59  |  Silvienne 12/02/08

Today Online Bradley Burston: Sderot as Stalingrad, Hamas as Samson Responses: 10 Akiva Eldar: Netanyahu could be the peace candidate Send response Ahmed Yousef: Palestinian revenge was inevitable Send response Town sues Google over claim it was built on Arab village Responses: 92 Rosner's Domain Ambassador Ayalon: Why does Obama think talking to "Hitler" can succeed? Maryland Jewish legislators for Obama (WTR) Poll: Is it legitimate to cut electricity to Gaza? Think Clinton won the Jewish vote in California? Think again Factor: How's McCain better than Obama More Headlines 09:55 Housing Min. denies delays in East Jerusalem construction 09:41 Hamas: Israeli attempt to overthrow our rule doomed to failure 09:41 Gaza, Iran on agenda as Olmert meets Merkel in Berlin 08:37 ANALYSIS: Hamas banks on IDF invasion to deliver final blow to Abbas 09:32 Krakow church holds service slamming 'kikes who spit on us' 09:43 Palestinian PM: Israel has failed to keep 'road map' promises 06:28 Police arrest 5 Palestinians who petitioned against IAA digs under their homes 05:59 Barak tells Knesset U.S. unlikely to attack Iran's nuclear installations 04:26 Peki'in house rented to Jew set on fire as deterrent to other Jews 06:36 Indian community in south Israel town enjoy Hindi play funded by U.S. Jew 03:46 Ashkenazi: IDF ready to widen Gaza actions as much as needed 00:17 U.S. Congressman, Holocaust survivor Tom Lantos dies at 80 21:49 Israeli town sues Google over claim it was built on Arab village Previous Editions Select Day 11 feb 10 feb 08 feb 07 feb 06 feb 05 feb 04 feb 03 feb 01 feb 31 jan 30 jan 29 jan

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