4-Feb-08: Reaping a Gazan harvest

The first reports are emerging this morning of a terrorist bombing attack on a southern Israel shopping center at 10:20am today (Monday), with Israeli deaths. But there's more trouble around that may get lost in the rush.

In a Sunday briefing to the Cabinet, Yuval Diskin, head of the Shin-Bet, reported on the Gaza events behind the headlines:

• Dozens of Palestinian-Arab terrorists who were trained in Iran crossed into Gaza from Egypt while the Egypt-Gaza border was wide open for 12 days after months of being refused entry.
• "It's not clear how many, but large quantities of advanced weapons, including long range rockets, anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles were brought into Gaza through the breached border over the past few days" he reported.
• Diskin's Sunday report describes the Sinai-Negev border as Israel's "soft underbelly" through which dozens of terrorists will try to penetrate into the country. He said the Shin Bet and the IDF had discovered around 30 routes that could be used to infiltrate the country.

Demonstrating how true Diskin's disturbing assessment is, this morning's reports from Dimona speak of two Pal-Arab jihadists who attacked the town's commercial center causing deaths and injuries to Israelis. One of the two went to his virgins in the massive explosion. The second, evidently his accomplice, was shot dead at close range by a fast-thinking security person before he managed to ignite the explosive pack on his body. As a result, the scene is greatly complicated by the fact that the shot jihadist's body has dangerous explosive material attached to it, according to a report we're hearing on Israel television news (as of 11:25am).

The south is not quiet or calm, and hasn't been for a long time. Four more Qassam rockets crashed into southern Israel, in the vicinity of Sderot, this morning. And a jihadist armed with a knife was seized by Israeli security forces this morning as he approached the Jewish holy site of the Machpela Tombs in Hebron.

Channel One news says there are already multiple conflicting claims of credit for the Dimona bombing by several jihadist groups including Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization. Sadly, the signs are that there are going to be plenty of opportunities for the thugs to grab credit for themselves. Murdering innocent Jews is one of Gaza's handful of flourishing exports.

UPDATE Tuesday 5-Feb-08: The woman murdered while going out shopping was 74-year-old Razdolskya Lyobov, a Dimona resident born in the former Soviet Union. Her husband remains in Beersheva hospital in critical condition. Another smashing victory for the ever-desperate Gazan jihadist "freedom fighters". Feh.