MIDDLE EAST: Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claims responsbility for suspected rocket attack which kills two Israeli Arab shepherds

Record ID: 354937

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claims responsbility for suspected rocket attack which kills two Israeli Arab shepherds
  • Date: 28th March 2006
  • Summary: (BN10) NAHAL OZ, ISRAEL (MARCH 28, 2006) (REUTERS) VIEW OF SCENE OF SUSPECTED ROCKET ATTACK WITH SOLDER COVERING BODY WITH PLASTIC SHEET
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA7URCD7N19S79DLH4YCJHWOT8
  • Story Text: Two Israeli Arab shepherds were killed in a suspected rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday (March 28) as Israel held a general election, medics said.
    The army said it was sure that the man and child were killed by a rocket, but was investigating whether it had been fired on Tuesday or had lain unexploded until set off by the shepherds.
    AlAqsa Martyr Brigades the militant wing of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party has claimed responsibility for the attack. Masked militants told reporters that this comes as part of a new operation launched against the 'zionist entity' where hundreds of rockets are due to be fired in the coming weeks.
    "The engineering and manufacturing section of al Aqsa, and the brigades of Sami al-Ghoul improved rockets, by the name of 'Kawkaa,' and the 'Fatah Yasser' so that it could reach instead of 12 kilometres, a distance of 18 kilometres, so it hits the city of Askalan (Ashkelon). And we're happy to tell you that we have improved 100 of the 'Fateh Yasser' rockets, and 100 of the improved 'Kawkaa' type, and we will, God willing, fire 80 mortar shells with the range of 140 metres, as part of the operation 'Volcano of Fire inside Askalan'," a masked militant said in press conference held in Gaza city
    Palestinian militants regularly fire rockets from Gaza, which Israel withdrew from last year after 38 years of occupation, but the makeshift missiles rarely cause casualties.
    The rocket attack comes on the day of Israeli Knesset elections in which the voter turn out is at an all time low according to noon time polls.
    Israelis voted on Tuesday in a parliamentary election seen as a referendum on uprooting some West Bank settlements while enlarging others to impose Israel's final borders if peacemaking with the Palestinians stays frozen.
    Rightist opponents of giving up Gaza or parts of the West Bank argue that such withdrawals encourage militants to fire rockets and carry out other attacks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register