Negev-Sderot

     Four Islamic Jihad members were killed in an Israel Air Force strike in the Gaza Strip on Monday afternoon, bringing to five the death toll in the day's strikes targeting those launching Qassam rockets against southern Israel.Earlier Monday, cabinet ministers warned Hamas politicial leaders that they could also be targets in moves to halt the Qassam fire."I don't distinguish between those who carry out the (rocket) attacks and those who give the orders. I say we have to put them all in the crosshairs," National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio. A senior Hamas official in Gaza, Nizzar Riyan, said Monday that the organization is determined to see Israel removed from the map and a Palestinian state established in its place. The senior official told Hamas television that its members will continue to fight the Jews, even if it is against the wish of the Arabs or Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Riyan said it is time for the Palestinians to take back the lands that were seized from them. He called for pounding Ashkelon until its residents flee, just as Sderot residents have done. Meanwhile, the Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, called on Israel to remove civilians from the circle of violence. At the same time, he called on the Palestinians to strike at anything considered Israeli because Israel started the war against the Palestinians. Barhoum was speaking on Vocie of Palestine radio.Four Kassam rockets were fired towards the western Negev on Monday morning. No one was hurt and no damage was caused. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility. Earlier, the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing two rockets towards Sderot.(13,57)