MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voices confidence with the country's defence systems but residents in the south still run for cover at the sound of rockets fired from Gaza

Record ID: 872766

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voices confidence with the country's defence systems but residents in the south still run for cover at the sound of rockets fired from Gaza
  • Date: 12th March 2012
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (MARCH 11, 2012) (REUTERS) WIDE VIEW OF ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU WALKING INTO WEEKLY CABINET MEETING WIDE VIEW OF NETANYAHU OPENING MEETING VARIOUS OF MINISTERS IN MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING: "We are at the height of this round (of violence). The Israel Defence Force (IDF) is hitting them them intensely and I would like to praise its action as well as that of the security and intelligence bodies. We have exacted a heavy price from them and still are, and we will continue to act as needed. I have to mention that the Iron Dome system has proven itself."
  • Embargoed: 27th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem, Gaza, Israel
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA0NDY2DHS3JHKM6XM4AW21HJK
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (March 11) praised the military's operation on a third day of violence against militants in the Gaza Strip.
    "I would like to praise its action as well as that of the security and intelligence bodies. We have exacted a heavy price from them and still are, and we will continue to act as needed. I have to mention that the Iron Dome system has proven itself," Netanyahu told his cabinet ministers at their weekly meeting in Jerusalem.
    Earlier on Sunday, Israeli aircraft killed two Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy according to medical sources in Gaza.
    An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the strikes and said the army was checking on the reports that a boy was killed.
    Sunday's attacks brought to 17 the number of Palestinians killed since Friday (March 9), when Israeli missiles killed two militant leaders.
    Sixteen of those killed were Palestinian militants, according to Palestinian officials. Medics have identified some of the wounded as civilians.
    Militant groups in Hamas-ruled Gaza have fired more than 100 rockets into southern Israel since Friday (March 9), injuring six people, one of them seriously. Six more projectiles were fired from Gaza on Sunday, an Israeli police spokesman said.
    Schools in the area were closed but a child who was playing in a school's playground was forced to run for shelter when the sound of rockets boomed above him. Residents voiced concern for their safety.
    "I have children, the sirens are very scary. It is limiting us and it is very difficult," said Tirtza, a resident of of the frequently-targeted town of Ashkelon.
    Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an armed faction largely independent of Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers, said it had fired most of the rockets and mortars.
    The escalating violence drew appeals for a ceasefire from the United Nations, the European Union, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and neighbouring Egypt.
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