Two more Kassam rockets were fired at Israeli targets this morning, with one landing in an open field in the city of Sderot, and another in an agricultural area nearby. No damage was reported. Sources in the IDF, which has created a security zone around northeastern Gaza specifically to prevent such launchings, say they will probably have to expand the zone. Southern Region Commander Gen. Dan Har'el said last night that if "Palestinian terrorism does not quickly subside, the army will be forced to enter additional areas, including the Jebalya camp."
Gen. Har'el was speaking to reporters following yesterday's incident in which two high-ranking officers and three soldiers were wounded in a powerful bomb attack on an IDF vehicle near Morag. Col. Pinchas (Pinky) Zuaretz, commander of the southern brigade in Gaza, lost a foot in the attack, and Col. Yossi Turjeman, responsible for the disengagement plan on behalf of the IDF, was lightly hurt.
Gen. Har'el said that even after Col. Pinky was hit, "he remained cool and alert, and continued giving commands to his soldiers." He emphasized that though the public is generally unaware, "the difficult warfare continues in many places - in Beit Hanoun, the Philadelphi Route, and elsewhere in Gaza."
In two other incidents last night, Arab gunmen fired an anti-tank shell at an army post near N'vei Dekalim, and a bomb was detonated alongside an IDF force in Rafiach; no one was hurt.
Two Israeli youths reported that an Arab driver attempted to abduct them last night near Modiin. They said they were hitchhiking when the Arab stopped for them, tried to force them into his car, and then drove off after a struggle with them. Not far from the scene, he crashed into a fence and then escaped on foot into the Arab village Naalin. The police have arrested a suspect who matches the assailant's description.
Gen. Har'el was speaking to reporters following yesterday's incident in which two high-ranking officers and three soldiers were wounded in a powerful bomb attack on an IDF vehicle near Morag. Col. Pinchas (Pinky) Zuaretz, commander of the southern brigade in Gaza, lost a foot in the attack, and Col. Yossi Turjeman, responsible for the disengagement plan on behalf of the IDF, was lightly hurt.
Gen. Har'el said that even after Col. Pinky was hit, "he remained cool and alert, and continued giving commands to his soldiers." He emphasized that though the public is generally unaware, "the difficult warfare continues in many places - in Beit Hanoun, the Philadelphi Route, and elsewhere in Gaza."
In two other incidents last night, Arab gunmen fired an anti-tank shell at an army post near N'vei Dekalim, and a bomb was detonated alongside an IDF force in Rafiach; no one was hurt.
Two Israeli youths reported that an Arab driver attempted to abduct them last night near Modiin. They said they were hitchhiking when the Arab stopped for them, tried to force them into his car, and then drove off after a struggle with them. Not far from the scene, he crashed into a fence and then escaped on foot into the Arab village Naalin. The police have arrested a suspect who matches the assailant's description.