PALESTINIAN ROCKETS HIT ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS NEAR GAZA

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (R) talks with Pinkhas Ammar as he views the damage done to the Ammar family home by a Palestinian Qassam rocket last week, on December 17, 2007 in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. Thousands of crude Qassam rockets and mortar shells have been launched by Palestinians in the nearby Gaza Strip over the past several years. (UPI Photo/Edi Israel/Maarix/POOL)