23-Mar-11: Heating up

Things are unfortunately warming up once more in this ongoing war.

Yesterday (Tuesday) two rockets fired from Gaza crashed to earth a little south of Ashdod, Israel's fifth-largest city and main port. The IDF spokesperson's office says Ashdod has been free of Gazan rockets attacks since the end of Operation Cast Lead more than two years ago. As far as has been reported till now, no injuries, no serious damage, just miracles.

The IDF reports that during last night, Israeli Air Force aircraft targeted and killed a terrorist in the act of firing a Grad rocket from the northern Gaza Strip toward Ashdod.

Then around dawn this morning (Wednesday), a full-scale Grad rocket fired by the terrorists of the Gaza Strip exploded in a Beersheba residential neighbourhood. Ynet says several people are injured, and there is property damage.

Credit, in the grotesque sense that terrorists use that word, was claimed by Islamic Jihad whose statement described the attack on sleeping Israelis as "an initial reaction to the Zionist crimes against our people in Gaza."

About four hours later, a second Grad rocket crashed into open space near the southern city (population: about 200,000). In addition, several mortar shells exploded in the Eshkol region this morning, contributing to the growing sense among Israelis that, once again, the terrorists want to raise the stakes.

And once again, as with terrorism everywhere, the innocent on both sides of the barrier are the prime victims.