TEL AVIV Ñ The Islamic movement Hamas has renewed missile attacks
against Israel.
Hamas gunners fired four Kassam-3 short-range missiles toward Israel on
Wednesday. One missile slammed into the southern Israeli city of Sderot and
three people were injured.
Israeli officials said the missile struck the industrial zone of
Sderot. They said the Kassam missiles were fired from the northern Gaza
Strip town of Beit Hanoun.
It was the first Kassam rocket attack on Sderot in nearly three weeks.
The attack came days after Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders announced they
would end rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli communities.
[On Thursday, Hamas gunners fired a Kassam missile from the northern
Gaza Strip toward Israel. The missile was said to have landed in an
unidentified Israeli community.]
On Wednesday evening, Palestinian gunners fired mortars toward Israeli
communities in the central Gaza Strip. Israeli sources said one of the
mortars damaged a factory in the Gush Katif settlement bloc.
In response, Israel's military said it was dividing the Gaza Strip into
three regions. Palestinians would have to undergo checks before moving from
one region to the other.
Overnight Thursday, Israeli forces demolished a building in the central
Gaza City of Khan Yunis that served as a warehouse for Kassam missiles and
mortars. Israeli military sources said the military cancelled a major
operation in Beit Hanoun for technical reasons.