Israel Mulls Response in Gaza; Palestinians Mark 60th Nakba Day

By The Media Line/Yaniv Berman

An Iranian-made Grad missile hit a clinic in Israel's south on Wednesday evening, seriously wounding four people, including a two-year-old child and her mother.

The missile was launched from the northern coast of the Gaza Strip and caused considerable damage to the clinic, located inside a busy shopping mall in Ashqelon. Dozens of civilians were also lightly wounded or suffered from anxiety.

"The current government hasn't responded in the way it should have to the terror attacks," Gideon Sa'ar, a senior member of the opposition Likud party, told The Media Line

"I hope that now the government will take the right decision in order to confront Hamas," Sa'ar added.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Ashqelon following the attack and said the situation would not carry on for much longer.

"I am not talking about years or many months. We will do what needs to be done," Barak told reporters.

Over the past few months the Israeli army has been preparing for a wide-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A senior security official said yesterday Israel was on a collision course with Hamas, which is "gradually nearing its peak," the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Meanwhile, head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin, said yesterday any Israeli town within a 25-mile range from the Gaza Strip would enter rocket range by the year 2010. Yadlin added, in an interview with Haaretz, that Hamas already possessed rockets with a 13-mile range.

Nakba Day

The Palestinians are today marking the 60th anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe), which began on May 15, 1948 with the establishment of Israel.

The Palestinian Authority announced a partial national holiday to allow the public to participate in events across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The Palestinians are conducting marches, conferences and symbolic events to commemorate the Nakba.

Thousands are expected to participate in a march toward the Erez border crossing, organized by the Hamas movement.

In the West Bank 21,915 black balloons will be launched from refugee camps, one for each day since the establishment of Israel.

"The Palestinian state will be built on top of all Palestinian territories and the Zionists will eventually have to leave them," Mahmoud A-Zahhar, a Hamas senior leader in Gaza, said Wednesday.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud 'Abbas, for his part, said Palestinian rights - especially the right of return - will be achieved through peace negotiations.

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com

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