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At least 66 Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded in the early hours of Tuesday morning when a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck an IDF basic training base near Kibbutz Zikkim, about 1 kilometer inside Israeli territory. While the rocket hit an empty tent used only in the daytime for administrative purposes, many soldiers were hit by shrapnel while sleeping in adjacent tents. A warning alarm did sound moments before the rocket hit the tent, however many of the soldiers were sleeping and did not reach a bomb shelter in time. Many of the troops were lightly injured, suffering from minor injuries or shock. In the wake of the attack, at least 24 Magen David Adom ambulances rushed to the base in the northern Negev. Preliminary reports indicate that Tuesday's early morning attack would mark the largest number of injuries sustained in a single Qassam attack against Israel. The Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack. Army Radio reported that a total of two rockets were fired towards the base from Beit Hanun in northern Gaza. Most of the wounded were evacuated to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, however some soldiers were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv and Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. Two years ago, when Qassam rockets first began to land near the Zikkim base, a protest was organized by the parents of some of the soldiers and the IDF took some steps to protect the troops against rocket fire. MK Effi Eitam (National Union-National Religious Party) said Tuesday that "it is clear to all those that wanted to avoid an IDF operation that the army must act". Eitam added that the heads of the militants groups would be legitimate targets during the operation. Sderot, a working-class town of 22,000, and surrounding towns have been battered in recent years by thousands of the projectiles launched almost daily from Gaza. The inaccurate rockets have killed 12 people in the past seven years. Attacks last week on Sderot, including one in the grounds of a crowded day care center, led parents to pull their children out of schools and brought demands for retaliation. The security cabinet last week rejected calls for a large-scale Gaza invasion but threatened to cut water, electricity and fuel supplies to the strip. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and has mounted broad operations several times in the past, but the rocket attacks always resumed after a pullout.As in the days of Noah...
