Gaza terrorists fired more rockets on the Negev, with a direct hit on a kibbutz, and Arab sympathizers near Tel Aviv threw rocks at Jewish drivers.
Gaza terrorists, including those from a group led by Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, pummeled the western Negev on the Sabbath with at least 14 rockets and two dozen mortar shells, causing damage but no physical injuries.
One shell smashed into a kibbutz clubhouse, which was empty at the time. The attacks on the Sabbath were a continuation of a heavy barrage that has become an almost daily affair the past six weeks.
The Oslo War, otherwise known as the Second Intifada and now its ninth year, spread on Saturday afternoon to Kfar Kassam, where Arab rock throwers took aim at Jewish motorists on Highway 5, which connects to Tel Aviv. Four cars sustained damage, but no one was injured. The attacks are aimed at causing drivers to lose control of their cars and end up in fatal traffic accidents that often involve other vehicles, both Arab and Jewish.
The Olmert government is continuing its policy of limiting retaliation to attacks from Gaza to strikes on rocket launching cells that are clearly identified. One aerial attack Saturday morning eliminated one terrorist in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, but more rockets and mortars flew into the air shortly afterwards. One other terrorist was wounded.
The Olmert government is continuing its policy of limiting retaliation to attacks from Gaza to strikes on rocket launching cells that are clearly identified.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, affiliated with Fatah, said the targeted cell was made up of their members. Hamas also was involved in attacks, firing at least six mortar shells on an army position but causing no damages or injuries.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor) and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have repeatedly stated that the government will authorize the IDF to retaliate more aggresively "when the time is right."
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Olmert's successor as leader of the Kadima party, has stated the timing of a more intensive retaliation is dependent on whether the attacks cause heavy injuries. She has stated that Israel can suffer the rocket and mortar attacks so long as they cause no more than light damage.
Residents of Gaza Belt communities have thrown up their hands at the government's Negev version of Russian roulette. One member of Moshav Netiv Ha'Asara told Voice of Israel government radio, "We have no one who can protect us."
Moshav and kibbutz farmers also are subject to sniper fire, and terrorists on Friday took potshots at soldiers guarding the area. No was wounded.
The June 19 ceasefire, under which the IDF and Gaza terrorists were to withhold fire, has become history. The agreement was to last for approximately six months. Although no expiry date was mentioned despite Hamas and Israeli media's reporting that December 19th marked the end of the agreement, the ceasefire has not existed on the ground for several weeks.
The Arab media gave readers a different view of the latest violence. The Bethlehem-based Maan news agency, closely affiliated with Fatah, reported on its English-language website that the rocket and mortar attacks on Israel were in retaliation for the counterterrorist strike. It claimed that the day started with two ground-to-ground missiles fired by the Israeli army at a group of Palestinian fighters killing 25-year-old Ali Hijazi and injuring two others.