TEL AVIV — Israel has sustained a record number of Palestinian
missile strikes.
Military sources said Israel has sustained more than 200 Palestinian
missiles in February. They said this was a new record and more than double
the number of Palestinian missiles fired into Israel in January.
On Thursday, Palestinians fired five Kassam-class missiles from the Gaza
Strip into Israel, Middle East Newsline reported. There were no reports of injuries.
The sources said the lion's share of Palestinian missile strikes
included the Kassam-2, with a range of nine kilometers. They said that over
the last few months Hamas has produced more accurate and stable Kassam
weapons, which have struck the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Ashkelon contains
strategic infrastructure, including fuel depots, port and naval base.
Israel has responded to the Kassam strikes by firing artillery toward
suspected Palestinian missile launch sites. Since Israel's withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip in September 2005, the military fired
1,600 artillery shells at a cost 6.4 million shekels, or about $1.2 million.
"The artillery strikes have not stopped or even reduced missile
attacks," a source said. "That is clear."
[On Thursday, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the
northern West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli sources said the Palestinians had
hurled firebombs toward a military force.]
The Israel Air Force has also fired air-to-ground rockets toward
Palestinian targets and gunners. Each rocket cost more than $100,000.
Officials said Hamas has transferred expertise on Kassam development and
assembly to the West Bank. They said at first Hamas relayed the expertise
via the Internet, but Palestinian engineers in the West Bank failed to
assemble the missile.
As a result, Hamas has sought to infiltrate expertise from the Gaza
Strip to the West Bank. On Wednesday, a Kassam was found by Israeli troops
in the village of Kabatya in the northern West Bank. Officials said the
missile did not contain a warhead.
Officials said Kassam components have been found in Nablus and Ramallah.
Mortar launchers and shells have been captured in Bethlehem.
"This year will be characterized by instability," Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh,
chief of the military's Central Command, said. "There is an acceleration
factor of terrorism until the Israeli election on March 28."
