JERUSALEM—Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip during the funeral of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon next to his farm in Southern Israel, prompting retaliation from the Israeli Air Force.
Sharon was buried the way he had lived much of his adult life: as the central figure in an elaborate military operation. Air Force attack helicopters and warplanes patrolled the skies nearby as Sharon was laid to rest less than five miles from the Gaza Strip.
Two rockets were fired from Gaza as the funeral was coming to an end but they exploded in empty fields several miles away without causing injury or damage. Israeli planes responded swiftly, attacking Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. The AP reported that Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets inside Gaza were struck.
Because of the proximity to Gaza and the presence of numerous mourners and foreign dignitaries at the gravesite, including Vice President Joseph Biden, unusual security precautions were put into place.
The Shin Bet security service provided a security blanket in the area. Police on horseback and in vehicles patrolled roads and fields in the rural area and Air Force drones overflew the Gaza Strip throughout the day. Stationary observation balloons hovered overhead and Iron Dome batteries, capable of shooting down missiles, were posted nearby.
"We are prepared for every conceivable scenario," Southern District Police Chief Yoram Halevy said to USA Today.
The farm and the gravesite are only a mile from the town of Sderot, which has been heavily hit by rockets in the past.
An Israeli security source told the Jerusalem Post Sunday that Israel had "passed the message" to Gazan authorities to prevent rocket fire during the funeral. "It was made clear to them that tomorrow would be a very bad day for anyone there to test Israel's patience," said the source.
The fact that the two rockets were fired only as the televised funeral service ended and that they were apparently not aimed at the burial site suggests that the firing was intended only as a symbolic gesture of defiance. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has refrained from firing rockets at Israel in recent months but Islamic Jihad and other small militant groups do so periodically.
Biden expressed regret that Sharon had died before peace with the Palestinians had been achieved during a brief eulogy. Acknowledging that "profound differences" had existed between Sharon and American presidents over the years—an apparent reference to Sharon’s development of scores of Israeli settlements in the West Bank—he praised the deceased’s courage and his dedication to his country’s security.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Sharon was "a warrior who knew that war alone could not secure Israel’s future."
Officials and "men-on-the-street" interviewed by the Arab media generally dismissed Sharon as a war criminal. However, one unidentified Arab in East Jerusalem interviewed by Israel's Channel Two offered a backhanded compliment, saying, "If we had leaders like him we'd wipe Israel out in a day."