MI Chief: Rockets could hit Be'er Sheva within two years

Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin has told Haaretz that in two years time every community within 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip border could be vulnerable to rocket attacks.

Wednesday's attack on an Ashkelon shopping mall, which wounded about 90 people in various conditions, made the military intelligence chief's recent statement prophetic.

He had told Haaretz that "every community within a 40-kilometer range may come within range of the Hamas rockets: Ashdod, Kiryat Gat, even Be'er Sheva." He spoke in an interview to be published in full Friday in Haaretz Magazine.

Yadlin also said that Hamas is not interested in peace because it is unwilling to recognize the State of Israel. The group is willing to accept a long-term cease-fire (hudna) only in exchange for a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, including Jerusalem, and with refugees returning to their homes.

I live exactly 38 kilometers away from the Gaza border.