- 1 jan 2011
Bil'in protester dies after inhaling tear gas
19 jan 2012, 21:15 , Respect -
Maria 2 jan 2011
Israeli fighter jets strike Gaza Strip
Worker injured during pursuit by Israeli forces
19 jan 2012, 21:17 , Respect -
Maria 3 jan 2011
PFLP, NRB say projectiles fired toward Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma`an) -- Two resistance groups claimed to have launched projectiles at Israeli targets late Sunday night, in what statements said were in response to ongoing Israeli aggression against the people of Gaza.
The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said fighters clashed with Israeli forces operating inside Gaza next to the Kissufim military gate, northeast of Khan Younis.
Shortly after the clash, the statement continued, the fighters targeted with mortar fire an Israeli military post east of Khan Younis' Abu Aj-Jeen neighborhood.
Fighters from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine also released a statement, saying a group from the National Resistance Brigades in central Gaza launched a projectile toward an Israeli military post.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was not aware of any mortar shells launched from Gaza overnight.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347637 19 jan 2012, 21:17 , Respect -
Maria 4 jan 2011
Brigades say fighters pushed back Israeli force in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A militant group in the southern Gaza Strip said they fired mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles operating east of Khan Younis on Monday afternoon.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had received no reports of attacks on Israeli forces operating inside Gaza.
The An-Naser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, affiliated with the Popular Resistance Committees, said their artillery unit was able to launch two shells at a force which entered the Strip at 12:35 p.m.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said their fighters also launched a number of mortar shells at the same Israeli unit.
Late Sunday night, two resistance groups claimed to have launched projectiles at Israeli targets.
A wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said fighters clashed with Israel forces at the southern Kissufim military gate. The group also claimed to have fired mortar shells at an army post east of Khan Younis' Abu Aj-Jeen neighborhood.
Meanwhile National Resistance Brigades fighters, affiliated to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said they launched projectiles toward an Israeli military post.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was not aware of any shells launched from Gaza overnight.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347802
Women fighters willing to die for Gaza
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCD7ieY6cLE
Gaza (CNN) -- With faces covered and guns loaded, Palestinian militants are training among the sand dunes of Gaza.
Shouts of "Allahu Akbar" -- God is great -- are followed by intense target practice. These militants are preparing to fight their sworn enemy, the state of Israel. But there is a difference -- they are women.
Training alongside men, they say they are ready to go into battle and are calling on more Palestinian women to join what they call the resistance against Israel.
CNN was given rare access to some of these women inside Gaza. The militant group insisted the location was kept secret, so we were blindfolded in the back of a car and driven to a house.
Five women are sitting in the back garden, all from the Salah ad-Din Brigades -- one of several militant groups in Gaza -- all veiled and armed. Only their eyes are uncovered.
Sitting beside a table of guns, rocket-propelled grenades and land mines, the scene is carefully choreographed for our camera and the message is clear.
One woman tells me: "I am trained and ready to be a suicide bomber against Israeli soldiers."
She rejects any doubt whether Islam allows women to fight.
"On the path of the Prophet they used to fight and struggle, so there is no trouble with that. They used to transport the wounded, but now we have ambulances for that."
Another woman has gold rings adorning one hand and a hand grenade in the other.
All of them assume there will be another war with Israel soon -- a prospect considered possible on both sides of this conflict as cross-border violence has increased in recent weeks.
In Gaza, they are considered by many to be freedom fighters. In Israel and in many Western countries, they are reviled as terrorists.
A second woman says she is ready to lay her life down to fight Israel. She says her children wet the bed at night because they are afraid of air strikes.
Early in 2009, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes against targets associated with Hamas -- the group that controls Gaza -- in retaliation for rocket attacks into Israel. Palestinian medical sources said more than 1,000 people were killed in the Israeli offensive, many of them civilians.
Holding an AK-47, with a pistol resting in her lap, she says: "I want everything for my children, first for them to be able to live a happy life -- which is the right of every child in the world."
It is hard to reconcile the sight of children's rucksacks hanging on a tree next to these heavily armed women. The five women say there are tens of females fighters in Gaza and the number is rising. They claim they are as young as 20 and as old as 50.
Four years ago, a 64-year-old grandmother blew herself up near Israeli soldiers in Gaza, wounding two. She was the oldest Palestinian female suicide bomber.
And at least one of these women in a Gaza backyard wants to follow in her deadly footsteps.
http://bit.ly/edVeSd video
Rocket fired from Gaza into Israel
A rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip towards the state of Israel but caused no casualties.
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel on Tuesday, damaging some greenhouses but causing no injuries, an Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP.
"The rocket fell in the vicinity of the town of Ashkelon," the spokeswoman said.
Dozens of rockets fired from Gaza have landed in southern Israel in the past few months, causing injuries in some cases, and limited damage.
Israel has launched a series of retaliatory air raids across Gaza and warned that it reserves the right to respond more forcefully if the rocket attacks continue.
In December 2008, Israel launched the catastrophic "Operation Cast Lead" offensive in response to rocket fire.
The war, which ended in a ceasefire on 18 January 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis.
http://bit.ly/g4rOwv 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2011
Israeli military: Projectile from Gaza lands in Negev
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli military officials reported a projectile launch from Gaza on Wednesday afternoon, saying the home-made Qassam landed in an empty region in the north-western Negev region.
The launch has not yet been claimed by Palestinian factions operating in Gaza.
Israel's Channel 7 said the launch consisted of two mortar shells, which landed in open areas. The report said there were no injuries or damages.
The alleged launch came less than 12 hours after Israel's airforce struck two areas in the Gaza Strip, in what a statement said was a "response to this morning's firing of a Qassam Rocket," which allegedly hit outside Ashkelon on Tuesday.
According to the military, the sites targeted were a "Hamas terror activity center" in the central Gaza Strip and a smuggling tunnel in the south near Rafah.
While the military said "Direct hits were confirmed," there have been no reports of injuries.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=348481
2 Qassams explode in Negev, no injuries reported
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two Qassam rockets at Eshkol Regional Council. The rockets exploded in open spaces, and no injuries or damage were reported.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4009263,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 6 jan 2011
Hamas leader denies Nazi Holocaust
On 2nd anniversary of Israeli airstrike on UN school, Zahar says 'this lie has crumbled with the holocaust of Beit Hanun, the holocaust of Al-Fakhura and the other countless holocausts'.
A senior Hamas leader on Thursday accused Israel of carrying out "countless holocausts" against the Palestinians while saying the Nazi genocide was a "lie."
Mahmoud al-Zahar made the remarks during a memorial ceremony for 43 Palestinians who were killed at a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp during Israel's 22-day war on Gaza that began in December 2008.
"The lie according to which they were a victim of a holocaust and the (Jewish) people are a victim -- this lie has crumbled with the holocaust of Beit Hanun, the holocaust of Al-Fakhura and the other countless holocausts ... committed by the Zionist enemy," he said.
Zahar was speaking on the second anniversary of an Israeli air strike on the United Nations' Al-Fakhura school in the northern Gaza Strip.
The incident was one of the deadliest in Israel's Operation Cast Lead offensive, which left 1,400 Palestinians dead, along with 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
Before an audience that included members of the Hamas leadership in Gaza, Zahar paid tribute to those who died in the school where they had taken refuge from the heavy fighting.
"The blood that was shed in Al-Fakhura and in every inch of Palestine will not be in vain," he said.
Cast Lead, which Israel said it launched in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009.
Israel was established in 1948 in the wake of World War II when six million Jews were killed during the Nazi Holocaust.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4010208,00.html
Hamas history tied to Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htAe4O8sA1w By Richard Sale UPI Terrorism Correspondent
UPI - In the wake of a suicide bomb attack Tuesday on a crowded Jerusalem city bus that killed 19 people and wounded at least 70 more, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, took credit for the blast.
Israeli officials called it the deadliest attack in Jerusalem in six years.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon immediately vowed to fight "Palestinian terror" and summoned his cabinet to decide on a military response to the organization that Sharon had once described as "the deadliest terrorist group that we have ever had to face."
Active in Gaza and the West Bank, Hamas wants to liberate all of Palestine and establish a radical Islamic state in place of Israel. It is has gained notoriety with its assassinations, car bombs and other acts of terrorism.
But Sharon left something out.
Israel and Hamas may currently be locked in deadly combat, but, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years.
Israel "aided Hamas directly -- the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization)," said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies.
Israel's support for Hamas "was a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious alternative," said a former senior CIA official.
According to documents United Press International obtained from the Israel-based Institute for Counter Terrorism, Hamas evolved from cells of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928. Islamic movements in Israel and Palestine were "weak and dormant" until after the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel scored a stunning victory over its Arab enemies.
After 1967, a great part of the success of the Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood was due to their activities among the refugees of the Gaza Strip. The cornerstone of the Islamic movements success was an impressive social, religious, educational and cultural infrastructure, called Da'wah, that worked to ease the hardship of large numbers of Palestinian refugees, confined to camps, and many who were living on the edge.
"Social influence grew into political influence," first in the Gaza Strip, then on the West Bank, said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to ICT papers, Hamas was legally registered in Israel in 1978 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the movement's spiritual leader, as an Islamic Association by the name Al-Mujamma al Islami, which widened its base of supporters and sympathizers by religious propaganda and social work.
According to U.S. administration officials, funds for the movement came from the oil-producing states and directly and indirectly from Israel. The PLO was secular and leftist and promoted Palestinian nationalism. Hamas wanted to set up a transnational state under the rule of Islam, much like Khomeini's Iran.
What took Israeli leaders by surprise was the way the Islamic movements began to surge after the Iranian revolution, after armed resistance to Israel sprang up in southern Lebanon vis-á-vis the Hezbollah, backed by Iran, these sources said.
"Nothing provides the energy for imitation as much as success," commented one administration expert.
A further factor of Hamas' growth was the fact the PLO moved its base of operations to Beirut in the '80s, leaving the Islamic organization to grow in influence in the Occupied Territories "as the court of last resort," he said.
When the intifada began, Israeli leadership was surprised when Islamic groups began to surge in membership and strength. Hamas immediately grew in numbers and violence. The group had always embraced the doctrine of armed struggle, but the doctrine had not been practiced and Islamic groups had not been subjected to suppression the way groups like Fatah had been, according to U.S. government officials.
But with the triumph of the Khomeini revolution in Iran, with the birth of Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorism in Lebanon, Hamas began to gain in strength in Gaza and then in the West Bank, relying on terror to resist the Israeli occupation.
Israel was certainly funding the group at that time. One U.S. intelligence source who asked not to be named said that not only was Hamas being funded as a "counterweight" to the PLO, Israeli aid had another purpose: "To help identify and channel towards Israeli agents Hamas members who were dangerous terrorists."
In addition, by infiltrating Hamas, Israeli informers could only listen to debates on policy and identify Hamas members who "were dangerous hard-liners," the official said.
In the end, as Hamas set up a very comprehensive counterintelligence system, many collaborators with Israel were weeded out and shot. Violent acts of terrorism became the central tenet, and Hamas, unlike the PLO, was unwilling to compromise in any way with Israel, refusing to acquiesce in its very existence.
But even then, some in Israel saw some benefits to be had in trying to continue to give Hamas support: "The thinking on the part of some of the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the others, if they gained control, would refuse to have any part of the peace process and would torpedo any agreements put in place," said a U.S. government official who asked not to be named.
"Israel would still be the only democracy in the region for the United States to deal with," he said.
All of which disgusts some former U.S. intelligence officials.
"The thing wrong with so many Israeli operations is that they try to be too sexy," said former CIA official Vincent Cannestraro.
According to former State Department counter-terrorism official Larry Johnson, "the Israelis are their own worst enemies when it comes to fighting terrorism."
"The Israelis are like a guy who sets fire to his hair and then tries to put it out by hitting it with a hammer."
"They do more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb it," he said.
Aid to Hamas may have looked clever, "but it was hardly designed to help smooth the waters," he said. "An operation like that gives weight to President George Bush's remark about there being a crisis in education."
Cordesman said that a similar attempt by Egyptian intelligence to fund Egypt's fundamentalists had also come to grief because of "misreading of the complexities."
An Israeli defense official was asked if Israel had given aid to Hamas said, "I am not able to answer that question. I was in Lebanon commanding a unit at the time, besides it is not my field of interest."
Asked to confirm a report by U.S. officials that Brig. Gen. Yithaq Segev, the military governor of Gaza, had told U.S. officials he had helped fund "Islamic movements as a counterweight to the PLO and communists," the official said he could confirm only that he believed Segev had served back in 1986.
The Israeli Embassy press office referred UPI to its Web site when asked to comment.
Copyright © 2001-2004 United Press International
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10456.htm 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 7 jan 2011
DFLP-affiliated fighters say projectile fired toward Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement on Friday afternoon, that its fighters sent two mortars into Israeli territory.
The statement said the projectiles were fired from an area in the central Gaza Strip, east of Wadi As-Salqa.
The Israeli military said a projectile fired from the Gaza Strip in the morning "hit Eshkol Regional Council," east of central Gaza.
In their statement, the brigades said the attack came in response to Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, adding that "resistance is the right choice, it is the only way to secure the national rights of Palestinians."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349099
In wake of Hebron execution, rival parties to talk
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gaza's Hamas official Ahmad Yousef said Friday that the lessons learned from the death of a Hebron man in a mistaken identity execution earlier in the day could provide new ground for unity talks between rival factions.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and head of the governmental committee to break the siege, Yousef told Ma'an that efforts were underway to put together a meeting between Fatah and Hamas, following a fierce exchange of accusations over who bore responsibility for the Hebron death, and simultaneous detention of 5 Hamas affiliates who had been released from PA custody only the day before.
The brutal killing of a sleeping civilian in his home shows "Israel does not respect international laws or any agreement with the Palestinian Authority," whose security services are generally told to evacuate an area under PA control when Israeli forces plan a raid, Yousef said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349075
Israeli soldier killed near Gaza
Israeli army confirms one soldier killed, four others wounded in a case of "friendly fire" along tense buffer zone.
An Israeli soldier has been killed and four others injured when they fired on each other in the buffer zone between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaza City, said that a so-called "friendly fire" incident had occurred.
"The soldiers fired on each other, but initial clashes began when Palestinian fighters were caught by Israeli troops planting a mine along the buffer zone, and it was thought that the soldiers were hurt in that gunfight," she said.
A preliminary investigation by the Israeli army concluded that friendly fire was responsible for the soldier's death and for the wounding of the other soldiers.
Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, also reported that the army had launched mortars at the fighters, but for some unknown reason one of the mortars strayed and struck the soldiers.
Serious incident
This was the most serious incident for the army in the Gaza area since two soldiers were killed in March 2010.
In December 2008, Israel launched its devastating "Operation Cast Lead" offensive against Gaza in response to rocket and mortar fire.
The 22-day war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
Since then, the number of attacks has dropped significantly, although 230 rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel last year, according to army figures.
http://bit.ly/h0qRv8
4 soldiers wounded near Gaza border
archives Photo
Four IDF soldiers were injured Friday evening during an incident along the Gaza border, near Kibbiutz Nirim.
Initial reports say Palestinian terrorists approached the security fence separating Israel form the Hamas-ruled territory and opened fire on the Israeli troops using automatic weapons. News agencies reported that Palestinians also launched mortar shells in the soldiers' direction.
The wounded soldiers were evacuated to Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center.
It remains unclear whether any Palestinians were injured in the ensuing exchanges of fire.
On Thursday medical officials in Gaza reported that two Palestinian were shot to death by IDF soldiers after they approached the security fence. The army confirmed the shooting of "suspicious men who approached the fence" and said forces identified hits.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4010430,00.html
Initial reports say terrorists approaching border fence opened fire on IDF troops; mortar shells also launched by Palestinians. Wounded soldiers evacuated to Beersheba hospital; not clear if any Palestinians hurt
Projectile lands in Israel as Hamas calls for retaliation
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military officials reported the launch of a homemade projectile from Gaza into Israeli territory Friday afternoon, less than an hour after a protest in Gaza City saw Hamas leaders call for resistance factions to "take revenge" for the death of a Hebron man.
None were reported injured by the projectile fire.
Hamas leader Ismail Radwan called for an end to PA-Israel security coordination, which the party believes was behind the death of Omer Salim Al-Qawasmi, 66, who was shot in his bed several times in an incident Israeli officials said the military "regrets." He was the uncle of a Hamas man released from PA prison the day earlier.
During a raid of Hebron, five of six Hamas members released by PA security officials were detained.
"The natural and national response on the crime is to stop security coordination and to release the political prisoners and to unleash the resistance to respond to it," Radwan said, adding that he held both Israel and the PA responsible for the death, and the safety of those recently detained.
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets launched a series of airstrikes on areas in the Gaza Strip, targeting what a military statement said was a Hamas training area and a tunnel into Israel.
The strikes followed reports by Israel that two rounds of projectile fire had come from Gaza.
According to statements from resistance brigades operating inside the coastal enclave, three mortar shells were fired toward an Israeli military base along the Gaza border Thursday morning.
The night before, Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians they said were trying to breach the Gaza Strip border, hitting at least one of them, the military said.
By morning, medics said ambulance crews recovered two bodies killed in the fire, Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya confirmed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349034 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 8 jan 2011
Israel: 2 injured by projectiles launched from Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Two foreign workers were injured on Saturday by two projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.
The mortar shells landed in Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council at around 2:20 p.m., the spokeswoman said.
The workers, from Thailand, were moderately to seriously injured, she said, adding that a further four were suffering from shock.
The Al-Quds Brigades, a military wing affiliated to the Islamic Jihad, said it fired several mortar shells towards the Nahal Oz military post east of Gaza City at 2 p.m.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349306
Another mortar shell hits south; no injuries or damage
Palestinians fired a mortar bomb at Israel which hit the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.
Earlier on Saturday, three agricultural workers were wounded by a mortar shell which exploded in the western Negev.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4010577,00.html 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 9 jan 2011
Qassam hits Eshkol Regional Council; no injuries
A Qassam rocket landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council on Sunday Morning. No injuries or damage were reported.
Yesterday three Qassam rockets exploded in the western Negev. A truck driver was injured in one of the blasts.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4010725,00.html
3rd Qassam hits western Negev; no injuries
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip fired a Qassam rocket Saturday which exploded in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Earlier on Saturday, two rockets exploded in the western Negev. A truck driver was lightly hurt by shrapnel.
http://bit.ly/evvsDw
Man hurt in Qassam strike
Truck driver hurt by glass shreds after driving near rocket landing site.
At least three Qassam rockets were fired at southern Israel Saturday evening, wounding a truck driver lightly.
Earlier in the day, three foreign workers from Thailand sustained wounds in a mortar attack.
The wounded truck driver, Yitzhak Zaafrani, was hurt by glass shreds after driving near the rocket landing site. He told Ynet that he suddenly heard a loud explosion while driving, as the windshield shattered.
"I drove to the entrance of one of the kibbutzim and called the police," he said. "I was hit by a little shrapnel, but all is well the IDF will respond, because if it doesn't respond things will get worse."
However, Zaafrani said that he doesn't think a military operation would resolve the security problem. "We need something else," he said.
Following the rocket attack, the head of the Eshkol regional council, Chaim Yalin, said that the area was facing a war of attrition.
"I've been saying it for a while, but they don't want to call a spade a spade," he said, referring to government officials. "This war has been taking place for 10 years now."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4010687,00.html
Israeli right demands 'heavy price' for Gaza rockets
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Right wingers in the Israeli government called on Sunday for tough military action against Gaza militants after a violent weekend on Israel's border with the Palestinian coastal enclave.
"The government must consider afresh a policy of zero tolerance, exert a heavy price, not let this situation deteriorate," National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau told journalists at the weekly cabinet meeting.
"It needs to stop," added Landau, a veteran hawk from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
"It is absolutely clear that the situation in the south is intolerable," said Information Minister Yuli Edelstein, also of Likud.
The Israeli military said two rockets slammed into southern Israel on Sunday, one shortly after midnight and a second later in the morning, bringing the number of rockets and mortar shells fired across the border to 20 since January 1.
On Saturday, three Thai workers on an Israeli kibbutz were injured, two of them seriously, by mortar fire from the Gaza Strip, for which the militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
That followed a border firefight between militants and Israeli troops on Friday, in which an Israeli soldier was killed by friendly fire.
Israel has so far responded to nearly every instance of projectile fire with air strikes on the Gaza Strip but ministers said more was needed.
"It's quite clear that the Palestinian side, Hamas, is trying to increase the tension there," Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, of the religious-nationalist Beit Hayehudi party told reporters in English.
"The IDF has to respond in a very decisive, very determined way, in order to give a very clear message to the Palestinians," he said.
Some analysts say that the Gaza militants are seeking to draw Israel into a ground fight which will enhance their standing with the local population and harm Israel's standing internationally, as did a bloody Gaza offensive two years ago.
"I think that Israel won't walk into a trap," Hershkowitz said. "Hamas will very soon learn that if they continue this way they are only going to lose."
In December 2008, Israel launched its devastating "Operation Cast Lead" into the Gaza Strip in response to rocket and mortar fire.
The 22-day war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
In its wake the number of Palestinian attacks dropped significantly, although 230 rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel last year, according to army figures.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349560
Zahhar: We are close to historic victory
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) The Palestinians will achieve a historic triumph in any future confrontation with Israel, but the toll will be heavy on the Palestinian side, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said Saturday.
"We are only a few steps away from achieving a historic triumph which might cost us a large number of our children. However, in the coming confrontation with the Zionist entity, we will realize our ancestors' dream and return history to the right track," Zahhar said
The Hamas official made the comments at a ceremony held to commemorate the second anniversary of a massacre at the UN-controlled Al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
The school which was bombarded by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead, a three-week offensive that began in December 2008.
Zahhar's comments coincide with escalating tension at the Gaza Strip's borders which culminated in the death of an Israeli soldier and injury of four others Friday amidst Israeli threats to respond fiercely against resistance fighters in Gaza.
An Israeli military spokesman said the incident was a case of "friendly fire," explaining that Israeli soldiers at the Gaza border fired a mortar shell which deviated from its course and hit the patrol.
The Hamas leader was optimistic that justice would be achieved for Palestinians.
"In a few years only, you will see the world abandoning those who committed crimes against humanity. The whole world around us realizes that it is a compound crime as they want to divide Sudan, Iraq, and Egypt and plan to divide the whole world, Zahhar said.
Gaza's Interior Minister Fathi Hammad attended the commemoration along with several Hamas leaders and lawmakers.
Abdullah Baroud, a child who was injured in the attack on Al-Fakhoura school, delivered a speech describing how he and his friends had suffered. He questioned why Israeli leaders who "committed crimes against innocent Palestinian children were not punished for what they did."
A pupil of the school Bushra Dawood recited a poem describing how painful it was for the students whose friends and classmates were killed in the massacre.
Muhammad Abu Askra, who lost two sons and two brothers in the attack, spoke on behalf of the victims families.
He maintained that Israeli leaders who were responsible for the school massacre should be tried before international courts.
"How long will the world remain silent before Israeli crimes against the people of the Gaza Strip? Why does the second anniversary go before those criminals are put to justice?" he asked.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349440
Jibril: Armed wings maintain joint operations room
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Ahmed Jibril, the secretary general of the popular front for the liberation of Palestine general command, has affirmed that all armed wings in the Gaza Strip were operating under joint military operations rooms.
Jibril in a televised interview in Damascus on Saturday night said that the armed wings were constantly training and maintaining coordination in various sectors in addition to upgrading their crude weapons.
He said that resistance movement had built underground fortifications in preparation for any Israeli aerial shelling or artillery bombardment.
Israel could not conquer Gaza despite using all means of destruction including internationally banned weapons such as cluster and phosphors bombs and depleted uranium, Jibril said, adding that it would be more difficult for Israel now to defeat Gaza.
http://bit.ly/i1Ryvw 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 10 jan 2011
3 Gaza rockets hit Ashkelon
Attack comes shortly after Palestinians report 65-year-old farmer shot to death by IDF soldiers near security fence 'for no apparent reason.' One rocket lands in city's industrial zone; no injuries reported.
Three rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists in north Gaza landed in the southern part of Ashkelon Monday evening. There were no reports of injury.
One of the rockets landed in the southern city's industrial zone.
The "Color Red" alert system, which warns residents of incoming projectiles, was activated.
The attack came a short while after the Palestinians reported that a 65-year-old farmer was shot to death by IDF soldiers near the security fence separating Israel from Gaza. The army has not confirmed the report.
Palestinian news agency Wafa said the farmer, Sha'aban Qarmut, was shot by soldiers manning an observation point near Beit Hanoun, which is located on the northeast edge of Gaza.
According to the report, the farmer was critically wounded and later died at a hospital in Beit Lahiya. Other media outlets in the Hamas-ruled territory said the soldiers opened fire for no apparent reason at farmers who were cultivated their fields.
There were also reports of "massive presence" of Israeli aircraft above Gaza.
Overnight Monday the Israeli Air Force bombed two targets in the Strip in response to rocket and mortar fire emanating from the Strip over the past week. There were no reports of injury on the Palestinian side.
The army said it holds Hamas "solely responsible for the goings on in Gaza."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4011773,00.html
Qassam hits Eshkol Regional Council; no injuries
A Qassam rocket landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council on Monday. No injuries or damage were reported.
Earlier three Qassam rockets exploded in the Ashkelon region. No injuries were reported.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4011872,00.html
Hamas consults resistance over 'imminent' Israeli threat
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas officials are consulting Palestinian factions in Gaza to set joint rules and restrictions on how to respond to Israeli aggression and how to manage field activities, party spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Monday.
The meeting follows a series of projectile launches, claimed by factions supporting the National Resistance Brigades, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad. Israel says dozens of projectiles have been launched from Gaza since the start of 2011.
In mid-December, Hamas officials called an all-factions meeting which the Israeli press said resulted in a pledge from factions to stem the flow of projectiles. Islamic Jihad told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that while its fighters would stop launching mortars and Qassams, they would retain the right to defend Gaza by other means.
In what appears to be an additional effort to coordinate the resistance factions, who each patrol parts of the Gaza/Israel border, Abu Zuhri said meetings have taken place over the past two days, adding that they were a response to "the recent Israeli escalation on the border."
The past weeks have seen increased fire from both militant groups and Israeli military, though a number of border incidents involved fire between militants and soldiers, without projectile fire into Israeli civilian areas.
The resistance continues to launch projectiles, with reports Saturday saying three people on an Israeli kibbutz were wounded, two of them seriously, by mortar fire from the Gaza Strip for which the militant group of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
The day earlier, Israeli forces fired on a group of militants they said were planting explosives in the Israeli-declared "no-go" zone. An unknown malfunction saw the Israeli fire kill one soldier and injure three others.
Israel unilaterally declared a ceasefire on Gaza in January 2009, following the military offensive known as "Operation Cast Lead," in which more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers were killed.
Following Israel's ceasefire, Hamas and most of the factions operating in Gaza agreed to a truce, and to halt the launch of projectiles toward Israeli targets.
Not all factions have adhered to the truce, while Israel maintains that it holds the "Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for maintaining the calm in the Gaza Strip and for any terrorist activity emanating from it," and has vowed to "continue to respond harshly to any attempt to use terror against the State of Israel."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349826 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 11 jan 2011
Israel: Projectile hits Ashkelon
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Militants in Gaza on Tuesday launched a projectile into southern Israel, the Israeli military said.
The projectile landed in Ashkelon Shore Regional Council but caused no damage or injuries, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.
On Sunday night, Israeli warplanes dropped missiles on sites in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.
The army said the strikes were in response to "intense rocket fire in the past 72 hours."
Right-wing Israeli ministers have called on the government to respond to projectile fire with tough military action.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces carried out a targeted assassination near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The military said 25-year-old Muhammad An-Najjar was planning a "massive terror attack" inside Israel.
The Gaza government on Tuesday urged factions operating in the Strip to comply with "what has been agreed on," in an apparent attempt to enforce the unofficial ceasefire.
Spokesman for the Hamas-led government Taher An-Nunu said talks were ongoing on a local and international level to avoid another Israeli war on the besieged coastal enclave.
Israel's last full-scale offensive, Operation Cast Lead, claimed the lives of around 1,400 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians.
Israel said the war was in response to rocket and mortar fire from the Strip into southern Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350248
Hamas hints it will enforce ceasefire
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Gaza government on Tuesday called on factions operating in the Strip to comply with "what has been agreed on" regarding field activities, in an implied reference to the unofficial ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Gaza government spokesman Tahir An-Nunu said a "national consensus" had been reached to protect residents of the besieged coastal enclave and their properties.
An-Nunu said the Hamas-led government would ensure all factions complied with the consensus.
He said the government had been involved in contacts locally and at an international level to avoid a new Israeli offensive.
The statement followed an announcement Monday by Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri that the party would consult factions to set restrictions on how to respond to Israeli aggressions.
Tensions have risen along the Gaza-Israel border for several weeks.
Factions supporting the National Resistance Brigades, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad have claimed responsibility for launching more than 20 projectiles into southern Israel in January.
So far in 2011, Israeli war planes have shelled sites across the coastal enclave on three nights, and several skirmishes have been reported between militants and Israeli soldiers along the border.
On Sunday, several right-wing Israeli ministers called for a tough military response to projectile fire from the Strip.
Israel unilaterally declared a ceasefire on Gaza in January 2009, following the military offensive known as "Operation Cast Lead," in which more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers were killed.
Following Israel's ceasefire, Hamas and most of the factions operating in Gaza agreed to a truce, and to halt the launch of projectiles toward Israeli targets.
Not all factions have adhered to the truce, while Israel maintains that it holds the "Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for maintaining the calm in the Gaza Strip and for any terrorist activity emanating from it," and has vowed to "continue to respond harshly to any attempt to use terror against the State of Israel."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350183 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 12 jan 2011
Gaza groups: We'll halt rocket attacks
Palestinian groups respond to Egyptian warning about potential Israeli military campaign.
Leaders of several Palestinian groups told Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday they would cease rocket fire at Israel in an effort to prevent any new Israeli offensive from being launched, officials said.
Two officials at a meeting convened by Hamas leaders told Reuters the factions had responded to warnings from Egypt that Israel, angry at increasing rocket attacks, may mount a campaign similar to one fought in 2009, Operation Cast Lead.
"Factions agreed to recommit to the national understanding to stop rocket firing," as long as Israel stops its air strikes and other attacks, one official said.
Earlier, Egypt has told Hamas that Israel might launch a Gaza war to curb rocket attacks, a warning that led the group to urge other militant factions to cease fire, sources familiar with Egypt-Hamas contacts said on Wednesday.
"Egypt has told Hamas the Gaza situation was similar to that before December 2008," said one source, referring to the start of the three-week war Israel waged in the Hamas-run enclave with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket strikes.
"Hamas does not want a new escalation unless it is forced into it," the source said.
A Palestinian official said Egypt and another Arab country, which he declined to identify, had discussed the issue with Hamas. Hamas officials declined to comment.
On Sunday, Hamas said it had made contact with other factions to urge them to recommit to an agreement they reached two years ago to stop rocket and mortar bomb fire.
In recent weeks, Palestinian militants have stepped up attacks along the Gaza border, drawing Israeli strikes that killed 13 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, in December.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said at least 20 rockets and mortar bombs have landed in Israel since the start of 2011.
Saleh Zidan, a senior leader of the Palestinian Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), told Reuters top Egyptian security officials he met in Cairo on Tuesday made their concerns known about a new Israeli offensive.
"The Egyptian leadership is in favour of not giving a pretext to the Israeli government to launch a new war on the Gaza Strip," Zidan said.
The DFLP is a major faction in the PLO and is at odds with Hamas over the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza. The DFLP has claimed several attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip over the past two years.
Israel has said Hamas has largely held its fire over the past two years but the surge in rocket attacks meant it was not doing enough to curb other groups, which say their strikes are in retaliation for Israeli raids in Gaza and the West Bank.
'Terrible mistake'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing foreign journalists in Jerusalem on Tuesday, said militants in the Gaza Strip would be making "a terrible, terrible mistake" if they continued to "test our will to defend our people".
An Israeli air strike earlier that day killed an Islamic Jihad militant. The Israeli military said he had been planning to carry out an attack against Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4012837,00.html
Egypt to Hamas: Stop Gaza rockets or face new Israel war
PA official says Egypt and another Arab country, which he declined to identify, had discussed the issue with Hamas.
Egypt has told Hamas that Israel might launch a Gaza war to curb rocket attacks, a warning that led the group to urge other militant factions to cease fire, sources familiar with Egypt-Hamas contacts said on Wednesday.
"Egypt has told Hamas the Gaza situation was similar to that before December 2008," said one source, referring to the start of the three-week war Israel waged in the Hamas-run enclave with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket strikes.
"Hamas does not want a new escalation unless it is forced into it," the source said.
A Palestinian official said Egypt and another Arab country, which he declined to identify, had discussed the issue with Hamas. Hamas officials declined to comment.
On Sunday, Hamas said it had made contact with other factions to urge them to recommit to an agreement they reached two years ago to stop rocket and mortar bomb fire.
In recent weeks, Palestinian militants have stepped up attacks along the Gaza border, drawing Israeli strikes that killed 13 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, in December.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said at least 20 rockets and mortar bombs have landed in Israel since the start of 2011.
Saleh Zidan, a senior leader of the Palestinian Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), told Reuters top Egyptian security officials he met in Cairo on Tuesday made their concerns known about a new Israeli offensive.
"The Egyptian leadership is in favour of not giving a pretext to the Israeli government to launch a new war on the Gaza Strip," Zidan said.
The DFLP is a major faction in the Palestine Liberation Organisation and is at odds with Hamas over the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza. The DFLP has claimed several attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip over the past two years.
Israel has said Hamas has largely held its fire over the past two years but the surge in rocket attacks meant it was not doing enough to curb other groups, which say their strikes are in retaliation for Israeli raids in Gaza and the West Bank.
"Terrible mistake"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing foreign journalists in Jerusalem on Tuesday, said militants in the Gaza Strip would be making "a terrible, terrible mistake" if they continued to "test our will to defend our people".
An Israeli air strike earlier that day killed an Islamic Jihad militant. The Israeli military said he had been planning to carry out an attack against Israel.
http://bit.ly/hCU95p 19 jan 2012, 21:18 , Respect -
Maria 13 jan 2011
Islamic Jihad: Gaza is under ongoing Israeli attack
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Islamic Jihad Movement stated that the Gaza Strip is under constant Israeli attack that could escalate into a war, stressing that the Palestinian resistance has the right to defend its people against any aggression.
Senior Islamic Jihad official Khaled Al-Batesh told Al-Alam satellite channel on Wednesday that the resistance in Gaza has the right to confront the Israeli occupation and retaliate to its crimes.
Israel has intensified its aerial attacks on the Strip lately that led to many casualties among citizens.
In a related context, the Palestinian resistance factions and forces of national action in Gaza confirmed following their meeting on Wednesday their keenness on protecting the Palestinian people against Israel's criminal schemes and aggressive tendencies.
Senior Hamas official Ayman Taha said in a speech on behalf of the factions and forces that the factions confirm that the Palestinian people have fallen victim to the Israeli occupation for more than a century, so they have the right to resist it in the context of a national consensus.
"The factions renew their keenness on the safety of their people and their protection from any aggression and call on the international community, the international and human rights institutions, the organization of the Islamic conference and the Arab League to assume their responsibilities for pressuring the occupation and preventing it from committing massacres against the Palestinian people," Taha highlighted.
http://bit.ly/gpEWgT
Hamas deploys forces near Israel-Gaza border to enforce truce
Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh issues order following surge in violence between Palestinian militants and the IDF in recent weeks.
The Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas movement has ordered its security commanders to enforce a cease-fire with Israel and has beefed up its forces near the border to help maintain the calm.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh issued the order Thursday following a surge in violence between Palestinian militants and the Israeli military in recent weeks.
Hamas has largely respected an informal cease-fire since a three-week Israeli military offensive in the winter 2008-09. But smaller militant groups have carried out sporadic attacks.
Fearing Israeli reprisals, Hamas has been urging these groups in recent days to restore the calm. Officials say the deployment is to prevent further rocket fire at Israel.
Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said militants in Gaza would be making "a terrible, terrible mistake" if they continued to "test our will to defend our people".
An Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed an Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza.
http://bit.ly/fUodKi
PA security: Two-faced Hamas calling for Gaza calm
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Spokesperson for the Palestinian security services in the Major General Adnan Dmeiri criticized Hamas on Wednesday, saying its leaders were adopting a two-faced and inconsistent policy, by calling for calm in Gaza and "escalating conditions" in the West Bank.
"Israel gets a free-of-charge calm," Dmeiri said, referring to a series of urgent talks the party held with militant groups on Wednesday to pass on a warning from Arab leaders about firing rockets at Israel.
The meeting at a Gaza City hotel came just days after Hamas said it would ensure militant factions obeyed a national consensus truce on rocket fire, following weeks of rising tensions along the border with Israel.
Among those invited were members of Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other groups.
"Hamas asked us to this meeting at the Al-Quds Hotel in Gaza; they said it was urgent," one militant leader told said on condition of anonymity, saying the gathering had been called by Hamas officials Mahmoud Zahar, Khalil Al-Haya and Ayman Taha.
In its insistence that factions refrain from firing projectiles at Israel, Dmeiri said, Hamas is giving them something without getting anything in return.
"Hamas considers calm an accomplishment in Gaza, but a crime in the West Bank," the official said in a statement, accusing the party of stepping up work against the Palestinian Authority with one hand, just as it deescalates in Gaza.
He said the move was one trying to evade national conciliation.
As Hamas officials in the West Bank remain angry over the detention of five members, released one week ago by PA officials holding them on "security grounds" and detained by Israeli forces only hours later, in Gaza, efforts are being made to ensure resistance activities cannot be used by Israel as an excuse to launch a large-scale offensive on the region.
"Hamas received a message from Egypt and other parties, some of them Arab, telling them that the situation along the Gaza border is very dangerous, and that Israel might start another war if the firing of rockets continues, especially Grads," he said, referring to a Soviet-designed rocket with a range of up to 40 kilometers.
Faaleh Ziddan, a DFLP leader involved in the talks, told AFP he was also warned of the danger of a new war during a meeting on Tuesday with two aides to Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
"They told me they are very worried about the escalation in Gaza and that Israel might use the Palestinian rockets as a reason for a new war," he said.
What was needed was a "national understanding" so as to not give Israel any reason to launch a war, he said.
"The situation is very dangerous now -- there is no trust with Israel. This meeting will discuss how to deny Israel a reason to launch the war, and how to create calm in the field."
After Wednesday's meeting, a Hamas representative read a statement on behalf of all groups that attended, reaffirming "the right to resist the Israeli occupation, including by national consensus."
This was a reference to maintaining the truce announced by Hamas in January 2009 after Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" against Gaza. The truce has been largely respected by Hamas but not by other militant groups.
Khalil Al-Haya, a Hamas political leader, spoke of "a period of calm," and demanded that this also be observed by Israel.
The statement also expressed alarm at "plans by the Israeli occupation to carry out a huge massacre," and called on "the international community and the Arab League to prevent this."
Witnesses said later on Wednesday that Hamas forces had deployed east of Gaza City near the border with Israel.
Khaled Al-Batsh, a leader of the radical Islamic Jihad group, said his organization would "respect the national consensus considering greater Palestinian interests", implying it would not initiate attacks on Israel.
But he also underlined "the right of self-defense against aggression."
The warning and subsequent meetings followed statements by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who said Tuesday, "I recommend they don't test us ... if the shooting at Israel continues, the other side will suffer more hits. We're planning to keep fighting for the [Gaza] fence."
Israel controls a 300-1,000 meter no-go zone around the Gaza/Israel border, which it says is used by militants to launch attacks at Israel.
The swath of land, UN officials say, takes up 20 percent of Gaza's farm land, and renders it inaccessible. Gaza resistance factions see Israeli operations in that area as an act of aggression, and demands that Israel completely withdraw from the area.
Barak mentioned that "one can see the escalation in activity at the Gaza strip". However he did say there are also success stories: "Today was probably successful, but I don't wish to elaborate on that. There will be more success stories in the future."
In recent weeks, Gaza militants have fired scores of rockets into the Jewish state, prompting a flurry of retaliatory air strikes and raising fears of another massive operation along the lines of the 2008-9 war.
The 22-day war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
AFP contributed to this report
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350710
Erdogan: Turkey will stand by Hamas
ISTANBUL, (PIC)-- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country stands by Hamas, calling the resistance movement an election-taking political party, and ruling out achieving peace in the region without them.
"We stand by Hamas when they are right, because the Hamas movement is a resistance movement. I do not see Hamas as 'terrorist'. They are people who defend the land, and it is a political group that entered the elections and won the elections," Erdogan told Al-Jazeera Wednesday night.
The Turkish premier accused those who call Hamas "enemies of democracy" of not giving the party a political opportunity. "They have been able to place all obstacles in front of them (Hamas) so they do not succeed in any way."
Erdogan urged Quartet head Tony Blair to include Hamas in the peace process, saying: "Peace will not come out of a Hamas-excluded table."
"Currently, Fatah and Hamas are two important elements in Palestine. If you see them as an element and do not see the other element, Palestinian peace will not materialize."
The Turkish PM called on the Israeli government to compensate for the May 2010 attack on the Mavi Marmara ship that killed nine Turkish citizens.
"We want Israel, after returning the Marmara ship to us, to apologize, to pay compensations, and thirdly, to lift the siege. Gaza is an open prison. It is not your right to sentence all those people to jail. If these demands are not met, our relations will not return to what they were."
Erdogan spoke harshly against Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, saying: "Lieberman has done every despicable act." He said the current government under Netanyahu is at its worst with Turkey.
http://bit.ly/gXJK9k