Seven terrorists were killed in counter-terror operations in Gaza Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Among them were two brothers, one a Hamas terrorist and one affiliated with the Islamic Jihad gang.
Gaza terrorists bombarded Israeli territory on Thursday morning with no fewer than 20 Kassam rockets. One of the rockets landed in Sderot, just 200 meters from a public library. Several western Negev residents suffered shock by the rockets, but no other damage was caused.
For the first time in its history, the Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan suspended trading on Thursday, and its management held a meeting in Sderot. The move was taken as a sign of solidarity with the besieged city.
IDF Golani Brigade soldiers and tank units with air cover clashed with terrorists in Jabalya, north of Gaza City, on Wednesday night. At the same time, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck Beit Hanoun, just over the northern Gaza border fence, used most by terrorists to fire Kassam rockets at Israeli towns.
A Hamas spokesman confirmed that at least five Hamas terrorists were among the dead in the IAF strike – two of them local commanders.
A second IDF air strike destroyed a metal-works facility in central Gaza where rockets were being manufactured, along with a weapons storage facility in the area. PA reports say bystanders were wounded in those strikes. Another air strike Wednesday evening targeted the home of senior Hamas official Sheikh Zaki Al Dardissy in Khan Yunis, further south in Gaza. No one was killed in that attack, which Hamas said hit an empty room in the house.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed confidence in the IDF's ability to stop the Kassam rockets, saying, "It won't end today or tomorrow, but in the end, we will bring about an end to the rockets, as we have done in the past."
The air strikes came after two young Israeli girls were wounded Wednesday evening by shrapnel while playing in their backyard when a rocket slammed into their western Negev kibbutz.
Hamas Warns
Though Fatah and the PFLP took credit for the Dimona attack, Hamas has become the coordinator of terrorist assaults on Israel.
Hamas officials were afraid to attend a scheduled meeting of the PA parliament in Gaza Wednesday, concerned that they would be targeted by Israel. They warn that if Israel attempts such attacks, they would respond with a rash of suicide attacks. Hamas has long tried to carry out such attacks, but barely succeeds because of IDF counter-terrorism activity.
Iran and Hamas
Hamas’s representative in Iran, Dr. Abu-Osama Abed Al-Ma'ati, announced Wednesday that Hamas has decided to renew such attacks inside major Israeli cities. “The Dimona attack is a message,” he said. “That message is that Hamas has renewed the suicide attacks.” Iran is the major backer and funder of Hamas.
Intelligence officials say Iran now has a critical influence on Hamas, smuggling Iranian Katyusha missiles to Gaza from Egypt and bringing Iranians to train Gaza’s terrorists. At least 2,000 terrorists from Egypt also reportedly entered Gaza during the recent period where the Gaza-Egypt border lay open, according to Egypt’s al-Masry al-Yawm daily.
IDF in Hevron
In Hevron, IDF forces entered a Hamas-dominated neighborhood and raided the home of one of the suicide bombers who carried out Monday’s attack in Dimona. PA forces under Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas were ordered to stay away from the area during the operation. Three local terrorists were wounded in clashes with the soldiers. This was the second IDF visit to the home. Soon after the attack, security forces arrested family members of both bombers.