Sderot braces for more rockets

Southern town under attack: More than 40 Qassams fired at Sderot Tuesday, bomb shelters opened; meanwhile, more social workers, psychologists dispatched to help residents, IDF decides to keep schools open

Shmulik Hadad
Latest Update: 01.15.08, 23:23 / Israel News

Sderot hit by massive rocket offensive: More than 40 rockets were fired at southern communities Tuesday afternoon and evening. Most of the rockets targeted the southern town of Sdeort, prompting municipal officials to convene an emergency meeting to decide on the next moves in the rocket-stricken town.

Four civilians, including a 5-year-old girl, sustained shrapnel wounds in Tuesday's attacks. One of the rockets fired at Sderot hit a power line, causing power outages in some sections of town.

Army chief: IDF to boost Gaza operations if needed

Chief of Staff Ashkenazi: Troops engaged in 'real fighting' in Strip, army may boost operations if necessary

Hanan Greenberg
Published: 01.16.08, 00:40 / Israel News

IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Tuesday evening that the army may further expand its operations in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at a bereaved families' convention in the Dead Sea, Ashkenazi addressed the fierce fighting in and around Gaza Tuesday, which saw the southern town of Sderot coming under ceaseless rocket barrages, as IDF forces targeted Gaza terrorists.

Referring to the possibility of upgrading military operations in Gaza, Ashkenazi said that "if necessary, we will expand our operations there."

Hamas investigates Gaza failures

Member of Hamas military wing tells Ynet series of mistakes led to high Palestinian death toll

Ali Waked
Published: 01.16.08, 01:07 / Israel News

Hamas has launched an investigation into the failures that saw 13 of its men killed in a clash with IDF soldiers in Gaza Tuesday. Members of the group said that the gunmen fell into an IDF trap and did not respond correctly.

Hamas has long been functioning as a full-fledged military organization, and the decision to probe the incident falls in line with military norms.

A source in Hamas' military wing told Ynet that although the cell that was hit faced problematic ground conditions during the clash, a series of mistakes committed by the men was behind the unusually heavy death toll.

"We are looking into a series of mistakes, especially errors that turned out to be critical. The first was the fact that the lookouts failed to identify the Israeli force approaching and left the place without spotting any suspicious movement," he said.

According to the source, this failure enabled the IDF force to surprise the Hamas gunmen in the area. "Before they realized what was going on, heavy tank and artillery fire was opened at them, as well as ground-to-ground missiles fired by the infiltrating force."

This may well spell the end of the Bush push for "peace", which would be a great out come of the military push into Gaza.