Air Force bombs terrorist vehicle
Air Force bombs terrorist vehicleIsrael news photo: Flash 90

The Israeli Air Force Friday night killed three terrorists as they were traveling to attack Israel with rockets. The raid near Gaza City was the first time since the end of Operation Cast Lead last January that Israel has carried out an attack on terrorist’ vehicle, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.  

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IDF spokesmen said that the Air Force bombed an Islamic Jihad rocket launching cell that was behind numerous rocket attacks on Israel the past several weeks, including one that hit Sderot on the Rosh HaShanah New Year holiday last week.

Arab terrorists attacked Israel with approximately 50 mortar shells and rockets over the past several weeks, bringing to more than 250 the number of strikes since the end of the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist terrorist campaign that ended in mid-January.

One of the Islamic Jihad terrorists killed was the son of a commander killed during the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War. During his funeral, army soldiers shot at several terrorists approaching the Gaza separation fence. Arab media reported that the soldiers shot on and wounded more than a dozen terrorists and supporters attending the funeral.

Masked terrorists fired machine guns and small arms at the funeral, ignoring a previous order by Hamas authorities banning the public display of weapons.

The Islamic Jihad blamed the trilateral talks in New York for encouraging Israel to carry out the raid. "The Israeli occupation utilized the resumption of political meetings with the Palestinian National Authority to commit new crimes against the Palestinian people," the movement said in a statement.

Saturday morning, an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades cell claimed responsibility for a Kassam attack on the Western Negev. No injuries or damage was reported

In Judea and Samaria, the IDF will enforce a general closure from midnight Saturday until midnight Monday because of the Yom Kippur holiday. The army will allow passage of Arabs needing urgent medical care as well as the passage of humanitarian aid, clerics and members of several other professional groups.