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First israeli killed since july 2005 by rocket attacks

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   http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-11-15T103818Z_01_L12263400_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-4

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-11-15T103818Z_01_L12263400_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-4

Palestinian rocket kills Israeli woman near Gaza
Wed Nov 15, 2006 5:38 AM ET

By Yehuda Peretz

SDEROT, Israel (Reuters) - A rocket fired by Palestinian gunmen from Gaza killed a 58-year-old woman in an Israeli border town on Wednesday, prompting an angry reaction from Israel which said militants would "pay a heavy price".

It was the first time since July 2005 that rockets have killed Israelis in towns and villages along the Gaza frontier.

Medical officials said two people were badly wounded in the attack on Sderot, including a security guard who works at the home of Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a resident of the town.

The armed wing of the ruling Hamas Islamist movement said it fired four rockets at Sderot and claimed responsibility for the death, saying it was in response to Israeli shelling last week that killed 19 Palestinian civilians. The Islamic Jihad militant group said it had launched two rockets.

"The Zionist enemy has admitted a Zionist was killed as a result of the Qassam Brigades bombardment of Sderot," the Hamas armed wing said in a statement.

A Hamas movement spokesman also defended the rocket attack.

Peretz would meet with Israeli security chiefs later on Wednesday in the wake of the strike, his office said.

"We will act against all those involved in the firing of Qassam rockets, from the heads of the terror organizations down to the last activist. The terror organizations will pay a heavy price," Peretz said in a statement.

The attack on Sderot coincided with a fourth day of talks in Gaza between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction on forming a unity government that Palestinians hope will satisfy Western nations and lead to the lifting of crippling sanctions.

Officials are negotiating cabinet positions after largely agreeing that a U.S.-trained academic from Gaza, Mohammad Shbair, will replace Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas as prime minister.

Hamas said on Tuesday the new administration would not recognize Israel, a stance that could keep Western aid on hold. The West cut direct aid when Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, took office in March after beating Fatah in elections.

ROCKET NEAR MINISTER'S HOME

Emergency services said the rocket that caused the casualties hit a street of the working-class town, a frequent target for rocket squads because it lies so close to Gaza.

An Israeli news website said one rocket landed close to Peretz's home.

Rockets also hit a nearby village. No one was wounded.

Israel's army has carried out repeated raids into Gaza in recent months to try to halt the militant rocket fire.

Last week 19 Palestinian civilians were killed in an artillery barrage on the town of Beit Hanoun.

Israel said the barrage was aimed at areas used by militants to fire rockets but went off course due to a technical failure.

Palestinian militants have fired around 300 makeshift rockets into southern Israel since the start of the year. The missiles rarely hurt anyone but cause widespread panic.

Israel launched a major offensive in Gaza last June after gunmen abducted an Israeli soldier and killed two others in a cross-border raid.

The military assault, also aimed at stopping rocket fire, has killed more than 370 Palestinians, around half of them civilians, Palestinian hospital officials say. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed in the operation.

Israel withdrew its army and some 8,500 Jewish settlers from Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)


© Reuters 2006.




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