- 2 apr 2011
Al-Qassam Brigades: Israel will pay dearly for killing three of our fighters
GAZA, (PIC)-- Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for all consequences of its assassination of three Qassam commanders at dawn Saturday, stressing what what happened was serious escalation.
Spokesman for Al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida said in a press release that the assassination of the fighters was orchestrated and the perpetrators would pay dearly for their crime.
Regarding Israeli claims that the fighters were planning to carry out an operation against Israeli targets, the spokesman said the occupation made such claims to justify its crime.
As for Al-Qassam Brigades' reaction to this Israeli attack, the spokesman said that if Israel decided to play with fire, it would definitely burn itself.
Three commanders of Al-Qassam Brigades were killed at an early hour today following an aerial attack on their car near Salahuddin street in Khan Younis city south of Gaza.
Earlier reports mistakenly claimed that the fighters were affiliated with Islamic Jihad's armed wing Al-Quds Brigades.
In the same context, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the assassination of three resistance fighters from Al-Qassam Brigades was a deliberate crime and persistence in shedding the Palestinian blood.
Spokesman Barhoum belied Israeli claims that the fighters were intending to capture Israelis from the Egyptian city of Sinai.
He emphasized that the absence of international justice and the reluctance to prosecute Israeli war criminals means more killing of Palestinians.
http://fwd4.me/yot 19 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 3 apr 2011
Military groups in Gaza 'will retaliate' to Israel's attacks
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The military wings of Palestinian factions operating in Gaza announced Sunday that they were preparing to respond to Israel's recent targeted assassinations in the coastal enclave.
In a press conference held in Gaza City, spokesmen of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions' armed wings said that Israel's "latest crimes will not go unpunished."
Officials said the nature of the retaliation was being discussed, and that a consensus would be reached on the form of the response.
"The blood of martyrs including children, and Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants will not be in vain," they added.
Three Hamas fighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight Friday.
Israel's army said fighter jets targeted a "Hamas terror squad" following its "intentions to execute kidnappings during the upcoming Passover holiday in the Sinai Peninsula and in Israel."
On Saturday, spokesman for Hamas' armed wing the Al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida dismissed the kidnapping allegations as "nonsense."
At the news conference in Gaza City, spokesmen of the militant groups also denied the allegation, and said the retaliation to the assassinations would take place in Palestine.
They added that Israel was trying "to stir up discord between the Egyptian government and the Palestinian factions in Gaza," by claiming that Hamas was planning attacks in Egypt.
The Al-Qassam Brigades said that one of the dead men, Ismail Lubbad, had previously been a bodyguard for Hamas leader Abdelaziz Rantissi, assassinated in a 2004 Israeli air strike.
Crowds of onlookers, including groups of children, turned out to watch the bodies wrapped in green Hamas flags carried shoulder high through the streets of Gaza City on their way for burial after Muslim prayers on Saturday.
Some of the mourners carried Kalashnikov assault rifles but no shots were fired as the procession made its way from the city's main Omari mosque to a cemetery in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
Others chanted, "Revenge, revenge, dear martyrs."
On March 26, Gaza factions announced that they would commit to a truce if Israel stopped attacking the besieged coastal enclave.
Since the announcement, Israeli warplanes have launched three airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing six Palestinians and injuring at least five.
Following the third attack Friday night, several factions called an end to the ceasefire.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375021
Intelligence report: Hamas cannot be eliminated
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- The Israeli military intelligence's department of studies and research said in a report that Hamas Movement adapts with the changes in the world and has become impossible to eliminate.
This came in a report written by specialist in security and military sciences Isaac Ben-Israel, who work for the Israeli military intelligence (Aman) in the department of studies and research.
The report is composed of 37 pages and discusses the political and military future of Hamas in light of the current regional changes especially in the Arab and Muslim world. The report was tabled in a seminar held by the department.
The report talks about how Hamas, according to facts, has become stronger politically, militarily and at the security level.
Ben-Israel's study points out that the Hamas-affiliated government, since the Hamas takeover in 2007 and until today, has been durable and flourishing, especially as a result of the diplomatic efforts undertaken by head of Hamas's political bureau Khaled Mashaal and other members of the bureau.
The researcher affirmed in his report that the diplomatic moves made by Hamas officials in a number of countries like Damascus, Ankara, Sana'a, Khartoum and Doha confirm that this Movement has evolved into a political system with a state.
"This means that the chances to eradicate it are no longer available, but if we want to be frank with ourselves, we will say it is hard," he added.
At the security level, his study acknowledges that the Hamas-affiliated security forces are strong and experienced and was able to frustrate a lot of Israeli activities that aimed to overthrow the government of Ismail Haneyya.
The young people inside Hamas have become aware of the plots made by the Shabak and the like, developed experience and got extensive security sessions, so their work is professional and not chaotic, the study stressed.
http://fwd4.me/ysZ -
Maria 7 apr 2011
Hamas military wing claims attack on Israeli school bus
GAZA CITY (AFP) -- The military wing of Hamas on Thursday claimed responsibility for firing an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus, the Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
http://fwd4.me/zAQ
Hamas announces cease-fire to be honored by all Gaza factions
Following cross-border fighting flare-up, Hamas says cease-fire, agreed upon by all Gaza factions, to come into effect starting Thursday night.
Hamas announced Thursday that a unilateral cease-fire on the part of all factions in the Gaza Strip was to come into effect at 11 P.M. local time.
Officials in Hamas said that the decision was made following a meeting between all Gaza factions.
The Hamas offer comes as fighting flared in Gaza on Thursday after a Palestinian anti-tank missile hit an Israeli school bus, wounding two, and Israeli forces retaliated with planes and artillery, killing five Palestinians.
Palestinian medics said at least 30 people were injured in three hours of attacks by Israeli forces. Firing tapered off after nightfall.
A 50-year old Palestinian in east Gaza was killed by shelling in the afternoon and four others were killed by air attacks in the south near the border with Egypt.
A 16-year-old Israeli boy on the bus was seriously wounded and its driver was injured.
Armed Islamist movement Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, took responsibility for the attack on the bus, saying it was retaliating for Israel's killing of three Palestinian militants in an air strike on Saturday.
An Israeli F-16 warplane bombed a major security compound of the Islamist Hamas group which rules Gaza, rocking Gaza City with a big explosion and wounding at least one person there.
"We hope this situation will be contained, but we will not shy away from taking all the necessary action, offensive and defensive, to protect our country and to protect our citizens," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference during a visit to Prague.
The IDF said 45 rockets and mortars were launched into Israeli territory from Gaza in the space of three hours, the heaviest fire in two weeks. There were no immediate reports of further Israeli casualties as a result.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Western powers to intervene "to stop this aggression", the official Wafa news agency reported from Ramallah in the West Bank.
Abbas also urged Palestinian militants not to give Israel an excuse to hit Gaza.
The missile attack followed a relative lull in cross-border fire between Gaza and Israel after a sudden rise in violence last month in which at least 16 Palestinians were killed.
Israel and Hamas had signaled readiness to return to a de facto ceasefire which has kept the border relatively quiet since the end of the December 2008-January 2009 Gaza war.
A Hamas spokesman on Thursday repeated that his movement wants "calm" to return to the tense standoff.
http://fwd4.me/zAi
Mortar shell hits bus in south; 2 injured
A mortar shell hit a bus in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council, Magen David Adom reported. Two people were injured in the attack, one critically and the other lightly. A helicopter was summoned to evacuate the injured.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4053701,00.html
4 rockets fired from Gaza Strip; no injuries
A Qassam rocket exploded near a kibbutz in Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. Another rocket exploded near a kibbutz in Hof Ashkelon Regional Council and two additional rockets landed in open fields at Eshkol Regional Council.
No injuries or damage were reported in any of the incidents.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4053870,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 8 apr 2011
DFLP militants claim fire on Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, National Resistance Brigades, issued a statement on Friday afternoon saying its fighters launched two projectiles towards Israeli towns.
The statement said the projectiles were launched from northern Gaza, and called them a "response to Israel's lack of commitment to the truce [and its] continuing of shelling of our unarmed people."
Three civilians were killed Friday afternoon and dozens of others injured when two air strikes hit the southern Gaza Strip. A mother and daughter and elderly man were identified by medics.
"The option of resistance is the only path to gain national rights," the statement concluded.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=376749
France condemns rocket fire, civilian deaths in Gaza
Paris "condemns in the strongest terms the recent firing of missiles, rockets and mortar bombs" against civilians in Israel and "deplores the humanitarian consequences of Israeli military operations" in response, the Quai d'Orsay said Friday.
"The firing of an antitank missile on a school bus is (...) a new escalation" and "we call for the immediate cessation of violence," French Foreign Minister Bernard Valero said at a press conference.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054108,00.html
Ban calls for 'immediate end' to fire
NEW YORK (Ma'an) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "condemned the recent rocket fire from Palestinian militants, which hit a school bus and injured two Israeli civilians," his spokesperson said in a Thursday statement.
"He calls for an immediate end to rocket fire," the spokesman said, adding that Ban was also concerned "at reports of civilian casualties from Israeli operations in Gaza and calls for maximum restraint. He urges respect for international humanitarian law and calls for de-escalation and calm to prevent any further bloodshed."
The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, strongly condemned the mortar and rocked attacks out of the Gaza strip, expressing "deep concern at the current escalation of violence," a statement said.
Since Thursday afternoon, ten have been killed and dozens injured in a series of ten air strikes that have hit areas across the Gaza Strip.
Hamas announced a ceasefire deal at 11 p.m. on Thursday, which was followed by a midnight air strike.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=376728
Ceasefire status unclear
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said Friday they could not commit to a ceasefire deal with Israel, almost 12 hours after Hamas officials announced that one had been put together.
Spokesman of the group's An-Nasser brigades, Abu Mujahed, told Ma'an that they would "never agree to a ceasefire while Palestinians are being killed by Israel in Gaza."
On Thursday night, Hamas announced that most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza had signed on to a ceasefire pledge, in a bid to halt a further escalation of violence with Israel.
No official Israeli response to the deal was reported. Overnight four militants were killed, all identified as belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing.
While no faction has claimed the launch of any projectiles toward Israel since the pledge was signed, Israeli media reported the landing of 16 projectiles near Ashkelon since Friday morning.
However, an Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP before 10:30 a.m. on Friday, that there had been no rocket fire since the factions agreed a truce.
A previous ceasefire was abandoned by several groups following an Israeli air strike Saturday which killed three leaders of Hamas' armed wing, when an air strike hit their car in southern Gaza.
Abu Mujahed said Friday the military groups agreed to a ceasefire only to protect Gazans from Israeli attacks, and that Israel must also commit to the ceasefire.
In a statement Friday, the Popular Resistance Committee called for groups to resist Israeli attacks, stating "the escalation of resistance is the best way to respond to the escalation of aggression."
The statement also called on the League of Arab States and Organization of Islamic Conference "to assume their responsibilities to protect the people in Gaza from Israeli aggression."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=376704
12 mortar shells hit western Negev
Gaza fire renewed as salvo hits Eshkol Regional Council. IAF mounts another airstrike.
A Dozen mortar shells fired from northern Gaza landed in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries were reported; one of the council's communities suffered some property and infrastructural damage
Friday's salvo was the first mortar fire since the Palestinian terror groups declared a unilateral ceasefire, Thursday.
Following the fire and by military instructions, the Eshkol Regional Council ordered evacuation of 450 schoolchildren at the 'Nitzanei Eshkol' school. The children were evacuated gradually with a security forces escort
Earlier Friday, Israel Air Force fighter jets shelled a location east of the Gaza city of Khan Yunis, believed to be a terror hub, while tanks fired at suspected terrorist locations. The military confirmed hitting its target.
Palestinian sources reported that two people were killed and three others injured in the air strike. The three are believed to be members of a Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades cell.
The IDF's action followed Thursday heavy rocket salvo on southern Israel: over 45 rockets were fired from the Strip into Israel throughout the day, as well as an anti-tank missile attack on an Israeli school bus that left a teenager critically wounded.
Thursday night saw Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip declared a ceasefire, in an apparent attempt to prevent harsh IDF retaliation.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054046,00.html
16 mortar shells hit Western Negev
16 mortar shells fired from northern Gaza landed in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.
This is the first mortar fire since the Palestinian terror groups decaled a ceasefire, Thursday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054036,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 9 apr 2011
Brigades claim 22 projectiles fired since Saturday
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military officials have reported that more than 70 rockets and mortars have been launched from Gaza since Thursday, with militant groups claiming 22 incidents of fire since midnight Friday morning.
A ceasefire was announced by Hamas at 11 p.m. on Thursday, but overnight Israeli forces bombed several locations, killing five militants, and sparking a new wave of projectile fire.
"Groups in Gaza committed themselves to respecting the Palestinian consensus and halting rocket attacks, but the Zionist aggressor has ruined everything by attacking and killing civilians -- women, children and old people," Hamas interior ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein said.
Overnight and early in the morning, six separate militant groups issued statements claiming fire on Israeli military posts and civilian areas claiming fighters would stick to the option of resistance, and condemning what was generally described as an Israeli escalation on the Gaza Strip.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Hamas' Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades announced that they fired two Qassam-type homemade projectiles towards the Kerem Shalom military base and four others towards the Israeli region of Ashkol, adjacent to the southern Gaza Strip.
The Fatah-affiliated Al-Mujahideen Brigades said that announced that they fired two 107-type projectiles toward the Sufa military post in the southern Gaza Strip, east of Khan Younis.
An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said they fired a Nasser-type projectile toward the Israeli community of Be'eri, termed a "settlement" in the group's statement. Two other Nasser-type projectiles were said to have been fired toward the Al-Ein community, also in southern Israel.
Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades, said a Grad-style projectile was fired toward Beerseba, and two Al-Quds-style projectiles and a 107-style missile were fired toward Be'eri.
In the north, the Salah Ad-Din Brigades said fighters fired three projectiles toward Sderot, a 107-style projectile toward Zikim, and a third toward an Israeli military troop in northern Gaza.
The little-known Ismail Abu Al-Qumsan Brigades said fighters launched two projectiles toward Zikim.
The Abu Ali Mustafa brigades, the military wing of the PFLP, said a Grad-style projectile was fired to the Kiyrat Gat community 65 kilometers south of Tel Aviv.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=376932
Rocket fired at Beersheba intercepted; 3 hurt on way to shelter
The Iron Dome anti-rocket system intercepted a Grad rocket fired at the city of Beersheba, the IDF Spokesman's Office said. Three city residents were lightly hurt while rushing into bomb shelters following the activation of the anti-rocket siren.
The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Grad attack.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054203,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:32 , Respect -
Maria 10 apr 2011
Ministers: Hamas 'Barbarians,' 'Hunt Them Down'
Netanyahu and Aharonovich
Minister of Public Security Yitzchak Aharonovich and Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon joined Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday in sounding an increasingly ominous tone toward the Hamas terror entity in Gaza.
Aharonovich called Hamas's behavior "barbaric" and Ayalon said the terror group only understands force.
Aharonovich toured the Gaza Belt communities as terrorist missile attacks continued. He met with the head of the Sha'ar Hanegev local authority, Alon Shuster, and the head of Merhavim local authority Avner Mori, and offered them assistance in dealing with the security situation.
He also visited the spot where a Grad missile hit in the Negev town of Ofakim.
"There is no immunity for anyone in Gaza and they must know that we will hunt them down, one by one, until we find them. We will know how to reach their hiding places in the ground. The IDF has the means for that and we will use them," Aharonovich declared.
The final stop on the minister's tour was Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, where he visited Daniel Viflic, who was critically wounded when terrorists fired a Kornet anti-tank missile at the school bus he was in.
"Hamas behavior is barbaric," he said outside the hospital. "Everyone knows that a yellow bus is an international marking for a vehicle transporting children, and firing at it is a heinous crime and a crossing of a line."
"Hamas has no compunctions but we will know how to react with the force that the IDF possesses. We will not the abandon residents of the South and we will hunt down Hamas and the terror groups wherever they may be."
Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Sunday that "terror will never defeat us. The nation of Israel will always know how to close ranks in the face of threats, and we are all with the residents of the South. Unfortunately Hamas only understands force, and Israel knows how to make Hamas understand that terror will have a steep price tag."
Regarding the planned "Marmara 2" flotilla to Gaza, Ayalon said Israel is focusing its effort on preventing the flotilla from leaving port and that it is acting on the diplomatic front vis-a-vis the other countries in the region to ensure that they do not allow "provocative and illegal flotillas" to leave their ports.
Prime Minister Netanyahu made a relatively forceful statement at the opening of the Cabinet session Sunday.
"Regrettably, our enemies and those who seek Jewish lives have not gone from the world. But the State of Israel exists and it knows how to defend itself from evil designs and we say: No more! We say more than that: The Jewish People live!"
"I said that our enemies have not gone from the world. This morning, I spoke with Yitzhak Viflic, the father of Daniel, the pupil who was wounded in the criminal attack on a children's bus. Daniel is fighting for his life. We, along with the entire nation, pray for him.
"The IDF has had two major achievements in the past few days, one in the area of defense, the other in offensive operations. In the area of defense, Israel scored a significant and impressive success when the Iron Dome system intercepted missiles. This echoes around the world, including in the European countries that I visited.
"The impressive significance of this achievement notwithstanding, it is clear that it is only a partial response. It is clear that an offensive response is also needed. Here as well, the IDF was impressive when it struck hard at Hamas and the other terrorist organizations, in terms of both lives and equipment, in response to the criminal attacks against us.
"Over the weekend, I held discussions with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and ISA Director Yuval Diskin, and our policy is clear: If attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers continue, the response will be very harsh."
http://fwd4.me/zMq
Hamas vows to rain rockets on Israel
Palestinian Hamas' leader Mahmoud al-Zahar (file photo)
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has vowed to continue firing missiles into Israel until Tel Aviv halts its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said on Saturday that Palestinian groups will continue targeting Israel until Israeli troops stop their attacks on the blockaded sliver.
Al-Zahar also stressed that the Palestinian nation will, by no means, recognize the Israeli regime and will continue to resist Israel's aggressions until all occupied territories are liberated.
The Hamas official added that over the past three months Israeli forces have killed over 45 Palestinians.
This comes as Israeli warplanes launched yet another aerial attack against the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
The airstrikes have continued for the past four days, leaving more than 19 Palestinians dead and over a dozen others injured.
The latest Israeli attacks are among the deadliest since the Tel Aviv regime began the December 2008-January 2009 Gaza War.
Hamas says Tel Aviv has stepped up its aggression against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip due to the recent uprisings and revolutions in Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa.
Meanwhile, in response to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, Palestinian resistance fighters have fired missiles into Israeli towns.
But there have been no reports of any casualties or damage.
The Israeli regime laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after Hamas took over the administration of the enclave.
The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173985.html
'Israeli aggression due to uprisings'
Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Chairman Moussa Abu Marzouk
Hamas says Israel has stepped up aggression against Gaza due to the uprisings in the Arab world and is trying to undermine Palestinian resistance movements' reconciliation efforts.
"Nowadays, there is aggression against the Gaza Strip. This aggression [has] now increased because of what happened in Arab countries," Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Chairman Moussa Abu Marzouk told Press TV in an exclusive interview on Saturday.
Israeli aerial and ground strikes against the Gaza Strip have left at least 19 Palestinians dead in the beleaguered territory since Thursday.
Marzouk pointed out that the Israeli army is currently trying to take the Gaza Strip under its control by attempting to undermine Palestinian resistance movements' efforts to reconcile their differences.
Marzouk blamed Tel Aviv for ruining the reconciliation efforts of Palestinian resistance movements, which have been holding talks over the past few months in order to strike a unity deal.
However, he stated that the Palestinians will continue their resistance against Israeli aggression.
The Hamas official also said the resistance movement would contact Muslim and Arab countries and called on them to "stand with the Gazans and to apply pressure in response to Israel's aggression.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173969.html
Hamas: Calm depends on Israeli aggression
Gaza group's political wing says Palestinian factions not interested in escalation; adds 'natural calm' will be restored when Israel ceases strikes on Strip.
The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers said on Sunday they wanted to end the recent round of fighting with Israel after Israel's defense minister signaled willingness to agree to a ceasefire.
"The Palestinian factions are not interested in escalation," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters. "If the Israeli aggression stopped, it would be natural for calm to be restored."
The ongoing rocket attacks and Israeli strikes in the Gaza region have exposed a rift within Hamas, as despite the political wing's wish, the group's military wing insists on continuing the fire.
The Arab League is expected to convene for an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the escalation in the Gaza Strip, at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The death toll since Israel launched its retaliation for an attack on a school bus that critically wounded a teenager on Thursday, stands at 19.
Gaza militants have fired at least 120 rockets and mortars at southern Israel in that time, the Israeli army said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054564,00.html
Lieberman wants to topple Hamas
Yisrael Beiteinu to demand that toppling of Hamas rule in Gaza be designated a 'strategic target'.
Tough stance: The Yisrael Beiteinu party intends to demand that the ruling Likud party apply clause 11 in the coalition agreement, designating the toppling of Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip as a strategic Israeli target.
The issue is expected to be raised in Yisrael Beiteinu's conference, to be held Wednesday. The party's chairman, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, will be seeking his colleagues' backing to lead the move.
Thus far, Israeli governments have refrained from declaring that toppling the Hamas regime is a strategic target for Israel. The Olmert government avoided such declaration even during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza about two years ago.
However, Lieberman demanded that the issue appear in the coalition agreement with Likud, and now aims to press the ruling party to apply the clause.
'Resume settlement construction'
The diplomatic chapter of the coalition agreement asserts that "the government will work determinedly and regularly against terror groups threatening Israel and do everything needed in order to eradicate them. A strategic target for the State of Israel would be the toppling of Hamas' rule in Gaza."
Meanwhile, Ynet learned that another issue expected to be brought up during Yisrael Beiteinu's upcoming conference is the party's demand to resume construction in Judea and Samaria. The event will also feature discussions on the party's positions on issues pertaining to security, foreign affairs, the economy, aliyah and settlement activity.
The party's convention is being held once every four years and is expected to be attended by some 450 representatives, elected at the various party branches in the past three months.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054470,00.html
IDF: Ball in Hamas' court
All eyes on Gaza: Army to monitor situation in Strip closely in coming hours, says strikes on Gaza to end only after Hamas forces all terror groups to hold fire; terrorists to be judged by actions, not words, senior official says.
War or truce? IDF officials will be closely monitoring developments in the Gaza region Saturday night and Sunday morning, with Hamas' actions determining whether the current round of fighting will be ending, or further escalating.
Army officials said late Saturday that IDF strikes on Gaza will only end after all terror groups in the Strip hold their fire.
"The moment Hamas takes the decision to stop firing, it must enforce this on all other organizations," a military source told Ynet. "Hamas did it before, and we expect it to happen again."
"We exacted a heavy price from Hamas since Thursday, by hitting several targets and assassinating senior commanders," the source added.
While IDF officials are not openly referring to an equation of "quiet in exchange for quiet," the decision taking shape in closed-door sessions Saturday evening was not to escalate the situation should Hamas hold its fire.
"We'll examine our actions not in line with declarations, but rather, based on the actions (of terror groups) on the ground," a senior military official said following a series of consultations. "We'll be able to operate firmly and powerfully if needed."
Hamas fires at empty areas
However, despite the desire to see the current round of fighting drawing to an end, IDF officials warned that any incident that claims Israeli lives may change the picture completely.
"We are not facing time constraints, and the offensive can be expanded," a senior officer told Ynet. "In a reality that includes a defense system like Iron Dome, extending the fighting is even easier."
Indications that the current escalation may be nearing its end despite the heavy fire from Gaza include Hamas' attempt to keep the level of terror low. The group mostly refrained from targeting major cities Saturday, with 90% of rockets hitting open, unpopulated areas.
Moreover, Hamas did not utilize its longer-range and more accurate weapons, while the IDF mostly targeted terror cells during the day rather than pre-determined sites.
"It indeed appears that we are at the end of this round, but we must keep in mind that this is a rather volatile front, and one spark is enough to change the picture," a security source said.
Given the tense situation in the south, the IDF Home Front Command warned that despite Iron Dome's success in intercepting incoming rockets it does not provide full-proof protection.
The army stressed that emergency procedures should be followed by southern residents and recommended that gatherings of more than 500 people in unfortified locations be called off.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054464,00.html
New Palestinian military groups surface in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) New Palestinian military groups in the Gaza Strip have claimed responsibility, for the first time, for firing missiles at Israeli targets bordering the strip.
The "Abdullah Azzam Brigades - Marwan Haddad division - in the Levant" claimed responsibility Sunday for firing a Grad missile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon and two homemade projectiles at the Zekeim military base.
The shelling is part of ongoing retaliation to the crimes committed by the Zionists who were known for killing prophets. This will continue until the Palestinian land is liberated and Tawhid flag is raised, a statement by the new group read.
Another group, identified as the "At-Tawhid and Al-Jihad - Beit Al-Maqdis," claimed responsibility for launching a homemade projectile at the Nahal Oz military base.
For its part, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Ad-din Brigades, said in a statement its fighters fired three mortar shells towards Nahal Oz.
The group claimed responsibility for another attack on the "Al-Ein settlement" east of Khan Younis firing one homemade projectile, a third on Netivot firing two projectiles and a fourth on Kibutz Ra'eim firing one homemade projectile.
Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for launching four mortar shells at the Kerem Shalom area in the early morning Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377217
Qassam follows ceasefire declaration
Rocket explodes south of Ashkelon on Sunday evening, after several hours of complete calm in Gaza vicinity. Earlier, Gaza factions say sides have agreed on truce 'for the Palestinian people'.
A Qassam rocket exploded within the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council on Sunday evening, shortly after the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip issued an official announcement on a truce reached with Israel.
Israel has yet to respond to the declaration, although a state official said earlier that there was no such agreement but that efforts would be made to maintain the calm if Hamas chose to do so.
The Color Red alert system was activated at around 9:30 pm, and the rocket is believed to have hit an open area without causing any injuries or damage.
The Home Front Command on Sunday evening lifted the limitations imposed on gatherings and activities in educational institutions in the threatened communities.
The Palestinian factions said they had decided to give a ceasefire a chance "for the Palestinian people" and "in order to give them room to breathe."
In a statement issued Sunday evening, the factions said that although they agreed to a truce, "the time will come when the occupation pays a heavy price for its foolishness. The occupation understands nothing but the language of force."
The factions stressed that the deal was signed with extra caution as Israel "is treacherous and violates agreements."
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz visited the Iron Dome battery stationed in Ashkelon.
Netanyahu was briefed on the anti-missile system by one of the soldiers operating it, and said that "this is a great achievement, thanks to its operators."
The prime minister stressed that "we can't defend every house, facility and site in this country," adding that the cabinet instructed the IDF to work to stop the rocket fire and restore calm.
He added, "I hope this will be Hamas' intention as well. If this will be Hamas' intention, calm will be restored. If it reinforces its attacks, our response against Hamas will be much tougher."
Some 20 Qassam rockets and mortar shells exploded within Israel on Sunday, a dramatic drop compared to the weekend fire. There were no reports of injuries or damage in all incidents.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry released a video of the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip.
The images, which were captured by a camera that was attached to the battery, show in slow motion the moment in which the interceptor Tamir missile hits the rocket and destroys it midair.
Arab League Chief Amr Moussa said Sunday that the organization would ask the United Nations Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza, which Israel has pounded with air strikes in response to rocket fire.
Condemning what it called Israel's "brutal" aggression in Gaza, a gathering of the Arab League's permanent delegates chaired by Oman called on the UN to convene its Security Council.
An Israeli government official in Jerusalem, who declined to be named, dismissed the call and said the Arab League should first ensure Gaza militants halt attacks on Israel.
"If the Arab League wants a no-fly zone in Gaza is it also talking about ground-to-ground missiles that are fired from Gaza on Israeli cities? About missiles fired at school buses? About mortar shells fired at farms?" the official said.
"If the Arab League wants Israeli military aircraft to stop flying over the Gaza Strip then it should first ensure there is no reason for them to be there to protect Israeli citizens."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055044,00.html
Qassam rocket explodes in Ashkelon; no injuries
A Qassam rocket was fired from the northern Gaza Strip and exploded in the southern Ashkelon. The Color Red alert was sounded before the explosion. No injuries or damage were reported.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054580,00.html
3 mortar shells hit western Negev
Relatively quiet night in southern Israel ends as Gaza groups renew rocket fire on area.
Three mortar shells were fired from northern Gaza Sunday morning, landing in various areas in Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries were reported.
One of the rockets, which were fired around 6 am, hit a power cable, causing a partial blackout in some of the Council's communities.
The rocket fire breached the relatively quiet night, which followed a weekend of shelling over 120 rockets and mortar shells were fired on Israel's south by Gaza terror groups.
The IDF mounted several airstrikes in retaliation, targeting some 10 terror cells and 15 terror hubs in the Strip.
Israel believes the tense weekend has prompted Hamas' political wing to seek ways to clam things on the ground, but the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, has yet to have the final say.
"There is no way to speak of a lull between us and the occupation while it is harming our people. The blood of our citizens will not be spilled in vain," Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obaida said Saturday.
Meanwhile, many communities in southern Israel have decided to move up the scheduled Passover break in schools, in order to protect the students.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054497,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:32 , Respect -
Maria 11 apr 2011
Despite truce, little known group fires projectile
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A group calling itself the Marwan Haddad division of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a new Palestinian military group in Gaza, said its fighters had launched a homemade projectile toward Israel late Sunday night.
"Israel is not safe from the resistance," a statement from the group said, adding that the projectile was aimed at the Ashkelon power plant.
The group said it would not accept truce conditions with Israel, and announced the launch less than an hour before a ceasefire deal was set.
On Sunday morning, the group issued its first statement, saying fighters had fired a Grad-style missile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon and two homemade projectiles at the Zikim military base.
The shelling is part of ongoing retaliation to the crimes committed by the Zionists who were known for killing prophets. This will continue until the Palestinian land is liberated and Tawhid flag is raised, a statement by the new group read.
The group was one of three previously unknown militant brigades that issued statements on Sunday, without indicating a political affiliation.
http://fwd4.me/zOB
In Israel's sights, Hamas charts careful course
GAZA CITY (AFP) As an uneasy truce with Israel takes hold, Hamas faces the twin pressures of protecting its status as a resistance movement without giving Israel an excuse for a new war.
The firing of an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus, which sparked a deadly showdown that saw 18 Palestinians killed and more than 150 rockets rain down on Israel, shows the risks that Hamas's armed wing is willing to take.
Last month, a confrontation between Israel and Hamas's armed wing, which began when Israel killed two Hamas militants, ended with a truce on March 26.
But this time the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades had no choice but to hit hard, says Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a political scientist at Gaza's Al-Azhar University.
"Hamas is trying to restore its image as a resistance movement by responding to a wave of Israeli attacks," he said.
"Hamas feels the pressure but it doesn't want to give Israel an excuse for a new war which could cost it the government in Gaza," he told AFP, suggesting Israel could be trying to force the Islamist movement out of Gaza.
The idea of toppling Hamas has been raised in Israel.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel should not settle for a truce with Hamas but should seek to topple the Islamist rulers of the coastal strip.
"The objective must be to force Hamas out of power," said Lieberman, who heads the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu.
Over the past two months, Hamas's military capabilities appear to have been targeted in a number of operations attributed to Israel.
In February, a Gaza engineer and alleged rocket-designer was snatched from Ukraine and is now on trial in Israel. Two weeks later, the Israeli navy seized a ship carrying 50 tonnes of weapons allegedly heading for Gaza.
And last week, two people were killed in a mysterious air strike in Sudan, which targeted a Hamas military chief and has been blamed on Israel.
"The Palestinian groups are only defending themselves and our people," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
"We do not intend to inflame the situation but we can not keep quiet when faced with aggression," he added.
In a possible indicator of its anxiety about the confrontation spiralling out of control, Hamas announced steps to restore calm just hours after the start of hostilities on Thursday.
Hamas's political leadership has also gone out of its way to distance itself from the attack by its military wing on a school bus -- whose yellow colour was a clear indication that it was carrying school children, Israel says.
"We didn't know that the bus was carrying children. It was driving on a road which is often used by Israeli military vehicles, which is often targeted by armed Palestinian groups," Abu Zuhri said.
"There is coordination with the political leadership over the bigger picture but on the ground, it is the armed wing which decides the appropriate time to respond to the Israeli aggressions," he said.
"We give general guidance about what stance to take in response to Israel's position, but the armed wing has freedom of action and decisions made in the field are not the responsibility of the political leadership," he said.
But the orders to observe a new truce were likely to be respected, Abu Zuhri said.
"A truce will be met with a truce," he said, estimating that all Palestinian armed factions would follow Hamas in this regard.
"Hamas is going to impose the truce on all the Palestinian factions, even those who don't want to observe it," agreed Abu Saada.
But a new round of violence is perfectly plausible, Abu Saada warned, given that the Israeli army has reserved the right to launch preventive operations and Palestinian groups have vowed to seek revenge when their members are targeted.
http://fwd4.me/zT2
Hamas has every right to smuggle weapons into Gaza
By Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine
Hamas has an absolute moral, legal and human right to defend the people of Gaza against incessant Israeli aggression. But in order to carry out this most ethical task, Hamas must smuggle weapons of various types into the Gaza Strip. Otherwise, Gazans will be setting ducks for the Israeli death machine as we have seen in the course of the past few days and also during the Israeli blitz on the coastal enclave more than two years ago.
Since April 7, Israeli forces have killed as many as 20 Palestinians, the bulk of whom are innocent men, women and children as shown by the gruesome images that keep coming from Gaza.
Israel often seeks to portray the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip as an ultimate red line or an inviolable taboo that must never be allowed to happen. Israel has gone too far in asserting this policy. Last week, Israeli warplanes reportedly hit a car in the Sudanese Red Sea town of Port Sudan, killing two Sudanese nationals. Israeli sources suggested that the criminal attack targeted a Palestinian who was involved in smuggling weapons to Gaza. However, all signs indicate that the targeted Palestinian was not in the doomed car.
More to the point, Israel had carried out criminal raids and assassinations of Palestinians and others suspected of smuggling weapons into the blockaded enclave.
None the less, Israeli arguments and justifications to this effect must be rejected with the utter contempt they deserve since the ultimate implication is that the people of Gaza have no right to self-defense against Israel 's most sophisticated arsenal of death.
This rationale is as unacceptable as it is immoral.
We all know that the Jewish defendants at the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943/44 had to smuggle weapons and food into the ghetto in order to enhance their steadfastness in the face of SS forces. Needless to say, Hamas and other Palestinian factions are very much doing the same thing.
Hence, the world should stop viewing efforts by Hamas to defend Palestinian lives against the deadly Nazi-like aggressions by Israel as an oddity or something that is abnormal and anomalous since doing so amounts to swallowing the Israeli narrative, hook, line, and sinker.
Israel, the terrorist regime par excellence, is utterly unfit to lecture the world, let alone its victims, about terror. Israel itself is based on terror, ethnic cleansing and land theft, and as such is bereft of any moral credentials that would qualify her to complain about whatever resistance efforts the oppressed Palestinians are trying to put up in order to earn their freedom and secure survival.
More to the point, neighboring Arab states have an absolute moral and religious obligation to help Gazans defend and protect themselves and their children from the Nazi-like aggression.
That is why one may argue that it is no longer acceptable that the new Egyptian regime keeps preventing weapons from reaching Gaza through Egypt. Indeed, the ideal thing to do is that the Egyptian revolution, which toppled Hosni Mubarak, the Zionist agent, should offer active assistance to the blockaded people of Gaza . This would be no more than doing Egypt's Arab and Islamic duty. However, since it is unwise, as many prudent voices would argue, to rush into a premature confrontation with Israel, it is imperative that the new rulers in Cairo do their utmost to make up for years of Mubarak's collusion and complicity with the Zionists against the unjustly persecuted and savaged people of Gaza.
Undoubtedly, there are a thousand ways through which Egypt can help the people of Gaza provide at least primary defense and protection against Israeli Nazism.
To be sure, Hamas and other Palestinian factions don't seek military parity with Israel. This is obviously out of question. However, failing to achieve parity with the Zionist entity should never mean reclining on our chairs, doing nothing while watching Israel slaughter our innocent civilians. Certain deterrence must be established to convince the Nazis of our time that there is a price to be exacted every time Israel launches a new aggression on our virtually helpless people.
Perhaps we can borrow an example from the Second World War. At one point, the Nazi leader Adolph Hitler contemplated using the chemical nerve agent Sarin, which attacks and paralyses the nervous system, against the Allies' cities and population centers. However, the Fuhrer was eventually convinced that using the lethal chemical agent would eventually boomerang and that millions of Germans would perish in retaliatory chemical raids on German cities.
So deterrence works.
It is well-known that a huge gap exists between Israel's massive firepower and anything Hamas and other Palestinian factions could mobilize. But this gap should never make Palestinians succumb to the Zionist will which is based on mendacity and oppression.
The Palestinians don't have to have F16 jet fighters and apache helicopter gunship to deter Israel . But they need some other sophisticated but mainly defensive weapons to make Israel realize that any aggression will have a price.
It is the responsibility of revolutionary Arab states to help provide the ultimate freedom fighters in Gaza with the wherewithal that would help them stop Israel 's killing machine from killing more Palestinian children and women and men.
Arab states can carry out this most noble and most moral task as discreetly as possible, but it must be done anyway since not doing it would only play into Israeli hands and encourage Israel to murder more innocent people.
Again, Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions don't want to trigger an all-out confrontation between states such as Egypt and the Zionist regime. After all Palestinians do realize that these Arab states have first to put their houses in order and restore stability.
But at the very least, Arab regimes must show Israel the "red eye" and do away, once and for all, with the Mubarak-era complacency.
http://fwd4.me/zNy
Hamdan warns Israel of consequences of new war
BEIRUT, (PIC)-- Osama Hamdan, Hamas's international relations official, has warned that Israel would face serious consequences over the new war launched against the Gaza Strip and said the war would lead to wide-spread Arab mobilization against Israel.
Hamdan asserted the right of the Palestinian resistance forces to respond to the military escalation in an interview with the Palestine newspaper published on Sunday.
One of the reasons why Israel has escalated attacks against the Gaza Strip now is Israel's increasing fear of changes happening in the region, and Israel feels it has lost the secure environment that helped it to survive for six decades, Hamdan said, emphasizing that the changes have come at a time when the resistance movement has become stronger.
He believed Israel resorted to limited military escalation because of its inability to wage a full-fledged war with the instability in the region and for fear of a more than forecasted negative reaction.
The senior Hamas official confirmed the party will respond to the ongoing Israeli escalation, saying: There will be no retraction in our position, especially since the general environment in the context of what is happening in the region and the Palestinian reality are all in our favor, as long as we are patient and benefit from them in managing the conflict with the enemy.
He said concerning the possibility of Hamas taking part in efforts to conclude a truce as Israel has released successive statements threatening to remove Hamas from power: Talks of ending Hamas will not make us stand in a position of self-defense. We've gone beyond that stage, and Hamas has become a current movement of the Palestinian people.
Experience has proven that it is impossible to end ideas by force. If that was the case, Hamas would have ended in the criminal war in late 2008 and early 2009, he said, warning that Israel's statements are part of a concurrent psychological warfare and should be taken with caution.
The world respects the strong. If you are weak you will end up in the realm of begging. And those who beg could be given or not given, he said. So Hamas must show its strength correctly in order to achieve its political objectives.
He confirmed that Hamas has asked European countries to pressure Israel to stop its attacks. Our discussions [with the Europeans] is concentrating on forming a new position that reads past experiences and takes into account the setbacks and crises to make sure that the Europeans play a positive role towards the Palestinian cause.
He said when asked about Palestinian reconciliation: We are serious about achieving a comprehensive reconciliation, and we will not let Israel's actions affect our will...We are interested in achieving reconciliation that includes the participation of all of the factions without exception.
Hamdan pointed out that Israel wants to put Hamas under pressure so that Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas is not called the only loser as current events take place. He said they want to do so by presenting Abbas as the one to save Gaza from an all-out aggression that Hamas is about to get the Palestinians involved in.
He further said concerning fresh Israeli statements that Mushir Tantawi, commander of the the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which rules Egypt, has supported Palestinian tunnels and reconciliation, that these statements were designed to influence him: Israel is trying to put pressure on Egypt to hamper its positive role in the Palestinian cause, because it knows that will change many equations. But Egypt is larger and stronger than all the pressures.
He added that Tantawi is a man that has a national history that would stop him from bowing to Israeli pressure, and that his response to such pressure would generate a popular reaction from both the Egyptian and Palestinian peoples.
http://fwd4.me/zNx
Hamas: We won't surrender or violate truce
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) Hamas politburo member Salah Al-Bardawil said Sunday that Israel apparently approved the truce with Palestinian factions, affirming that factions will be committed to truce as long as Israel is committed as well.
Al-Bardawil affirmed in a statement that the Palestinian resistance will not accept surrender, noting that the Palestinian government in Gaza sent letters to a number of Arab and international parties including the UN, the Arab League, the Egyptian government and some European countries demanding that they curb the Israeli assault on Gaza.
He noted that these parties contacted Israel demanding that it stop its attacks on Gaza, to which Israel had apparently responded by saying that it would stop shelling Gaza.
He said the Palestinian factions do not want to drag the Palestinians to war amidst the changes taking place in Arab countries without media outlets focusing on Gaza, so they accepted the truce.
He noted that the Palestinian factions agreed previously on a unilateral truce entitled committed as long as the enemy is but the [Israeli] occupation violated this truce by killing children and women, and the resistance responded in a limited way making the occupation hit back much more harshly in its aggression.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377484
Gaza: Militant injured while preparing explosives
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) A Palestinian militant was wounded Monday morning when an improvised explosive detonated in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The explosive was said by medics to have detonated as it was being prepared.
Medics in Gaza said a 21-year-old man arrived at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah with his hand blown off by a blast. He was then transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for surgery.
http://fwd4.me/zOH 19 jan 2012, 21:32 , Respect -
Maria 12 apr 2011
Zoabi: Palestinians entitled to defend themselves
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Arab member of the Israeli parliament Hanin Zoabi said that Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions are entitled to fire rockets for the sake of attaining their people's freedom.
She was quoted by Hebrew daily Maariv as saying on Monday that those living under siege and miserable living conditions do everything in their power for the sake of their freedom and the Israeli occupation authority should understand that.
The Israeli parliament had withdrawn Zoabi's diplomatic passport and other privileges after charging her with betraying Israel for participating in the Freedom Flotilla last year that was carrying humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.
http://fwd4.me/zVT 19 jan 2012, 21:32 , Respect -
Maria 13 apr 2011
Group claims launch of 2 missiles
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- An armed group in the Gaza Strip claimed Tuesday that it launched missiles toward Israeli targets.
The missiles targeted the "Nerim settlement" east of Khan Younis at 7:50 p.m., a statement from the "Tawhid and Jihad" group said.
The group said in the statement that its attack came as a response to Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli army official said the military had no knowledge of such an event, the Israeli news site Ynet reported late Tuesday. The group which claimed the attack is associated with Al-Qaeda, Ynet said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378201
Meshaal and Shalah to visit Cairo within days
Baraka
Hamas' representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka, confirmed that Cairo has extended an invitation to their movement's political bureau chief, Khaled Meshaal, and the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Abdallah Shalah, to visit Egypt as part of efforts to end Palestinian division and achieve reconciliation among the factions.
Baraka told Quds Press that the escalation of Israeli aggression "requires urgent reconciliation, as a matter of national priority." He said that Hamas has started taking necessary steps in preparation for the reconciliation since Prime Minister Ismail Haniyyeh invited President Mahmoud Abbas to visit Gaza.
He added that Egypt has expressed its agreement and support for Hamas' initiative during Hamas member, Mahmoud Zahhar's, recent visit to Egypt. According to Baraka, Fatah's leader, Mahmoud Abbas, along with the leaders of a number of other Palestinian factions also visited Egypt for the same purposes.
Baraka stressed that in the coming few days, Hamas' political bureau chief, Khaled Meshaal, and the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Abdallah Shalah, would visit Egypt to engage in discussions. He mentioned that Egypt is busy with its internal affairs, but that it also welcomes the Palestinian factions.
Regarding the recent assertions that there are differences in Hamas' positions in Gaza and the West Bank - especially after Abbas' meeting with Hamas members of parliament - Baraka stated that this is "an old symphony that Fatah is relying on. But Hamas' position is unified, and is supportive of the reconciliation that is considered to be binding for all the movement's members everywhere."
http://fwd4.me/zZN
MK Zoabi: I Hope Arabs launch Intifada
Arab MK says 'occupiers cannot expect to lead normal lives,' Israelis 'shouldn't be surprised' at attack on bus.
"I hope the Palestinians launch a massive popular resistance, one that is political and strategic, like the First Intifada," Knesset member Hanin Zoabi (Balad) said Wednesday.
In an interview with Mynet, the Balad MK stated that in her opinion, Judge Richard Goldstone was bullied into his latest actions, the rocket which hit an Israeli school bus in the south was actually Israel's fault and Israeli Arabs should take notes from Egyptian protestors.
Comparing the First Intifada with the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Zoabi said that "the second Intifada was much more violent. The first one was better. Tahrir Square should be the Arab youths' new model. I would like to see them mount a popular resistance against the occupation, because occupiers cannot expect to lead normal lives."
As for the incident which saw a rocket hit an Israeli school bus, leaving one teenager critically injured, Zoabi said that "Palestinians were killed before that incident and Palestinians were killed after it. You don't count the dead Palestinians, only the dead Israelis. It is immoral for only the occupier to be seen as the side entitled to lead a normal life."
But can targeting a school bus be perceived as part of the legitimate Palestinian resistance? "I support moral resistance. I don't condone murder, but what I'm saying is that the same people, who don't want to see babies come under fire, should also think about the babies in Gaza.
"If you don't want them to fire at you, then the Israeli public should take to the street and protest against the Gaza siege. Until that happens, you shouldn't be surprised by such thing things.
"(The Palestinians) will fight. True, it's not moral and it's foolish and ineffective, but that is how people react when you push them into a corner and ruin their lives. Besides, it's not about the school bus."
'Gaza siege no longer news worthy'
According to the Balad MK, the real point is that "no one is talking about the Gaza siege anymore. It's not newsworthy any more. It's become the norm. You Israelis only bolster the occupation, and grade those who want to fight it. Any attack on civilians is a crime. The Palestinians are also averse to the killing of children and babies, but the occupation and the siege are a hothouse for such crimes.
"After the family in Itamar was slaughtered, I issued a press release denouncing the act. Not one media outlet published it. In it, I also said that the occupation was the biggest crime."
Turning her attention to the recent controversy surrounding the Goldstone Report, whose author, Richard Goldstone, said he now questioned the findings that led his committee to determine that Israel may be guilty of perpetrating war crimes during Operation Cast Lead, Zoabi said that in her opinion, the South African judge cannot be taken seriously.
"Goldstone is not a serious man and his foolish statement was uninformed. He said he had information when in fact he had none. He said those things as an isolated, threatened person."
Zoabi added she believes Goldstone feels threatened by his own Jewish South African community. "They won't even let him into the synagogue. He is not a stupid man, but he failed to reveal any details of his new discoveries."
She further dismissed Goldstone's determination that Israel had taken significant steps to probe its modus during the campaign in the Strip, saying "We know what measures Israel took. It investigated 500 cases in Gaza, only three of which resulted in convictions. That has no bearing on the overall picture. What he said was insignificant and meaningless."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056304,00.html
False Color Red alert sounds in western Negev
A false Color Red alert sounded in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council area a short while ago.
Security sources clarified the siren sounded due to a system malfunction and that no rockets were fired at Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056421,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:32 , Respect -
Maria 14 apr 2011
Gaza fighter died in 'jihad mission'
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said one of the group's fighters was killed Thursday morning, when an explosive device detonated while the young man was on a "jihad mission," a statement said.
It is the second accidental death of a Gaza resistance fighter reported in as many days, following the death of an Al-Qassam brigadesman in Khan Younis on Wednesday.
A DFLP statement said National Resistance Brigades fighter Khader Abu Elbeh, 22, was seriously wounded during an operation west of the Jabaliya area in the northern Gaza Strip and later died of his injuries.
Medical sources in Gaza confirmed that a man was pronounced dead after being seriously wounded by a bomb which exploded, apparently prematurely.
In their statement, the NRB mourned the death of the fighter, saying he was killed while "on a jihad mission," and vowed to continue resistance activities as a "goal and a promise to our nation."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378585
- 15 apr 2011
2 rockets fired at Israel
Rockets explode near Ashdod after rocket alert sounded in Ashkelon as well. No injuries reported.
Residents of Ashdod and neighboring towns were startled early Friday evening by an alarm sounded after two rockets were launched from Gaza at the southern city.
A short while after the alarm was sounded, residents of the area reported hearing blasts.
Apparently two rockets exploded in open spaces near Ashdod, but a rocket alert was also sounded in Ashkelon. No injuries or damage have been reported so far.
Earlier this week IDF officials predicted that the region would enjoy a period of calm. Hamas repeatedly requested a lull agreement following airstrikes in Gaza, which were sparked by repetitive rocket fire at Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4057367,00.html -
Maria 18 apr 2011
Rocket alert sounded in Sderot
A Color Red rocket alert was sounded in the Sderot and Shaar Hanegev area Monday afternoon. Unconfirmed reports say the rocket exploded near a kibbutz at the Shaar Hanegev local council.
Security forces are scanning the area, there were no reports of injuries or damage.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4058348,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:33 , Respect -
Maria 19 apr 2011
Israel Plants Trees to Help Stop Missile Attacks on Civilians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfGRa35RDXo
New IDF project uses trees to obscure Gaza targets
Terrorists fire during Passover holiday
Gaza terrorists have fired 328 times this year
Jerusalem, The Israeli army has come up with a natural answer http://fwd4.me/zaO to protect civilians from terrorists in Gaza trying to target them with guided missiles: they are planting trees to block the line of sight required for attacks.
Operation “Forest Security” is intended to help prevent attacks like the April 7 guided anti-tank missile that hit a school bus in southern Israel as it was dropping off 50 children. The last passenger to disembark - a 16-year-old boy - died from his wounds following the attack. http://fwd4.me/002S
Lt. Col. Ilan Dayan, commander of the IDF’s Territorial Defense in the Gaza Division, said anti-tank missiles were “something we considered a threat, however, the attack on the school bus crossed every line.”
The trees will help because a terrorist launching an anti-tank missile requires a “line of sight to the target,” Dayan said. “If he doesn’t have one, he has a serious problem."
The project is expected to cost $2 million (7 million shekels) and began earlier this year. IDF officials, however, said it will take some time before the trees grow high enough to work as planned.
Since January 2011, terrorists in Gaza have launched 328 missiles, rockets and mortars at Israel. Terrorists began stepping up their attacks in April, firing at least 45 of the deadly projectiles in a single day. During 2010, terrorists launched a total of 238 rockets, missiles and mortars at Israel.
Less than a week after terrorist groups in Gaza declared an unofficial ceasefire, terrorists fired two Grad rockets at the Israeli city of Ashdod on April 15. http://fwd4.me/002T One hit near a residential neighborhood and the city’s alert system sent residents running for cover in bomb shelters. Alerts signaling rocket launches from Gaza into southern Israel allow about 15 seconds for people to seek safety in shelters. http://fwd4.me/002U
Terrorists have continued the rocket attacks during the Passover holiday, which began Monday night, when a Qassam rocket exploded in the Western Negev. No one was hurt.
http://fwd4.me/002R
22 apr 2011
IDF: Gaza mortar attack a failed Hamas launch
Elements in the Israel Defense Forces said Friday that the firing of a mortar shell at the Karni crossing in the northern Gaza Strip which left three UN workers wounded was a failed attempt by Hamas to target Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4059744,00.html