Kassam Rocket Lands Inside Ashkelon for First Time
Excerpts;
Despite ongoing IDF operations in the northern Gaza Strip, a Kassam rocket landed Tuesday evening in Ashkelon proper – the first time the city center has witnessed such an attack.
No one was wounded in the attack, despite the fact that the rocket hit a school in a populated area in the south of the city. Children playing soccer outside an Ort school on Rehov Ben Zvi were thrown back by the force of the explosion, witnesses reported, but were unharmed.
Security officials described the Kassam as “upgraded,” featuring two engines. Police Cmdr. Uri Barlev said that security forces had seen this type of rocket in the past. “This type of missile has landed in other places,” he said.
Olmert: Increased Kassam Range a ‘Major Escalation’
Excerpts;
Ahead of the security cabinet meeting set to convene on Wednesday to discuss the increased range of Kassam rockets, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a warning to the Hamas-led government. “[The firing of a Kassam at Ashkelon] is a major escalation that Hamas is responsible for,” said Olmert. “The criminal attempt to hurt Israeli citizens will be met with an extraordinary response and the Hamas movement will be the first to feel it,” added the prime minister.
The new Kassam range was demonstrated by Tuesday’s rocket that traveled 12 kilometers before landing in an Ashkelon school.
Ashkelon Mayor Roni Mehatzri said that the city’s 120,000 residents could not continue to be under threat. “This is a new situation,” said Mehatzri, adding, “Although we knew there was chance this would happen, it still surprised us. Our circumstances have now changed,” he added.
MK Saar: Kassam in Ashkelon Proves Failure of Disengagement
Barak of IRIS brings observations on Tuesday’s Kassam attack on Ashkelon as well as some key facts about Ashkelon well worth reading;
No, there aren’t likely to be “significant ramifications” any time soon. Significant ramifications involve killing bad guys and making permanent strategic improvements against them, which Israel is utterly unwilling to do. The recent Operation Summer Rains… have so far involved only the usual “symbolic” attacks on empty fields and empty buildings, the conquest of a deserted airport, and the sounding of loud noises. Many Americans will hear louder noises tonight than Gazans under IDF sonic boom attacks. The captured Hamas terrorists will likely continue their jihad recruitment and coordination activities in prison and then continue jihad once they are traded or released (provided they agree to leave Israeli custody). Any captured territory will likely be surrendered again, electricity will be restored and damage will be paid for by Israel and the West many times over.
Commentary;
The Left laughed at the Right in the ’90’s after Oslo was signed saying “You said that Katyushas would fall on Ashkelon and they didn’t!” In other words, they accused the Right of being “alarmist” and overly pessimistic. Well, obviously the answer to that accusation was “Not yet.”
But the Left is incapable of seeing more than one step into the future. And today, they are so blinded by their own dogmas that they are incapable of intuition concerning the implications of negotiating with murderous terrorists.
When it comes down to it, usually they only care about today and the very immediate future; anything else further into the future is ignored, pooh-poohed or just assumed to work out like the way they want it too; Yihiyeh B’Seder. This goes for issues relating to security, religion and economics.
Even when they do care about the future on such issues such as the environment (e.g. global warming) or demographics, they again just stake out a position based on today and extrapolate directly into the future based on what their ideology says, not based on true data or historical precedents.
Therefore it needs to be hammered home to the Left: “You were wrong before, you are wrong now and you will be wrong again again and again because you simply are incapable of seeing how your schemes will work out in the future. So drop your arrogance and leave changing the world to those who at least try to see how their changes will work out in the long run.” MB