Thread: Rockets and mortars fired from Gaza force more than 500K people into bomb shelters

Rockets and mortars fired from Gaza force more than 500,000 people into bomb shelters

August 21, 2011

The barrage of rockets and mortars fired into southern Israel continued Sunday, with the military reporting 17 such attacks by early morning.

A day earlier, 64 rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza, forcing more than 500,000 people into bomb shelters, defense officials said. At least one person was killed in an attack in Beer Sheva, authorities said.

The Saturday projectiles struck at least seven cities in a cycle of militant attacks and Israeli reprisals that began four days ago with coordinated strikes against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

On Thursday, a string of bold attacks on buses, cars and security personnel left six Israeli civilians and one soldier dead, authorities said.

It was the deadliest attack against the Israeli population in two years.

The attacks occurred about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Israeli city of Eilat, close to the Israeli-Egyptian border. Israeli soldiers exchanged gunfire with the assailants and killed seven militants, the military said.

Since then, Israel has launched two retaliatory airstrikes, targeting what the Israeli Defence Forces said were militant sites.

Early Saturday, the Hamas military wing Izzedine al Qassam Brigades, announced it was ending a de facto two-year truce with Israel.

The series of attacks and airstrikes have increased tensions in the region, and comes a month before the Palestinians plan to make a bid for statehood in the United Nations.

Israel believes the attacks have their roots in Gaza, but are coming out of the neighboring Egyptian region of Sinai. Egypt denies the allegation, saying it has been cracking down on terror groups in its portion of the Sinai.

The Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza and Hamas denied involvement in Thursday's attacks. Hamas has said Israel was looking for a pretext to attack Gaza.

Israel seized Gaza, the West Bank and other territory during the 1967 Six-Day War.

President Barack Obama earlier this year called on negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to be based on border demarcations pre-dating the 1967 war.

Israeli leaders have been vehemently opposed to such a move.

On Saturday, the Mideast Quartet -- the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- issued a statement voicing its concerns over "the unsustainable situation in Gaza as well as the risk of escalation" and the group of negotiators "calls for restraint from all sides."

From CNN.com

This is just business as usual in Israel...these skirmishes happen every couple of years.

Its terrible...but I doubt the shit is going to hit the fan.