(Toronto Star) Mitch Potter - Ashkelon is a coastal city of substance, boasting plenty of industry and three particularly sensitive pieces of infrastructure. Sensitive sites include the Rotenberg Power Plant, Israel's second-largest generating station which supplies an estimated quarter of the country's needs; the Ashkelon Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plant, the largest desalination plant of its kind in the world, which is due to provide 15% of domestic demand; and the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company, which controls three oil pipelines reaching to the port cities of Eilat, Ashdod, and Haifa. Tuesday's rocket attack represents the deepest strike ever into Israeli territory. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, "This is very, very serious. This is a strategic upgrade in the terrorist war against Israeli cities, with the objective being to kill as many civilians as possible....We have to draw a line in the sand and respond in such a way that neutralizes the threat."
2006-07-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive