Today's Situation

FATAL QASSAM, November 15, 2006

Six Qassam rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning. One of the rockets landed in Sderot, killing a 57-year-old woman and seriously injuring a 24-year-old man.

Hamas' armed wing said it fired four of the rockets and claimed responsibility for the death, saying it was in response to Israeli shelling last week that killed 19 Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanun. Islamic Jihad said it had also launched two rockets.

In a statement, Hamas said, 'The Zionist enemy has admitted a Zionist was killed as a result of the Qassam Brigades bombardment of Sderot.'

Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, speaking by telephone from Los Angeles, where he is attending an annual congress of American Jewish communities, told Army Radio that, 'the government should order the army to totally stop the rocket fire' - hinting at his support for those - including Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin - who say there may be choice but for Israel to launch a major offensive it the north of the Gaza Strip.

David Baker, an official in the Israeli prime minister's office, told Haaretz that, 'Palestinian rocket launchers take aim at Israeli civilians. We will not tolerate such attacks and will take whatever steps are necessary to neutralize this threat,' he said.

According to Haaretz's website, residents said the seriously wounded person, a man, worked as a security guard at the home of Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who lives in the town. The site also said one rocket also landed close to Peretz's home.

The last time someone was killed inside Israel by Palestinian rocket fire was March 2006.

Ynet, the website of Yedioth Ahronoth, quoted Likud lawmaker Limor Livnat as saying that, 'What happened this morning in Sderot is decisive proof that there is no political or military leadership in Israel. In the absence of leadership and the surrender of the political echelons, we find ourselves in one of the most difficult times we have ever known.'

The deadly attack comes a day after the state told the High Court of Justice that there is no way to protect Sderot schoolchildren from the threat of Qassam missiles, as it would be impossible to reinforce all classrooms in the city before the start of the next school year.

Elsewhere, confusion and disinformation abound over the formation a new Palestinian government that would meet the conditions set out by the international community for the end of the boycott of the current Hamas-led government.

According to Ismail Radwan, Hamas' spokesman in Gaza, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has assured Hamas that it will not have to recognize Israel in order for the boycott to be lifted. Quoted in Haaretz, Radwan said that as long as the members of the new technocrat government are not affiliated to any political group, 'Hamas would not be asked to recognize the Zionist enemy.'

For its part, Fateh sounded exasperated by the latest comments by Hamas. 'Every time we are on the verge of an agreement, a group in Hamas arises and tries to undermine the agreements,' complained Maher Makdad, Fateh's spokesman in Gaza. 'It's very possible that [the] statements were aimed at foiling the establishment of a unity government.'

Also on Tuesday, Abbas traveled to Cairo ahead of a meeting today with representatives of the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers - the U.S., European Union, Russia and the United Nations. Israel Radio reported that Abbas met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday, and discussed a number of subjects, including the smuggling of weapons from Sinai into Gaza, the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and the calls for a regional peace conference.

In the IDF, meanwhile, the future of Chief of Staff Dan Halutz continues to occupy Israeli commentators and rumor-mongers in equal measure. On Tuesday night, Channel 2 reported that Halutz is likely to step down if either of the two army investigations probing the war in Lebanon over the summer that have yet to file their findings blame him for the kidnapping that sparked the war.

One committee, headed by Major General (res.) Doron Almog, is examining the conduct of Division 91 and the abduction of two IDF reservists by Hezbollah on July 12, which led to the war's outbreak. The second panel, headed by former IDF chief of staff Dan Shomron, is probing the overall conduct of the war, and particularly the role of the General Staff.

A Yedioth Ahronoth poll, conducted by the Dahaf Institute headed by Dr. Mina Tzemach of 505 respondents, showed that 71 percent of Israelis think that Dan Halutz must resign. 'This is a significant increase in those calling for a different IDF chief of staff. In a similar poll taken before Rosh Hashanah, only 55 percent of those polled thought the chief of staff should resign,' writes the paper.

The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, carries an exclusive report into the return of Hizbollah fighters to the border zone, exactly three months after a UN-brokered cease-fire ended the war in Lebanon. According to The Post, IDF officers claim 'Hizbollah gunmen disguised as civilians were back on the border and collecting intelligence on IDF positions. Although 15,000 Lebanese Armed Forces and 8,000 UNIFIL soldiers were deployed in southern Lebanon, between the border and the Litani River, the IDF said Hizbollah still had a presence in the area.'

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert used his speech at the General Assembly of North American Jewish communities to urge the international community to 'speak with one voice' to halt the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Olmert also is calling on moderate Arab states to 'unite their common interest' in preventing Iran from undermining stability in the Middle East.

His speech took a very different tone to that of former PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who addressed the GA a day earlier. In his speech, Netanyahu said, 'It's 1938 - and Iran is Germany.'

'When someone tells you he is going to exterminate you, believe him and stop him,' Netanyahu added.

The above text was written and compiled by Simon Spungin using newpaper, radio and wire reports, in English and Hebrew.

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