5 hurt in Ashkelon as close to 50 rockets hit southern Israel

[bemildred]

Five Israelis were wounded in two separate strikes on the southern port town of Ashkelon on Saturday, as Palestinian militants in Gaza launched close to rockets at southern Israel over the course of the day.

Some 37 of the rockets fired were Grad-type missiles and Qassams and the rest were mortar shells.

Meanwhile the Palestinian death toll in clashes with Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip climbed to 61, since the operation to halt rocket fire began in the morning hours. Two rockets hit southern Israel on Saturday evening, one striking directly into a house in Sderot and the other an open field. The house was empty at the time of the strike.

On Saturday afternoon, three people were wounded when rockets hit the marina in Ashkelon, some 15 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. One of the three sustained moderate wounds, while the other two were lightly hurt. A number of people at the scene of the attack were treated for shock.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959172.html

[bemildred]

1. Rocket barrage slams Ashkelon; Israel intensifies strikes on Gaza

The escalating fighting between Israel and Hamas peaked yesterday with a direct hit by a long-range rocket on a home in the port city of Ashkelon and the killing of at least 18 Palestinians in air strikes. These included five boys and a six-month-old baby.

Israeli military analysts say that as Ashkelon becomes a permanent target of Hamas missile attacks, an Israeli ground offensive is becoming inevitable and likely to occur sooner rather than later.

After a dense barrage of rockets yesterday, fired by Hamas militants against Sderot, and the recent killing of a man at Sapir College, the Israel Defense Forces intensified its air attacks against Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip. Hamas sources claimed to have fired 82 rockets since Wednesday, 51 of them at Sderot. Also yesterday, a much-anticipated IDF ground offensive seemed to move one step closer with Defense Minister Ehud Barak declaring that such an operation "was a real likelihood."

Early yesterday evening, a Katyusha-type rocket struck a building in Ashkelon, crashing through the roof of an apartment building and slicing through three floors. No casualties were reported.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959368.html

[hifalutin]

4. I'd still like to know

how many people heard about this Live for Sderot benefit?

I saw hardly any mention of it in MSM, why would they want to keep it quiet?

[hifalutin]

2. Did anyone hear about this?

LA benefit salutes Sderot's children

'Live for Sderot' concert held in support of rocket-battered Israeli town and hosts Israeli, American artists. US presidential candidates Obama, Clinton and McCain send their warm wishes to Sderot during show

WASHINGTON – Dozens of Hollywood stars attended Tuesday the "Live for Sderot" concert, which was held in Los Angeles and dedicated to the children of the Qassam-battered town.

City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also participated in the glamorous event, organized by the Israeli consulate as an opening ceremony for Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations, and US presidential hopefuls Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain all sent their warm wishes to Sderot via videotaped messages.

The show was hosted by Israeli actress Noa Tishby, and included performances by Ninet Tayeb, violinist Miri Ben-Ari, Israeli-born American singer Elliot Yamin, Mike Burstein, Aki Avni and Oscar-winning actor John Voight.

In Obama's message, which was broadcast during the event, the Democratic candidate said that as a father of two girls, he "could only imagine the terror that these rockets cause." Senator Clinton voiced her sympathy for the people of Sderot, saying she was overwhelmed by the town's residents' courage and sacrifice.

Republican candidate McCain stated that the world must not remain passive in view of the Qassam fire on the Israeli town. "It’s an outrage that this violence is claiming innocent victims but is not condemned by world nations. Everybody is entitled to live in peace," he stressed.

Fighting media bias
Israeli Consul General in Los Angeles Jacob Dayan told Ynet that it was the biased, one-sided coverage of the situation by the Los Angeles Times that prompted the consulate to organize the campaign for Sderot.

Dayan added that the presidential candidates' willingness to contribute to the concert "proves that it's not only the people of Israel that stand behind Sderot, and not only the people of Los Angeles that embrace them, but the whole of the United States."


Tuesday's show was part of a wider campaign, sponsored by the Israeli Leadership Club, aimed at raising awareness to the situation in Sderot in the American public. Ten teenagers from Sderot were recently flown to LA to meet with high school and college students and share their experience from life in the bombarded Israeli town

[azurnoir]

3. Was listening to NPR

earlier this evening and that Israel wants to keep things quiet for Condi's visit was mentioned, looks Hamas wants to make that impossible.

[Shaktimaan]

5. How in the world could that help Hamas?

not that I disagree, I just don't know why they are doing what they are doing. How will it ultimately benefit their cause? Unless their cause is purely political relevancy.

[bemildred]

6. So what do you think would benefit Hamas?

Who gets to decide what benefits Hamas? Does Hamas get to have an opinion about what is in their best interests? If they do, is their opinion more important than, say, Condi Rice's opinion about what is best for Hamas? Can you expect to understand Hamas' actions while dismissing their views?

My answers:
1.) Hamas wants power and legitimacy, like all political actors.
2.) Anybody at all.
3.) Yes (from #2).
4.) Yes, Condi Rice's opinions are clearly worthless.
5.) No, to make sense of their actions you have to understand their views. (This actually applies to anyone, too.)