Hamas is developing a new, electronically guided missile that will place most major Israeli population centers within firing range,Until then, here is another view of the results of the "primitive" Kassam missile strike at the Rogolsky family home in the Israeli community of Nativ Haesara, adjacent to the northern Gaza Strip.
The rocket killed 22-year-old Dana Galkowitz in July, 2005. Galkowitz was Pnina's son's girlfriend. Several hundred like this one have slammed down in Israeli cities, towns and farms near Gaza since the August, 2005 pullout, in which some 10,000 Israelis were forecibly moved back into Israel proper. The Palestinians fire many of the projectiles from atop the rubble of razed Israeli settlements. IDF artillery return fire has shelled some 5,000 rounds at what surveillance identifies as the firing areas, sometimes killing and wounding Palestinians. The army says some 100 Kassam and mortar crews have been killed or put out of commission in this manner. A recent early morning Kassam strike hit close to Defence Minister Amir Peretz's home in the nearby development town of Sderot, damaging a neighbor's house. Palestinian terror groups said they were, in fact aiming for Peretz's home.
The attacks have continued nearly unabated, on a near-dailybasis for years, despite the IDF's efforts.
Standing there, talking with Rogolsky at length late last year about her anguished experiences with such terrorism, it was agonizing to realize that she and her farming family were themselves evacuees from a previous Israeli pullout from Yamit in the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, where they ran a flower nursery similar to the one they have now. Rogolsky says that this time, they're staying put.
