BICOM

Israeli aircrafts bombed a Hamas arms depot in the Gaza Strip yesterday evening, in response to the firing of 11 rockets and several mortar shells on Israel earlier in the day. Two Grad-type Katyusha rockets fired from Gaza landed on Thursday in open territory in the Ashdod area and the Eshkol Regional Council. Several Qassam rockets also landed in southern Israel, one in the town of Sderot. Alarms were also sounded in Yavne and Rishon Letzion but no rocket landings were identified. Defence Minister Ehud Barak, following a meeting yesterday with US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, made clear that Israel reserved the right to respond to attacks on it, and that the Hamas authorities in Gaza were responsible for all firing from the Strip, regardless of which organisation in the area carried out the attack.

According to a report on Channel 10 news, Israel is set to deploy for the first time the Iron Dome missile defence system in areas surrounding the Gaza Strip. The system is designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles. However, Israel currently possesses the system only in a very limited quantity. A single battery is due to be deployed in the Gaza area, which will be insufficient to offer comprehensive security to civilians living in the area.

An analysis in today’s Haaretz newspaper notes that the escalation in Gaza represents the toughest test for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his term in office so far. The analysis, by senior correspondent Aluf Benn, notes that Netanyahu’s task is to find a middle way which will involve a swift and telling blow against those responsible for firing the rockets, which will nevertheless remain within the parameters accepted by Israel’s allies and thus not increase Israel’s diplomatic isolation. In other news, The woman killed in the terrorist attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday has been named as British citizen Mary Jean Gardner, 59, from the Orkney Islands.