The IDF vowed to respond to a renewal in rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on
Wednesday night.
The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted a
rocket that was fired toward Beersheba and two rockets that were fired toward
Ashkelon.
RELATED:'PA silence over terror raises questions about statehood'
'Iran cuts funding for Hamas due to Syria unrest'A nine-month-old girl was lightly wounded in the hand when a
Grad-type rocket scored a direct hit on an empty car south of
Ashkelon.
The baby was outdoors with a parent when the rocket struck an empty vehicle nearby, causing the injury. The vehicle caught fire and the baby was taken for medical treatment.
The
late evening salvo of more than 10 rockets came after three days of quiet, since
Hamas declared Gazan groups would stop launching rockets at Israel on Sunday
night.
Earlier Wednesday, at least seven rockets hit near Ashkelon and in
Ofakim. The rockets were believed to be fired by Islamic Jihad, supposedly in
response to an Israel Air Force air strike earlier in the day that killed a
senior operative who the IDF said was planning attacks against Israel from the
Sinai Peninsula.
Four rockets struck in the Eshkol Regional Council and
another two hit open land near Ofakim shortly after another rocket fell in an
open field north of the Gaza Strip near Ashkelon. No one was injured in the
strikes.
The IDF had prepared for the rocket fire following the air
strike against the Islamic Jihad operative and canceled the Briza Festival in
Ashkelon that was scheduled for Wednesday night.
In what appeared to be
part of an IDF response to the renewed rocket fire, the IAF bombed an Islamic
Jihad rocket cell in Gaza City. Palestinians reported one dead and several
wounded.
Later in the day, two more terrorists were killed in air strikes
against rocket cells.
Palestinian news agency Ma’an said the first man
killed was Ismail al-Asmar, a field commander in the Al-Quds Brigade, the
Islamic Jihad’s “military wing.” A spokesman for a medical service run by Hamas
said two other people were wounded in the strike.
“Israel will pay a
heavy price for this crime,” the Al-Quds Brigade said in a
statement.
Defense officials said that the IDF would continue to strike
at terror cells that it spotted preparing to fire rockets into Israel, and against terrorists who it knew,
according to intelligence information, were in the midst of planning attacks
against Israel, as it did on Wednesday morning.
“This could lead to
another escalation in rocket fire, but the IDF will not stand by as Israelis are
attacked,” one official said.
Also Wednesday, IDF Chief of General Staff
Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz instituted new defensive measures along the border with
Egypt on Wednesday, out of fear indicating that Palestinians were planning more
attacks.
Gantz’s orders went into effect in the afternoon and included a
stronger emphasis on the collection of intelligence by the IDF in the Gaza Strip
and Sinai in an effort to locate and track terrorists who may be planning
attacks against Israel.
The IDF has maintained a high level of alert
along the border since last Thursday’s attacks, when a number of gunmen
affiliated with the Popular Resistance Committees infiltrated Israel and killed
eight people.
A military probe into the incident, presented earlier this
week to the Egyptians by OC Planning Directorate Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel,
discovered that three Egyptians, including an escaped convict, had participated
in the attack alongside PRC operatives from the Gaza Strip.
The results
of the investigation were presented to the Egyptians to prove the IDF did not
intentionally shoot at Egyptian policemen who were killed in the crossfire
between Israeli soldiers and terrorists on the Egyptian side of the
border.
Eshel played audio tapes for the Egyptians in which OC Southern
Command Maj.-Gen. Tal Russo is heard warning soldiers and attack helicopters to
be careful not to hit the Egyptian policemen.
Gantz’s decisions regarding
the border also pertained to the operational doctrine of the Navy Command Center
in Eilat, which is responsible for protecting the South from threats originating
in the Red Sea.
“These are important changes that come in response to the
serious threat that Israel faces today from the Sinai Peninsula,” a military
source said.
The IDF said Gantz was also looking into ways to complete
the construction of another 100 km. of fence along the Sinai border by the end
of the year.
Since construction began in late 2010, the Defense Ministry
has completed the construction of 30 km.
Reuters contributed to this
report
