Thursday, December 22, 2005

Rocket hits IDF base; 5 troops hurt

From Ynet News 12.22.05, 07:53 ...

Qassam fire continues: Five IDF soldiers sustain light, moderate injuries after Qassam rocket lands in military base south of Ashkelon; earlier, another rocket lands in area, no injuries reported in attack
Hanan Greenberg

Four IDF soldiers sustained light wounds and another soldier suffered light to moderate injuries after a Qassam rocket landed in a military base south of Ashkelon Thursday morning.

The troops were hurt by shrapnel and will be taken to hospital for treatment.... The rocket landed around 9:45 a.m. near the base’s dining hall, which was crowded with soldiers and officers at the time of the attack. The battalion in question has been deployed to the area to address terror threats in the northern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources in Gaza said Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, was behind the rocket attack.

Troops at the base told Ynet about the panic that followed the rocket attack. “We heard an explosion near the dining hall,” one soldier said. “At first we didn’t understand what happened but within several seconds it became clear a Qassam landed here. Several soldiers were hit by shrapnel and we can still hear the noises ringing in our ears.”

...Meanwhile, the IDF began firing artillery shells at northern Gaza Strip rocket launching sites in response to the latest attacks.

...Earlier Thursday, a Qassam fired from the Gaza landed in an open area near the industrial zone south of Ashkelon.

...Two day ago, Palestinians fired four Qassam rockets at Israeli targets. Two of the rockets landed in open areas near the southern town of Sderot and another one landed in an army base.

...In response, the army directed artillery fire at rocket launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz proposed to bomb the Gaza Strip and force Palestinian residents in several areas to flee to the Sinai desert in response to the ongoing rocket attacks.

Shmulik Hadad contributed to the story

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