TEL AVIV Ñ Hamas has extended the operational range of the
Kassam-class short-range missile to nearly 20 kilometers.
Israeli officials said Hamas has demonstrated its ability to strike the
southwestern city of Ashkelon from the northern Gaza Strip. The officials
said the achievement means Hamas has extended the range of the Kamas to
nearly 20 kilometers.
Last week, Hamas fired four Kassam rockets toward Ashkelon. At least one
of the missiles struck the industrial zone of the city.
It was the first time a Kassam missile landed inside Ashkelon. Earlier,
a Kassam missile landed in a beach just south of the city.
Israeli attack helicopters fired missiles that killed two senior Hamas
operatives in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
Abdullah Akel and Fared Mayet were regarded as being behind the Kassam
strikes near Ashkelon. Over the last two weeks, Israel's military has killed
10 Hamas operatives.
"The option of a ground operation by the army in the Gaza Strip exists
and we will do it when we judge the moment is right," Israeli Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz said. "We are working right now against this
organization. No members are safe."
Assuming the unassumable
Those who believe that an unplanned, random "Big Bang" explosion of unknown matter caused the formation of the numberless bodies of the cosmos have more faith that fanatics. They also conveniently ignore some obvious points of information:
Read on . . .
On Monday, an Israeli special operations unit captured Sufian Stetti,
regarded as the No. 2 commander of Hamas in the northern West Bank city of
Tulkarm. Stetti's superior, the Hamas commander in Tulkarm, was said to have
gone underground.
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Ministry director-general Amos Yaron ordered
the construction of 50 secure rooms that could withstand Palestinian missile
attacks. The rooms would be constructed in the Gush Katif bloc of
communities in the central Gaza Strip, which has come under attack from
Kassam missiles and mortars.
