The three Kassam rockets exploded harmlessly near Sederot and in nearby kibbutz fields, an area referred to as the western Negev and approximately the same distance as Gush Katif from the same terrorist populated areas of Gaza and Khan Yunis.
Israel's major news web sites ignored or barely mentioned the Sunday morning shelling of a Gush Katif school. The Ynet web site operated by Yediot Aharonot, Israel's most widely read Hebrew daily, did not mention the shelling of the girls' school in Atzmona and instead reported that the Kassam rockets near Sederot exploded "after a relatively quiet period."
Sederot and the western Negev kibbutzim, despite their proximity to the heavily concentrated Arab centers, are within the borders that existed before 1967. However, the government's disengagement plan calls for transferring only the Jews in Gush Katif. The program, if approved, would result in handing over the Jewish land to Arabs and withdrawing troops from the entire area, including terrorist populated cities within sight of western Negev kibbutzim. Several kibbutzim are closer to Arab cities than are many of the communities in Gush Katif slated for destruction.
In the shelling on the Atzmona school in Gush Katif, a class of eighth grade miraculously escaped injury when a shell exploded in the courtyard next to the classroom. The mortar shell damaged an adjacent empty computer classroom, and several girls were treated for shock. Almost none of the Israeli media except for Arutz-7 detailed the incident until the next day, following the Arutz-7 report.
The Hebrew newspaper's Maariv web site mentioned the shelling at the end of a report on IDF fire on terrorists near the Egyptian border, where Israeli soldiers Sunday night killed one and injured another. A third terrorist, identified by Palestinian Authority spokesmen as a doctor, later was killed by Army artillery fire. Maariv headlined the story "Doctor Killed by Tank Fire".
The Ynet site also reported that defense officials conclude almost no rockets have been fired recently on the Sederot-Negev area because of the Army's Days of Repentance maneuvers two months ago. But the report added there has been an increase in mortar shells fired at Jewish communities in Gush Katif.
Gush Katif spokeswoman Debbie Rosen told Arutz-7 Sunday that residents do not accept Army explanations they are doing the "maximum" to prevent the shelling. More than 4,800 rockets or mortar shells have landed in the area in four years, causing extensive damage and injuries. One girl died two months ago after being hit by a shell. "Each one can cause death if it is a direct hit," Rosen said. She called on the government to allow the Army to repeat the Days of Repentance campaign and put an end to the daily blasts.
Ra'anan Gissin, a senior aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was quoted in Haaretz as saying that Israel has reduced military operations in the area and that Israeli and PA security forces are "cooperating."
The English daily Jerusalem Post made no mention on its web site of the rocket fire on the Atzmona school.
Israel's major news web sites ignored or barely mentioned the Sunday morning shelling of a Gush Katif school. The Ynet web site operated by Yediot Aharonot, Israel's most widely read Hebrew daily, did not mention the shelling of the girls' school in Atzmona and instead reported that the Kassam rockets near Sederot exploded "after a relatively quiet period."
Sederot and the western Negev kibbutzim, despite their proximity to the heavily concentrated Arab centers, are within the borders that existed before 1967. However, the government's disengagement plan calls for transferring only the Jews in Gush Katif. The program, if approved, would result in handing over the Jewish land to Arabs and withdrawing troops from the entire area, including terrorist populated cities within sight of western Negev kibbutzim. Several kibbutzim are closer to Arab cities than are many of the communities in Gush Katif slated for destruction.
In the shelling on the Atzmona school in Gush Katif, a class of eighth grade miraculously escaped injury when a shell exploded in the courtyard next to the classroom. The mortar shell damaged an adjacent empty computer classroom, and several girls were treated for shock. Almost none of the Israeli media except for Arutz-7 detailed the incident until the next day, following the Arutz-7 report.
The Hebrew newspaper's Maariv web site mentioned the shelling at the end of a report on IDF fire on terrorists near the Egyptian border, where Israeli soldiers Sunday night killed one and injured another. A third terrorist, identified by Palestinian Authority spokesmen as a doctor, later was killed by Army artillery fire. Maariv headlined the story "Doctor Killed by Tank Fire".
The Ynet site also reported that defense officials conclude almost no rockets have been fired recently on the Sederot-Negev area because of the Army's Days of Repentance maneuvers two months ago. But the report added there has been an increase in mortar shells fired at Jewish communities in Gush Katif.
Gush Katif spokeswoman Debbie Rosen told Arutz-7 Sunday that residents do not accept Army explanations they are doing the "maximum" to prevent the shelling. More than 4,800 rockets or mortar shells have landed in the area in four years, causing extensive damage and injuries. One girl died two months ago after being hit by a shell. "Each one can cause death if it is a direct hit," Rosen said. She called on the government to allow the Army to repeat the Days of Repentance campaign and put an end to the daily blasts.
Ra'anan Gissin, a senior aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was quoted in Haaretz as saying that Israel has reduced military operations in the area and that Israeli and PA security forces are "cooperating."
The English daily Jerusalem Post made no mention on its web site of the rocket fire on the Atzmona school.