JERUSALEN, 20 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -
El ministro de Defensa israelí, Amir Peretz, afirmó hoy que Israel no pretende jugarse la vida de sus ciudadanos y que su contención ante los disparos de cohetes de fabricación casera Qassam por parte de milicianos palestinos es limitada, según recoge el diario 'Haaretz' en su edición electrónica.
Asimismo, Peretz dijo que no hay ningún alto el fuego en Cisjordania y por tanto las operaciones del Ejército israelí continuarán en esta zona. Hoy mismo, el primer ministro israelí, Ehud Olmert, había advertido de que la contención israelí está al borde de agotarse.
Precisamente, al menos seis cohetes de fabricación casera Qassam cayeron en las últimas horas en el sur de Israel tras ser disparados por milicianos palestinos desde el norte de la franja de Gaza. Un cohete cayó a primera hora de la tarde al sur de Ashkelon, y otros dos cayeron cerca del paso de Sufa. Previamente, tres cohetes Qassam habían caído a las afueras de Sderot, sin provocar heridos en ninguno de los casos.
La Yihad Islámica reivindicó la responsabilidad del ataque contra Sderot, afirmando que fue "sólo el inicio" de su venganza por la muerte de dos de sus miembros de alto rango esta mañana. Soldados israelíes apoyados por una unidad de la Policía Fronteriza, abatieron a dos milicianos palestinos durante una operación de arresto cerca de Jenín, en Cisjordania.
Six Qassam rockets hit southern Israel on Wednesday, after two wanted Islamic Jihad activists were killed earlier in the day by special police forces near the West Bank city of Jenin.
One of the rockets hit near the southern city of Ashkelon on Wednesday evening. Two additional Qassam rockets hit near the Sufa checkpoint, between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip, according to Israel Radio.
Three Qassam rockets were fired at the western Negev early Wednesday afternoon, and in Gaza, Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was the avenging the deaths of its members.
One of the rockets landed at a kibbutz in the Sha'ar Hanegev regional council, another landed next to a cemetery, and a third slammed into the entrance of a western Negev community.
There were no injuries or damage reported in any of the incidents.
The two wanted men, identified as Salah Suwafta and Hussam Ayissa, were shot dead as they tried to flee a building surrounded by the Israeli forces in the village of Silat al-Hartiya, west of Jenin.
The two had killed two police dogs accompanying the Israeli forces. Palestinian security officials said the force entered Silat al-Hartiya and surrounded a house, waging a gunbattle with the militants barricaded inside.
The army said the two militants were involved in attempts to carry out bomb attacks in Israel, and that troops had killed them during an attempted arrest operation.
"The two were involved in attempts to carry out a number of suicide attacks inside Israel," an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said.
Islamic Jihad announced over mosque loudspeakers around the northern West Bank that the two men were members of the group.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
