Tel Aviv – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday that Israel will conduct more military operations to stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, even as he expressed regret for the accidental killing of 18 Palestinians.
The shell that hit a Palestinian home in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun was “a tragic mistake” and meant to strike militants in a nearby orange grove who had fired an unguided Qassam rocket into Israel, Olmert said. Seven children died in the shelling.
“We are sad about it and we deeply regret it,” Olmert said. “Military operations will continue as long as there will be firing of rockets.”
Israel began a military offensive against the rocket launchers on Nov. 1. Since then about 90 Palestinians have been killed and one Israeli soldier has died.
Hamas has overcome a technological barrier that prevented it from stockpiling Qassam rockets and is now stepping up production, the daily Haaretz said, citing Israeli military officers.
An Israel Defense Forces probe into the Beit Hanoun deaths concluded that the army was responsible, the army said in an e-mailed statement late Thursday.
Israel will suspend all artillery fire on Gaza until a technical inquiry is completed, it said.
“All the evidence of the inquiry indicates that the Palestinian civilian casualties were caused by IDF artillery, and that the primary cause of the incident was a technical failure in the ‘Shilem’ System, which directs artillery fire,” the army said.
At least seven rockets fell on southern Israel Thursday, causing shrapnel wounds to three people, the army said. The air force fired a missile at a car carrying the Hamas weapons chief late Wednesday. Shifa Hospital officials in Gaza City said two Hamas members died, including the group’s chief rocket maker.
