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War on Terror

No major response to Kassam attacks


By Ryan Jones
December 16, 2005

Israel will not ignore Thursday's ?Palestinian? rocket barrage on cities in the south of the country, but neither will it respond with the kind of unprecedented severity promised prior to this summer's Gaza ?disengagement.?

Gaza-based terrorists Thursday fired a total of seven Kassam rockets at Israeli towns.  Four struck the southern industrial zone of the coastal town of Ashkelon, some 20 kilometers north of Gaza.  The other three were fired the Negev town of Sderot.

The strike on Ashkelon again highlighted the serious terrorist threat to a major power station located in the city.

?We cannot accept these attacks, and we will act accordingly,? an IDF source told Ynet, but admitted a major military operation aimed at putting a stop to such aggression is not in the cards.

Other sources said the army is preparing an ?unrestrained? response, though such threats in the past have traditionally failed to be put into action.

When the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon forcibly removed all Jewish residents of Gaza in August and withdrew the local IDF presence a month later, it vowed any subsequent artillery attacks from the area would elicit a never-before-seen response.

Days after the last soldier left Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad cells fired 40 rockets at Sderot.  That and every rocket attack since, including Thursday?s, have been met with brief shelling of empty areas previously used by terrorists and a handful of targeted killings.

Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz Thursday responded with frustration to the deterioration of Israel's deterrence resulting from making threats the government has no intention of backing up.

?Israel's deterring ability has failed miserably. A government that promised decisive retaliation following every shooting toward Israel or hurting Israeli citizens, in actuality fires at empty areas in response to such shooting and is endangering Israel's security,? Ynet quoted Katz as saying.

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