Hamas, Islamic Jihad fire some 30 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, some of which hit a college campus nr. Sederot (wounding 4 Israelis) and a house (causing damage but no injuries). The IDF, which has halted artillery fire until an investigation of the 6/9 strike that killed 8 Palestinians is completed (the IDF now argues that an errant Palestinian rocket was to blame), responds with air strikes on n. Gaza, hitting a group of Hamas mbrs. preparing to fire a rocket nr. Bayt Lahiya (killing 2 Hamas mbrs.) and targeting a car driven by Hamas mbrs. (wounding 3 bystanders). An Islamic Jihad mbr. is reportedly killed when a rocket he is preparing to fire explodes. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., nr. Bethlehem; begins uprooting Palestinian trees, leveling agricultural land s. of Qalqilya for a new settler bypass road between Oranit and Sha’are Tikva settlements. A Hamas mbr. dies of injuries received in clashes with PA security officers on 6/1. (IFM, REU 6/11; NYT, WP 6/12; PCHR 6/15; OCHA 6/21)
Sunday, June 11, 2006