Leparisien.fr avec AFP
samedi 28 février 2009
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En raison du Shabbat, le repos hebdomadaire juif, l’école était vide. « Auparavant, deux roquettes tirées depuis le nord de la bande de Gaza se sont abattues sans faire de victime sur le sud du territoire israélien », a-t-il encore indiqué.
Dans la nuit, un autre engin tiré depuis le centre de la bande de Gaza est tombé sur le sud d’Israël, également sans faire de blessé. Ces tirs sont survenus en dépit du cessez-le-feu entré en vigueur le 18 janvier ayant mis fin à l’offensive militaire israélienne contre la bande de Gaza.
Cette opération avait pour but déclaré de mettre un terme aux tirs de roquettes et d’obus de mortier à partir de Gaza, mais une centaine de ces engins ont été tirés depuis la fin de l’opération.
Grad rocket that penetrated school's fortification was of a type rarely fired, with vast potential for damage
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Shmulik Hadad
| Published: | 02.28.09, 19:46 / Israel News |
| Palestinian fire on the Negev continued Saturday, with terrorist groups making use of more advanced weaponry. Experts say the two Grad rockets that landed in Ashkelon Saturday morning were new and improved models, capable of greater destruction than those usually fired from Gaza. One of the rockets hit a school in the southern city, and succeeded in penetrating the fortification used to protect it from projectiles. Two tractors required to pull rocket from ground (Photo: AP) Police said Saturday evening that since the end of Israel's offensive in Gaza 63 rockets and mortar shells have hit the battered South, lightly wounding four people and causing 14 to suffer from shock. The Grad rockets that hit Ashkelon were two of only five or six locally manufactured 170 mm rockets ever fired at Israel, experts say. The rarely used rockets have a range of 14 km (8.6 miles) and are capable of massive damage, evident from the destruction witnesses described on the scene of Saturday's attack. Two tractors were required to pull the rocket from the ground in which it had become lodged. Two Qassam rockets were also fired at the Negev Saturday. The first landed in open spaces near a kibbutz in Shaar HaNegev Regional Council, and residents reported that the Color Red alert, set to warn against incoming projectiles, was not sounded in the kibbutz. It was sounded in another town in the area, however. Another Qassam rocket landed in Eshkol Regional Council in the evening. No injuries or damage were reported in either of the attacks. Ashkelon Municipality has planned an emergency meeting for Saturday night regarding the city's schools, and whether they should continue to function regularly despite the frequent attacks. |
Ashkelon Parents' Committee Chairman Yinon Jibli said a final decision would be reached at the meeting's end. "We will respect the municipality's decision but it seems the entire city should be halted tomorrow and not just the school system. Today was proof of that," he said.
Last weekend the Parents' Committee sent a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak demanding to fortify more of Ashkelon's education facilities.
"For a number of years now the children of Ashkelon have been serving as hostages in the hands of Hamas' reign of terror," the letter said in an allusion to kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas in Gaza.
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