Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reported that even that closing was only to civilians, while PA security forces were allowed to travel.
The attacks in the Gush Katif block in Gaza began around 4:30 PM yesterday with two mortar shells at Gadid, followed an hour later by another one at adjacent N'vei Dekalim; no one was hurt. Dozens of Gush Katif residents went out to protest the opening of the critical Tancher Route - via which terrorists smuggle arms, weapons and themselves from one end of Gaza to the other - and blocked it for a short while. Beginning at 11 PM, three more shells hit Kfar Darom at intervals of several minutes, with the intent of hitting the soldiers and civilians who came to comb the area and help the wounded. Three people - a husband and wife, and a 15-year-old boy - were lightly wounded by shrapnel, and were taken to Soroka Hospital in Ashkelon; a fourth victim was treated for shock at the site.
Around midnight, for the first time since the "hudna" cease-fire took effect, the IDF returned fire towards where it was assumed the rockets were fired. Quiet reigned for about four hours, until an anti-tank rocket was fired at an Israeli tank near Ganei Tal, and shortly afterwards, a mortar shell was fired and exploded in the area of an IDF base near N'vei Dekalim. Israeli forces returned fire and an exchange of fire ensued; no Israelis were hurt.
In response to the renewal of Palestinian hostilities, the IDF took the "extreme" move of closing the Tancher Route - for a few hours. Gaza Coast Regional Council spokesman Eran Sternberg told Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson today that the exact extent of the "punishment" is not known, but he decried the "cheap price exacted by the government for the wounding of four citizens." He said that "like a drug addict who simply cannot 'kick the habit,' the government continues to make the same mistakes time after time, ignoring terrorist crimes… In November 2000, in the midst of cease-fire talks, a security agent of Muhammad Dahlan murdered two Jews in the greenhouses near Kfar Darom - and Dahlan granted him a posthumous promotion. There was no serious reaction, and in fact Israel made some gestures towards the PA - and two days later Dahlan's men carried out the infamous Kfar Darom bus bombing, killing two teachers and blowing off the limbs of the three Cohen children. The same scenario is repeating itself now."
Asher Mivtzari of Kfar Darom told Zalmanson, "Just as the bus bombing three years ago was a well-coordinated attack, so too was last night's barrage, with mortar shells, anti-tank shells, and shootings. The first shell that wounded the four people hit very close to the grocery store, which once a week is open late; if it had landed inside the building, people could have been killed. What used to happen in these cases is that the army would go into the Arab areas and search out the terrorists. Now the army is relying on the Palestinian police, and submitted a complaint - leaving the Palestinians cracking up laughing…"
Huberman also reported that IDF commanders in Judea and Gaza are unhappy with the latest diplomatic moves and the troop withdrawals that have been forced upon them. Several officers told Jewish residents that the latest withdrawals from northern Gaza and Bethlehem were carried out in defiance of IDF recommendations and are a "wanton crime."
This afternoon again, bullets were fired at IDF outposts in the area; no one was hurt, and IDF soldiers returned fire.
An IDF force arrested a senior Al Aksa Brigades (Fatah) terrorist near the Shomron city of Shechem this afternoon. Israel has information connecting him with attacks against Jews, and his organization is not a signatory to the hudna agreement.
The attacks in the Gush Katif block in Gaza began around 4:30 PM yesterday with two mortar shells at Gadid, followed an hour later by another one at adjacent N'vei Dekalim; no one was hurt. Dozens of Gush Katif residents went out to protest the opening of the critical Tancher Route - via which terrorists smuggle arms, weapons and themselves from one end of Gaza to the other - and blocked it for a short while. Beginning at 11 PM, three more shells hit Kfar Darom at intervals of several minutes, with the intent of hitting the soldiers and civilians who came to comb the area and help the wounded. Three people - a husband and wife, and a 15-year-old boy - were lightly wounded by shrapnel, and were taken to Soroka Hospital in Ashkelon; a fourth victim was treated for shock at the site.
Around midnight, for the first time since the "hudna" cease-fire took effect, the IDF returned fire towards where it was assumed the rockets were fired. Quiet reigned for about four hours, until an anti-tank rocket was fired at an Israeli tank near Ganei Tal, and shortly afterwards, a mortar shell was fired and exploded in the area of an IDF base near N'vei Dekalim. Israeli forces returned fire and an exchange of fire ensued; no Israelis were hurt.
In response to the renewal of Palestinian hostilities, the IDF took the "extreme" move of closing the Tancher Route - for a few hours. Gaza Coast Regional Council spokesman Eran Sternberg told Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson today that the exact extent of the "punishment" is not known, but he decried the "cheap price exacted by the government for the wounding of four citizens." He said that "like a drug addict who simply cannot 'kick the habit,' the government continues to make the same mistakes time after time, ignoring terrorist crimes… In November 2000, in the midst of cease-fire talks, a security agent of Muhammad Dahlan murdered two Jews in the greenhouses near Kfar Darom - and Dahlan granted him a posthumous promotion. There was no serious reaction, and in fact Israel made some gestures towards the PA - and two days later Dahlan's men carried out the infamous Kfar Darom bus bombing, killing two teachers and blowing off the limbs of the three Cohen children. The same scenario is repeating itself now."
Asher Mivtzari of Kfar Darom told Zalmanson, "Just as the bus bombing three years ago was a well-coordinated attack, so too was last night's barrage, with mortar shells, anti-tank shells, and shootings. The first shell that wounded the four people hit very close to the grocery store, which once a week is open late; if it had landed inside the building, people could have been killed. What used to happen in these cases is that the army would go into the Arab areas and search out the terrorists. Now the army is relying on the Palestinian police, and submitted a complaint - leaving the Palestinians cracking up laughing…"
Huberman also reported that IDF commanders in Judea and Gaza are unhappy with the latest diplomatic moves and the troop withdrawals that have been forced upon them. Several officers told Jewish residents that the latest withdrawals from northern Gaza and Bethlehem were carried out in defiance of IDF recommendations and are a "wanton crime."
This afternoon again, bullets were fired at IDF outposts in the area; no one was hurt, and IDF soldiers returned fire.
An IDF force arrested a senior Al Aksa Brigades (Fatah) terrorist near the Shomron city of Shechem this afternoon. Israel has information connecting him with attacks against Jews, and his organization is not a signatory to the hudna agreement.