Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday that Israel must intensify its activities in Gaza, since the Hamas government has not taken action to stop cells launching Qassams from the Strip into Israel.
‘If there is no quiet on the Israeli side, there will be no quiet on the Palestinian side,’ he said.
Israel Defense Forces troops continued to shell the Gaza Strip yesterday as thousands of Palestinians, some of them armed, attended the Beit Lahia funeral of Hadil Aben, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl killed by an IDF artillery shell Monday.
Seven of Aben's immediate family members were wounded in the shelling, including her mother and siblings, three of whom are younger than 6.
Palestinians fired four Qassams from the northern Strip yesterday, some of which hit open areas in the western Negev. At least one landed in PA territory.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas severely criticized Israel yesterday for the recent artillery barrage.
‘There's no justification for such activities in which innocent people are killed and houses are destroyed,’ Abbas said. ‘Even if rockets are being launched, and we condemn that, it does not completely justify such activities.’
Five human-rights groups asked Mofaz and the IDF to reverse a decision that reduces the ‘safety zone’ artillery batteries must maintain around Palestinian communities to 100 meters, saying it endangers civilians.
Abbas said the economic situation in the PA is deteriorating ‘in a dramatic fashion,’ and he plans to ask various countries to resume sending financial aid.
A senior official at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said the organization's food supply is diminishing and Gaza residents are finding it increasingly difficult to get food.