Iran-backed Jihad renews rocket strikes vs Israel
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
TEL AVIV Ñ A militia group reported to be sponsored by Iran has renewed rocket strikes on Israel.
On Sept. 26, at least five Kassam-class, short-range missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. There were no reports of injuries.
On Sept. 28, the Israel Air Force identified and struck a six-man Jihad rocket squad east of Gaza City. The military said the squad was traveling to a site to fire rockets toward nearby Israeli communities.
The strikes resumed after a lull of several months amid a ban on missile attacks by the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip.
"We believe that the latest rocket attacks were approved by Hamas," an Israeli military source said.
The military identified three squad members as Mahmoud Bana, Kamel Dakhdukh and Mohammed Marshoud. Jihad was said to have used the three, all of whom were killed, in previous attacks. Three other members of the Jihad squad were said to have been injured.
"The three [dead] terrorists hit were Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives residing in Gaza City, and part of a terrorist cell that has been firing rockets into Israel for the past few weeks," the military said on Sept. 29.
Jihad was believed to have renewed missile and rocket attacks against Israel on Sept. 19 during the Jewish New Year. Bana, Dakhdukh and Marshoud were said to have conducted that strike as well.
During much of 2009, the Hamas regime blocked Jihad and other groups from firing missiles, mortars and rockets into Israel. But military sources said the regime has not stopped the Palestinian militias over the last month.
Jihad and other Palestinian militias continued missile fire into Israel. On Sept. 26, at least five Kassam-class, short-range missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. There were no reports of injuries.
The missile strikes came in wake of a funeral for the three Jihad casualties in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said Israel's military opened fire toward Jihad fighters who marched toward the Gaza border.