Israel strikes Hamas in Gaza

Ganei Tal, GAZA – Israel fired missiles at three Hamas targets in Gaza moments ago and blocked the main Gaza highway in two places following a deadly rocket attack on a Jewish community here earlier.

Israeli helicopters fired missiles on central Gaza, Gaza City and Khan Younis tonight. Military sources told WND the Khan Yunis attack targeted a Hamas missile and weapons storehouse. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

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Khan Yunis, a large Palestinian city, is directly adjacent to Gush Katif, the main group of Jewish communities in Gaza scheduled to be evacuated Aug. 17. Three large blasts were heard coming from the Palestinian area, and Israeli missile fire could be seen.

Israel tonight also closed off two major highways and imposed closures on several Palestinian towns.

The Israeli missile strike follows a barrage of mortar attacks on several Jewish communities here earlier today that killed one resident and injured another.

Dana Galkovitch, 22, was sitting on her porch in Gaza's Netiv Ha'asara Jewish community when a mortar crashed through her roof, killing her and moderately wounding her boyfriend.

The mortars were reportedly fired from Khan Yunis. Both Fatah's al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades and Hamas took responsibility for the rocket barrages.

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Israeli soldiers, anti-withdrawal lawmakers, security heads and leaders and residents of Gaza's Jewish communities recently told WND the Israeli Defense Forces are intentionally doing little to stop Palestinian militants from firing mortars and rockets into Gaza's Jewish neighborhoods.

Hamas has been launching almost daily rocket and mortar attacks against Jewish Gaza. Rocket attacks here have rarely prompted an Israeli response, with IDF officials routinely citing a cease-fire agreement signed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmaud Abbas as restricting their ability to conduct military operations within the Gaza Strip.

There have been over 350 attacks since February and only about a dozen IDF anti-rocket operations, usually after a Palestinian rocket attack injures or kills.

Ami Shaked, security coordinator for Gaza's Jewish communities told WND: "The IDF has a whole lot of mechanisms, including a drone that can easily identify and take out most of the Qassam launchers. But they have been told not to do the operations. They are allowing Hamas to make life miserable here. This way people don't want to stay after it comes time for the withdrawal."

"The political leaders supporting the evacuation from Gaza have told the IDF not to stop the mortars and Qassams. I know this, but anyway it is obvious to everyone. ... There is a huge difference between the army's anti-terror operations in the West Bank and those in Gaza. They are not even using 5 percent of their capabilities to stop the rockets," Shaked said.

Brig. Gen. Effie Eitam, a Knesset member who recently moved to Gush Katif, told WND: "The IDF knows who is launching the mortars, from where exactly and when. They have been instructed by the political echelon, by Sharon, to do nothing about the attacks. The goal is to make life as bad as possible so people will want to leave and not spoil the disengagement process. We see the military is indeed actually doing nothing. They are just watching the mortars and Qassams fall."

Eitam, who served in Sharon's Cabinet as housing minister until he resigned last year in protest of the Gaza evacuation, said the IDF is occasionally pressured into responding to Hamas attacks.

"[Recently], two people were killed by rockets. Afterwards, suddenly we saw an IDF anti-rocket operation," he said.

Arab Druze Knesset member Ayoob Kara, an anti-disengagement lawmaker, agreed.

"The army is acting as a political arm," Kara told WND. "The military leaders don't all want to do this, but they are still going along with the same steps politically as Mr. Sharon tells them, to pave the way for Jewish residents [of Gaza] to want to leave. ... They are not defending Gaza."

Former Tourism Minister Benny Elon of Israel's National Union Party told WND: "There can be no doubt Israel is letting Hamas get away with the attacks. This is a policy now dictated by political decision makers. The message being sent loud and clear to residents of Gush Katif is to get out and don't try to oppose the evacuation."

An IDF spokeswoman told WND the army is doing everything in its power to stop the regular barrage of mortars and Qassams.

Raanan Gissin, senior advisor to Sharon, said, "I think all past experience indicates the IDF always takes necessary steps to defend the state of Israel. That's why we have an army which makes assessments with the best way to provide security. There is no exception for the Gush Katif area and other areas in Gaza."

As WND first reported, the IDF has a drone it says is capable of quickly identifying and targeting Palestinian rocket launchers. Military officials warned they would use the pilotless aircraft to effectively eliminate the rocket threat.

"Use of this drone should send shivers down the spines of terrorists planning further attacks," an Israeli official previously told WorldNetDaily. "Israel is using it to serve as a deterrent for further attacks. It provides us with constant intelligence in real time from afar, and enables us to respond immediately and forcefully."

Editor's note: "ISRAEL BETRAYED?" – the July issue of WND's acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine – is devoted entirely to an in-depth exploration of the controversial forced removal of thousands of Jewish residents from Gaza planned for August, and the likely creation of a Hamas-run terror state many believe will follow. Read more about "ISRAEL BETRAYED?"