IDF forces are active in and around Beit Hanoun, in the northeast corner of the Gaza Strip, operating to prevent Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot, only two miles to the east. The forces have created a security buffer zone around the city, aiming to prevent Kassams from being fired within a five-mile range of Sderot. "We will remain there for as long as necessary," Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said yesterday, "even, if we have to, until the disengagement." He did not say how Sderot would be protected after the disengagement.
The forces are not concentrated in Beit Hanoun itself, but have cut off all entrances to the city except one, which they are closely monitoring. This, to prevent the introduction of additional Kassam missiles to the city. Areas from where rockets have been fired in the past have been shaved of all their camouflaging shrubbery and growth. Arab farmers are not being permitted to their fields, and the Beit Hanoun industrial zone is closed; to prevent the build-up of humanitarian problems, the army has established a unit to deal with special requests and the delivery of food and merchandise.
The forces are not concentrated in Beit Hanoun itself, but have cut off all entrances to the city except one, which they are closely monitoring. This, to prevent the introduction of additional Kassam missiles to the city. Areas from where rockets have been fired in the past have been shaved of all their camouflaging shrubbery and growth. Arab farmers are not being permitted to their fields, and the Beit Hanoun industrial zone is closed; to prevent the build-up of humanitarian problems, the army has established a unit to deal with special requests and the delivery of food and merchandise.