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Shlomo's parents,
immigrants from Kurdistan, were among the first
settlers of Sderot in 1956. Shlomo, who operated a
forklift at the Karni terminal, had been a driver
for the Israel Defense Forces for 31 years. "We had
fears but never believed this would happen," his
son, Kfir, said. Shlomo was buried on Friday
afternoon at the Sderot cemetery. He is survived by
his wife and three children.
http://www.haaretz.com
Faint hopes of improved relations between Israel and
the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas,
battered by Thursday's terrorist attack at the Karni
crossing, were strained further over the weekend by
yet more violence.
A teenage girl, Ella Abukasis, 17, is fighting for
her life on Sunday morning after being critically
wounded in a Kassam rocket attack in Sderot, and her
10-year-old brother was also badly hurt.
Doctors were trying to save the hand of a
seven-year-old boy from Netzarim who was wounded by
shrapnel when two mortar shells were fired at the
northern Gaza settlement earlier in the day.
On Saturday night, as residents in Sderot mourned
the three town residents killed at the Karni
crossing terror attack late Thursday night, two
Kassam rockets were fired from Beit Hanoun at the
town.
One of the rockets exploded in Rehov Yerushalayim,
critically wounding the girl and lightly wounding
three residents. As medics fought to stabilize the
girl she was taken first to the Barzilai Hospital in
Ashkelon and later brought to Soroka Hospital in
Beersheba.
The three other civilians who were lightly wounded
by shrapnel were taken to Barzilai Hospital in
Ashkelon. The explosion damaged surrounding
buildings and parked cars.
Shortly after, angry residents gathered in the
commercial center protesting the ongoing violence.
As the City Council met in an emergency session,
some declared it was time to leave the town and
accused Sharon of failing to provide them with the
security he promised them.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that he had
told Israeli forces to increase their military
operations, adding that they would operate without
restrictions.
"The army and the security forces have been
instructed to increase operational activity to stop
terrorism and they will continue to do so without
restrictions, I emphasize without restrictions, so
long as the Palestinians don't lift a finger,
"Sharon said. "The operational level has been
instructed to take any step necessary to stop the
terrorism."
Sharon's decision reversed growing optimism in
Israel that Abbas' election as Palestinian leader
could lead to a renewal of peace talks between the
sides following four years of fighting.
In Gaza on Sunday morning, Operation "Eastern Step"
was still underway. In northern Gaza an IAF
helicopter destroyed an active Kassam launcher.
A city-wide day of mourning has been scheduled to
take place tomorrow, Monday, in Sderot, Army Radio
reported.
Schools will be on strike, the city municipality
will not provide services and city business owners
are requested to close their businesses.
The municipality is also considering evacuating the
city's residents for an indeterminate length of time
in further protest. Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal, who
suggested the idea, said that he hopes a step like
that will influence the government to operate more
decisively against the attacks.
All six victims of the Karni blast were named as
Dror Gezri, 30, Herzl Shlomo, 50, and Ivan
Shmilov, 52, all of Sderot, Ofer Tiri, 23, of
Ashkelon, and Munam Abu Sabih, 33, of Dabburiya
village near Mount Tabor in the lower Galilee, and
Ibrihim Khalil, 46, of Umm el-Ghanem.
http://www.jpost.com
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