Two mortar shells landed Sunday in a Jewish settlement in the northern Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported and no damage was caused, according to the Tel Avis-based Haaretz, citing an official statement.
A senior Israeli army officer said there have been problems gathering intelligence regarding the location of the mortar shell and missile production sites. The officer warned that if the situation on the ground did not change, an escalation of violence may take place in Gaza, which could lead to a dismantling of the Palestinian leadership as opposition to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was gaining strength.
AFP report said that Palestinian fighters fired a homemade rocket at an Israeli army post guarding the Jewish settlement of Gadid in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
A similar rocket was launched at the army post at the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip at dawn Friday, and also caused no casualties or damage.
The new weapon, dubbed the Qassam and made by Hamas members, is of larger caliber than the home-made mortar bombs the Palestinians have used for several months, and has a range of about 1.5 kilometers (one mile), said the agency.
Palestinians on Sunday also opened fire at the industrial zone of the Neve Dekalim Jewish settlement and slightly wounded an Israeli employee, the military spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying.
The Israeli army has started to build an eight-meter (25-foot) wall around the Neve Dekalim Jewish settlement, which regularly comes under fire from the impoverished neighboring Palestinian area of Khan Younis.
And a 17-year-old young Palestinian died of wounds inflicted on him by Israeli soldiers who shot him in the head during an incursion into Yabad village.
In Gaza, three Israelis, a security officer in charge of security at a settlement, his deputy and anther man were lightly injured when Palestinian gunmen fired at their vehicle in the Neve Dekalim industrial zone, which is located in the Gush Katif settlement bloc.
An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded Sunday morning adjacent to the Beit Lid junction. The soldier claimed he was hit by a rock which was thrown at him from a nearby orchard, according to Haaretz.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning that the relative quiet in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the lower rate of terror attacks is the result of Israel Defense Forces operations and not a clampdown by Arafat on terror.
Ben-Eliezer told the ministers that last week's arrest of the head of Islamic Jihad's military wing, Mohammed "Norsi" Tawalbeh, was an effort to relieve some of the international pressure on Arafat. "We are talking about internal control within the [Palestinian] Authority and not about a new policy of stopping terror and arresting militants," he said.
– Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
