<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile Ñ Hamas cracks down on the unauthorized, random firing of rockets at Israel

Hamas cracks down on the unauthorized, random firing of rockets at Israel

Friday, March 13, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

GAZA CITY Ñ The Hamas regime is refining its policies on the firing of rockets into Israel following its own 2008 war with Israel conducted almost entirely by firing short-range missiles from non-military sites.

The Hamas Interior Ministry said security forces would track and arrest anybody suspected of firing missiles or rockets into Israel. They said such fire was not authorized and was harming the Gaza Strip.

"The rockets have been fired at the wrong time," the ministry said on March 12. "Security authorities are tracking down the culprits."

The statement followed increased Palestinian missile and rocket fire into Israel. About 170 missiles and rockets have been fired into Israel from the neighboring Gaza Strip since the end of the Hamas war in January 2009.

Israel has responded with air strikes on Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets as well as weapons tunnels near the southern town of Rafah.

Some of the latest attacks have been claimed by a group titled "Hizbullah Battalions in Palestine." But Palestinian sources said they have never heard of such a militia, and the Interior Ministry said the group was bogus.

Hamas has sought to coordinate Palestinian militia fire in the Gaza Strip and urged groups not to claim responsibility. Missile and rocket attacks have been claimed by such militias as Islamic Jihad and Fatah.

During the 2008 ceasefire with Israel, which lasted nearly five months, the Hamas regime arrested several Jihad and Fatah missile squads. Most were released within a few days.

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