A radio broadcast directive for women to rush to the scene to act as ‘human shields’ for the terrorist cost at least one woman her life and resulted in others being injured.
The roof of the mosque collapsed on the terrorists shortly before dawn, and the IDF said it would investigate a report that one of it bulldozers destroyed a wall of a room adjacent to the mosque.
News agencies publicized Arab claims that the IDF had bulldozed the mosque itself, which was used as a storage place for weapons and ammunitions. An IDF spokesman denied the claim and said that all efforts were made not to damage the religious structure.
According to the IDF spokesman, the shooting began after the terrorists inside the mosque opened fire at the soldiers. After the 19-hour siege, however, most of the terrorists escaped with the help of a rioting crowd which included many women.
The IDF reported that 34 people, most of them terrorists, have been killed since Wednesday in the IDF anti-terror operation, called ‘Operation Autumn Clouds’, the most intensive military operation carried out in recent years. Dozens were wounded and hundreds were taken for questioning by Friday afternoon.
Speaking on Army Radio Friday morning, Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said, “There will be no safe haven for terrorists. These are not girls from a dormitory in the mosque. They are the people firing the rockets. They are the enemy.”
Despite Ben Eliezer’s words, however, Kassam rockets continued to crash into Israeli communities on Friday even as the IDF continued its military operation which is intended to put a stop to the attacks.
A rocket launched from northern Gaza slammed into a house in Kibbutz Be’eri Friday afternoon. Miraculously, no one was injured although there was damage from the explosion. Two more rockets landed in Sderot. No injuries or damage was reported.
Earlier in the day, PA terror groups launched two Kassams at the Sufa border crossing with southern Gaza. Both landed in open areas. No one was injured and no damage was reported.
On Thursday, at least 10 rockets slammed into southern Israel. Most exploded in the rocket-battered town of Sderot. Two people were injured and a number of others were treated for hysteria and severe anxiety.
Most of the rocket attacks on Sderot have launched from the area around Beit Hanoun, located less than six miles south of Ashkelon. A Kassam rocket exploded this week very close to a strategic site in the port city, home to oil and gas pipelines as well as a large electric generating plant.
The IDF on Thursday took control of the town of about 30,000 people in an effort to halt the rocket attacks on the Negev; 300 Kassams have been fired from the area since January.
Arab terrorists have succeeded repeatedly in bombarding Israel despite the current army operation. Defense Minister Amir Peretz has stated that the IDF will not retake Gaza, but rather suffice with incursions designed to strike at individual terrorist cells.
The residents of Sderot demonstrated in front of the Defense Minister's Sderot home this week saying that the measuring stick for success is very simply stopping the rocket attacks. Despite the announcements of success in battles and skirmishes with the terrorists, the residents say that Peretz is failing in his job. Two more rockets were fired on Israel Friday morning.
Also in northern Gaza, IDF forces killed five terrorists, including four who were struck in a missile strike from the air. One of them was the brother of the head of the Shechem branch of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Another was Hamas commander Ammar Mushtaha and a bodyguard for a minister in the Hamas-led PA government, according to Reuters. Mushtaha had survived a number of previous liquidation attempts.
IDF Soldiers also arrested Hamas housing minister Abad al-Rahman Zidman in Ramallah on Friday and transferred him for interrogation by security personnel.
The roof of the mosque collapsed on the terrorists shortly before dawn, and the IDF said it would investigate a report that one of it bulldozers destroyed a wall of a room adjacent to the mosque.
News agencies publicized Arab claims that the IDF had bulldozed the mosque itself, which was used as a storage place for weapons and ammunitions. An IDF spokesman denied the claim and said that all efforts were made not to damage the religious structure.
According to the IDF spokesman, the shooting began after the terrorists inside the mosque opened fire at the soldiers. After the 19-hour siege, however, most of the terrorists escaped with the help of a rioting crowd which included many women.
The IDF reported that 34 people, most of them terrorists, have been killed since Wednesday in the IDF anti-terror operation, called ‘Operation Autumn Clouds’, the most intensive military operation carried out in recent years. Dozens were wounded and hundreds were taken for questioning by Friday afternoon.
Speaking on Army Radio Friday morning, Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said, “There will be no safe haven for terrorists. These are not girls from a dormitory in the mosque. They are the people firing the rockets. They are the enemy.”
Despite Ben Eliezer’s words, however, Kassam rockets continued to crash into Israeli communities on Friday even as the IDF continued its military operation which is intended to put a stop to the attacks.
A rocket launched from northern Gaza slammed into a house in Kibbutz Be’eri Friday afternoon. Miraculously, no one was injured although there was damage from the explosion. Two more rockets landed in Sderot. No injuries or damage was reported.
Earlier in the day, PA terror groups launched two Kassams at the Sufa border crossing with southern Gaza. Both landed in open areas. No one was injured and no damage was reported.
On Thursday, at least 10 rockets slammed into southern Israel. Most exploded in the rocket-battered town of Sderot. Two people were injured and a number of others were treated for hysteria and severe anxiety.
Most of the rocket attacks on Sderot have launched from the area around Beit Hanoun, located less than six miles south of Ashkelon. A Kassam rocket exploded this week very close to a strategic site in the port city, home to oil and gas pipelines as well as a large electric generating plant.
The IDF on Thursday took control of the town of about 30,000 people in an effort to halt the rocket attacks on the Negev; 300 Kassams have been fired from the area since January.
Arab terrorists have succeeded repeatedly in bombarding Israel despite the current army operation. Defense Minister Amir Peretz has stated that the IDF will not retake Gaza, but rather suffice with incursions designed to strike at individual terrorist cells.
The residents of Sderot demonstrated in front of the Defense Minister's Sderot home this week saying that the measuring stick for success is very simply stopping the rocket attacks. Despite the announcements of success in battles and skirmishes with the terrorists, the residents say that Peretz is failing in his job. Two more rockets were fired on Israel Friday morning.
Also in northern Gaza, IDF forces killed five terrorists, including four who were struck in a missile strike from the air. One of them was the brother of the head of the Shechem branch of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Another was Hamas commander Ammar Mushtaha and a bodyguard for a minister in the Hamas-led PA government, according to Reuters. Mushtaha had survived a number of previous liquidation attempts.
IDF Soldiers also arrested Hamas housing minister Abad al-Rahman Zidman in Ramallah on Friday and transferred him for interrogation by security personnel.