Special report: Palestine-Israel
Relations
JERUSALEM, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel would be able to
obliterate rocket fire from the Gaza Strip in the near future, Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday.
"The government will work toward an absolute end to
Qassam rocket fire, and we are not talking about a prolonged period of months,"
he was quoted by local daily Ha'aretz as saying.
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Israeli rescue workers stand at the scene of a rocket attack in the southern city of Ashkelon May 14, 2008. A rocket struck a shopping mall in Ashkelon, close to the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday and wounded several people, the Israeli army and emergency service officials said.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Barak made the remarks during a visit to the southern
Israeli town of Ashkelon, where a rocket fired from northern Gaza struck on
Wednesday, wounding dozens of people.
Wednesday's attack "proves that despite our military
action in Gaza, the militants are still firing," Barak added.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told
participants at the "Facing Tomorrow" presidential conference in Jerusalem that
the Israeli government is committed to stopping therocket attacks from Gaza,
moments after a rocket slammed into an Ashkelon shopping center.
The prime minister condemned the attack, saying "what
happened today is entirely intolerable and unacceptable," adding that the
government would take the necessary steps "so that this will stop."
At least 14 Israelis were wounded Wednesday when the
rocket hita shopping center in Ashkelon. Dozens were treated for shock.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility
for the attack, local media said.
Home-made Qassam rockets that Palestinian militants
usually fire at Israel do not have enough range to reach Ashkelon. This time the
longer range Grad rocket was believed to have been involved in the attack
against the city of Ashkelon, a city of 100,000 people and about 15 km to the
Gaza-Israel border.
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