GAZA CITY — The ruling Hamas movement has proposed to end missile
fire against an Israeli city if its residents were removed.
In the first offer to halt the daily Kassam-class, short-range missile
strikes, the military wing of Hamas has demanded the end of Israeli
operations in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of the southern city of
Sderot. Sderot has been the target of daily missile strikes by Hamas, which
has incurred casualties.
"As long as the Israeli incursions increase, the Palestinian resistance
will intensify their missile launches toward Israeli settlements," Abu
Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas's Izzedin Kassam military wing, said.
Abu Obeida demanded that Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who lives
in Sderot, evacuate the city's nearly 20,000 residents. He cited the flight
of about five percent of Sderot over the weekend.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Hamas fired at least 14 Kassam missiles in and
around Sderot. Several of the missiles struck a poultry factory and killed a
worker. One of the missiles missed an ammonia tank.
For his part, Abu Obeida pledged that Hamas's military wing would
continue to pound Sderot and other Israeli cities. He said Hamas and its
allies were enhancing their missile and rocket capabilities and could
"easily" reach their targets.
"We will continue to fire these missiles and all options are available
to us to prevent these [Israeli] raids," Abu Obeida said.
