Israel under fire March 2012
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Israel under fire March 2012

  • 3/18/2012
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    ​Since Friday, March 9, 2012, more than 200 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip, striking major population centers in southern Israel. More than 1,000,000 Israelis are living under the threat of rocket fire.
    Despite the rocket barrage, the crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid remain open.
  • Israelis take cover inside a sewage pipe used as shelter (Photo: Reuters)
     
    Since Friday, March 9, 2012, more than 200 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, striking major population centers in southern Israel. More than 1,000,000 Israelis are living under the threat of rocket fire. Terrorist groups such as the PRC (Popular Resistance Committees) are firing rockets into the cities of Ashdod, Beersheba, Yavne, Netivot and Ashkelon, as well as into the Eshkol and Shaar HaNegev regional councils.
      
    PM Netanyahu: "The recent activity is testimony to my government's policy - aggressive action in order to prevent Israeli citizens from being hurt and increasing home front defense. Our message is clear: Quiet will bring quiet. Whoever violates it or even tries to violate it - we will find him. We achieved precise hits on those who perpetrate terrorism, terrorist commanders, terrorism infrastructures and many missiles that were aimed at our cities and communities."
     
    Grad rocket explodes in Netivot, in residential parking lot, March 13 (Photo: Reuters)
     
     
    March 18: After a relatively quiet weekend, schools in the south are reopened as the south begins to return to a state of normalcy.
     
    March 14: The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted two Grad-type rockets launched toward Be'ersheva on Wednesday evening, while a third exploded in an open field.
    In response, IAF aircraft targeted a rocket launching site in the northern Gaza Strip and a terror tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
    March 13: The informal truce declared on March 13 was broken by four rockets and seven mortar shells fired at Israel. A Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in a parking lot in the heart of Netivot on Tuesday evening (13 March). A man was lightly hurt by shrapnel and 20 people were treated for shock. Damage was caused to several vehicles and an apartment building.
    In response, the Israel Air Force struck two terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, after having refrained from aerial attacks on the Gaza Strip throughout the day.
     
     
     
    Ashdod struck by rockets - March 12, 2012 (Photos: Reuters)
    Ashdod struck by rockets - March 12, 2012 (Photos: Reuters)
     
     

    PRC spokesman Abu Mujahid admits Hamas allows attacks against Israel
     
    Host: "The Palestinian street in Gaza is partly suspicious and says that the Palestinian government (in Gaza) didn't allow you in the Resistance freedom of action and didn't allow you freedom of response. Has the Palestinian government allowed you freedom of response and opened the entire scope in front of you?"
     
    Abu Mujahid: "What I can say is that the government in Gaza didn't prevent us from doing a thing with regard to our Resistance activity. No one can prevent this activity. That's one point. The other point is that the government in Gaza truly didn’t prevent us from responding to this aggression."
     
    Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip and systematically executed Fatah supporters in June 2007. During the violent coup, Hamas terrorists threw Fatah officials from high buildings in Gaza. By allowing the PRC to operate as an ostensibly independent group, Hamas is able to carry out terror attacks against Israelis while maintaining an official stance of "restraint".
     
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    PM Netanyahu at the Knesset (12 March): "The IDF is continuing to strongly and decisively attack the terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Whoever intends to harm our citizens - we will strike at him. The winning combination is that of crushing offensive capabilities, i.e. the ability of the IDF and its operations to attack the terrorists wherever they are, important defensive measures and of course the resilience of the citizens in the south. This combination of three things - offensive ability, defensive ability and civic resilience - allows us to accurately and painfully strike at terrorism. The IDF is ready to expand its operations and continue them as necessary."
    PM Netanyahu to Cabinet on situation in south: "Last Friday, an arch-terrorist who organized many attacks against the State of Israel was eliminated." 
     
     
    Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, 11 March 2012:
     
    "Last Friday, an arch-terrorist who organized many attacks against the State of Israel was eliminated. He was in the midst of planning another attack that was directed at our southern border with Egypt. We are still on alert regarding the attack and I have ordered the closure of the road on the Egyptian border.
     
    But there is no doubt that IDF operations have disrupted the organizing for the attack; of course, time will tell to what extent. Naturally, this led to another round with the Popular Resistance Committees, Islamic Jihad and other groups. We are still in the midst of this round. The IDF is striking at them in strength. I would like to commend this operation and the security and intelligence services. We have exacted from them a very high price; naturally, we will act as necessary.
     
    I must also point out that the Iron Dome system has proven itself very well and we will, of course, see to its expansion in the months and years ahead. We will do everything in our power to expand the deployment of this system. In the end, the strongest force at our disposal is the fortitude of the residents, of the council heads, of Israelis and of the Government. We are taking the necessary defensive and aggressive measures and I have no doubt that with this combination, along with the necessary fortitude, we will overcome these terrorist threats around us."
     
     
    Photos: Reuters - March 11, 2012
    • Israelis run for cover as a siren warning of incoming rockets is sounded in Ashdod
    • Israelis take cover inside a sewage pipe used as shelter
    • Wall of a school in Beersheba damaged by a rocket
    • Israeli police explosives expert surveys a chicken coop destroyed by a rocket
     
     

    • More than 30 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza by mid-day Monday (March 12), two exploding near Gedera, just 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. Another exploded in Ashdod, where a woman sustained minor shrapnel wounds. Stores and cars also sustained considerable damage.

    • On Sunday, March 11, two Grad-type rockets fell in Be'ersheba when the Iron Dome battery in the city malfunctioned. One rocket hit a school, which was empty as schools had been closed, and the other hit a parked car. Fifteen people were treated for shock. The rockets and the ball bearings they ejected caused heavy damage to buildings and vehicles.
      Another rocket hit a chicken coop in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, causing heavy damage.

    • In light of the ongoing rocket attacks, some 200,000 pupils remain at home again on Monday, as schools remain closed in Be'ersheba, Ofakim, Ashdod, Yavneh, Ashkelon, Kiryat Malakhi and Netivot, and in all the other smaller communities between seven and 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.

    • On Friday, March 9, four people were wounded, one severely. On March 10, a mare was killed and a home near Ashdod was damaged by a direct rocket  hit.

    • The Iron Dome system has intercepted about 90% of the rockets fired at Be'ersheba, Ashdod and Ashkelon.

    • The terrorist squads are launching their rockets from densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip, including Bet Lahiya, Jabaliya, Rafah, Gaza, and El-Bureij.

    • Despite the rocket barrage, the Erez Crossing into Gaza is open for passengers and employees of international organizations. Despite a mortar attack on March 12, Kerem Shalom is open for the delivery of goods from Israel into Gaza.
      With the exception of chemical fertilizers and other goods that can assist terror groups, there is no restriction on the supplies that can enter the Gaza Strip.
      
     
     
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  • IDF Spokesperson

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    On Friday, March 9, in a combined IDF-ISA operation, IAF aircraft targeted two members of the Popular Resistance Committee terror organization in the Gaza Strip - a senior operative, Zuhir Mussah Ahmed Kaisi, and a collaborator, Mahmud Ahmed Mahmud Hananni. The squad was responsible for planning a combined terror attack that was to take place via the Sinai Peninsula and the Israel-Egypt border in the coming days. A direct hit was confirmed. In light of situation assessments and security considerations, and following the targeting of the terror squad involved in the planning of a combined terror attack on the Israel-Egypt border, route 12 has been closed for traffic.
     
    Zuhir Kaisi, born in 1963, from Gaza City, was the head of the Popular Resistance Committee terror organization and was also its political commander. Kaisi was among the leaders who planned, funded, and directed the combined terror attack that took place on Route 12 in August 2011, in which eight people were killed and 40 wounded. Kaisi was also involved in rocket fire at Israel, as well as in the attack on the Nahal Oz fuel terminal in April 2008, in which two Israeli citizens were killed. In addition, Kaisi was in charge of transferring funds from Hizbullah to terror organizations in the Gaza Strip.
     
    Following the strike, terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip launched a rocket and mortar barrage directly targeting Israeli civilians. The barrage is currently ongoing.
     
    On Friday night, IAF aircraft targeted two weapon manufactoring facilities and two rocker launching sites in the nothern Gaza Strip, a weapon manufactoring sites in the central Gaza Strip and a terror activity sites in the southern Gaza Strip. The targeting was in direct response to the rockets fired at Israeli southern communities. In addition IAF aircraft targeted a terrorist in the central Gaza Strip and six addtional terrorist squads who were in the final stages of preparing to fire rockets at Israel from separate locations in the nothern and central Gaza Stirp.
     
    On March 10, in response of the ongoing rocket fire at Israel, IAF aircraft targeted two terror activity sites in the northern and southern Gaza Strip, and a weapon storage facility in the northern Gaza Strip.
     
    On Sunday morning (March 11), IAF aircraft targeted a terrorist at a rocket launching site in the northern Gaza Strip from which two rockets were fired at the city of Ashdod a short time beforehand, and later targeted a terrorist, moments before he was to fire a Grad rocket at the city of Ashdod. Overnight, IAF aircraft targeted a weapons storage facility and four rocket launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as a rocket launching site in the southern Gaza Strip.
     
    On Monday (12 March), IAF aircraft targeted a terrorist squad was identified preparing to launch rockets at Israel from within a residential area in the northern Gaza Strip. This is a blatant example of how terror organizations use human shields to carry out terror attacks from the heart of urban areas. In addition, IAF aircraft targeted two rocket launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip and a terror tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
     
     
     
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