Several Palestinian terror groups claim sole responsibility for launching of medium-range Grad rocket against crowded shopping mall in 'message' to Israel as foreign dignitaries gather in Jerusalem, including US President Bush. Paramedics race to free wounded shoppers trapped under rubble while IDF investigates why alert sirens failed to sound.

As US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were sitting down to an intense two-hour meeting in Jerusalem early Wednesday evening, a Palestinian Grad rocket was launched from northern Gaza towards Israel.

The rocket crashed into a women's health clinic on the second floor of a busy shopping mall in central Ashkelon just before 6:00 pm, wounding 15 people and burying several shoppers under piles of rubble. MDA paramedics dispatched to the scene fought to extract those trapped under large pieces of debris, including four people who were evacuated in serious condition, including a mother and her 2-year-old daughter, and 11 more who suffered from moderate wounds.

Medical personnel also treated 62 people for shock at the scene.

The Salah al--Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the group, Abu Abir, told Ynet: "This attack was intended as a message to Israel that if it continues to escalate the situation and reject the ceasefire proposal, Zionist residents of southern Palestine will continue to live under danger of mortal peril and this will be their own government's responsibility."

The attack, said Abu Abir, was dedicated to Palestinian refugees marking 60 years since the 'Nakba.' "We promise Palestinian refugees scattered all over the world - you will return to your homes that were robbed from Palestine in 1948," he said.

The Jihad Jibril brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, have also claimed responsibility for the attack.



Ambulances rushed the wounded to the nearby Barzilai Hospital, among them a young girl who is in moderate condition and two infants who sustained light injuries. The girl's mother is also said to be among the wounded. Paramedics also tended to several people who suffered from shock.

The rise in rocket barrages has been deadly for southern Israel. 70-year-old Shuli Katz was killed by a Qassam rocket on Monday while visiting relatives in a small community in the Eshkol Regional Council and 48-year-old Jimmy Kdoshim of Kibbutz Kfar Aza was killed by a mortar shell last week while standing outside his home.

Alert system was deactivated

The IDF confirmed it had identified the rocket being launched in real time, and said it was looking into reports from local residents in Ashkelon who said the alert sirens failed to sound prior to the attack.

The army said the rocket was launched from an area adjacent to the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, a frequent base for staging attacks.

Defense officials admitted the system had been disconnected as of late, due to a large number of false alarms. However, they said, due to the mall attack it has been reactivated.



According to the officials, the system has been intermittently deactivated based on daily security assessments that rely on intelligence information and only in coordination with the political echelon. The policy will be reconsidered due to the attack this evening, they said.