WOMAN IN SDEROT MURDERED BY KASSAM ROCKET

I was afraid this would happen. So were you.

A 35-year-old woman was killed Monday when one of three Kassam rockets fired at Sderot struck a car.

A 20-year-old man was moderately wounded in the rocket attack and twelve people were suffering from shock.

Streets were blocked in the area following the incident and Sderot residents ran towards the scene to try and locate loved ones. The Home Front Command was working with police to keep people away from the site.

The attack came moments before EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were due to arrive in the western Negev town for a meeting. Following the attack Sderot residents threatened to burn the tires of the car carrying the two in protest of the lack of protection from rocket attacks.

The meeting has now been postponed.

David Baker, a representative of the Prime Minister's Office present at the scene of the attack told the Jerusalem Post that Israel will not stop retaliatory action against Palestinian extremists.

"This is precisely the kind of terror that Israel will not tolerate. We are compelled to continue with defensive measures to prevent these attacks and we will not cease these measures until these Kassam rocket attacks stop," Baker said.

That does not excuse the fact that a proper ground assault wasn't launched, and that real action wasn't taken sooner. The government of Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz is going to have a lot to answer for because of this.