The IAF bombed several Hamas terror targets in central Gaza last Sunday night following telephone warnings to civilians to flee terrorist outposts following three Kassam rocket and 13 mortar shelling attacks on the Western Negev Sunday.
The strafing of the targets, a police station and six smuggling tunnels, was the first time the government has allowed the IDF to retaliate since last week. Israel had responded tit-for-tat until the Sabbath, when a long-range Grad rocket struck the southern edge of Ashkelon.
Arab sources said there were no casualties in the late Sunday night bombing. Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned earlier in the day that Israel will not continue a policy of restraint in the face of continuing attacks..
Residents of Rafiah and Khan Yunis in Gaza reported Sunday evening that they received recorded phone messages from the IDF with warnings of the kind that often precede IDF attacks. "Any person who is located near a terror center or a weapons storage facility or a tunnel must leave the location immediately,” the warning said.
Iranian warning
Iran's spiritual leader Ali Khamenai also warned Hamas that Israel might launch a new attack on Gaza. Khamenai told a delegation of top Hamas officials currently in Tehran that they should “be ready for additional attacks on Gaza.”
Khamenai said that the war in Gaza has not ended and praised the Gazans' “power of resistance.” He called upon “the Muslim resistance” to be ready “for any new situation, including a new war in Gaza.”
“The enemy's psychological warfare continues,” he added. Hamas's delegation in Iran is headed by Khaled Mashaal, Hamas's Damascus-based leader.
More 'ceasefire' fire
A civilian and two soldiers suffered light wounds Sunday afternoon when terrorists from Gaza fired four mortar shells on the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In addition, a short range Kassam rocket fell in the same region, hurting no one.
Four mortar shells were fired at at the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council in the late morning hours as well. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The IDF did not respond despite a government-declared policy to retaliate to every attack.
'We know better'
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said after the latest attacks that “the time may come for a new confrontation with Hamas but that time has not yet arrived.” He took a jab at the ministers who called for a strong IDF reaction. “Leave it to the Chief of Staff, to the OC [Southern] Command and with all modesty, to me as well,” he said. “We know better what to do and when.”
Gaza terrorists fired three short range rockets at Israel in the morning hours. One struck between two kindergartens. No one was hurt and no damage was reported. The IDF has not responded.
Gunmen opened fire on the IDF near Kisufim, along the security fence, at about 8:30 a.m. The IDF returned fire.