By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Sep 25, 2005
Amid the ongoing refusal of the Palestinian Authority to comply with its signed agreements, Israel at the weekend began cracking down on terror groups trying to kill its Jewish citizens.
On Saturday evening, Israel's security cabinet approved a package of harsh military actions in response to a fresh wave of ?Palestinian? artillery fire from Gaza on Jewish towns in the western Negev.
Dubbed ?Operation First Rain,? the measures are reportedly to include the resumption of targeted killings, striking Gaza's civilian infrastructure and bombarding the strip with heavy artillery.
On Sunday morning, IDF troops and artillery pieces were deployed along the ?border? with the Gaza Strip, while Israel?s security forces moved to arrest wanted terrorists the PA has long allowed to operate with impunity.
Over 200 had been arrested at press time, including the entire Hamas command structure in the Samarian town of Shechem, according to reports.
At Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared he had given the army a green light to ?respond by any means necessary to reach the terrorists wherever they are.?
Critics wondered whether the newly deployed IDF guns would ever actually open fire on the ?Palestinian? residential areas from which the terrorists operate and launch their attacks. Military sources indicated that even if they did, warnings would be relayed to the Arabs in order to prevent civilian casualties, giving the terrorists ample opportunity to vacate the area beforehand.
Prior to and during Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, the Sharon government vowed that the first post-disengagement rocket fired from the strip would elicit a military response unprecedented in its severity.
More than 40 Kassam rockets slammed into the area in and around the Negev town of Sderot over the weekend.