Hamas Targets Yellow School Bus

The outside of the Yellow School Bus



The inside of the Yellow School Bus

Teen critically hurt in Negev attack

An anti-tank missile shot from the Gaza Strip directly hit a school bus outside Kibbutz Sa'ad in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, injuring two people. Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the IDF to respond speedily and to attack using all means necessary.

In the Negev attack, [a] 13-year-old was in critical condition after paramedics managed to resuscitate him. He was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba where he was undergoing surgery. Soroka officials said that he was suffering from head injuries.

The bus driver was listed in light condition after being hit in the leg.
[Jerusalem Post]


Gaza Shell Hits Israeli School Bus

Terrorists in Gaza fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus, injuring two people, one of them very seriously. The missile scored a direct hit and a major tragedy was only averted because most students had disembarked minutes before the attack.

One of the wounded, a 16-year-old, was reported to be in critical condition. The wounded were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Beersheba.

[T]he target was a yellow bus, internationally known as a symbol of a vehicle used specifically to carry children. And the terrorists must have seen their target because the range of an anti-tank weapon is relatively short.

Minutes later, terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza fired at least 45 more mortars at Israeli villages near Gaza. Israeli defense forces launched attacks against terrorist positions. Three people were killed and at least eight were injured.
[The Israel Project]
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UPDATES:

Palestinian Rocket Assault on Israel  -Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel

Had the bus been full, it surely would have set off another war.

As far as Israel is concerned, the targeting of the bus means a red line has been crossed; this triggered a wide air assault on militant targets in Gaza.
(Ha'aretz)
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Hamas Paying Heavy Price for Miscalculations -Yigal Walt

Hamas' miscalculation was the failure to estimate Israel's response to the missile attack on an Israeli school bus. Gaza terrorists were counting on the "Goldstone effect" to tamper any punishing Israeli strikes on Gaza. Worse for Hamas, the current round of fighting coincided with the West's campaign against Gaddafi. NATO forces have been bombing a foreign country, Libya, in order to prevent murderous attacks on civilians - the same logic behind Israel's strikes against Gaza terrorists. Indeed, Israel's incessant strikes on Gaza targets were met with a rather deafening global silence.

If all that wasn't enough, Israel deployed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system earlier than expected, shooting down virtually every Gaza missile threatening Israeli population centers. Hamas' missiles have largely hit nothing, landing in empty fields or being blown to pieces in midair. During the same time, some 20 terrorists were killed in Gaza, dozens of others were wounded, and assorted targets across the Strip were destroyed.
(Ynet News)
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Boy Hurt in Gaza Rocket Attack on Israeli School Bus Dies

Daniel Viflic, 16, who was critically wounded when Palestinians in Gaza fired a rocket at an Israeli school bus earlier this month, died at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
(Ha'aretz)
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