BICOM

Following an attack on a school bus in the Sha’ar HaNegev area adjoining the Gaza Strip yesterday, Israeli aircraft bombed targets in the Gaza Strip. An anti-tank missile was fired at the bus in the afternoon yesterday. A 16 year old boy sustained critical head wounds in the attack. The bus driver was also injured. The Izz a Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack in retaliation for the killing by Israel of three Hamas men over the weekend. In response to the attack, Israeli Air Force jets targeted smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza and rocket launching sites engaged in firing on Ashkelon. Five Palestinians were reportedly killed.

Forty-five rockets were also fired at Israel from the Strip during the course of the day. The Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system was deployed for the first time in during rocket fire, and successfully intercepted and destroyed at least one grad-type Katyusha rocket targeting the city of Ashkelon.

Following the Israeli counter-fire, Hamas declared a ceasefire at 11pm last night. Despite the declaration, Israeli aircraft carried out an additional strike on Gaza around midnight. Senior Israeli analyst Ron Ben-Yishai, writing in Yediot Ahronot, said that Hamas’s decision to launch a strike targeting civilians in response to the killing of three of its operatives over the weekend was an attempt to establish new ‘rules of engagement’ whereby Israel would fear launching targeted strikes at terrorists actively engaged in planning attacks. According to Ben-Yishai, Israel is determined to make clear that this is unacceptable.

At the present time, it appears that the Israeli military is preparing additional strikes which may continue throughout the weekend. However, no major ground incursion into the Strip looks likely. Officials said yesterday that they hope to avoid further major disruption of the lives of residents of the south.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague yesterday condemned the attack on the school bus, which he described as a “despicable and cowardly act.”