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Rules of the game have changed, Moyal says. Qassam rocket
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Sderot mayor: IDF 'soft' on Qassam fire

Eli Moyal slams IDF policy against Qassam rocket launchers after Monday’s attack on southern community

The IDF’s “soft” response to Monday’s barrage of Qassam rockets at Sderot encourages the Palestinians to continue attacking us, Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal told Ynet on Tuesday.

 

“The IDF should not respond to their (rocket-launchers) attacks, but rather immobilized them completely,” Moyal said.

 

The “Red Dawn” alert system in the southern town of Sderot identified at least five Qassam rockets launched at the community Monday afternoon, city hall spokesman Yossi Cohen said.

 

In response to the attack, IDF forces directed artillery fire at Qassam rocket launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip. Later, the Air Force fired missiles at rocket launching sites in the area. Meanwhile, all Gaza border crossings have been closed down, while Air Force jets continued to fly over the Strip and create sonic booms.

 

“This is not the response we were expecting following the barrage of Qassam rockets,” Moyal continued.

 

“According to the new rules of the game, a senior (terror group leader is killed, they fire Qassams and the IDF fires back with the intent of not hurting anyone."

 

'People are angry'

 

Sderot resident Gili Bohadana said, “It’s scary, there’s no other way to describe the lousy feeling you get when you know a Qassam rocket may serve as your main dish at the family dinner.

 

“People are angry, and I can understand them,” he said.

 

“My home is located about one kilometer (1.6 miles) from Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia (Gaza). On a clear day you can see Fatma hanging up the laundry while her son Mahmoud plays soccer in the street – they should be afraid; they should be in hiding; they should not be able to sleep at night. Better them than us. We are fed up. We simply want to live.”

 

A senior IDF officer told Ynet, “We expected the Palestinian Authority to prevent the Qassam fire, but as it has not done so, we responded harshly after the initial barrage. We will continue to be on alert and prepared to respond at any moment.

 

“We will not allow the terror groups create a situation in which each time we deal with a ticking bomb in the West Bank they will respond with fire from Gaza toward Israeli civilian population,” he said.

 

'Karni, Erez crossings to be reopened'

 

According to the officer, following the targeted killing of Islamic Jihad commander Louie Sa'adi in Tul Karm on Sunday the IDF obtained intelligence information regarding Islamic Jihad’s plan to fire mortars and Qassams at Israel.

 

“We turned to the PA and demanded they deal with it; in our estimation, this would not have been such a difficult task – if they would have deployed their people at the launching sites and ‘taken care of’ one or two terrorists, the barrage could have been prevented,” he said.

 

“The Palestinian population is well aware that it is impossible to link our policy against ticking bombs who want to murder innocent people with the terror groups’ plans to fire Qassams at innocent civilians.”

 

The officer said he estimates that the Karni and Erez crossings, which were shut down following the Qassam rocket fire, will soon be reopened so as not to harm the Palestinians’ daily routine.

 

Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.25.05, 20:56
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