Conference Call: IDF Responds To Hamas Escalation

The IDF blog today has a number of posts on the IDF returning fire in response to the rockets and mortars being fired on Israel today from Gaza.

I was just on a conference call with other bloggers with IDF Spokesperson Lt. Colonel Avital Leibowitz, who described a recent exchange.

Lt. Colonel Leibowitz told us:


In response to 4 projectiles were fired from Gaza into the Negev, the IDF fired back, resulting in some casualties in Gaza--among them terrorists.

It was not the intent of the IDF to have casualties--in fact, while the IDF originally targeted 7 areas in Gaza for their response, in the end only 6 of those areas were included in the IDF response because it was determined that civilians were in the area.

Just from Saturday alone, there have been a total of 61 mortars and Kassams and 1 Grad rocket fired into Israel. It is not the intent of Israel to escalate the situation with Gaza, but it will respond.

In Israel, it was confirmed that there was damage to the houses and towns targeted by Hamas, but exact numbers in terms of Israeli casualties will be verified later by the police and hospitals. Currently, there appears to be less than 5 Israelis injured.

If Hamas insists on escalating the number of rockets fired into Israel, it falls upon the IDF to both eliminate those who are posing a threat and to reduce the number of rockets/mortars being fired into Israel.

Note: more at the IDF blog: IDF Hits Target in Northern Gaza Strip in Response to Rocket Fire

Technorati Tag: Gaza and Hamas.