Hamas beschiet voor het eerst Jeruzalem met raket

 

Oorlog kent haar eigen dynamiek en logica: nadat haar grootste bevolkingscentra beschoten zijn, kan Israel niet zomaar instemmen met een staakt-het-vuren (als het al zou willen). Tenzij men wellicht het Iron Dome afweergeschut zo kan instellen dat deze raketten worden onderschept, lijkt een grondoffensief onvermijdelijk om deze dreiging te elimineren. Dat kan door de lange-afstands raketten van Hamas op te sporen en te vernietigen, ofwel door zo'n ravage aan te richten dat Hamas het niet in zijn hoofd zou halen zo'n aanvallen nog eens te doen. Bij de Gaza Oorlog van 2008-2009 lukte het niet Hamas langdurig uit te schakelen maar wel tijdelijk te verzwakken en een dusdanige afschrikking te realiseren dat het nadien langere tijd rustig bleef aan het Gaza-front. Helaas werkt zoiets maar tijdelijk, eist het veel burgerslachtoffers en vernietiging van ook civiele gebouwen en infrastructuur. Enige andere oplossing lijkt bij verre wenselijker...

 

Zie ook: Nieuwe Gaza oorlog?

 

Wouter

 

Elder of Ziyon meldt:

 

Hamas calls the rocket used a Qassam M75, and claims that it was manufactured in Gaza. They made the same claim about the Tel Aviv rockets. This seems unlikely but it is possible that Iran designed a rocket for Hamas that could go far but not be accurate. (Islamic Jihad said that the Tel Aviv rockets were Iranian-manufactured Fajr-5's.)

While the rockets are reported to have landed in Gush Etzion, it is important to note that Hamas announced the target to be Jerusalem supposedly Islam's third holiest city, and a city that is roughly half Arab. Which goes to show that their concern about the lives of their fellow Arabs is far lower than Israel's.

_____________________

 

Hamas fires first rockets at Jerusalem

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4306759,00.html  

 

After reaching Tel Aviv metropolitan area, missile range extended to Israel's capital as well. Air raid siren sounded in Jerusalem area shortly after Palestinian organization promises 'surprise'. Rocket lands in Gush Etzion area; no injuries or damage reported

Noam (Dabul) Dvir

Published:  11.16.12, 16:52 / Israel News

After Tel Aviv metropolitan area, capital under fire too: An air raid siren was sounded in Jerusalem and surrounding communities early Friday evening. After residents reported hearing blast sounds, security forces confirmed that one rocket had landed in the Gush Etzion area.

 

This was the first air raid siren sounded in the area since the IDF launched Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip. Air raid sirens were sounded in southern communities throughout the day and a barrage of missiles hit the area.

 

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On Friday afternoon, an air raid siren sounded in Tel Aviv, followed by an explosion caused by a missile landing in an open area.

 

Shortly after the air raid siren sounded in Jerusalem, Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the rocket fired at the capital area. according to the organization, it fired a homemade rocket called Qassam M76.

 

The rocket Hamas fired at Tel Aviv is nicknamed Qassam M75.

 

Shortly before the rocket hit the Jerusalem area, Hamas' military wing promised "a surprise in a short while."

 

At the same time the rockets were fired at Jerusalem, a factory in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel sustained a direct hit. There were no reports of injuries.

  

The rocket, which sounded at 4:45 pm, caught Jerusalem residents off guard just before the start of Shabbat. Residents of Tel Aviv and southern communities, who fled to Jerusalem, were surprised to hear the siren.

 

"We were sitting together and listening to music, when suddenly the siren sounded," said two 16-year-old Jerusalem residents, Denise and Inbar. "The first feeling was shock. We thought it wouldn’t happen to us."

 

Gil, 27, who lives in the Mevasseret Zion area, said he heard three explosions. "We heard one boom during the siren and two afterwards. We ran into the fortified room, my girlfriend and I. It reminded us of the days of the first Gulf War."

 

Roi and Matan, students who live in Tel Aviv, returned to their parents' home in Jerusalem to relax from the rockets fired at Tel Aviv.

 

"I guess the safest place in Israel is in Nablus," said Matan, who was surprised by siren sounds twice in the past 24 hours. "Yesterday I was shocked by the siren in Tel Aviv, and today it chased me to Jerusalem."

 

Recruitment of 30,000 reservists okayed

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat asked the capital's residents to continue their routine life and obey Home Front Command orders.

 

"The municipality is prepared for all scenarios, and the public bomb shelters are ready in case we need to open them," he clarified.

 

Meanwhile, thousands of reserve forces are flocking to southern Israel. Hundreds of military trucks carrying supplies, ammunition, water and fuel, as well as tanks, armored personnel carriers and jeeps filled the Gaza vicinity's roads.

 

As part of the preparations for a ground offensive in the Strip, the IDF opened the war-reserve-stores units and many weapons were transported toward Gaza.

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave the green light to the IDF to extend the recruitment of reserve forces to more than 30,000 soldiers if necessary.

 

Meanwhile, the Home Front Command has ordered local authorities to prepare for a long period of fighting of up to seven weeks.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the Kirya Base in Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon to discuss the continuation of Operation Pillar of Defense with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, Shin Bet Director Yoram Cohen and senior officials.