Israeli lightly hurt as Qassam hits yard of Sderot home
By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Yanir Yagna, Haaretz Correspondents and News
Agencies Last update - 22:50 16/11/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037540.html

A Qassam rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip struck a
residential yard in the southern town of Sderot on Sunday, leaving one
person with light shrapnel wounds. Several other people were treated for
shock.

This was the third rocket to hit the Negev on Sunday, as violence between
Israel and the coastal territory continued for a second week. Some 17
rockets and mortar shells hit southern Israel over the weekend, including
four advanced Grad-type missiles.

Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday warned Gaza militants against
further breaches of a five-month truce, speaking shortly after the Israel
Air Force killed four gunmen who were firing mortars into Israel from the
coastal territory.

"We will not tolerate the price tag that terrorist organizations are
attempting to set. We will strike anyone who tries to violate the truce,"
Olmert told ministers at Sunday's cabinet meeting.

The prime minister said he had told the Israel Defense Forces to present
plans for various operations against Hamas' regime in Gaza, but gave no
timeframe.

"We are not eager for battle but we do not fear it," Olmert said.

During the session, Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai decried government
inaction in the face of cross-border violence.

"Whoever believes in the truce is burying their head in the sand," he said.
"Instead of [us] destroying Hamas' headquarters from the air, the truce is
only being used by Hamas to rearm. To my great regret, the government is not
reaching decisions."

Yishai added that he could not understand why Israel was continuing to
supply Gaza with electricity and water amid the ongoing rocket fire.

He made the comments a few hours after Gaza militants fired two rockets into
Israel.

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz also called for a change of policy
regarding Gaza's Hamas rulers.

"Hamas is growing stronger and we are losing our deterrence," said Mofaz, a
former defense minister and IDF chief.

Earlier Sunday, Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman urged Olmert to
fire Defense Minister Ehud Barak for abstaining from more aggressive action
against Gaza militants due to what he branded political considerations.

"Barak is engaging in a political struggle at the expense of Israeli
citizens' security," Lieberman told Israel Radio.

The right-wing politician argued that Israel needs to regain control over
the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Sinai border to stem the smuggling of
arms by Hamas into the coastal territory.

He added: "Every second Barak continues in his position, this is the
surrendering of Israel's security. This is also a surrender of our
deterrence. Time after time he says: We are nearing a broad operation [in
Gaza], but nothing happens."

PRC says militants killed in strike were launching rockets at Israel

The militants killed in the airstrike were from a small Hamas-allied group
known as the Popular Resistance Committees. A spokesman for the group
calling himself Abu Attaya said the four were firing mortars into Israel
when they were killed.

The IDF said the airstrike targeted a rocket squad in northern Gaza.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum threatened retaliation. "Today's crime will
not pass without punishment," he said.

Earlier in the day, Palestinians launched two rockets into Israel, hitting
near a community on the Israel-Gaza border. No one was hurt, the military
said.

According to the military's count, Palestinians have sent more than 170
rockets and mortars flying into Israel since the violence resumed nearly two
weeks ago. IDF troops have killed 15 militants, and two more died in unclear
circumstances. No civilians have been killed on either side.

Meanwhile, Israel is keeping its crossings into Gaza shut because of the
ongoing rocket fire, barring badly needed goods and fuel from entering the
impoverished territory. United Nations food supplies in Gaza have been
depleted and the fuel cutoff has led to power shortages.

IDF spokesman Peter Lerner said officials would decide later Sunday whether
to reopen them. International pressure to crack open the passages has been
mounting.

J'lem sources: Coming days crucial in knowing if truce can be salvaged

Government sources have said the next few days will be crucial in
determining whether the ceasefire with Hamas may be salvaged.

At the same time, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned against any rash action
that may destabilize the situation.

"Blowing things out of proportion is not a state policy," Barak said. "This
situation is intolerable. The defense establishment must act decisively
against Hamas and other extremists in the Gaza Strip," Barak noted during a
speech in Netanya.

Four of the 17 rockets fired at Israel over the weekend were Grads, which
have a greater range and payload than Qassams.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was acting in
response to attacks by Israel Defense Forces against Palestinian militants
and following the death of a Popular Resistance Committee gunman in an
explosion in northern Gaza early Friday.