Last update - 00:00 21/01/2007
Cabinet approves plan to fortify homes in area of Gaza border
By Gideon Alon and Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondents
The cabinet on Sunday approved the "Gaza Envelope" plan to fortify all homes and buildings located within seven kilometers of the border with the Gaza Strip.
According to the plan, which was presented by the director-general of the Prime Minister's Office, Raanan Dinur, the cost of the project will range between NIS 400-900 million, and will give precedence to the fortification of schools and educational institutions.
On Sunday, three mortar shells landed near the border fence in central Gaza early and two Qassam rockets struck an open area near the Negev town of Sderot. No injuries were reported in either attack.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during the meeting that he had held talks on the issue last Thursday with the heads of the Gaza Envelope municipalities.
According to Olmert, the primary consideration for the plan was the sense of security the fortification would give the residents, in particular the local children.
"As far as I am concerned, this is the crucial consideration, although there is nothing that can ensure a total stop of the Qassams," Olmert said, referring to the homemade rockets that have rained down on southern Israel in the past few years.
Alon Schuster, the head of the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, said at the conclusion of the meeting that this was an historic announcement for those who had lost confidence in the government.
The representatives from the Gaza Envelope region were also notified that a decision regarding an anti-rocket defense system would come in the near future.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the two Qassam attacks. The organization said that both strikes were in response to Israel Defense Forces actions against Islamic Jihad militants in the West Bank.