Israel retaliates with air strikes in Gaza
Israel has carried out air strikes on targets in Gaza after militants in the territory fired a rocket into the Jewish city of Ashkelon, the first such attack in more than a year.
Israeli soldiers walk past Palestinian protestors during a demonstration in Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah Photo: AFP
Late Friday aircraft shot at least four missiles at buildings used by Hamas security forces in Gaza City, wounding eight, medics said.
Warplanes also hit smuggling tunnels on the border with Egypt, without causing casualties, witnesses said.
Palestinians reported several explosions in Gaza City and Israeli aircraft could be heard flying over the territory.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The earlier rocket attack, seen by some observers as an attempt to undermine the possible resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, marked a significant escalation in the attritional campaign Islamist groups based in Gaza have waged on Israeli civilians living nearby.
It came a day after Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo told Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, that they would not stand in his way if he decided to talk to Israel face-to-face.
Although not thought to have been behind the attack, Hamas – long a bitter rival of Mr Abbas's secular Fatah party – attacked the Arab ministers for their support, however ambiguous, for renewed negotiations.
"They do not want to show that they're shying away from their decisions, so they came up with a vague result, saying neither 'yes' nor 'no' to an immediate resumption of direct negotiations," Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas's political wing, said from his headquarters in Damascus.
According to Israeli police, a 122-mm Chinese-made Grad rocket struck a residential area of the city shortly after 8.30am, damaging a nearby apartment block and destroying several cars. There were no casualties. It was only the fourth such attack on Ashqelon since Israel's ended its controversial military offensive against Gaza in January last year.
Since then, Hamas has refrained from launching rockets, a daily occurrence before the Israeli incursion, known as Operation Cast Lead.
Smaller rivals, however, have not abided by the unofficial ceasefire, firing more than 100 rockets into Israel this year, killing one man. Although Israel has frequently retaliated, it has done so in a limited fashion.
But yesterday's attack is likely to draw a more significant response. The Grad is more sophisticated and has a much heavier payload than the crudely-fashioned Qassam rockets, made in Gaza, that are the stock-in-trade for most of the territory's armed groups. As such, it could easily have caused casualties.
"No doubt, this is the most serious event since Operation Cast Lead," Benny Vakin, the mayor of Ashqelon said. "Hundreds of people live here. It's just luck that no one was killed."
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said he was taking the attack "very seriously", while the foreign ministry warned of a significant response. The United Nations also condemned the attack.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The earlier rocket attack, seen by some observers as an attempt to undermine the possible resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, marked a significant escalation in the attritional campaign Islamist groups based in Gaza have waged on Israeli civilians living nearby.
It came a day after Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo told Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, that they would not stand in his way if he decided to talk to Israel face-to-face.
Although not thought to have been behind the attack, Hamas – long a bitter rival of Mr Abbas's secular Fatah party – attacked the Arab ministers for their support, however ambiguous, for renewed negotiations.
"They do not want to show that they're shying away from their decisions, so they came up with a vague result, saying neither 'yes' nor 'no' to an immediate resumption of direct negotiations," Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas's political wing, said from his headquarters in Damascus.
According to Israeli police, a 122-mm Chinese-made Grad rocket struck a residential area of the city shortly after 8.30am, damaging a nearby apartment block and destroying several cars. There were no casualties. It was only the fourth such attack on Ashqelon since Israel's ended its controversial military offensive against Gaza in January last year.
Since then, Hamas has refrained from launching rockets, a daily occurrence before the Israeli incursion, known as Operation Cast Lead.
Smaller rivals, however, have not abided by the unofficial ceasefire, firing more than 100 rockets into Israel this year, killing one man. Although Israel has frequently retaliated, it has done so in a limited fashion.
But yesterday's attack is likely to draw a more significant response. The Grad is more sophisticated and has a much heavier payload than the crudely-fashioned Qassam rockets, made in Gaza, that are the stock-in-trade for most of the territory's armed groups. As such, it could easily have caused casualties.
"No doubt, this is the most serious event since Operation Cast Lead," Benny Vakin, the mayor of Ashqelon said. "Hundreds of people live here. It's just luck that no one was killed."
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said he was taking the attack "very seriously", while the foreign ministry warned of a significant response. The United Nations also condemned the attack.
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