Israel said Tuesday morning that Palestinian forces in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus reportedly attempted to fire a Qassam missile into Israel sometime before dawn. Israeli troops positioned near this Palestinian city reported hearing large blasts from it.
The missile reportedly landed in PA-controlled territory near an Israeli base.
If these Israeli claims prove to be true, this would mark the first time Palestinian fighters in the West Bank have fired home-made Qassam missiles at Israeli territory. The rocket or rockets were reportedly aimed at Israeli communities in the Sharon region, the central plains that span the West Bank and Israel.
A senior military source told Israel Radio chances are high Palestinians in Balata failed in an attempt to fire a Qassam missile sometime overnight.
Palestinian sources in Nablus are denying all reports of missile launches from the area. Palestinian forces in this area have never previously fired mortar shells or missiles at Israeli targets.
Palestinian gunners fired two Qassam-2 rockets at Israel for the first time Sunday morning. All were aimed at various targets in the Negev.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli military figures warned that if the Palestinians fire one more Qassam-2 missile on Israel, the Israeli army will take over expansive territory in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas for an extended period of time.
The takeover of Areas A will be carried out with the aim of distancing Qassam-2 missile launchers from Israeli population centers, Israeli media reports said.
The Israeli army stated Tuesday that air strikes on Palestinian Authority targets over the past several days served merely as a warning to the Palestinians.
Israeli sources stressed that the air raids had not been the "real response" to the firing of Qassam-2 missiles, Army Radio reported.
U.N.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed dismay on Tuesday over Israel's bombardment of a Palestinian security compound in Gaza City that caused major damage to UN offices and injured two of its employees, according to AP.
Annan deplores "the deepening spiral of violence between Israel and the Palestinians" and believes "both sides must make every effort to achieve a durable cease-fire and return to the negotiating table," said UN spokesman Fred Eckhard.
"We reminded the Israeli government that under international law, they're responsible for the security of international personnel and appealed to them to make good on that obligation," Eckhard added.
In retaliation to a Palestinian shooting attack carried out on Sunday that killed two Israeli women soldiers and seriously injured five people, Israeli F-16 warplanes fired bombs and missiles at the Palestinian security compound, damaging a nearby UN compound as well as the Palestinian Planning Ministry.
The attack blew out windows in the UN compound, including those in the office of the UN special Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, damaged a wall, and collapsed the roof in the compound's annex, Eckhard said.
One UN staff member suffered a back injury when a blown window and shattered glass landed on him and another suffered a concussion and an eye injury in similar circumstances, he said. Two others were thrown from their desks to the floor but escaped injury, he said.
"A significant number of UN staff were on the premises and avoided injury largely because the office's windows are coated with a shatter-resistant film," Eckhard said.
Israeli commanders later apologized to Roed-Larsen. (Albawaba.com)
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