The sirens are still sounding in Southern Israel. After an unquiet night, the shooting from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel continued this morning. Two Kassam rockets exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council area, one of which landed near a protected children's house. No one was in the building at the time; however, the building and cars were damaged.
The Iron Dome system successfully intercepted a Grad missile that was shot towards Beersheva early this morning. Another missile that was shot towards the city landed in an open area and there were no injuries or damage. Shortly before this, the Israel Air Force attacked six terrorist centers in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinians reported that 35 people were injured.
The IDF Spokesman's Office reported that, during the during the night, a weapons dump site was attacked in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as five launching sites in the southern Gaza Strip. All strikes hit their targets accurately. A Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip said that "35 people were injured in the IDF attack, mostly children."
Islamic Jihad said in an announcement that "it has the time and capability to fight against the IDF for as long as it takes, whatever the situation." Due to escalation in the south, the Quartet will meet today to discuss renewing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Schools up to 40 km from the Gaza Strip will remain closed again today.
Forecast: Current round will continue several days longer than planned
Last night, following another day of escalation in southern Israel, during which 48 missiles and rockets were shot at cities in Southern Israel, sources in Israel and in Gaza believe that the current round will continue several days longer than originally planned. IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Ganz decided to cancel his planned trip to the US due to the security situation, and will continue to monitor hostilities in Gaza.
Senior IDF sources said, "So long as the Palestinian side continues to shoot, Israel will increase the attacks. The test is the ceasefire." This morning, Police will assess the situation according to developments on the ground. Chief of Israel Police Yohanan Danino decided to hold today's central command meeting in Beersheva, and not in Jerusalem.
Israel has also decided to act in the diplomatic plane against the armed organizations in Gaza, and to this end has called on the UN Security Council to condemn the continued firing at southern Israel.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 12, 2012
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