Less than twenty-four hours after President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met in Jerusalem to further discuss measures which could be implemented to aid the establishment of a viable two-state solution, two Qassam rockets struck an Israeli training base near Zikkim at 1:15am, wounding around 70 recent Israeli recruits.

The rockets, which hit the training base one kilometer north of Gaza, were launched from the northern city of Beit Hanon in the Gaza Strip. Although the rockets did not directly crash into an occupied tent, the assault left 70 soldiers in the surrounding tents either injured or in deep shock.

The military wings of Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, the al-Quds Brigades and the Nasser Salah Addin Brigades respectively, claimed responsibility for the attack, citing the atrocious treatment of Palestinians by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza as the impetus behind the strike.

A couple of hours after the attack, an Israeli tank shell struck a house in Beit Hanun injuring a Palestinian man and his three children. It is still uncertain whether this was an immediate reprisal or whether it was a separate incident.

Hamas, the governing body in Gaza following their victory over Fatah forces in June, is not politically affiliated with Islamic Jihad but issued a statement through spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum condoning the attack on the camp as a “victory from God”, emphasizing that Palestinians have a legitimate right to resist occupation. Meanwhile President Abbas, the leading figure of the West Bank government, condemned the attack on Israel.

Qassam rockets, fired from various activist groups in Gaza, have long been the preferred method of retaliating against Israel for their frequent incursions into the Strip. The rockets are short range, largely inaccurate and are designed predominantly to disrupt lives more than to devastate. Despite their rather limited function, the Qassam rockets still manage to elude the Israeli military. After an Israeli soldier was taken by Palestinian activists in Gaza last year, a five-month Israeli operation ensued, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians but did nothing to stop the Qassam assaults on Israel.

The 70 injured Israeli soldiers make this one of the largest single attacks on Israelis to date, with the last major fatalities taking place in May when two Israelis were killed in simultaneous attacks. With this fact taken into consideration as well as the incident last week where a Qassam rocket landed next to a day care centre in the Israeli town of Sderot, the Israeli government is feeling increased pressure from the public and other parties to act.

Eli Yishai, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor as well as member of the ultra-orthodox Shas Party told Army Radio that the upcoming peace conference in November should be cancelled and that Israel should have started to act more harshly in response to these sorts of attacks a long time ago. In addition Defense Minister, Ehud Barak believes it is now essential to initiate “deep ground operations in Gaza”.

Prime Minister Olmert has added to these comments by declaring that Israel will meet these threats “without hesitation and without pity”.

Last week, after much deliberation, the Israeli cabinet decided not to launch a full-scale offensive into Gaza following the most recent attack on Sderot. However, some Israeli ministers have favoured instead to economically paralyze Gaza by prohibiting water and electricity from entering the already deeply impoverished and humanitarian aid dependent area.

There has yet to be a coherent response of intent or preemptive action from Israel but according to the Israeli daily, Ha’aretz, the government may delay making swift action against Gaza as long as relations between themselves and Syria continue to sour in the north.