IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz admitted today, "The 'Blue Skies' Operation does not protect Sderot from Kassam rockets, but is designed mainly to protect Ashkelon." Halutz made the remarks at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The Red Dawn early-warning alarm in Sderot sounded several times during the night, giving the residents a half-minute or less to take shelter.
Local residents were incensed at the press reports that the missiles landed in "open areas." One woman, Rina, a mother of four, said, "If they landed in open areas, then why are the soldiers outside my house, looking for the rockets? They haven't yet found the rockets, but the press rushes to announce that they landed in open areas, as if everything is OK."
Operation Blue Skies is a new policy according to which Arabs who enter an IDF-specified zone in northern Gaza from which Kassams are fired may be fired upon by IDF aircraft.
Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reported last week, the day after Blue Skies went into effect, that the newly-created security zone protects only Ashkelon, but not Sderot and the western Negev. The zone consists of the destroyed communities of Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nissanit - those that oversee Ashkelon. The Arab-populated area of Beit Hanoun, however, is not touched by Blue Skies, even though it is the source of the majority of Kassam fire. "While Ashkelon is being protected, the lives of those living in Beit Hanoun are still being valued above those of the Jews living in Sderot," Huberman said.
Committee members indicated their displeasure with the IDF's response to the Kassam rockets. Committee Chairman Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) said, "Israel's deterrence against the Palestinian shooting is at a low point."
Likud MK Ehud Yatom, a former General Security Service (Shabak) deputy chief, said, "The IDF's response in Gaza is low-key and worrisome. We must take the initiative, and display deterrent power and military strength.
(IsraelNN.com) At a meeting of the Knesset Defense Committee Tuesday morning, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said that the aim of the IDF's Operation Blue Skies is solely to distance the threat of Kassam rockets from the strategic facilities in the Ashkelon region. The chief of staff admitted that at this point, there is no solution for residents of Sderot.
Committee chairman Yuval Shteinitz told those gathered that the IDF's power of deterrence against Kassam launches was steadily declining.
Halutz added that there is a concrete threat of soldiers being kidnapped, not only along the northern border, but all across Israel.
IDF Chief of Staff: Security Zone Designed to Protect Ashkelon Power Plant, Not Sderot
"Blue Skies" Not For Sderot; More Kassams Hit
From Israel National News:
By Hillel Fendel
Six Kassam rockets hit Sderot and environs since last night, causing havoc - though no casualties or property damage - in many homes. IDF Chief Halutz admits: New IDF policy doesn't protect Sderot.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz admitted today, "The 'Blue Skies' Operation does not protect Sderot from Kassam rockets, but is designed mainly to protect Ashkelon." Halutz made the remarks at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The Red Dawn early-warning alarm in Sderot sounded several times during the night, giving the residents a half-minute or less to take shelter.
Local residents were incensed at the press reports that the missiles landed in "open areas." One woman, Rina, a mother of four, said, "If they landed in open areas, then why are the soldiers outside my house, looking for the rockets? They haven't yet found the rockets, but the press rushes to announce that they landed in open areas, as if everything is OK."
Operation Blue Skies is a new policy according to which Arabs who enter an IDF-specified zone in northern Gaza from which Kassams are fired may be fired upon by IDF aircraft.
Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reported last week, the day after Blue Skies went into effect, that the newly-created security zone protects only Ashkelon, but not Sderot and the western Negev. The zone consists of the destroyed communities of Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nissanit - those that oversee Ashkelon. The Arab-populated area of Beit Hanoun, however, is not touched by Blue Skies, even though it is the source of the majority of Kassam fire. "While Ashkelon is being protected, the lives of those living in Beit Hanoun are still being valued above those of the Jews living in Sderot," Huberman said.
Committee members indicated their displeasure with the IDF's response to the Kassam rockets. Committee Chairman Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) said, "Israel's deterrence against the Palestinian shooting is at a low point."
Likud MK Ehud Yatom, a former General Security Service (Shabak) deputy chief, said, "The IDF's response in Gaza is low-key and worrisome. We must take the initiative, and display deterrent power and military strength.
(IsraelNN.com) At a meeting of the Knesset Defense Committee Tuesday morning, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said that the aim of the IDF's Operation Blue Skies is solely to distance the threat of Kassam rockets from the strategic facilities in the Ashkelon region. The chief of staff admitted that at this point, there is no solution for residents of Sderot.
Committee chairman Yuval Shteinitz told those gathered that the IDF's power of deterrence against Kassam launches was steadily declining.
Halutz added that there is a concrete threat of soldiers being kidnapped, not only along the northern border, but all across Israel.
Posted by IceViking at January 3, 2006 05:42 AM