Yet another miracle in Jewish Gaza this morning. A powerful bomb exploded near a large IDF truck packed with soldiers between Kfar Darom and Gush Katif - yet no one was hurt. The bomb was detonated only several dozen meters from an IDF outpost; the perpetrators went unnoticed by the soldiers there, but the army returned fire to suspected Palestinian positions after the explosions. The residents of Netzarim were ordered to their shelters last night after a mortar shell was fired and landed near one of their homes. No one was hurt, and no property damage was caused.
Despite the continuing warfare in Gaza, Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the opening of the Dahaniye airport for Palestinian traffic - to enable Moslems to make a religious pilgrimage to Mecca. The airport was closed last week after the Israeli soldier Rojan Salameh was killed by Palestinian sniper fire while engaged in a military operation to prevent arms-smuggling into the Palestinian Authority. The PA requested that the airport be opened in order to enable 9,000 Gazans to fly to Mecca; Moslems from Judea and Samaria will travel via Jordan. The airport has been closed and re-opened several times over the past months.