Dozens hurt by rocket in Israel

Tuesday, 11 September 2007

At least 50 Israeli soldiers have been injured after a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in an army camp in southern Israel, the military says.

The wounded - some badly injured by shrapnel, others suffering from shock - were taken to nearby hospitals.

It is thought to be the largest number of injuries sustained in a single rocket attack against Israel.

Correspondents say the government and army will come under strong pressure to retaliate forcefully.

The Israeli army said the rocket was fired from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza and hit the training base near Zikkim, just inside Israeli territory.

Some of the wounded soldiers were hit by shrapnel while sleeping in adjacent tents.

A number of soldiers suffered only minor injuries or shock and were discharged from hospital on Tuesday morning.

Two militant groups claimed responsibility for the attack - Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees.

Psychological impact

Militants in Gaza frequently fire Qassam rockets towards southern Israel, many of which land in the town of Sderot.

Few of the attacks cause casualties but their psychological impact on life in the area has been significant.

Attacks last week on Sderot included one that landed near a crowded day care centre.

It led parents to pull their children out of school and brought demands for harsh retaliation.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, told the country's military to draw up plans to curb rocket attacks from within the Gaza Strip.

It stopped short of calls from some ministers to expand military operations in Gaza, or to cut Israel's supplies of water and electricity to the territory.

Israel's government blames the Islamist movement Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June, for not curbing the rocket attacks.

Tough questions

The BBC's Joe Floto in Jerusalem says the Israeli authorities will be looking urgently at two questions.

The first and most immediate is why its soldiers were housed under canvas in an area prone to this kind of attack.

The second will be much harder to address - how to prevent Palestinian militant groups from firing their rockets into Israel.

Last year the Israeli army carried out a five-month offensive inside Gaza to do just that.

Hundreds of Palestinians were killed; the rockets did not stop.

After Tuesday's attack politicians and military commanders will be under intense pressure to respond forcefully, our correspondent adds.