Arab terrorists in Gaza have continuously fired Kassam rockets into the Negev and towards Ashkelon. From March 25-30, for instance, 11 Kassams and one mortar shell were fired at Israel, and another 15 were fired since then, including four today.
In response to the ongoing terrorism and attacks from the Palestinian Authority, the IDF has stepped up its artillery response over the Sabbath, from both the air and the sea. A seaside building used as a shelter for terrorists and for firing Kassams - and designated for future use as a casino - was partially destroyed in an IDF bombing on Friday night. (Click here to see an IDF video clip of the bombing) The building is located just off the Mediterranea Sea shore in northern Gaza, very close to the former Jewish community of Elei Sinai.
In addition, two open and unpopulated areas were strafed in Gaza City. Afterwards, early Saturday morning, Israel Navy ships fired heavily at two areas in northern Gaza from where terrorists often fire rockets towards Ashkelon. IDF artillery units also shot dozens of shells at areas from where rockets are launched at Israel.
The bombed casino building served, according to evidence and testimony received by the IDF, as a center for firing Kassam rockets towards Israel. Its construction was completed not long ago, and it was originally to have served as a casino and entertainment center.
Some argue that the entire reason the withdrawal included the three Jewish communities in northern Gaza was in order to facilitate the construction of a casino in the area. Arutz-7 reported in July 2005 that ex-MK Shmuel Flatto-Sharon, together with Ariel Sharon's crony Cyril Kern, planned to build a casino in northern Gaza. This helped explain to many why the three northern Gaza Jewish communities were included in the withdrawal plans, despite all logic to the contrary, according to news analyst Haggai Huberman.
Huberman notes that northern Gaza was not included in the original Disengagement plan. "Even noted left-wingers such as Ami Ayalon, Ehud Barak and Uzi Dayan," Huberman wrote, "were opposed to withdrawing from northern Gaza, and did not see any logic to evacuating those communities. There was no Arab population there, and Israel had recently put up a separation fence in the area at a cost of 80 million shekels."
Flatto-Sharon told Arutz-7's Itzik Wolf, last July, that he had already been in contact with the Palestinian Authority regarding his plans to build the casino on the lands of what was Elei Sinai, one of the three Jewish communities in northern Gaza. Among his partners he counted a Saudi Arabian billionaire and Kern, an old war-time buddy of Ariel Sharon who has long lived in South Africa. In 2003, the police began investigating a $1.5 million loan that Kern made to Sharon and/or his sons. The information was considered so damaging by a State Prosecution attorney that just three weeks before the national elections, she secretly faxed the story to a reporter, later explaining that she hoped it would prevent Sharon from being re-elected as Prime Minister.
Construction on the building that was bombed, however, appears to have begun before Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last summer. The casino plan was also to include a motel and a 5-star, 400-room hotel. Security sources later said, however, that Israelis would not have been allowed into the area, thus placing the financial wisdom of such a plan in doubt.
In response to the ongoing terrorism and attacks from the Palestinian Authority, the IDF has stepped up its artillery response over the Sabbath, from both the air and the sea. A seaside building used as a shelter for terrorists and for firing Kassams - and designated for future use as a casino - was partially destroyed in an IDF bombing on Friday night. (Click here to see an IDF video clip of the bombing) The building is located just off the Mediterranea Sea shore in northern Gaza, very close to the former Jewish community of Elei Sinai.
In addition, two open and unpopulated areas were strafed in Gaza City. Afterwards, early Saturday morning, Israel Navy ships fired heavily at two areas in northern Gaza from where terrorists often fire rockets towards Ashkelon. IDF artillery units also shot dozens of shells at areas from where rockets are launched at Israel.
The bombed casino building served, according to evidence and testimony received by the IDF, as a center for firing Kassam rockets towards Israel. Its construction was completed not long ago, and it was originally to have served as a casino and entertainment center.
Some argue that the entire reason the withdrawal included the three Jewish communities in northern Gaza was in order to facilitate the construction of a casino in the area. Arutz-7 reported in July 2005 that ex-MK Shmuel Flatto-Sharon, together with Ariel Sharon's crony Cyril Kern, planned to build a casino in northern Gaza. This helped explain to many why the three northern Gaza Jewish communities were included in the withdrawal plans, despite all logic to the contrary, according to news analyst Haggai Huberman.
Huberman notes that northern Gaza was not included in the original Disengagement plan. "Even noted left-wingers such as Ami Ayalon, Ehud Barak and Uzi Dayan," Huberman wrote, "were opposed to withdrawing from northern Gaza, and did not see any logic to evacuating those communities. There was no Arab population there, and Israel had recently put up a separation fence in the area at a cost of 80 million shekels."
Flatto-Sharon told Arutz-7's Itzik Wolf, last July, that he had already been in contact with the Palestinian Authority regarding his plans to build the casino on the lands of what was Elei Sinai, one of the three Jewish communities in northern Gaza. Among his partners he counted a Saudi Arabian billionaire and Kern, an old war-time buddy of Ariel Sharon who has long lived in South Africa. In 2003, the police began investigating a $1.5 million loan that Kern made to Sharon and/or his sons. The information was considered so damaging by a State Prosecution attorney that just three weeks before the national elections, she secretly faxed the story to a reporter, later explaining that she hoped it would prevent Sharon from being re-elected as Prime Minister.
Construction on the building that was bombed, however, appears to have begun before Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last summer. The casino plan was also to include a motel and a 5-star, 400-room hotel. Security sources later said, however, that Israelis would not have been allowed into the area, thus placing the financial wisdom of such a plan in doubt.