Friday 15 August 2008

Terrorists Building 16-Mile Range Rockets During Ceasefire


13 Av 5768, 14 August 08 02:55
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu   
Port of Ashdod within rocket range Port of Ashdod within rocket range
 
(IsraelNN.com) Gaza terrorists are building a 25-kilometer (16.8 mile) range rocket, dubbed Nasser-3, despite the temporary eight-week-old ceasefire with Israel, according to CNN. The maximum range of the Nasser rocket, being manufactured by Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorists, includes Israel's 5th largest city, Ashdod, which is dotted by oil refineries. A rocket explosion at one of them would cause a mega-disaster and severely cripple Israel's economy.
Israel acknowledges that the production of more weapons violates the ceasefire, which already has been broken by 40 rocket and mortar attacks. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said regarding the rocket development, "If the ceasefire is just a front for extremists in Gaza to rearm and regroup, of course we have the right to act. Any arms buildup is a direct violation of the calm that was achieved."
 
Reporting from inside the Gaza rocket factory, CNN said its reporters were blindfolded on the way.
Gaze-based terrorists have attacked the western Negev with nearly 7,000 Kassam and Grad rockets and mortar shells since the Oslo War broke out just under eight years ago.
 
Israel has held Hamas accountable for all of the attacks since the Islamist organization's victory over rival Fatah forces in last summer's militia war in Gaza. At least 16 different terrorist organizations are active in the Gaza area, and the PRC threatened that the truce will come to an abrupt end if Israel does not agree to open the Egyptian-Gaza border crossing dividing Rafiah.
Israel has maintained that the truce calls for the border to be re-opened only after kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is returned, but Hamas is insisting that the barrier come down before talks advance. It has demanded the release of hundreds of Hamas terrorists, including those with "blood on their hands." 
 
An Islamic Jihad terrorist spokesman told the Chinese news agency Xinhua Thursday that the ceasefire was "fragile and was expected to end at any time." Al-Quds Brigade terrorists accused Israel of breaking the truce agreement 20 times the past week by targeting Arab fishermen. Israel has said it fires on fishing boats only when then encroach on forbidden zones and ignore warnings to keep away.
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