TEL AVIV, Israel, May 18 (UPI) -- Among the many rockets Palestinian militants have been firing across the Gaza Strip's northern border, Israeli experts Tuesday pieced together a long gray tube that was different: the remnants of a rocket more powerful than the homemade Qassams Palestinians usually launch.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack that missed Netiv Haasara's residential area of green lawns, flowers, and red-tiled roofs, just beyond the border. The rocket hit the village's sprawling fields, near one of the chicken coops, killing 30 chickens.
Islamic Jihad's spokesman, identified only as Abu Ahmad, told the Palestinian Maan news agency they had fired a homemade projectile similar to the Russian-made Grad rocket, and that it has a potential range of 15 miles.
A military source interviewed at the army's regional headquarters in Nahal Oz confirmed the rocket was a Grad, but said it was an old, worn-out rocket. The Palestinians have 10 or 20 such rockets, he estimated.
According to Abu Ahmad it was a test launch aimed at Israel's southern city of Ashkelon. More than 100,000 Israelis live there.
If their rockets could hit targets that far away, they could strike strategic sites between Gaza and Ashkelon such as a power plant and fuel dumps, forcing the Israelis into tougher responses.
The militants' attempts continued Thursday. They fired six more projectiles but only one made it across the border landing near an Israeli army base south of Ashkelon, causing no damage or injuries. It was a Qassam, the army reported.
The army has been trying to play down the significance of Tuesday's Grad attack.
The Palestinians have fired two Grads, an officer interviewed at Nahal Oz said. One, launched in March, fell near the border fence. It reportedly disintegrated in the air. The second struck some 2 miles from its launch site.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz who visited Camp Nahal Oz, told reporters the defense establishment had been "ready" for the escalation. It has "no intention to redeploy or to panic. There is no reason for the public to panic," Peretz declared.
In the nearby town of Sderot, Peretz's hometown, Mayor Elie Moyale reacted cynically.
"If all the new defense minister has to say is that the katyusha attack was expected then I am really calm," Moyale said.
That day, and throughout most of the week, the Israelis seemed to restrain their fire. On Tuesday this reporter traveled along the Gaza Strip's border from its northern tip down to its border with Egypt and noticed none of the anticipated artillery retaliations.
"My problem is the first katyusha to which they did not respond. The second one becomes routine," said Moyale.
"Katyushas in our area change the entire atmosphere... We are very worried. The fact the defense minister tells us to be calm, well, we've been calm for five, six years... This saga of katyushas will continue dozens of years," Moyale added.
Late Thursday night the artillery opened up again.
"In response to the firing of six projectile rockets at Israel earlier today... the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is now firing artillery rounds at the launching grounds in the northern Gaza Strip from which the rockets were launched," the IDF spokesman said.
An authoritative military source said such bombardments, mainly in the northern Gaza Strip, have disrupted Qassam rocket attacks. There are fewer now, the source said, and Islamic Jihad's spokesman provided confirmation.
According to military sources, Palestinians have fired some 240 projectiles since the beginning of March but only 82 have reached Israel. The Israelis have responded with more than 5,000 artillery rounds.
Israel maintains that since it has withdrawn completely from the Gaza Strip, there is no justification for continued attacks there.
Gaza "is fully under the control of the Palestinian Authority," the head of Israel's National Security Council, Maj. Gen. in the reserves Giora Eilad last week told the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem. "Accountability is in the hands of the Palestinian government or leadership. They have all the good reasons to stop this kind of aggression that is made by some small factions. They do have the capability to do it and this is (in) their interest," he stressed.
The artillery bombardments are one element in the battle against the rocket launches. Another is targeted strikes, and the defense establishment has perfected its ability to hit such targets shortly after detection. In the past, information had to go to GHQ in Tel Aviv before going to soldiers in the area. Now it is processed at the division level, United Press International was told.
Since last September, when Israel completed its withdrawal from Gaza, it has killed more than 100 militants there. No Israelis were killed.
Israeli troops have crossed the border to probe the area near the border fence for explosive materials. More than 40 charges have been found since Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last September. Palestinian security forces used to check their side of the border, sometimes at Israel's request, and Israeli Engineering Corps men would help them detonate charges.
However, now that Israel is boycotting the Hamas government and will have nothing to do with Palestinian security forces, its military crosses the border area and checks the area itself, a well-informed source said. Such a brief incursion occurred before dawn, Wednesday.
Netiv Haasara is so close to Gaza that the defense establishment built a high concrete wall to protect it from flat trajectory fire. The dour gray concrete was decorated with Jerusalem stone to look like Oriental arches, and the areas between the pillars were painted green and shades of blue. The army is about to reinforce roofs in its bases to withstand direct hits.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants to stop the fighting. Hamas ordered its men to halt although Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told a mass rally, "We shall sanction the Palestinian resistance being a legitimate right to every people under occupation."
The Islamic Jihad has refused to lay down its arms.
