IDF downplays J'lem rocket threat

Military officials say rockets reportedly seized by Palestinian security forces near Bethlehem pose no real threat to Israel, but admit terror groups in West Bank are bent on mimicking Gaza gunmen

Efrat Weiss
Published: 09.26.07, 16:15 / Israel News

"The rockets supposedly found by the Palestinians near Bethlehem are not rockets but makeshift pipes that do not threaten Jerusalem," IDF sources told Ynet on Wednesday in response to reports that PA officers had seized rockets meant to be fired toward Jerusalem.

IDF sources added that Palestinian terror groups in the West Bank are bent on mimicking their partners in the Gaza Strip by firing makeshift rockets towards Israel but still lack the know-how.

The IDF has been so far successful in thwarting attempts to fire rockets from the West Bank but attacks from the Gaza Strip have tormented Israel's government and military.

The officials related the IDF's success in the West Bank to the relative ease of movement its soldiers enjoy there by contrast to the Gaza Strip where overcrowding makes Israel think twice before launching ground incursions.

Palestinian security forces uncovered Wednesday two rockets in the town of Beit Jala near Jerusalem, the Ma'an news agency reported. According to the report the rockets were meant to be fired towards Jerusalem.

The news brought to mind the mayhem of shooting attacks on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, whose residents endured daily shootings by Palestinian gunmen in neighboring Bethlehem in the early days of the intifada.

"I was here when there were shooting attacks and then we stayed here. There is no reason to panic. We do not want this place to become Sderot II, so we need to deal with this problem before they start firing," Alon Abramovich of Gilo said.

Ilana Cohen, a mother of two, expressed concern for the safety of her children.

"I do not want to go back to the time of shooting attacks when I was scared to leave the house," she said.

"If there are rockets here I don't know what I'll do," she added. "Last time they fire towards us we responded with force and it was calm for years. The Palestinians in Beit Jala need to understand that either they live side by side us peacefully or we will erase them."

It should be noted that Beit Jalla is a very wealthy place, as you drive into Jerusalem from Gush Etzion you can see huge homes on the hills just before you get to Gilo the first neighborhood in Jerusalem, that is Beit Jalla.