by Ezra HaLeviIsrael ratcheted up its air strikes in Gaza in response to another day of heavy rocket fire on Sderot and Katyusha missiles on the city of Ashkelon.
At least twenty people were killed in the air strikes. PA reports say five children are among the dead but the kids were apparently involved in moving rocket launchers.
Late Thursday afternoon, an IAF air strike hit a Hamas position outside the home of Hamas PA chief Ismail Haniyeh, killing one and wounding four others. Haniyeh has gone into hiding and was not home at the time. A day earlier another air strike targeted his office.
Another IAF strike killed two Hamas terrorists – one of them a son of senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya who oversaw a rocket-launching cell. Al-Haya visited the Gaza morgue and declared that he was proud his son had died for the cause. "I thank G-d for this gift. This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom," he said.
An air strike Thursday night targeted terrorists in a vehicle in Khan Younis. The vehicle was marked as a PA electric company car and both terrorists inside were killed. PA reports claimed the men were mere electric company workers.
In Gaza City, two Hamas terrorists, members of the groupÂ’s Executive Guard military force, were killed in a strike on a truck carrying Kassam rockets near the Shifa Hospital. PA reports claimed the truck driven by the men in military-style uniforms was just carrying beverages.
Four teenagers were killed in an air strike in the Jabalya area. The young men were in an open area used for rocket-fire at the time. PA reports claim they were playing soccer.
Two other air strikes killed one Hamas terrorist each in northern Gaza. Two more strikes destroyed a large weapons warehouse and a Hamas training camp facility. Thursday morning a Gaza City strike killed a Hamas terrorist and two members of the Hizbullah-backed Popular Resistance Committee.
Israeli-Arab Teenage Terrorist Arrested in Jerusalem
The Shabak (General Security Service) released for publication the recent arrest of a 17-year-old female terrorist who intended to carry out a suicide bombing on a Jewish target in Israel. The girl enjoys Israeli citizenship and free passage to all Israeli and PA-controlled areas.
The girl held several meetings with leading Islamic Jihad terrorist coordinators, where she expressed her hatred of Jews and intentions to carry out a suicide bombing. Two Israeli-Arab members of Islamic Jihad from Jerusalem were arrested in the case as well.
The girlÂ’s remand was extended Thursday by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court.