2 killed by Palestinian rocket from Gaza Strip

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Knight Ridder Newspapers

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Ten others, including the child's mother, were wounded. It was the first fatal rocket attack launched from the Gaza Strip against Israelis in nearly four years of fighting. The first rocket left a small crater in the street and blew out the windows of the Lilach Nursery School.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Late yesterday, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a news media building in Gaza, aiming at the third-floor office of a company that owns Islamic Web sites. Missiles also were fired at metal workshops accused of weapons manufacturing. Israeli tanks gathered at the border.

The Qassam 3 rockets fired on the Israeli town of Sderot were launched from the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, three miles to the west.

Hamas engineers had been trying to improve the rockets' guidance system, a Palestinian official close to Hamas said, speaking on the condition that he not be identified.

But Israeli officials and experts insisted it was more likely a coincidence that caused the first rocket to strike where it did, given the number of Qassams fired at Israeli targets — more than 300 since fighting began in September 2000, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.

The Qassam missiles are made from four-inch-wide pipes intended for use as water lines in construction projects and farming. Guerrillas slice the pipes into five-foot lengths and pack them with explosives. A spokesman for the Israeli military said the longest range recorded for a Qassam was just over six miles.

Yesterday's attack on Sderot intensified concerns over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to remove Jewish settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip. The attack also dashed hopes of a cease-fire between Israel and the militants before the withdrawal.

Sharon told lawmakers yesterday that he planned to make compensation available immediately to Gaza settlers in hopes of speeding up voluntary evacuation. That didn't warm the hearts of many Sderot residents, who have seen 14 Qassam rockets land in 2004 and fear if Israel pulled its troops from Gaza, security would be decreased for Israelis who leave near the Palestinian enclave.

"If they have to go back inside each time there is an attack, then what's the point of them leaving?" asked Chana Melul, clutching her 4-year-old son, Timor. "They have to find a way to provide us with more safety."
 
The attack took place less than a mile from Sharon's ranch and only 10 hours after Hamas fighters and militants linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat blew up an Israeli army outpost in the Gaza Strip. One soldier was killed and five others were wounded in that blast.

Additional background from The Washington Post.