Israel’s Air Force launched an air strike Thursday morning killing a Hamas terrorist involved in the kidnapping of IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
The air strike, which was based on information from the Shabak (General Security Service) was carried out in Rafiah, along Gaza’s southern border with Sinai, as the terrorist, Nafez Mantzour, was driving with two other Hamas terrorists.
The first missile missed the vehicle, according to Hamas reports, and one of Matzour’s accomplices escaped before the second struck. Mantzour was killed and one of his accomplices was wounded.
The kidnapping of Gilad Shalit happened in July, 2006 at Kerem Shalom. In that attack terrorists tunnels below the Gaza border fence and killed two of Shalit’s fellow soldiers and wounded another. Mantzour was also involved in a suicide bombing attack at the Kerem Shalom Crossing nearby, just weeks ago, before Pesach (Passover). The eliminated Hamas commander also used to oversee several rocket-launching cells.
Wednesday Air Strike Hits Islamic Jihadist
According to Arab news sources an Israeli air strike on Wednesday killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist named Awad al-Kik, also in southern Gaza. That strike hit a rocket-manufacturing workshop. Four other terrorists were wounded in the explosion.
Sderot: Rockets Explode During Holocaust Ceremony
Gaza terrorists fired two short-range rockets at Sderot Wednesday evening, during the Holocaust remembrance ceremony in the Negev town. The ceremony is normally conducted outdoors, but was this year held inside the new and bomb-proofed Culture, Youth and Sport Center.
A short time after the event began, the Color Red warning system sounded and two rockets exploded in unpopulated areas outside the town. No injuries were reported.
Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said that the Home Front Command had given permission to hold the ceremony opposite the Holocaust Victims Memorial in Sderot but that many local Holocaust survivors had requested that the ceremony be held indoors, and the municipality decided to honor their wishes.
Nine rockets landed in and around Sderot on Wednesday. One rocket landed in a family's backyard in the small town of Ge’a, next to Ashkelon. One family member was treated for shock.
Security To Be Highest Ever for 60th Anniversary
Security will be pressed to its maximum potential starting next week and continuing through the middle of the month as American President George W. Bush and world leaders descend on Israeli to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Jewish state.
The visitors list includes Quartet Middle East envoy, and former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Also attending will be former Soviet bloc leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former Czech President Vaclav Havel and past Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Joining them will be former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, Harvard Professor and pro-Israel activist Alan Dershowitz and American billionaire philanthropist Sheldon Adelson.