rocket attack within a week, raising fears that Palestinian Christians will be in the crossfire.
The Israeli warning came just hours after Palestinian rockets fired from the Gaza Strip crashed
into the battered Israeli border town of Sderot, killing a 36-year-old Israeli man. Media reports said the man was killed when his car took a direct hit.
The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. He was the second Israeli fatality in the past two weeks, during which time Palestinian militants have fired more than 230 rockets at Israel.
On Monday, May 21, a 35-year old woman also died in Sderot. At least 10 Israelis have in Palestinian rocket attacks against southern Israel in the last six years, BosNewsLife estimated.
ANGRY PRIME MINISTER
In a statement, an angry Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that there would be "no immunity for anyone involved in terror." He suggested that militants, including Hamas leaders could be targeted. "We will decide when, how and to what extent we will act," he said.
Olmert spoke as Israel continued a fresh wave of air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, amid concerns that thousands of minority Christians remain trapped in their homes. Barnabas Fund,
an advocacy and aid group working in the region, told BosNewsLie that about 3,000 Christians
still live in Gaza, which has a population of about 1.5 million.
Although the believers are not the direct target of any attacks, "they are still caught up in the conflict between other groups," especially infighting between rival Palestinian groups, the group said.
CHRISTIAN HOME DESTROYED
In addition a recent Israeli attack, which Barnabas Fund claimed "destroyed a Christian home"
has added to concerns among Christians. About 50 Palestinians, most of them militants, have
reportedly been killed in Israeli air raids which began nearly two weeks ago.
In comments aired Sunday, May 27 by the Voice Of America (VOA) moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who shares power in a coalition government led by Hamas, made clear he was trying to end the violence.
"The President is working hard on achieving a ceasefire, a mutual ceasefire. And we hope in the coming 48 hours we can reach results," said his spokesman Nabil Abu Redeineh. Hamas has refused to talk about a truce saying that can only happen when Israel ends its air strikes. (With reporting from Israel).
