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Public Security Minister Avi Dichter (Tomer Appelbaum / BauBau) Last update - 20:35 20/01/2008 Palestinians: One killed in IAF strike on northern Gaza Strip By Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid, Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents Tags: Hamas, Gaza, Israel, Qassams An Israel Air Force strike killed at least one Palestinian and critically wounded another in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, local medical workers and Hamas officials said. Hamas Islamists said the target was a group of militants who fired Qassam rockets into southern Israel. An Israel Defense Forces spokesman confirmed there had been a missile strike in the northern part of the Hamas-controlled territory. Advertisement The situation in the Gaza Strip escalated last week, with at least 36 Palestinans killed in IDF strikes and close to 200 Qassam rockets and mortar shells fired at southern Israel. Four Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev on Sunday, including at least one that struck Sderot. There were no injuries or damages reported in any of the incidents. Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said on Sunday he was concerned the government had become "blunted" in its approach to the rocket barrages that have befallen the southern city of Sderot. "After this difficult weekend I really would have expected the [Israel Defense Forces] chief of staff to be speaking before us," Dichter told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "I am worried the government has become blunted to the situation in Sderot. The operations being carried out by the IDF are praiseworthy, but are not changing the picture of the situation," he added. The public security minister also said that "the residents of Sderot are living with a feeling of Gazan roulette. The government cannot build its strategy on roulette." Dichter earlier Sunday told Kadima ministers that Sderot, which has absorbed most of the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, was likely to "collapse" if the IDF did not succeed in deterring militants in the coastal territory. Defense Minister Ehud Barak told ministers that in its operations over recent days, the IDF had harmed the Hamas' infrastructure in Gaza and was focusing its raids against the launching of Qassam rockets. He also said the defense establishment was continuing to advance preparations for an expanded operation in the Gaza Strip. "We will work for a solution to the Qassams, but it is impossible to work with the remarks of the media. It looks as though the government is weakening itself," he said. "We must demonstrate strength, and I recommend to everybody not to take hasty steps without checking first the significance." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers that during his visits to the Negev last week, he found residents to be exhibiting increasing "endurance and strength," despite the barrage of Qassam rockets it has absorbed recently. "The firing [of rockets] cannot be gauged on the numbers casualties," Olmert said. "On my visits to the south last week I found a different atmosphere in Sderot and the Gaza envelope, more endurance and strength." Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim said that Israel was not interested in exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, saying, "most of the residents there are hostages of a crazy regime." Schism within Hamas regarding rocket attacks Four Qassam rockets struck southern Israel on Saturday, marking a sharp reduction in rocket attacks from the Strip. It seems Hamas militants are still behind many of the rocket attacks and that the ruling organization has abandoned its practice of leaving the launching to other groups, as had done until last week. According to estimations presented to Olmert over recent days, there is a schism within Hamas regarding the launching of rockets, considering the heavy losses the group suffered over the last week as well as the difficult internal situation in the Gaza Strip. One of the estimations given to the prime minister is that Hamas is prepared to stop firing rockets, because it assumes that such a move would bring about a decrease in IDF activities and would give the militant organization a chance to regroup. Still, the head of Hamas' armed wing refuses to stop the launching of rockets. The prime minister was expected to focus most of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday on the situation in the Gaza Strip, and the head of military intelligence, Major-General Amos Yadlin, was scheduled to speak to ministers regarding the situation. Related articles: IDF kills two militants in Gaza; Qassam rocket strikes Sderot Hamas says it foiled Fatah plot to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh Hamas policy: Escalation to force Israel into cease-fire in Gaza Bookmark to del.icio.us   Born to bear arms Many children of expatriates return to Israel to serve in the IDF Doctored death? An Independent expert says IDF bullets didn't kill Mohammed al-Dura.   1.   The people who should pay for Hamas murderous activities are not 12:15  |  Anat 20/01/08   2.   Olmert promised Bush to cede Sderot to the pals 12:20  |  Absolute Sweden 20/01/08   3.   Crazy regime. 12:52  |  Vital 20/01/08   4.   Dichter: "Murder and violence hasn`t worked" 13:15  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   5.   CFOOL YOU mean PALS have not been able to ethniccleanse the Negev 13:34  |  PETER SM 20/01/08   6.   Suffocation tactics to stop Gaza attacks. 13:56  |  H.H.M 20/01/08   7.   Dichter is a war criminal who dropped a 1 ton bomb on an 14:12  |  lakshmi 20/01/08   8.   Kadima`s Broken Promise 14:23  |  Proud Israeli 20/01/08   9.   Question for Minister Avi Dichter 14:31  |  Gerald Zang 20/01/08   10.   #7 "Dichter is a war criminal who dropped a 1 ton bomb " 14:45  |  Gerald Zang 20/01/08   11.   For Lakshmi, on Dichter and my Road to Damascus # 7 15:03  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   12.   For Peter SM # 5 15:06  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   13.   wrong war criminal 15:15  |  p.pot 20/01/08   14.   Anat - 1 - you are absolutely right. 15:21  |  B 20/01/08   15.   Solving the rubix cube in Gaza 15:31  |  Future1 20/01/08   16.   The Palestinians do not care about casualties 15:42  |  Moti 20/01/08   17.   WAKE UP ISRAEL!!!! 15:42  |  not asleep anymore 20/01/08   18.   WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?!?!?!?!!!! 16:08  |  Steve M 20/01/08   19.   AVI DICHTER IS A GREAT MAN 16:16  |  Iskander 20/01/08   20.   10Gerald Zang,11 Clickfool,greetings! 16:27  |  lakshmi 20/01/08   21.   Assassinate him! Add Haniyeh and Mashaal to the list 16:29  |  Jewish 20/01/08   22.   Road to Damascus moment 16:58  |  K 20/01/08   23.   iinvasion of gaza 17:30  |  geroge 20/01/08   24.   Military have never and will never solve this issue 17:33  |  Outsider 20/01/08   25.   Lakshmi 17:45  |  Iz Ray Leigh 20/01/08   26.   the head of hammas 17:47  |  Shmuelshachor 20/01/08   27.   22 K ,what happened to your damascus moment during the Nakba of 18:05  |  lakshmi 20/01/08   28.   #7 Lakshimi - PALs started the Intifada 2 and getting what they d 18:06  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   29.   #7 Lakshimi - PALs started the Intifada 2 cont. 18:13  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   30.   Counterproductive 18:18  |  jjvanka 20/01/08   31.   #9 Gerald - I have advocated this for a long time 18:26  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   32.   #9 Gerald - I have advocated CONT 18:31  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   33.   OLMERT FOUND "INCREASING ENDURANCE" 18:36  |  Robert 20/01/08   34.   #7 Lakshimi - PALs started the Intifada 2 pt3. 18:39  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   35.   For Squalid, on the Palestinians starting the Intifada # 28 18:45  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   36.   #30 jjvanka - Wrong! Only 2 Qassams and Hamas is starting to beg 18:48  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   37.   21 Jewish,pride goes before a fall!Why do you think your `moral 18:51  |  lakshmi 20/01/08   38.   #27 Lakshimi - The PALs refused Partition and deserved Naqba 18:58  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   39.   When the government have no solution, let the citizen come up 19:02  |  Copy cat 20/01/08   40.   #27 Lakshimi - The PALs refused Partition cont. 19:04  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   41.   #34 Clickfool - Mazut! Inta B`tarif El-Lura Anglezi 19:16  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   42.   #34 Clickfool - Mazut! CONT 19:23  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   43.   Spelling correction: MAZBUT and not mazut 19:29  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   44.   #34 Clickfool - Mazbut! Bottom Line 19:35  |  Squalid Ibn Harman 20/01/08   45.   Fools rush in where angels fear to tread! 19:39  |  B (The other one) 20/01/08   46.   Public Security versus Defense Ministry 19:49  |  Avi 20/01/08   47.   Olmert has no interest in stopping kassam fire at Sderot 19:57  |  Dr. L. Brnd 20/01/08   48.   A bit of good news (for once) 19:57  |  Avi 20/01/08   49.   "One (Palestinian) killed in IAF strike on northern Gaza Strip", 21:36  |  Ruti 20/01/08   50.   # 45 B (the other one) 22:13  |  Lynn 20/01/08   51.   Harman (36) 22:15  |  jjvanka 20/01/08   52.   Hamas wants Palastinian death 22:19  |  Al 20/01/08   53.   #20 proving your foolishness 22:26  |  Oddvark 20/01/08   54.   Tel al-Zaatar, Lakshmuck 22:31  |  Oddvark 20/01/08   55.   Black September, Lakshmuck 22:57  |  Oddvark 20/01/08   56.   TO NO 1 ANAT. 23:18  |  DANNY. 20/01/08   57.   CRAZY REGIME CALL HAMAS MISHNOON. 23:21  |  DANNY. 20/01/08   58.   TO NO 12 CLICKFOOL. 23:36  |  DANNY. 20/01/08   59.   Lakshmi # 20 00:44  |  ChanahS 21/01/08   60.   Outsider # 24 00:46  |  ChanahS 21/01/08   61.   Jewish (21) 02:52  |  jjvanka 21/01/08   62.   Jewish (21) - part 2 02:53  |  jjvanka 21/01/08   63.   Olmert is Lying , It is Not About Sderot Residents `Endurance and 03:56  |  Joseph E . 21/01/08   64.   Regime 01:30  |  Paul 09/02/08   65.   Israeli attacks on Gaza 12:57  |  Murray Smith 03/03/08

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