Qassam Rocket Attacks | The American Task Force on Palestine

Gaza border violence: Another threat to Palestinian statehood?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ahmed al-Dabba - July 29, 2011 - 12:00am

As Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ramps up his campaign for a United Nations vote on statehood in September, the Gaza Strip is buzzing with speculation that Israel and radical Palestinian elements could derail the effort with cross-border violence. Militants in the Hamas-run territory recently launched Qassam rockets into Israel for the first time in three months, breaking a tenuous cease-fire and drawing retaliatory attacks from Israel. Israel said yesterday that 24 rockets have been fired on its territory so far this month.

News Analysis: Gaza Strip may witness more violence between Israel, militant groups: analysts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am

GAZA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian observers believe that the Gaza Strip may witness more escalation of violence soon between Israel and Gaza militant groups following around one week of tit-for-tat escalation that the coastal enclave had witnessed between the two sides. During this week, Israeli F-16 war jets carried out a series of intensive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which targeted smuggling tunnels underneath the borders between the enclave and Egypt, where three Palestinians were killed and 25 others, most of them civilians, were wounded.

Israel rocket victims fail in bid to sue Al Jazeera
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Basil Katz - June 9, 2011 - 12:00am

Victims of 2006 rocket strikes on Israel cannot sue Al Jazeera on grounds the broadcaster intentionally helped Hezbollah attack civilians by reporting the sites of explosions, a U.S. judge ruled this week. The Israeli plaintiffs, who were asking for $1.2 billion in damages from Al Jazeera, said the Qatar-based news network helped Hezbollah militants target their rockets more accurately during the 34-day war with Israel. Their lawsuit, filed a year ago, argued that a Manhattan court had jurisdiction over the case because U.S. citizens had been harmed.

Kassam rocket fired explodes in Sha'ar HaNegev, none hurt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yoni Cohen, Debra Kamin - April 18, 2011 - 12:00am

A Kassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council Monday afternoon. Warning sirens sounded prior to the rocket landing. Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that the rocket landed near a kibbutz in the area. No injuries or damage were reported. The South has experienced a relative calm for over a week since a tense ceasefire with Hamas was brokered. Last Friday, two Grad rockets exploded separately in the cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod overnight. No casualties or damages were reported.

Escalation in revenge attacks pushes Israel closer to war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - March 25, 2011 - 12:00am

A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza struck an area close to Tel Aviv yesterday in a bold attack that could provoke Israel into a decisive strike and bring it one step closer to a new Middle East war. The latest attack, which injured nobody and landed in an unpopulated area 15 miles south of the city, will unsettle Israelis, who are used to seeing low-grade rockets and mortars drop mostly harmlessly in areas close to Gaza, but rarely feel threatened in cities such as Tel Aviv.

In Israel, Gates Condemns Recent Attacks From Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner, Tom Shanker - March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

A rocket fired by militants from Gaza overshot the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Thursday afternoon, landing in an open area to the north, as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was meeting with Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, less than 20 miles up the coast in Tel Aviv.

US urges Israel-Palestinian peace as rockets fall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Phil Stewart, Dan Williams - March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Thursday to advance stalled peace efforts, as rockets exploded near Israel's heavily populated coastal area south of Tel Aviv. Gates' visit to Israel came as surging violence raised fears of a new war, with Palestinian rockets striking deep inside Israel on Thursday and Israeli aircraft pounding targets in Gaza.

News Analysis: Latest Hamas Rocket attack on Israel a political statement: observers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - March 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Islamic Hamas movement claimed responsibility for the Saturday mortar attack into southern Israel, to which the latter retaliated with air strikes on what the army said were military targets. The Palestinian attacks came a few days after Palestinian National Authority President and Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas said that he would travel to Gaza for reconciliation talks with Hamas. Local analysts view the Palestinian mortar barrage as part of an internal political standoff ahead of Abbas' visit.

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