Israel is on high alert going into the Passover holiday after a pair of Grad rockets fired from Egypt exploded in Eilat early on Thursday, according to Israel National News.
VOA News is reporting U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told U.N. member states Thursday that April 12 remains a firm deadline for an end to violence in Syria. The killings continue, as world leaders comment.
Details after the break.
Israel National News is reporting that Israel is on high alert going into the Passover holiday after a pair of Grad rockets fired from Egypt exploded in Eilat early on Thursday.
It was the first the rocket attack on Israel from Egypt since the collapse of the regime of Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago.
However, In August of 2010,five Katyusha rockets hit the city of Eilat. Two exploded in open areas and three fell into the sea. No injuries were reported.
Rockets were also fired at Eilat in April of 2010. One landed in the sea, and one hit the Jordanian city of Aqaba.
Nonetheless, Israel placed the IDF on its highest state of alert following a situation assessment by senior commanders after Thursday's attack. The alert comes as thousands of visitors begin arriving in the resort town of Eilat for the holiday.
The move came just one week after IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz said Israel’s military would remain at full strength – but not high alert – over Passover. Gantz’s decision ended the Israeli tradition of the army “going on vacation” for Passover.
The head of Eilat police said explosions were heard in Eilat soon after midnight. Police found the remains of one rocket in a construction site, about 400 meters from a residential area.
"Based on our working assumptions and the (rocket) range, yes, [the rocket was fired from Sinai]," the police chief told reporters.
He added that police were searching for more rockets that may have landed.
The Israel-Egypt border had been relatively quiet since the two countries signed a peace agreement in 1979, but security officials say the Sinai has become a staging ground for terrorism against Israel since Mubarak's ouster in Februay 2011.
Two weeks ago, the Israel Security Agency (ISA) arrested a Hamas terrorist who planned to kidnap an IDF soldier and aid in a suicide bombing in Eilat.
Mahmed Abu Aadram, an operative in the Hamas terror organization operating in Sinai, was captured as he attempted to infiltrate into Israel with other terrorists.
In August 2011, terrorists from Sinai staged a cross-border ambush of a civilian Israeli bus on Route 12 near Eilat, killing 8 Israelis.
In early March, Israel uncovered a plan by the Popular Resistance Committees to attempt a new attack on Route 12. Israel killed the PRC head – Zuhir Qaisi – In an airstrike, which led to a dramatic exchange of fire as Gaza's terror gangs fired over 200 rockets at Israel's southern communities.
Israeli airstrikes targeting teams of terrorists launching rockets from densely populated areas killed 26, of whom at least 21 were terrorists.
IDF officials say the terror groups were attempting to use Gaza's civilians as "human shields" in violation of the rules of war.
The ceasefire brokered four days into the exchange has been intermittently violated by Gaza’s terror gangs in the past month.
Syria
U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told U.N. member states Thursday that April 12 remains a firm deadline for an end to violence in Syria. But he added that although the Syrian government has committed to halting its military action against rebels and in civilian populated areas, an “alarming” number of casualties and abuses continue.
Annan told an informal meeting of the U.N. General Assembly that the Syrian government had accepted his six-point peace plan, which requires, first and foremost, a cessation of violence. He admitted to being “impatient” for actions on commitments made.
“All points of the plan are crucial. But one is most urgent -- the need for cessation of violence," he said. "Clearly the violence is still continuing, alarming levels of casualties and other abuses continue to be reported daily. Military operations in civilian population centers have not stopped.”
Annan, who talked via a video link from Geneva, said the Syrian government has informed him its troops have partially withdrawn from the flashpoint towns of Idlib, Zabadani and Daraa.
But the envoy said far more reaching action is urgently required.
The government has agreed to stop all military action by April 10. Within 48 hours after the government fulfills that promise, the opposition is supposed to lay down its arms. Annan called on all parties to cease all forms of violence by 6 a.m. Damascus time on Thursday, April 12.
“We must silence the tanks, helicopters, mortars, guns and stop all other forms of violence too - sexual abuse, torture, executions, abductions, destruction of homes, forced displacement and other abuses, including on children,” said Annan.
Earlier Thursday, the U.N. Security Council adopted what is known as a Presidential Statement. In it, the council threw its support behind the April 10 deadline for a Syrian troop withdrawal followed by the opposition’s cessation of hostilities.
Summary of comments on Syria by world leaders French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe: "I think Bashar al-Assad is cheating us. He is pretending to accept Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan but at the same time he continues to use force."
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan: "In not taking a decision, the U.N. Security Council has indirectly supported the oppression. To stand by with your hands and arms tied while the Syrian people are dying every day is to support the oppression."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "We have to conclude that the regime is adding to its long list of broken promises...And we cannot sit back and wait any longer."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "Despite the Syrian government's acceptance of the joint special envoy's (Kofi Annan's) plan of initial proposals to resolve the crisis, the violence and assaults in civilian areas have not stopped."
That cease-fire is to be monitored by a small force of unarmed U.N. observers. The Security Council said it would be willing to consider and authorize such a mission should circumstances permit.
Annan confirmed that a small technical team from the peacekeeping department has arrived in Damascus to discuss preparations.
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