Rockets pummel south for third day; 000,002students ordered to stayhome Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff Israel winning Round Fewer rockets were fired at Israelyesterday, but the fact that Katyu- shas did nonetheless fall in Be'er Sheva spurred toughtalkfrom Israel, which threatened to con- tinue attackingthe Gaza Strip. Still,ifthere are fewer launches today,Israel willlikelyreduce itsat- tacks,and thisround of hostilitieswillwind down by midweek, much as lastyear'speriodicflare- ups did. This optimisticassess- ment comes with two strongcaveats: One, this isalltrue so longas there are no Israelideaths;and two, the Islamic Jihad's risingfrustration at its inabilityto achieve much may lead itto take the ex- treme almost suicidal stepof firingrockets at the Tel Aviv area. Despitethe 150 rock- By GiliCohenCohen, Yanir Yagna home againtoday,as schools remain down 13 of the 15 rockets aimed at batteries. fourth Iron Dome battery ets that have put mil- andAviAn Issacharoff closed in Be'er Sheva, Ofakim, Ash- those citiesyesterday. isbeingpreparedfor deploymentand lionIsraelisunder siege, dod, Yavneh, Ashkelon, KiryatMai- Overall, the system has been scor- is expectedto be operationalwithin Israel seems to have the Residents of southern Israel suf- akhi and Netivot, and in allthe other ing impressive interceptionrates. weeks. advantagein thisround. fered another day under siegeyester- smaller communities that are between According to Israel Defense Forces Barak, however, warned yesterday Even before itas- day as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip seven and 40 kilometers from the statistics,duringthis latestescalation that "the current escalationisliableto sassinated Popular fired about 50 more rockets at the Gaza Strip. the system intercepted40 of the 49 be lengthy."Gantz, at change-of-com- Resistance Committees Negev. "All day we have to sitin the shel- rockets identifiedas destined to fallin mand ceremony for the Central Com- secretary-generalZuhir Two Grad-typeKatyusha rockets ters and wait under tension. This is populatedareas. mand, said, "The IDF respondedand al-Qaisi,the Israel De- fellin Be'er Sheva after the Iron Dome an insufferable situation,"said Roni, "We follow up on every incident, willcontinue to respondwith strength fense Forces prepared batterythat had been protectingitsuf- Be'er Sheva resident. "I don't un- whether rocket was interceptedor and determination to allfireat the State itselfeffectivelywhen fered technical malfunction. derstand how the government lets not," said Haimovich. "We will do the of Israel'ssovereignterritory." itcame to both offense One rocket hit school, which was this happen.This is catastrophethat best we can to succeed ... but itwould Gantz said Israel had no interest and defense, which empty since schools in the citywere can't continue/' be irresponsibleand unprofessional in escalation for itsown sake, and de- substantiallyreduced closed yesterday,and the other hit Be'er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilov- to say there can be totalprotection." clared Hamas responsiblefor all ac- the risk of Israelicasu- parked car. Fifteen people were ich said that he had spokento Defense Following situation assessment tivityin the Gaza Strip. alties,while extracting treated for shock, thoughthere were Minister Ehud Barak, "and updated by Barak, Chief of General Staff Lt. The IDF also pointed figureat heavy price 18 dead no other casualties.The rockets and him on the people'smood. asked him Gen. Benny Gantz, and Shin Bet se- Iran for supportingand financingthe from the Palestinian the ball bearingsthat they ejected to work decisivelyto bringback quiet curityservice head Yoram Cohen, the Islamic Jihad. While efforts to secure side. hundreds of meters caused heavy to the south. made it clear that we securityestablishment listed several cease-fire continue, the army reiter- And while the Islamic damage to buildingsand vehicles. cannot agree that this should be part achievements: hits on senior mem- ated that "as longas there's snooting, Jihad has received rock- Another rocket hit chicken coop in of our routine." bers of the PopularResistance Com- the decision is to continue to operate ets from Iran with Moshav Carmia in the Ashkelon Coast Col. Tzvika Haimovich, command- mittees, althoughits men continued and hitwhatever we can." range of 40 kilometers RegionalCouncil, causingheavy dam- er of the IAF's active defense wing, to fire rockets at Israel;casualties Prime Minister Benjamin Netan- (andapparentlyseveral age. told Haaretz that, regrettably,the inflicted on Islamic Jihad operatives, yahu met with southern mayors yes- rockets that could reach The Israel Air Force made 16 sor- Iron Dome batteryprotectingBe'er particularlythose who fired rockets terdayin Ashdod, where several of over 70 kilometers),its ties over Gaza to destroy rocket Sheva suffered malfunction justas at Israel;and the success of the active them asked him to launch military efforts to hitBe'er Sheva launchers. Palestinian sources said rockets had been launched. The air defense apparatus. operationin Gaza in response to the and Ashdod have been that three Gazans were killed,among force isinvestigatingwhat caused the Barak said he plans to have the rocket fire. mostlystymiedby the them 13-year-oldboy,bringingthe malfunction, he said. Iron Dome anti-rocket defense sys- "The winning combination is the Iron Dome system. totalnumber of Palestiniancasualties Before the malfunction, the batter- tern declared "national emergency abilityto attack,the abilityto defend, in this round of hostilitiesto .81 ies deployednear Ashkelon, Ashdod project,"so as to expeditethe manu- and civilian resilience," Netanyahu See ISRAEL, Page Some 000,002pupilswill remain at and Be'er Sheva successfullyshot facture and deploymentof additional said.