Saturday, March 04, 2006

Kassam Rockets Smash Into Strategic Installation

Five Kassam rockets were fired again today from Gaza to Israel - and one of them caused damage to what is called a "strategic installation" south of Ashkelon. Two people were hurt in the attack on the installation, and were treated for shock. Despite this, government-run Israel Radio reported that no one was hurt. A building was hit. National infrastructures in Ashkelon include the following:
* The Rotenberg Power Plant in southern Ashkelon is Israel's second-largest electric station, and supplies about a quarter of the country's electricity.
* The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline company (EAPC) in Ashkelon operates three oil pipelines linking Ashkelon with Eilat, Ashdod and Haifa.
* The Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant, the largest desalination plant of its kind in the world, is set to ultimately provide an annual 100 million cubic meters of water, or some 15% of the country's domestic consumer demand. It commenced initial production in August 2005, and began operations at a third of its full capacity.
The Kassam short-range missile was developed by the Hamas terrorist organization with the aid of Iran
One of the five Kassam rockets landed near Kibbutz Carmiya, where dozens of expelled families from Gush Katif have been relocated. IDF forces arrested late Friday morning two Arabs south of Shechem who appeared to be carrying a portable weapons cache. They were found to be carrying 12 Molotov cocktails, a knife, and a bottle containing an unidentified powder. The terrorists were transferred to an Israeli security installation for interrogation. Terrorist victim Eldad Abir, 48, was buried today in the Yarkon cemetery. He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the gas station he managed near Migdalim on Wednesday. Eldad is survived by his wife Debbie, 17-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. He was eulogized by his brother Aryeh, the Jewish Agency’s Latin America director.