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Qassams pound Sderot; IDF kills 5 in Gaza By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff Tension along the border with the Gaza Strip continued yesterday as Hamas fired close to 50 Qassam rockets and at least a dozen mortar shells at Israel, while five Palestinians were killed in air strikes. Three of the dead Palestinians were civilians who were killed when a missile missed its target. No Israeli casualties were reported, but some civilians were treated for shock and anxiety in Sderot. At least 18 rockets in the barrage landed in Sderot, one in the yard of a house, causing no casualties but severe damage to the home. Most of the rockets that landed in the town hit fields. Advertisement Eight civilians were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital for treatment, two of them suffering minor injuries from shrapnel. After the second day of fighting, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said last night that Israel will step up the pressure against the militants in the Gaza Strip. "We are doing everything in order to target the terrorists so that the Qassam rocket attacks will stop," he said. Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi admitted yesterday that the military action in the Gaza Strip is very successful, "but it does not offer a complete response to all aspects of the Qassam attacks. We may have to broaden our activities in this respect." However, senior sources in the Israel Defense Forces told Haaretz last night that at this stage the IDF is not changing its current tactics and is not likely that the political leadership will allow an intensification of its attacks. They also said the situation will become clearer in the coming days. If Hamas decides to show restraint and hold back its attacks, Israel will do the same. However, if the massive rocket attacks continue, Israel will be forced to reevaluate its strategy. Five Palestinians were killed in IDF attacks in the central Gaza Strip yesterday, adding to the previous day's toll of 19. Three members of the same family were accidentally killed yesterday morning when a missile fired from the air struck their vehicle in the northern Gaza Strip: Omar Yazji, 36; Amir, 13, his nephew; and Muhammad, 27, the teenager's father. Three passersby were injured by the blast. The aircraft had targeted a group of militants whose car was traveling nearby, but the missile missed and struck the civilians. In the evening, two Popular Resistance Committees militants were killed in a similar attack against a car in the Al-Bureij refugee camp. The two, Muhammand al-Sfadi and Wail Ahl, were involved in the production of Qassam rockets. The continued targeting of militants led Osama al-Mazini, who is responsible for handling matters related to Corporal Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to warn yesterday that if the IDF attacks continue in the Gaza Strip, Hamas will cut off all contact on a possible exchange for Shalit in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners. In an interview on the Hamas television station, al-Mazini said that the Shalit question will become like "the Ron Arad affair," refering to the air force navigator captured in Lebanon in 1986, and whose fate remains unknown. "We will not be able to allow the continued attacks and raids in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to go unanswered," he also said. "Undoubtedly, these [attacks] will negatively affect the Shalit issue." Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned Mahmoud al-Zahar, former foreign minister in the Hamas-led PA government, to offer his sympathy for the death of his son on Tuesday during clashes with IDF forces east of Gaza City. This was the first time the two men spoke since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip last June. A Hamas government spokesman, Taher al-Nunu, said that the conversation was friendly and the two discussed the situation in a spirit of "unity." Meanwhile, yesterday morning Walid Obaydi, 45, was killed in a gun battle with IDF troops in the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin. Obaydi was the leader of the military wing of the Islamic Jihad in Samaria. A unit of undercover commandos surrounded the home Obaydi was staying with four other militants. The IDF said that Obaydi and two of his comrades tried to flee the house, and that Obaydi opened fire against the soldiers with an M-16 rifle he carried. Obaydi was killed and his two comrades lightly injured. Two other militants in the house were also arrested. The Shin Bet and the IDF attribute a series of attacks to Obaydi, who had been on the run for a number of years. He is believed responsible for the April 2006 suicide bombing in the old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station that killed 11 civilians. In response to Obaydi's killing, the Islamic Jihad fired a number of rockets from the Gaza Strip against Israel yesterday, and Hamas militants joined them with their own barrage. (Mijal Grinberg contributed to this report) Bookmark to del.icio.us   West Bank shooting Kiryat Sefer man, 40, sustains light to moderate wounds when terrorists open fire from passing car. Fighting words Barak vows to expand IDF operations against Qassam fire.

Today Online IAF strikes kill seven in Gaza; 40 Qassams fired at Israel Responses: 291 Israel Harel: No point in talks if Arabs won't accept Jewish Israel Responses: 128 Barak vows to expand IDF operations against Qassam fire Responses: 121 Na'ama Sheffi: New talkback law does not hinder public dialogue Responses: 64 Amy Winehouse mulls album of 'cool' Hanukkah hits Responses: 47 More Headlines 23:29 IAF strikes kill seven in Gaza; 40 Qassams fired at Israel 20:16 Israeli civilian wounded in West Bank shooting attack 21:30 Berlin Mayor, Jewish Council slam attack on Jewish teens 23:06 Barak vows to expand IDF operations against Qassam fire 20:37 Former Nazi guard loses Canadian deportation appeal 22:33 Canadian FM puts Israel, U.S. on torture watch list 22:10 Ahmadinejad: 'The Zionist regime' would not dare attack Iran 16:54 Hamas: Shalit in good condition, not in danger of being harmed 17:39 City in Czech Republic bans neo-Nazi march slated for weekend 18:42 Security forces thwart Jihad plan to bomb T.A.-Jerusalem railroad Previous Editions Select Day 17 jan 16 jan 15 jan 14 jan 13 jan 11 jan 10 jan 09 jan 08 jan 07 jan 06 jan 04 jan

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