Cross-Border Qassam Strike Injures 69 Sleeping Israeli Soldiers

Two years after Israel Defense Forces leave Gaza Strip, cross-border Qassam strike injures 69 sleeping Israeli soldiers

Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees take responsibility for the attack

A Qassam rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip into Israeli territory hit an Israeli military base in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Sept. 11, wounding 69 soldiers. The rocket hit an empty tent on the Zikim military base less than a mile north of the Gaza Strip. Flying shrapnel injured the soldiers sleeping nearby.

According to Israeli emergency services, 12 soldiers were severely wounded and sent to nearby hospitals. One is in critical condition. Fifty-seven soldiers suffered moderate to light injuries. The injured are 18- and 19-year old soldiers nearing the end of a basic training course completed in the first year of national army service.

Credit was taken jointly by the Al-Quds Brigade of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror organization, which receives funding, training and direction from Iran, and by the Popular Resistance Committees, a group composed; of ex-Hamas and Fatah members. PIJ presented the attack on their website as a "gift" to the Palestinian people for Ramadan [1] "We knew that in these hours we could harm as many soldiers as possible," a spokesman for the group told the Israeli media. [2] A spokesman for Hamas, which has been in full control of the Gaza Strip since June, said after the strike that "we consider this a victory from God."[3]

A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, Mark Regev, told the BBC "We pulled out of the Gaza Strip two years ago, we took down all of the settlements, we pulled out all our military personnel, we ended the military occupation and these extremists who are shooting rockets really have no positive agenda. It's just nihilism."[4]

The attack comes a little more than two years since Israel completely withdrew its military forces and some 9000 civilians from the Gaza Strip in August, 2005 in a sacrifice for peace. Since then, nearly 2,000 Qassams have been launched against Israeli communities in the surrounding areas, killing a dozen people and injuring hundreds more.

The Zikim base, which sits just south of Ashkelon, was previously hit by a Qassam on December 5, 2005, injuring five soldiers. The soldiers injured in Tuesday's attack were due to leave the base on home-leave the following day for the Jewish New Year holiday Rosh Hashana.

Footnotes

[1] "The 'Dawn of Victory': A gift for the month of Ramadan," Al Quds Brigades website, Sept. 11, 2007, http://www.saraya.ps/view.php?id=2970&sec_id1=21
[2] "Jihad spokesman: The Zikim base was a prime target," Ynet Yediot Ahronot, http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3448317,00.html
[3] "Hamas spokesman praises rocket attack on Israeli army base," The
Associated Press, Sept. 11, 2007,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411384358&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[4] "Rockets injure dozens in Israel," The BBC, Sept. 11, 2007,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6988463.stm

Source: The Israel Project

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com

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