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Palestinian rocket hits Israel from Gaza

Written by Egypt News Tuesday, 03 February 2009 Palestinian rocket Tuesday hits Israeli city of Ashkelon from Gaza as delegates from the Palestinian Islamic Movement Hamas rulers met in Cairo for talks with Egypt’s officials striving to mediate a long-term truce with Israel

The Grad rocket was the first of its kind to be fired at the city of 122,000 since informal cease-fires were declared separately by Israel and Hamas two weeks ago at the end of Israel's bruising three-week-long offensive in Gaza. No one was injured in the attack, police said.

Israeli offensive on Gaza launched Dec. 27 to halt near-daily rocket fire from Gaza at Israel targets.
Sporadic rocket and mortar fire from Gaza has continued, however, prompting tough warnings of reprisal from Israeli leaders.
More than a dozen rockets and mortar shells slammed into Israel on Sunday. The following day Israel fired a missile at a car in the town of Rafah, killing a Palestinian militant, and bombed the nearby Gaza-Egypt border, seeking to destroy tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle in weapons and supplies.
Tzipi Livni, Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs pledged to keep hitting Hamas as long rockets continue to be fired at Israel, and she ruled out negotiations with Hamas.
At a security conference on Monday, Livni said "terror must be fought with force and lots of force. Therefore we will strike Hamas", added that "if by ending the operation we have yet to achieve deterrence, we will continue until they get the message"
Continued violence could work against Livni's government in the Feb. 10 general election and bolster hard-line opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seen as the front-runner.
Ashkelon was hit by nearly 100 rockets during the Gaza fighting. Following rocket attack on Tuesday, a local parents' union called for classes to be called off. But city officials announced that school would be open as usual.