Palestinian Unity Government forces celebrated the onset of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, with a massive round of rocket fire at civilians targets in Israel. At least 14 rockets have pounded southern Israel since last night (overnight between Sunday and Monday). As of this writing , two people have been treated for shock, and two homes have been damaged by by rocket shrapnel.
The barrage was a Palestinian reaction to last night’s massive display of Jewish in Tel Aviv, where 100,000 Israelis gathered to sing and pray for the safe return of Eyal Yifrah, Gil-Ad Sha’ar and Naftali Fraenkel.
The last day of school will be held as usual today in the Eshkol Regional Council, which abuts the Gaza border. Ynet reported that school buses will be escorted by regional security officers.
Chaim Yellin, head of true Eshkol Regional Council, told Ynet, “The deterrence we’ve enjoyed since Operation Pillar of Defense is withering. The government of Israel has two arms, diplomatic and military, and both must be used wisely in order to restore a sense of quiet to the Gaza Belt region.
Netanyahu: IDF Preparing Widespread Operation
In response to the rocket fire, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Sunday night at that the IDF is preparing a wide scale operation in Gaza to reign in the cross-border attacks. Israel Air Force pilots have neutralised several Hamas- and Islamic Jihad sites around the Gaza Strip in recent days. However, senior Israeli officials also say they recognise the fact that isolated, defensive attacks against the terrorist infrastructure has not deterred the terrorists from attacking Israeli civilians.
“We (the IDF) are prepared for any eventuality. We know how to respond to any incident. As soon as we get the green light, we will conduct this operation in the best way possible,” one IDF officer told the Hebrew-language 0404 website reported Monday.