JERUSALEM: Israel has called on the Security Council to issue a "clear and resolute" message against rockets fired into its territory from the Gaza Strip, in a letter to the United Nations body that was made public on Wednesday. The December 21 letter, made public by Israel's foreign ministry, comes amid rising tensions on Israel's border with the coastal enclave. On Tuesday, Israel launched a series of air strikes against what it said were tunnels, training sites and weapons facilities in the Gaza Strip, in response to a salvo of mortar shells on Monday and rocket fire on Tuesday morning. A Kassem rocket landed just meters (yards) away from a kindergarten in a southern Israeli kibbutz, wounding a teenage girl. "The incidents of the past several days are part of an escalation of terrorist attacks emanating from Gaza that target Israeli civilians, towns, and military personnel," said the letter signed by Meron Reuben, Israel's UN ambassador. "Israel holds the de facto authority in the Gaza Strip completely responsible for all of these incidents, which are carried out in clear violation of international law. In response to such attacks, Israel has exercised and will continue to exercise its right to self-defence." The letter is addressed to US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, the current chair of the Security Council, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It says three rockets and 18 mortars have been fired into parts of southern Israel from Gaza since December 19 alone. "The Security Council, the Secretary-General, and the international community must send a clear and resolute message that these attacks are unacceptable," Reuben wrote. "In addition, the Security Council must give appropriate attention to the smuggling of arms into Gaza, which continues to fuel violence and instability in our region." On Tuesday, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi warned that the relative calm that has prevailed since Israel's devastating Gaza offensive at the end of 2008 could quickly end. "The situation is tense and fragile and could easily deteriorate, particularly if a rocket lands in a populated area," he told a parliamentary committee. Between December 2008 and January 2009, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, in response to hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza into the Jewish state. The war cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers. Since then, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably, but the army says more than 200 rockets or shells have been fired this year. Israeli defense officials say the army will deploy tanks equipped with a miniature missile defense system near the Gaza border now that Palestinians are using a tank-piercing missile. The officials allege the Kornet missiles the militants possess came from Iran. They provided no proof. The officials spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss such matters. At a time of rising violence along the Gaza border, Israel's military chief disclosed Tuesday that insurgents fired a Kornet for the first time earlier this month, puncturing an Israeli tank. As a result, the defense officials say Israel has decided to move dozens of tanks equipped with the new Israeli-developed system, which detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach the armored vehicles.
