ISRAEL: Rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip strikes the city of Ashkelon

Record ID: 352579

  • Title: ISRAEL: Rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip strikes the city of Ashkelon
  • Date: 31st July 2010
  • Summary: ASHKELON, ISRAEL (JULY 30 ,2010) (REUTERS) RESIDENTS OF ASHKELON LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW OF A BUILDING NEAR WHERE ROCKET FIRED FROM GAZA LANDED DAMAGED CAR NEAR SITE
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA7616P31Q7SMPHOZHDPU55AGC0
  • Story Text: A rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip struck the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Friday (July 30), causing damage but no injuries, officials said.
    The attack was one of the first to hit the southern city after months of quiet since Israel launched a three week military campaign in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in late 2008, called operation Cast Lead in Israel.
    Israel has yet to respond but has on previous occasions retaliated with strikes against smuggling tunnels or outposts of the Islamist group Hamas after such attacks.
    Ashkelon's mayor Benny Vaknin told Israeli Radio the latest attack was the most serious since operation Cast Lead. He called on government to act and urged 'the neighbours' in Gaza to keep the peace as talks are due to resume.
    "Missile of kind of grad, with hard construction, fall in the neighbourhood with high density as you see hundreds of families live here. It's just luck that we don't have here killed people just a few metres form the centre of hundreds of apartments," Vaknin told Reuters.
    The city lies about 12 km (10 miles) up the coast from the Gaza Strip and has some 125,000 residents.
    While rocket fire has continued since operation Cast Lead, much of it has targeted smaller towns closer to the border.
    A police spokesman said the rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip and landed in a residential area.
    No group in Gaza initially claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. Hamas has said it is trying to stop militants from firing at Israel, but smaller groups have continued the attacks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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