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Israel's air force fired around 20 missiles at targets in Gaza City on Saturday, causing heavy damage, a Reuters witness said. The IDF has confirmed the report. (Hanan Greenberg and Reuters)

(YNET NEWS.com) January 16, 2009 "THE GUARDIANS OF ISRAEL NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP" SNIPPET: "Israel and the US succeeded in preventing a United Nations announcement condemning the Jewish state for its strike on a UN compound in Gaza Thursday. The condemnation was proposed by Britain among other countries." SNIPPET: "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized for the incident before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, but stressed that IDF forces were attacked from the building before it was hit."

JANUARY 15, 2009...22:58 "IDF Targets Senior Hamas Leader, Summary of Today’s Events, 15 Jan 2009, 22:10 IST" SNIPPET: "January 15th, 2009 IDF Targets Senior Hamas Leader Said Siam Summary of Today’s Aerial Attacks In a joint IDF and ISA operation in Gaza City early Thursday evening, the IAF targeted a building in which the following senior Hamas operatives were residing – Said Siam, Ia’ad Siam and Salah Abu-Sharah. The forces reported a direct hit."

Note: Photo included. SNIPPET: "Mexico condemns the excessive use of force associated with the Israeli army operation in Gaza, " a statement from the Mexican Foreign Ministry said late Tuesday. It also condemned "the continued launching of mortars into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip". Latin American countries have largely condemned Israel over its launch of 'Operation Cast Lead' on Gaza on December 27. Immediately after Israeli warplanes attacked the strip, Cuba called the offensive an "act of genocide" and a "criminal military operation, the bloodiest one executed by Israel against the Palestinian people." Three day later, the Bolivian Foreign...

SNIPPET: "A North Texas imam is calling on Muslims to take up arms in defense of Palestinians in Gaza. Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains in Lubbock, Texas, participated in an online chat, "Fatwas on Gaza," at the web site IslamOnline.net. El-Shinqiti encouraged readers to fight - or if they can't, to send money to those who are fighting - in response to six out of the eight questions posed to him in the online chat. When asked what can be done to help the people in Gaza, El-Shinqiti emphasized war over sending food...

During IDF activities in Nablus, soldiers uncovered a laboratory with two Qassam rockets inside. The rockets were in the advanced stages of preparation. IDF forces are expected to detonate the rockets in a controlled explosion. IDF operations in the city are ongoing.

While the Annapolis summit concluded on Tuesday, paving the way for Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, the defense establishment began gearing up for the possibility that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, upon his return from the United States, will order a large-scale military operation into the Gaza Strip. An IDF armored vehicle drives towards an entry point to the Gaza Strip. Photo: AP Barak has been saying for months that "with every day that passes Israel draws closer" to a large operation in Gaza in face of the incessant Kassam rocket attacks and the unprecedented Hamas military buildup there. However, Barak has refrained...

Apr. 20, 2006 18:14 IDF shells northern Gaza Kassam launch sites By JPOST.COM STAFF The IDF began an artillery barrage on Thursday evening, targeting northern Gaza Kassam launch sites. The barrage was in response to a Kassam rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip, which landed in the western Negev on Thursday morning. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. It was the sixth rocket to be fired on Israel since early Thursday morning.

Apr. 7, 2006 23:09 | Updated Apr. 9, 2006 0:30 Six Palestinian terrorists killed in latest IAF air strike By YAAKOV KATZ A Palestinian policeman inspects a damaged car after it was hit by an Israeli missile in Gaza City Saturday April 8, 2006. Photo: AP An IAF aircraft fired missiles at a Fatah training camp near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip late Saturday evening after spotting suspicious activity. Six Palestinians were killed in the strike. Weekend missile strikes killed a total of 14 Palestinians, including a seven-year-old boy. Security forces will go on high alert Sunday morning out...

Rockets in Bloom Posted by Aharon | Tue, Apr 04, 2006, 3:17pm Now that Olmert is going to tie the knot with Labor, maybe he'll get started dealing with the major issues that have stacked up on the PM's desk since Sharon's exit stage left. Like a little ole' place called Gaza. It's one big mess and according to some commentators it could threaten the very idea of unilateral withdrawal. While supposed to have created more security for Israel, it is pretty clear that Israel's counterattacks from afar have done very little to slow down the Kassam fire (and the...

Halutz admits no-go zone has yet to prevent rocket attacks Seven Kassams fired early Tuesday in response to targeted killing; 16 fugitives arrested overnight in W. Bank. Jan. 2, 2006 22:08 | Updated Jan. 3, 2006 15:42 Seven Kassams fired at western Negev By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND AP Palestinians gather around the wreckage of a car after it was hit by an IAF missile in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. Photo: APEarly Tuesday, Palestinians fired seven Kassam rockets at the western Negev in response to the Monday night attack by the IAF in which three Palestinians affiliated with the...

Oct. 24, 2005 8:19 | Updated Oct. 25, 2005 8:57 IAF attacks Gaza Kassam launch sites By MATTHEW GUTMAN AND JPOST STAFF Al-Aksa claims one of its members was killed overnight. Photo: AP [file]The IDF continued its response Monday night against the trajectory ammunition fired at Sderot from the Gaza Strip earlier in the evening. IAF planes flew overhead, striking sites from where either Kassam rockets or mortar shells had been launched, and purposely creating sonic booms. Artillery was also fired at that area in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, the Air Force bombed Al-Aksa Martyrs' Bridade offices, and...

Fewer terrorist attacks in 2004, more warnings In contrast to the drop in casualties from suicide bombings, the number casualties from kassam rocket and mortar attacks rose sharply. Daniel Koren 24 Jan 05 17:02There were fewer terrorist attacks, but more warnings in 2004. Israel suffered 15 suicide bombings last years, down from 26 in 2003. The decrease in suicide bombings, which frequently cause heavy casualties, also led to a sharp 45% drop in the number of deaths, from 214 in 2003 to 117 in 2004, and to a 41% drop in the number of wounded, from 1,004 to 589. In...

Jan. 21, 2005 12:35 | Updated Jan. 21, 2005 13:41 Ella Abukasis, 17, laid to rest By JPOST.COM STAFF Eleven-year-old Tamir Abuksis, wounded in a Kassam rocket attack on Sderot, sits with his father, Yonatan, in the hospital. His sister, Ella Ayala Chaya, was killed in the attack as she shielded her brother Photo: Channel 2 Prayers accompanied Ella Abukasis as she left the world Friday morning. Abukasis, 17, died at 9:00 a.m. at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. She was critically wounded when a Kassam rocket exploded as she and her siblings were returning from a Bnei Akiva...

Rocket Lands Near Nahal Oz, Mortar Shell Lands in Morag 21:04 Jan 18, '05 / 8 Shevat 5765 (IsraelNN.com) A rocket landed in an open field in pre-1967 Green Line Israel between Nahal Oz and Alumim. No injuries are being reported. A mortar shell landed in the southern Gaza community of Morag. There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Sharon: IDF Has Total Political Backing 23:23 Jan 18, '05 / 8 Shevat 5765 (IsraelNN.com) Following a four-hour meeting today with senior IDF Southern District Commanders, the prime minister reiterated the military has the total backing of the government and political community to take whatever actions are necessary to bring an end to shelling attacks against Sderot, western Negev, and Gaza communities.

Jan. 18, 2005 23:10 | Updated Jan. 18, 2005 23:13 Mofaz: IDF will enter Gaza if Kassams don't stop By JPOST.COM STAFF Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Tuesdsay night that if Kassam attacks on Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and southern Negev towns continue, there will be no choice but to embark on a widespread operation in the region. Mofaz spoke to Channel 2 TV shortly after a suicide bomb attack Tuesday night at a roadblock near Gush Katif, which wounded seven people. "Terror organizations are making every effort to harm us, especially as disengagement approaches," Mofaz said. "The...

Jan. 18, 2005 0:49 | Updated Jan. 18, 2005 20:50 Sharon: Kassam attacks can't continue By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND NINA GILBERT Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, PM Ariel Sharon, and Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon visit an army base at the Erez border crossing between Gaza Strip and Israel. Photo: AP During a visit to the IDF Gaza Division on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon discussed strategies to bring an end to the incessant Kassam rocket attacks and mortar shell fire towards Israeli towns and settlements originating from Palestinian villages in the area. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, IDF Chief of Staff...

Jan. 11, 2005 8:46 | Updated Jan. 11, 2005 11:45 Gazan asks Abbas to stop Kassams By MATTHEW GUTMAN BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip Sana al-Hibel hailed Mahmud Abbas's victory in the Palestinan Authority chairmanship election on Monday morning, then quickly got down to brass tacks: "We elected him and now he needs to end the firing of Kassam rockets," said the diminutive mother of five. It is one thing to utter such words in the privacy of one's own home, but it is quite another to do so in the presence of the men firing the rockets. For the past...

IDF to remain in Gaza indefinitely CoS Ye'elon: We will not withdraw until the Kassam threat to Sderot has been eliminated. Plans to call up reserve units shelved for now. Amir Buhbut CoS Lt. Gen. Ye'elonIDF CoS Lt. General Moshe (Boogie) Ye'elon has said that the IDF will remain in Gaza for as long as is neccessary. "Operation Days of Penitence was launched in oder to put an end to the Kassam menace, which has become intolerable, and until this is achieved IDF forces will not leave Gaza". Speaking to reporters, he emphasized that the IDF was not out...