The Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israel plans to conduct yet another large-scale military operation on the Gaza Strip.
This news came in the wake of a heated meeting in Sderot between Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Helots and Deputy Commander of Israeli forces Moshe Jablonksi. The meeting was held to discuss a response to members of the armed Palestinian resistance launching homemade projectiles on Israeli military targets and the town of Sderot, where it is incredibly rare for anyone to be injured or any property damage to be done. The resistance issues a statement after each launch claiming responsibility and explaining their reasoning, normally a response to the latest Israeli killing of Palestinians. The Israeli tact is to turn themselves into victims.
Israeli Minister of Security Omer Burtis stated that the attack operation would begin if the Palestinians continued to launch homemade projectiles into southern Israel. He added that "no one will be immune to the attacks and that Israeli forces will not differentiate between any of the Palestinian factions."
The planned attacks come in response to protests by Israeli citizens of the Sderot Municipality. Citizens of the town closed the entrances to the city this morning and plan to extinguish lights at 9 p.m. The protests are primarily coming from parents of school-age students that are concerned about the recent projectile launches, some of which disrupted their studies.
Israeli President Moshe Katsav and Minister of Security Omer Burtis affirmed in their visit to Sderot yesterday that Israel will "no longer tolerate the attacks by the Palestinians." Meanwhile the Israelis continue to kill Palestinians, killing an entire family in a single breath during a few day period of killing some 30 Palestinians, several of whom were children. The international community is involved in bringing war crimes charges against the Israelis. However, the Israelis continue to suggest they are the victims of the occupied and intend to continue killing them. Burtis commented that the security situation will witness a significant change in the upcoming hours and days.
Action thus far has included a raid on a blacksmith shop in Gaza City today at dawn. Israeli sources claim that the shop was being used to produce projectiles being fired into southern Israel. The attack resulted in large-scale material damage, but no injuries were reported.
