Israel on Thursday lodged an official complaint with the United Nations about
the rocket fire into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip over the past several
days.
Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor complained to UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon that “the lives of about a million Israelis are paralyzed” by the
projectiles.
Three rockets were fired into Israel on Thursday night, one of which was intercepted by the Iron Dome rocket-defense system. They marked the first such attacks since early Thursday morning when seven missiles hit Israel, in
addition to one that was intercepted by the Iron Dome near Ashkelon. The IDF said that 130 rockets were fired into Israel since
Monday.
Prosor stated that “as long as Israel’s southern communities will
not know quiet, it will not be quiet in Gaza.”
He added that Israel fully
cooperates with the UN, allowing civilian material and humanitarian aid into
Gaza, “and in exchange weapons continue to flow into the Strip and rockets are
fired into Israel.”
On
Thursday afternoon, the IDF raised the level of alert along the Egyptian border
and ordered residents of communities located near Sinai to remain in their homes
and lock their doors. Rapid response teams hurried to the towns and the army
reinforced nearby forces out of concern that terrorists were planning another
attack from the Sinai Peninsula.
By the evening, the IDF lowered the
level of alert but kept Road 12 – along the border – closed due to a general
concern over attacks.
On Wednesday, the air force attacked a motorbike in
Rafah, seriously wounding a top global jihad operative who the army said was
planning another assault on Israel from Sinai.
Also on Thursday, the IDF
said that it had noticed an increase in the use of cellular phones to detonate
roadside bombs in the West Bank. The use of phones, the military said, had
declined in recent years but suddenly picked up again in late 2011. The IDF said
it also noticed an improvement in the camouflage used to hide the
bombs.
The most recent attack with cellular detonation was in April, when
a bomb exploded next to an IDF vehicle close to Yatta, south of
Hebron.
No one was injured. Last week, two residents of Yatta were
indicted for manufacturing bombs and planting them in the Hebron area.