Israelis hit back at Gaza rocket-launching pads

Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a militant group’s charity and a rocket-launching ground in the northern Gaza Strip today, in the first aerial attack on Gaza in more than a month, the military said.

The military said the Islamic Jihad charity was a front for the disbursement of payments to the families of dead militants and other terror-related activity. Missiles also hit open fields where home-made rockets had been launched in recent days, it said.

The military said no one was injured in either strike, but Palestinian security officials said a bystander was slightly wounded by flying shrapnel in the strike against the charity.

Palestinian security officials said an abandoned metal workshop also was hit, but the military did not confirm that report. Israel targets workshops it suspects are used to produce weapons.

After a lull of several weeks, Palestinians began firing home-made rockets at southern Israel from Gaza again last week. Israel responded initially with artillery fire; the air strike today was the first since October 27, the military said.

Some Palestinian officials say the attacks on Israel, which have caused no injuries, have been renewed in an effort to show force ahead of January 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections.

In other developments, the military announced it would let 6,000 more Palestinian labourers into Israel, for a total of 16,000 in the West Bank Bank and 7,000 in Gaza. An additional 1,500 Palestinian merchants will also be let in, for a total of 12,500 in the West Bank and 2,000 in Gaza.

The entry of Palestinian labourers into Israel has been severely restricted over the past five years in response to violence, dealing a crushing blow to the Palestinian economy.