(Ha'aretz) Nir Hasson - In the three months since the Israel Defense Forces left Gaza, Kassam rockets have been launched at Israel on an almost daily basis. A total of 239 rockets have been fired at Israel since Sep. 15, according to the Red Dawn warning system which monitors Kassam launches. Of these, only 160 rockets landed in Israel: many fell short, landing inside the Gaza Strip. The evacuation of northern Gaza enabled the Palestinians to move their launch sites closer to Israel. Therefore, even without improving the rockets' range, they are able to hit the industrial zone south of Ashkelon. Kassams also have begun to land in other areas of southern Israel that had not experienced rocket fire before the disengagement, such as Moshav Shuba, hit by three rockets - one hit a house, damaging the building and sending residents into shock. The pace of the launches has increased over the last two weeks.
2005-12-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive