Gaza rocket attacks miss the mark

Of 37 Kassams fired, only 10 landed in the western Negev, the rest fell in Gaza.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
kassam lands 88 (photo credit: )
kassam lands 88
(photo credit: )
Since the October 24 targeted killing of Islamic Jihad commander Luay Sa'adi in Tulkarm, who was responsible for the deaths of at least 10 Israelis, only 10 Kassam rockets out of 37 fired at Israel actually exploded in the western Negev. The rest fell inside the Gaza Strip, sources in Southern Command told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. According to the officials, the continued clampdown and ongoing military activities against terrorists responsible for firing Kassam rockets and mortar shells is starting to reap benefits. Operations conducted by artillery units positioned outside the Gaza border fence, which shell areas identified as rocket-launching sites, as well as air force sorties over the Gaza Strip have pushed terrorists back towards the sea, distancing them from Israel's border, officials said. Because of this, two-thirds of the rockets fired at Israel end up exploding in Palestinian-controlled areas. On Sunday afternoon a Palestinian man was seriously wounded when a stray Kassam rocket fired by terrorists hit his home in Deir el-Ballah in central Gaza. In January this year, a young Palestinian girl, Ibtihal Mithqal Abu Thaher, 10, was killed and her brother was wounded when their home was hit by a stray Kassam rocket in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza. Also Sunday afternoon, police sappers were called to dismantle the remains of three Kassam rockets apparently fired at the western Negev some days ago. Two of the rockets were found near Kibbutz Nahal Oz and one near Kibbutz Alumim. Military sappers dismantled a 30-kilogram bomb that had been placed by terrorists near the northern Gaza security fence not far from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. In the West Bank, security forces arrested two fugitives, one in Bethlehem and one in Tsurif southwest of Bethlehem.