Palestinian Rocket Hits Israeli City

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian Arab terrorists hit an Israeli city with a rocket from Gaza for the first time yesterday, causing no casualties but drawing a pledge of harsh retaliation from Israel while it was already in the midst of a military offensive.

Prime Minister Olmert called the rocket fire on the coastal city of Ashkelon a “major escalation,” coming just hours after a deadline set by the terrorists holding an Israeli soldier passed with Israel rejecting demands to release about 1,500 Palestinian Arab prisoners. The terrorists said they would not harm 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit – if he is still alive. But they warned they would provide no further information about him, leaving his condition unclear.

Early Wednesday, Israeli aircraft struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza for the second time in a week, the military said. Witnesses said missiles hit the main structure again and damaged a building next to the ministry that has been used since the first attack. Rescue workers said two people were wounded.

The rocket flew seven miles through the air and exploded in the courtyard of a school in Ashkelon, a city of 110,000 on Israel’s coast north of Gaza. The school was empty at the time and no one was hurt. School security cameras showed a large cloud of white dust rising from the point of impact.

Israeli aircraft fired missiles early Wednesday at a Hamas camp in southern Gaza, Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli military said. No casualties were reported.

Zeev Schiff, veteran military analyst for the Ha’aretz daily, wrote that the rocket attack was “an unequivocal Hamas invitation to war.”

Mr. Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz decided yesterday to gradually step-up the operation in northern Gaza, defense officials said.


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