No one was injured. Also last night, six Palestinian mortar shells landed next to Kibbutz Nir Am, a civilian community inside Israel's pre-1967 border not far from the town of Sderot, which was struck by five shells on Monday night. Officials acknowledged that the explosive shells were probably launched from the tiny slice of Palestinian-controlled land that Israeli army forces briefly seized in an operation on Tuesday. Army leaders said at the time that they would stay put in the area until attacks on nearby civilian centers were halted. After last night's repeat mortar blitz, Jewish community leaders in the area are again calling upon the Sharon government to do everything possible to halt the missile firings, with one noting that a 18 month old Israeli baby boy had been severely wounded by an identical mortar shell just two weeks ago in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials continue to crow over the rapid Israeli withdrawal.
The Palestinian statements added to a fiery debate in Israel over the lightening army operation. Sharon's office insisted that the Israeli leader had intended from the start to order a rapid pullout. US President George Bush spoke to PM Sharon last night by telephone to discuss the latest developments. Sharon's office said the Israeli leader had explained that he has no intention of taking over Palestinian-controlled land, but every intention of stopping rocket assaults upon his citizens. Meanwhile Israeli radio is reporting today that Bush may pull US troops and civilian personnel out of the international force that has patrolled the Sinai Peninsula since the Camp David peace accord was signed between Egypt and Israel in 1979.