8-Jan-11: Three farm workers injured, Gazan jihadists elated, and a bomber is stopped

The terrorists of the Gaza Strip, operating under the Hamas terrorist regime, scored a direct hit today (Saturday). Proudly announcing they had managed to fire off six mortar shells against what they laughably called "a military base", the Islamic Jihad organization took full credit. The reality, as reflected in Israeli reports, is that four mortar shells landed on the grounds of a kibbutz in southern Israel's Sha'ar Hanegev region. Three people were injured (but a Reuters report says two)  inside their residential hut, all of them agricultural contract workers from Thailand, according to Ynet. One suffered moderate to serious injuries, a second one moderate wounds and a third was lightly wounded.

There are reports of a fifth mortar shell landing in an open area in the Eshkol region this evening; fortunately there are no injuries or damage, but it is clear that this not the outcome the jihadists wanted. Experience shows they will keep firing off haphazardly as they tend to do until one of their pot-shots strikes gold.

Another Islamic Jihad "hero" made today's news in the very final stages of his terrorist career. A BBC report says the man leapt from a taxi and ran towards an Israeli security checkpoint east of Nablus (the Jerusalem Post, generally more accurate on matters of Israeli geography, says this was in fact the Bekaot checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley, just south of Beit She’an), carrying a pipe bomb. A Haaretz report adds that he was shouting an Islamic war cry as he ran. He ignored calls to stop (those calls are part of IDF procedure) and was then promptly shot by the IDF forces. A second bomb was found on his body (according to BBC) as well as a knife (according to Haaretz). AFP quotes the Palestinian Authority's security spokesman, a general called Adnan Zamiri "condemning" what he called "this latest crime by the Israeli occupiers who want to push the Palestinians into confrontation."

For those unfamiliar with local terminology, the "crime" of "pushing the Palestinians into confrontation" that the spokesperson of the 'moderate' PA security forces mentions, is a Palestinian Arab euphemism for Israelis getting on with their lives.