Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., January 08, 2008 Shvat 1, 5768 | | Israel Time: 08:00 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File Magazine

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (Tomer Appelbaum) Last update - 13:51 06/01/2008 PM: Katyusha strike on Ashkelon marks grave escalation in terror By Barak Ravid and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents Tags: Katyusha, Ehud Olmert, IDF  The Katyusha rocket strike on Ashkelon last week marks a grave escalation in terror activities from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday. Olmert told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to step up its response to the firing of rockets. "We will continue to respond, to initiate and to harm anyone who carries out launches from Gaza," he said. "We will continue to invest in reinforcing the towns in the Gaza envelope to help them deal with these terror threats. Advertisement Despite protests from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's government, Olmert also said Israel will continue to operate against militants in the West Bank, where Fatah holds sway. Government sources said Sunday that the Katyusha, fired last Thursday, was not an Iranian-made model but rather a Russian-made GRAD-type model. It was the farthest distance a rocket of this sort had reached. The Katyusha was launched from the al-Attara region, near the northern edge of the Gaza Strip. The IDF estimates it traveled 17 kilometers, well within the rocket's known range of 18-20 kilometers. Defense sources said the IDF was not planning a wide-scale military operation on Gaza, though it has stepped up its use of warplanes. The sources said that IDF action in the last few months - in which close to 100 militants gace been killed - has proved itself. Israel is planning to continue with its ground raids up to 3 km inside Gaza and with air strikes on senior militants. Meanwhile, the IDF killed two Palestinians in two separate incidents overnight Saturday, shortly after seven Qassam rockets and 26 mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip at the town of Sderot. Related articles: Katyusha lands in northern Ashkelon; nine Palestinians killed in IDF response Katyusha in Ashkelon / The other side is cautious too Ashkelon decides against activating rocket alarm system IAF kills two Palestinian militants in response to Qassam barrage Bookmark to del.icio.us   Finkelstein in Lebanon A vocal U.S. critic of Israel met Monday with a senior Hezbollah official. Holocaustland 2007 sees record number of visitors at Auschwitz extermination camp.   1.   Olmert is all talk, no action! 11:43  |  Avraham 06/01/08   2.   Is anyone surprised with the Russians.... 11:43  |  mk 06/01/08   3.   ARROGANT OLMERT DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR TERROR! RESIGN!!!)))) 12:03  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 06/01/08   4.   Actually the F-16 is much more grave than the Katyusha 12:04  |  Natallie Durson 06/01/08   5.   Grad type Katyushas 12:15  |  Nora 06/01/08   6.   Wide- scale operation is needed. 12:21  |  Vital 06/01/08   7.   100 TERRORISTS IN PERMANENT 12:26  |  Robert 06/01/08   8.   send some more artillery on sand dunes!!!!! 12:32  |  Ben 06/01/08   9.   Well Olmert...accept the Saudi peace plan... 12:47  |  Dutch Dirk 06/01/08   10.   It must look that way to an uneducated person 12:50  |  Josh 06/01/08   11.   Neighborhoods in Gaza should be flattened. 13:36  |  Rafi 06/01/08   12.   the gravity of olmert remaining as pm surely is !! 13:39  |  victor hardman 06/01/08   13.   #9 Dutch - no innocence 14:17  |  Belgium 06/01/08   14.   Send them in 14:21  |  jackie 06/01/08   15.   It is interesting to note 14:22  |  Chris Linthwaite 06/01/08   16.   No one is fooled By Harel` description 14:29  |  Joseph E . 06/01/08   17.   #9 dirk of the two bottles a day is sure of peace ? 15:30  |  victor hardman 06/01/08   18.   Katyusha attacks on Israel 17:02  |  Brod 06/01/08   19.   Close off Gaza, until some sense prevails 14:31  |  De 07/01/08   20.   Olmert - Yada, Yada 03:51  |  Tod Zuckerman 08/01/08

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