MORE ROCKET ATTACKS

Palestinians Fire At Least Five Rockets at Israel on Friday - Shmulik Hadad
Palestinians fired at least five Kassam rockets at Israel on Friday morning which landed near Sderot and south of Ashkelon. (Ynet News)

See also Palestinian Rockets Destroy Negev Kibbutzim's Crops - Shmulik Hadad
At kibbutzim in the western Negev, dozens of acres of wheat went up in flames in the past week, just when it was time to begin the harvest. Palestinian rockets have been raining on the area and setting the fields on fire, causing substantial damage. The kibbutzim are now making efforts to salvage the remaining crops. (Ynet News)

Dodging Palestinian Rocket Fire in Sderot - Amir Mizroch
The trick is to know, at all times, where you are relative to Gaza, where the rockets come from, says Sderot Fire Chief David Sheetrit. If you're facing north, Gaza is on your left, and you need to hug the eastern side of a building, to keep the structure between you and the rockets. If you get this calculation wrong, you are exposing yourself to a direct hit. Sderot is turning into a city that never sleeps. Fear is everywhere.

When you're driving and the siren sounds, get out of the vehicle and run to the nearest shelter or wall. If there is no building, lie down on the road and cover your head. Just don't stay in your car. The main reason is that rocket shrapnel - and every Kassam rocket has ball bearings or bolts in its warhead - can tear through your gas tank and blow up your car. Remember to always have your window slightly open, so that you can hear the Color Red alert and the Kassam shriek. (Jerusalem Post)

Israelis Don't Want Gaza to Be Their Next Lebanon - Steven Erlanger (New York Times)
Hamas militants in Gaza seem to have taken a lesson from last summer's war in Lebanon on how to use rockets against Israeli civilians. There are significant voices inside the Israeli security establishment who warn that, rockets aside, Hamas is organizing a buildup of weapons, reinforced tunnels and explosive materiel in Gaza that resembles Hizbullah's efforts in southern Lebanon in recent years. Sooner or later, they argue, Israel will have to confront Hamas in a serious way inside Gaza, especially since Fatah is failing to do so.

But with the Palestinian unity government of Hamas and Fatah in tatters after fierce factional infighting, there is no obvious Palestinian address for Israel to apply pressure. Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, to whom the Israelis and Americans speak, appears weaker after the infighting.

Hamas Threatens to Increase Attacks; Israel to Indict Arrested Hamas Officials - Khaled Abu Toameh and Yaakov Katz
Hamas threatened on Thursday to escalate its attacks against Israel in response to the arrest of dozens of its representatives in the West Bank by the IDF. Hamas also rejected an appeal by Mahmoud Abbas to stop firing Kassam rockets at Israel.

According to Israeli security officials, the arrests were intended to put additional pressure on Hamas and send a clear message that Israel would target all of the movement's officials until the Kassam rocket attacks on southern Israel ceased. Security officials said that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) planned to file indictments against the arrested Hamas officials, who, they said, were involved in funding terror activity and transferring terror know-how from Gaza to the West Bank. (Jerusalem Post)