February 27, 2008, 8:54 PM (GMT+02:00)

Last missile victim at Sderot's Sapir College

Ronnie Yihya was a student at Sapir College outside Sderot. He came from Moshav Bitchah near Ofakim in southern Israel. He was killed and a second student critically injured by a direct Qassam hit to the campus, Wednesday, Feb. 27.

More than 50 missiles and dozens of mortar rounds, fired from Gaza in five hours Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 27, crashed into Sderot, Shear Hanegev, the Off Kor factory's canteen, just after 200 employees had left, and several more civilian locations bordering on the Gaza Strip.

Ten people were injured and dozens suffered shock.

The last four exploded in Ashkelon, causing a partial electricity outage. An extended-range Grad landed behind the Barzilai regional hospital, another exploded in the industrial zone leaving several people in shock.

The barrage followed an Israeli airborne rocket attack, which killed 8 members of Hamas' armed wing, just returned from training in Iran or an Arab country, who were driving on a bus to a Hamas military facility near Khan Younes in the southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources reported that three of the seven dead were senior members of the Hamas Qassam Brigades' missile unit.

Later Wednesday, the Israeli air force was again in action to strike back at the Qassam launchers. The Palestinians reported at least two fatalities. Hamas threatened to continue shooting missiles in response to Israeli targeted attacks. DEBKAfile military sources report Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians were initiated before and continue day after day, whether or not Israel strikes back.

Their extremist leaders based in Damascus resist all international attempts to mediate a halt in their offensive.

Monday, a nine-year old Israel boy was seriously injured by a Qassam rocket which hit a group of children playing in Sderot.

On the West Bank, a wanted Palestinian was killed and 4 were injured, two seriously, resisting arrest by an Israeli counter-terror unit in Nablus. The group was suspected of plotting a large-scale terror attack in central Israel. Two were on the list of Fatah armed wing members who were granted Israeli amnesty, provided they renounced violence.