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| Rocket From Gaza Hits Israel, Breaking Cease-Fire | Rocket From Gaza Hits Israel, Breaking Cease-Fire |
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| JERUSALEM – For the first time in more than three months, at least one rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel early Tuesday morning, according to Israeli authorities, breaking a cease-fire that had been in place following eight days of intense violence between Israel and Gaza last fall. | JERUSALEM – For the first time in more than three months, at least one rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel early Tuesday morning, according to Israeli authorities, breaking a cease-fire that had been in place following eight days of intense violence between Israel and Gaza last fall. |
| The Israeli police and military reported that a single Grad rocket landed in a road outside the city of Ashkelon, causing damage but no injuries. | The Israeli police and military reported that a single Grad rocket landed in a road outside the city of Ashkelon, causing damage but no injuries. |
| The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinians’ Fatah faction, said in an e-mailed statement that it had fired the rocket in "an initial natural response to the assassination of prisoner Arafat Jaradat," a 30-year-old Palestinian who died in an Israeli jail on Saturday. The statement also said that Palestinians "should resist their enemy with all available means." | The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinians’ Fatah faction, said in an e-mailed statement that it had fired the rocket in "an initial natural response to the assassination of prisoner Arafat Jaradat," a 30-year-old Palestinian who died in an Israeli jail on Saturday. The statement also said that Palestinians "should resist their enemy with all available means." |
| Palestinian officials have blamed Mr. Jaradat’s death on what they described as "severe torture" during interrogation after his arrest Feb. 21 for throwing rocks at Israeli settlers in November. The Israeli authorities said that an autopsy conducted on Sunday could not determine the cause of death and that the bruising and broken ribs the Palestinians cited as evidence of torture could have been caused by resuscitation efforts. | Palestinian officials have blamed Mr. Jaradat’s death on what they described as "severe torture" during interrogation after his arrest Feb. 21 for throwing rocks at Israeli settlers in November. The Israeli authorities said that an autopsy conducted on Sunday could not determine the cause of death and that the bruising and broken ribs the Palestinians cited as evidence of torture could have been caused by resuscitation efforts. |
| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the rocket fire, but has generally held Hamas, the militant Islamic faction that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, responsible for all attacks emanating from the territory. Several Hamas leaders did not answer their telephones Tuesday morning, but Ihab Al-Ghussein, head of the Hamas government media office, denounced the reports of rocket fire as "lies" in a post on Facebook. | |
| "This is an attempt by the occupation to distract attention from the Palestinian people’s anger that stems from the occupation’s ongoing crimes," the post said. | |
| On a previously scheduled visit to southern Israel to meet with farmers, President Shimon Peres said, "Quiet will be met with quiet; fire will be met with an appropriate response." | On a previously scheduled visit to southern Israel to meet with farmers, President Shimon Peres said, "Quiet will be met with quiet; fire will be met with an appropriate response." |
| Palestinian officials said that after the rocket fire, Israel closed its Erez crossing into Gaza to Palestinians and shut down the Kerem Shalom crossing through which commercial goods enter the strip. | Palestinian officials said that after the rocket fire, Israel closed its Erez crossing into Gaza to Palestinians and shut down the Kerem Shalom crossing through which commercial goods enter the strip. |
| The rocket fire came after several days of demonstrations in Gaza and across the West Bank in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners and in protest of Mr. Jaradat’s death. Many of the protests had been marked by clashes between the protesters and Israeli soldiers and settlers, with two Palestinian teenagers sustaining serious gunshot wounds on Monday at Rachel’s Tomb, near Bethlehem.During a rally Sunday in Gaza, Hamas officials had expressed frustration with its rival Fatah faction in the West Bank for not doing more to support the prisoners. Attallah Abu Al-Sebah, Hamas’s minister of prisoner affairs, urged Fatah “to set the hand of resistance free to deter the occupation and stop its crimes against the prisoners,” and called for kidnapping Israeli soldiers “instead of pursuing playful negotiations that brought nothing to the Palestinian cause.” | |
| Gal Berger, a reporter for Israel Radio who focuses on the Palestinian territories, said the rockets were “designed to signal that Gaza is not cut off from what goes on” in the West Bank, describing the attack as “lip service, to show that they are not sitting on the sidelines.” | Gal Berger, a reporter for Israel Radio who focuses on the Palestinian territories, said the rockets were “designed to signal that Gaza is not cut off from what goes on” in the West Bank, describing the attack as “lip service, to show that they are not sitting on the sidelines.” |
| Mr. Berger said the three months of quiet since the Nov. 21 cease-fire signed by Israel and Hamas that ended Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense was the “most impressive exhibition of the complete control Hamas has” over other militant groups like Al Aqsa and Islamic Jihad, which have frequently fired rockets from the strip in recent years. | Mr. Berger said the three months of quiet since the Nov. 21 cease-fire signed by Israel and Hamas that ended Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense was the “most impressive exhibition of the complete control Hamas has” over other militant groups like Al Aqsa and Islamic Jihad, which have frequently fired rockets from the strip in recent years. |
| “There has not been one rocket fired from Gaza since the operation, and the recalcitrant organizations were there all the time,” he said. “Now it is proven that the organizations can’t fire unless Hamas lets them.” | “There has not been one rocket fired from Gaza since the operation, and the recalcitrant organizations were there all the time,” he said. “Now it is proven that the organizations can’t fire unless Hamas lets them.” |
| Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for the Palestinian security services in the West Bank, accused Hamas of wanting "to make chaos in the Palestinian territories" and working against the Palestinian Authority and its security force. | |
| "The Palestinian leadership’s position is not to allow dragging the Palestinian people into the circle of Israeli violence and to spare them an armed confrontation with the Israeli troops," Mr. Damiri said in an interview with Voice of Palestine radio. "Recent investigations with some Hamas individuals proved clearly that Hamas seeks chaos in a way or another.” | |
| “Is there anybody who wants the Israeli tanks to enter in the Palestinian lands tomorrow or the day after and destroy what the Palestinian people have built?" Mr. Damiri said. | |
| Israeli officials have been holding special security consultations about how to handle the changing landscape and have sent messages to the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank urging calm. President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on Monday accused Israel of fomenting chaos. | Israeli officials have been holding special security consultations about how to handle the changing landscape and have sent messages to the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank urging calm. President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on Monday accused Israel of fomenting chaos. |
| Robert H. Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, who has asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for an international investigation into Mr. Jaradat’s death, on Tuesday issued a statement saying he was "deeply troubled by resumed indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza, which is totally unacceptable." | Robert H. Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, who has asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for an international investigation into Mr. Jaradat’s death, on Tuesday issued a statement saying he was "deeply troubled by resumed indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza, which is totally unacceptable." |
| In Washington, a State Department spokesman on Monday called on both sides to “exercise maximum restraint,” a message he said was being conveyed directly to Israeli and Palestinian leaders. | In Washington, a State Department spokesman on Monday called on both sides to “exercise maximum restraint,” a message he said was being conveyed directly to Israeli and Palestinian leaders. |
| “All parties should seriously consider the consequences of their actions, particularly at this very difficult moment,” the spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, said at a news briefing. “We urge both Palestinians and Israelis not only to refrain from provocative actions that could destabilize conditions on the ground but to consider positive steps, just re-establish trust and de-escalate the current tensions.” | “All parties should seriously consider the consequences of their actions, particularly at this very difficult moment,” the spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, said at a news briefing. “We urge both Palestinians and Israelis not only to refrain from provocative actions that could destabilize conditions on the ground but to consider positive steps, just re-establish trust and de-escalate the current tensions.” |
Fares Akram contributed reporting from Gaza City. | Fares Akram contributed reporting from Gaza City. |