Qassam lands near house in Sderot

After a period of relative calm in south Israel, a Qassam rocket fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed in the courtyard of a house in Sderot Tuesday afternoon, causing slight damage to several adjacent structures.

No injuries were reported in the attack, which occurred at around 5:30 pm, but several people were being treated at the scene for shock.

"We were sitting in the yard when the 'Color Red' siren sounded," the owner of the house said. "It surprised us because it's been a while since we last heard the sirens. We ran into the house and hid in one of the rooms, and then heard a loud explosion; that was when I realized that a rocket had landed near the house.

Fortunately there were no injuries, but we were all very frightened. I hope the neighbors are alright as well, because the homes here are built close together," he said.

At the beginning of the month Palestinian terrorists launched a Qassam and a mortar shell towards Israel, but there were no reports of injury or damage. In April a total of six rockets and two mortars were fired towards the western Negev territory.

Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin went before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday and briefed its members on various matters concerning the fragile armistice with Hamas.

"If the Palestinian Authority were to hold general elections now, it is highly likely that Hamas would win," he said. Shifting his attention to the PA's efforts to fight terror, Diskin noted that despite recent achievements, "Most of the (terror) preventions are ours."

Israel, he added, stands little chance of maintaining viable peace negotiations as long as Hamas rules the Strip. "Hamas will never relinquish its hold on Gaza and the PA will never relinquish the West Bank. A (Palestinian) unity government will form only under extreme international pressure," he said.