Israel, the mid-east, and Russia

[Shammu]

Pray or Die, Somali Sheikh Tells Muslims
Guled Mohamed & Mohamed Ali Bile, Reuters
 

MOGADISHU, 8 July 2006 — A leading Mogadishu sheikh said yesterday Muslims who do not pray five times a day should be put to death — the latest sign of a fast-emerging hard-line face to Somalia’s newly-powerful Islamists.

The sheikh’s statement — which he confirmed after it was broadcast on local media — caused consternation among residents and will fuel foreign fears the Islamists are planning a hard-line Taleban-style rule.

“He who does not perform prayer will be considered as infidel and our Shariah law orders that person to be killed,” said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, who runs a Shariah court in the Somali capital which the Islamists took last month.

After kicking out the US-backed warlords from Mogadishu on June 5, the Islamists took a large swathe of southern Somalia from the coastal capital to near the border with Ethiopia.

The Islamists initially sought to project a moderate face.

But in recent weeks, a hard-line cleric on international terrorism lists has risen to their most senior position, strict Shariah law such as whipping has been increasingly applied to criminals, and zealous militia have broken up World Cup viewing.

An elder in the Gubta area of Mogadishu, which is the base of the sheikh who pronounced on the prayers, said he did not approve of the strict Shariah punishments, “We are very sorry at these kinds of activities,” said Aw Ahmed Jilacow.

The Islamists’ hard-line leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, said a video purportedly showing foreigners fighting alongside local militants was fabricated to discredit his movement, published reports yesterday said.

The potentially explosive tape circulating in Mogadishu this week appears to show foreign radicals alongside local Islamist militiamen during the recent battles against warlords.

If true, that would puncture the Islamists’ claim to be an entirely home-grown movement, and fuel fears in Washington and elsewhere that their rise could make the Horn of Africa nation a magnet for Muslim extremists.

“This tape is fabricated and fraudulent and aims to harm the reputation of the Islamic Courts,” Aweys, who is on a UN and US terrorism list, told London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily.

Separately, Islamist militiamen faced off with a group vowing to fight Mogadishu’s new rulers on Friday as residents feared another flare-up after a month of relative peace.

Manning checkpoints and driving pick-ups mounted with heavy guns, rival militias stood just 150 meters (yards) apart in the Kilometer Four area of Mogadishu.

Seeking to cling to an enclave in Kilometer Four, the warlord-linked Sa’ad sub-clan has boosted its defenses and refused to hand over weapons, as well as briefly seizing a vehicle from the pro-Islamist Ayr sub-clan.

“There are fears of fighting in Kilometer Four between Islamic Courts Union and the Sa’ad resident Abdikarim Ahmed said. “The Sa’ad took over a vehicle owned by the Ayr and held it for several hours. They took several guns from the vehicle and later released it.”

Warlord fighters linked to the Sa’ad last month vowed to regain territory they lost to the Isain the fight for Mogadishu, which killed 350 people in close range artillery duels.

Pray or Die, Somali Sheikh Tells Muslims

[Shammu]

Islam a Religion of Peace: Rajapakse
Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News
 

COLOMBO, 8 July 2006 — Islam has taught peace, justice and peaceful coexistence with members of the other faiths, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse told local and foreign delegates while inaugurating the international symposium on “Justice, World Peace and Peaceful Coexistence in a Pluralistic Society “ yesterday at the Colombo Hilton Hotel here.

Due to security concerns, the president was addressing a fully packed audience of local and international delegates through a satellite screen.

The three-day meeting is sponsored by Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL) in cooperation with the Islamic Center here. The Leader of the House and Minister of Health Care, Nutrition and Uva Wellassa Development Nimal Siripala De Silva, was the chief guest, while several present and former ministers and religious dignitaries were present at the inauguration. Clergymen from Buddhist, Hindu and Christian communities were also present at the meeting.

“Islam is a religion that taught human values to the people,” President Rajapakse said, adding that Muslims had come to Sri Lanka as traders and not invaders during the early centuries.

“Muslims in the island form a compromising community which likes a peaceful lifestyle respecting their religion as well as the others. History had shown that Muslim leaders have contributed a great deal to the nation’s development in several important areas such as the island’s economy, education, development of infrastructure and trade.”

“Saudi Arabia is concerned about the unity of the world Muslim community and its peaceful coexistence with other world communities,” MWL Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Turki said.

“This symposium will also highlight the problems of Muslims in non-Muslim countries and it will discuss peaceful solutions,” he added. Turki said Islam is a beautiful religion and a panacea for all human ills.

He pointed out that the Kingdom, under the able leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, will endeavor to help world Muslim community when its services are needed.

Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed, president of the Islamic Center and former speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament who was chairing the inaugural session, said: “The seminar is being held at a time when everything Islamic is viewed with suspicion. It is important to remind the world of the true nature of Islam which is meant for peace, justice and peaceful coexistence.”

He stressed that there is a strong need for these universal values to be highlighted in the current context. “In Sri Lanka, we have lost the character of coexistence. This has resulted in mistrust and misunderstanding which have led to a breakdown of justice and peace. Even the peace process has come to a standstill due to this lapse,” he added.

In his speech, Siripala De Silva described Muslims as members of a tolerant society. Speaking about peace in Sri Lanka, he said it is an expensive commodity which cannot be achieved easily in the island.

He commended the MWL for the initiative which propagates peace not only in Sri Lanka but in all the countries that are represented at the conference.

De Silva, who leads the peace talks with the Tamil rebels, pointed out that the Sri Lankan Muslim community should be an integral part of the peace talks.

“Muslim have always got their rightful place because they are a peace-loving community in the island,” he said.

While congratulating Saudi Arabia’s endeavors to promote peace throughout the world, the minister pledged his government’s support in its efforts.

Islam a Religion of Peace: Rajapakse
===================================================

Right, I guess these islamic idoits don't read the newspaper.  Or they don't see the trouble that their brothers, (I use that term loosely) cause.

[Soldier4Christ]

Right, I guess these islamic idoits don't read the newspaper.  Or they don't see the trouble that their brothers, (I use that term loosely) cause.

The blind leading the blind right over the edge of the precipice.

[Shammu]

Syrian top diplomat upon arrival in Tehran, in a brief talk with the reporters, condemned the Israeli inhumane atrocities against the Palestinian nation.

Saudi FM arrives in Tehran to attend Iraq meeting

Turkish FM arrives in Tehran

Turkey's foreign minister will attend the 9th meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states plus Egypt and Bahrain. It is scheduled to open today.

Participants in the two-day meeting will discuss ongoing developments in Iraq and problems facing Islamic states.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt will be the main participants in the Tehran meeting.

This events concerns me.

When Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt, publicly join hands, it's time to look out.

Those countries would be, Elam, Assyria, Cilicia, Edom, Moab, and Ammon

Of course they already are working closely together in terrorism already...but the public show signals a united front to the world. It may mean they are ready to physically join forces against Israel.

[Soldier4Christ]

I was going to post this under politics because it deals with Sharia Law, religion and freedoms (or rather lack of it) but I thought it a nice post to amplify the one above, "Islam a Religion of Peace: Rajapakse", to show just how peaceful and tolerant that islam really is.

______________________


Somali Islamist militiamen
raid wedding, beat woman
20 gunmen enforcing Sharia law confiscate
instruments from band playing 'satanic' music
Posted: July 8, 2006
6:50 p.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Days after a leading Somali cleric declared the death penalty for Muslims who failed to pray five times a day, militiamen loyal to the Islamic court cracked down on band music by raiding a wedding party in Mogadishu, confiscating instruments and beating a woman.

Twenty heavily armed men fired shots in the air and took musical instruments from the band performing in a home in Somalia's capital city yesterday. According to the Brisbane Courier-Mail, the band entertaining guests at the wedding party was told by the gunmen it was performing "satanic" music contrary to the Quran.

Mogadishu was taken over in June by militia – now called the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts – that routed a U.S.-backed alliance of warlords after four months of fighting. The U.S. wanted to stem what officials call "creeping Talibanization" of Somalia by the courts and harboring of terrorists, including al-Qaida members.

"We were ordered to stop the music and empty the house which we all complied with immediately," said Hayir Ali Roble, one of the musicians performing at the party. "We followed their orders and kept our musical instruments in a room but they forcefully entered the house and took the instruments, and in the process broke some of them."

Roble said he did not know why the militiamen struck one of the women at the party with sticks.

The Islamic court denied that a woman was beaten.

Khadijo Weheliye, who organized the wedding party for her son, said she had sought and received permission from the Islamic court to have music at the celebration.

"We didn't know what their aim was because we had asked the Islamic court for permission to hold the party," she said. "They gave us a permission letter this morning, but attacked our home in the afternoon."

The raid was confirmed by the Islamic courts.

"We have told them to stop evil acts that derail the practice of Sharia law and it is our duty to enforce the ban on band music," said Ali Salad, the head of Ridwan Islamic courts in Weheliye's neighborhood. "We confiscated musical instruments that are satanic simply because we have previously told party organizers not to bring bands with music at the party."

On Tuesday, militiamen fired on a crowd protesting a ban on watching television, killing two who were viewing the World Cup at a local movie theater.

Earlier this week, WorldNetDaily reported that Muslims who fail to pray five times daily will be sentenced to death under the rule of Islamic clerics who have taken over the Somali capital Mogadishu.

"He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel, and Sharia law orders that that person be killed," said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia.

Today, 11 teens were publicly given 40 lashes each after confessing to "un-Islamic behavior," including smoking marijuana, pretending to be Islamic militia in order to extort the public, violence and looting.

"This is the start of a new era and we will continue to carry out the Sharia ... . We do not have any reverse gear," said Sheikh Mohamoud Jiliale, an official serving on the tribunal. "It is our responsibility to make sure Sharia laws are respected."

[Shammu]

 Iran, Turkey stress boosting of mutual cooperation
Ankara, July 8, IRNA

Iran-Turkey-Transportation
Iranian Minister of Road and Transportation Mohammad Rahmati met with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan late on Friday when he stressed the need for strengthening of bilateral ties.

Rahmati said that the foreign policy of President Mahmoud hmadinejad is to consolidate ties with neighboring countries particularly Turkey.

Turning to transportation ties between the two countries, Rahmati expressed Iran's readiness to cooperate with Turkey in finalizing the construction of a railway over Van Lake.

Erdogan for his part hailed President Ahmadinejad, saying that Ankara is interested in developing ties with Tehran in all sectors while bilateral transportation cooperation can play an important role in enhancing ties.

He added cooperation should continue in rail transportation sector, underlining the role of the private sector in facilitating bilateral ties.

In another development, Rahmati signed a protocol on
transportation cooperation with Turkey's Minister of Transportation Binali Yildirim late on Friday.

Yildirim said bilateral talks between the two countries have been "positive and constructive".

"I hope the fifth session of Iran-Turkey joint commission on transportation cooperation will pave the way for improvement of commercial relations between the two states," he said.

He added rail transportation is a major part of mutual transportation relations.

Referring to air and marine transportation, he said the two sides stressed expansion of cooperation in this regard.

Rahmati, for his part, said transportation cooperation is necessary for boosting of bilateral ties in the economic sector.

Citing the assertion of the Turkish prime minister about the importance of foreign trade between the two countries, he said given the potentials of the two sides, the 4.5-billion-dollar foreign trade seemed meager.

Iran, Turkey stress boosting of mutual cooperation

[Shammu]

 Enemies of Islam oppose expansion of ties between Iran, Syria, Iraq: President
Tehran, July 9, IRNA

Iran-Syria-President
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the enemies of Islam do not want to witness the expansion of brotherly relations between Iran, Syria and Iraq.

According to the report of Presidential Office Media Department, President Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the 9th meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states here on Saturday received Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

In the meeting, Ahmadinejad by referring to deep and sustainable relations between Iran and Syria emphasized the necessity of both countries' support of Iraqi popular government to create security, stability and prosperity for Iraqi nation.

Expressing pleasure with expanding ties between the two countries, President Ahmadinejad said, "We will always stay with Syria and defend its independence, progress and authority."
Referring to the recent crimes of the Zionist regime, Ahmadinejad said the nature and essence of this fake regime is upon invasion, threat and conspiracy adding, "Fortunately by awakening of Muslims all around the world this regime will be weaker day by day and those who created it in the region as a constant threat against the Muslim countries must remove this threat from the region."
Syrian foreign minister, for his part, expressed his appreciation for 'courageous speech' of Iranian president in inauguration ceremony and added the address will strengthen the Muslims' morale.

Criticizing international organizations and countries which claim support for human rights, Walid Muallem said all these countries have kept silent before the Zionist crimes in occupied territory and are imposing pressure against popular government of Hamas there.

The Syrian foreign minister also expressed his country's readiness for security cooperation with Iraqi government to provide security and stability for Iraqi nation.

The Syrian official is here to attend the 9th meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states plus Egypt and Bahrain.

Enemies of Islam oppose expansion of ties between Iran, Syria, Iraq: President

[Shammu]

Georgian, Moldovan Breakaway Provinces Pledge Cooperation

Created: 15.06.2006 09:04 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 09:04 MSK

MosNews

The separatist leaders of Georgia’s breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia andMoldova’s Transdniester vowed to support each other’s independence aspirations.

In a joint declaration at the end of a two-day meeting in the Abkhaz capital of Sukhum (Sukhumi), Abkhazia’s Sergei Bagapsh, South Ossetia’s Eduard Kokoity, and Transdniester’s Igor Smirnov said peoples’ right to self-determination is universal and should not be upheld selectively, RFE/RL reported.

In an apparent reference to last month’s referendum in which Montenegro voted to break away from a union with Serbia, Bagapsh told RFE/RL on June 13 that the international community should not apply double standards when it comes to self-determination.

“I think that in an international legal sense, Abkhazia and all the republics that are represented here have a much stronger case for international recognition,” he said. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand — the double standard, when somebody is allowed [to choose independence] and somebody is not. Take a look at our history and it will be clear that [independence] is a completely feasible thing.”

They also called for the continued deployment of Russian troops on their territory. They said stability in the regions depends on the presence of Russian-led peacekeepers.

The three internationally unrecognized regions broke away from Georgia and Moldova in civil wars after the 1991 Soviet collapse. All three maintain close ties with Russia.

Georgian, Moldovan Breakaway Provinces Pledge Cooperation

[Shammu]

Arab Maghreb Union condemns Israeli military operations in GAZA

The consultative committee of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) issued a statement on Saturday condemning Israel's incursions into Palestinian territory and its "inhumane actions" against Palestinians.

The deteriorating situation is a result of Israel's flagrant violation of the fundamental norms of international law and relevant agreements with the Palestinian side, the statement said.

Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip are a dangerous escalation of the country's state terrorism, the statement said.

It urged the international community to act promptly to stop the Israeli operations and provide security guarantees to the Palestinians within the framework of relevant UN resolutions, so as to realize lasting peace and justice in the region.

Israeli forces launched a massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on June 28 in a bid to rescue an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

UMA was founded in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

Arab Maghreb Union condemns Israeli military operations in GAZA
==================================================

Well there are some more countries, out of the Bible.

[Shammu]

Terrorists Attempted to Fire Rocket into Israel from Samaria
22:48 Jul 09, '06 / 13 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Sources in the Palestinian Authority say that terrorists belonging to Al Mag’ad Brigades have attempted to fire a rocket over the security barrier into Israel’s pre-1967 borders from Samaria.

According to PA sources, the terrorists attempted to fire the missile near Tulkarem, a city governed by the PA located on the outskirts of Samaria along Israel’s densely populated coastal plain. The rocket blew up as it was being fired.

Terrorists Attempted to Fire Rocket into Israel from Samaria

[Shammu]

General Board for Palestinian Refugees in Syria Demands Annan to Stop Zionist Terrorism
Sunday, July 09, 2006 - 10:00 PM
Syrian Arab News Agency

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- The General Board for Palestinian Refugees in Syria demanded Sunday UNRWA General Commissioner Karen Abuzayed to immediately ask the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the international organizations to take all required procedures to stop the Israeli terrorist barbaric aggression against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories.

            In a letter sent to Mrs. Abuzayed, the Board noted that Israeli occupation authorities have been targeting students in schools, parents and the Palestinian infrastructures, underlining the necessity of making a quick intervention to stop the Israeli series of murders, destructions and terrorism.

            The letter called upon the UN Secretary General and all international bodies  to exert more efforts to force Israel to implement the international legitimacy resolutions which call for full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories of Palestine and the Syrian Golan to the June 4th 1967 line and all other occupied Lebanese lands.

            The Board also demanded the establishment of a Palestinian sovereign state with Jerusalem as capital and guarantee the Palestinian people's right of return.

General Board for Palestinian Refugees in Syria Demands Annan to Stop Zionist Terrorism

[Shammu]

Israel to pay for rejecting ceasefire

Organization's military wing threatens casualties among settlers following Israel's rejection of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's ceasefire proposal, promises more attacks on soldiers
Ali Waked

Hamas' military wing on Sunday evening threatened to hit Israel hard in response to its rejection of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's ceasefire proposal.

"We promise the Israeli army and the settlers that we will strike them defeats and losses which they never even imagined," the group said in a statement, threatening to carry out further kidnapping operations, like the one in which Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped.

The Hamas statement added: "We promise to continue to humiliate the Israeli forces on the Gaza land. The enemy's decision is like a declaration of war which will burn the Zionists themselves. The confused enemy's leaders must wait in tension for other attacks like the 'disappearing illusion' operation (the name of the Kerem Shalom attack, in which IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped.)"

Hamas' military wing threatened: "In the face of the Israeli army's great terrorist operation in the Strip and in the face of the firmness of the gang of Zionist ministers to shed Palestinian blood, we commit in front of Allah and in front of our people and craft to humiliate the enemy's army."

"We promise the Palestinian people that Israel's decisions are decisions of a defeated side that are made by leaders who failed in achieving even one small accomplishment of weakening the Palestinian resistance. They are trying, in a move of desperation, to present themselves to their army as those who are operating to restore the Israelis' security," the statement said.

Hamas: For how long will Nazism continue?

The statement added that "the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are aware of the fact that the enemy's options are minimal and it has utilized all the tools in its disposal and has nothing left but to fail once again.

"A senior member of the brigades expressed his amazement over the silence in the world in light of Israel's operation and was wondering about the importance of what is defined as human rights in the UN charter: 'For how long will this aggressive policy continue to be above any law? For how long will Nazism continue to hit humanity without any consideration?'"

Meanwhile, in Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected calls by ministers who demanded an escalation of the military operation.

Speaking during the cabinet meeting , Olmert said: "We can carry out an operation like in James Bond movies and lose the international community's support. In order to maintain this support we have to act with patience and self-control."

According to Olmert, "the easiest thing is to come here and hit the table and demand an operation, but there is an international community. The dosage must be right and measured."

The remarks were made in response to ministers' claims and questions regarding the military operation aimed at freeing the kidnapped soldier and halting the Qassam fire in the Gaza Strip.

But in spite of the moderate declarations, the Israel Defense Forces' operation in Gaza continued Sunday. Sources in the Strip reported that a passerby was killed and several Palestinians were injured in an Israel Air Force strike in Rafah. A missile was fired at a car carrying members of Hamas' military wing, who apparently managed to escape, while a civilian was killed.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that "in a joint operation of the Southern Command and the Air Force, the IDF launched an air strike on a car carrying a group of terrorists."

Israel to pay for rejecting ceasefire

[Shammu]

Rejecting criticism, Israel vows to press forward with Gaza offensive

By Josef Federman
ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:35 a.m. July 9, 2006

JERUSALEM – Israel will push forward with its offensive in the Gaza Strip until Palestinian militants release a captured Israeli soldier and halt rocket attacks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, he dismissed international criticism that the army has used excessive force during a nearly two-week operation in the coastal area.

   Advertisement
The meeting came a day after Olmert rejected a call by the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, for a cease-fire. The Israeli offensive, launched in response to the soldier's capture, has caused widespread destruction in Gaza and left 51 Palestinians dead.

“We're talking about a war that will continue for a long time and it is complicated,” Olmert was quoted as saying by meeting participants. “This is a war for which we cannot set down a timetable and we can't say how long it will continue.”

The ministers expressed unanimous support for Olmert's refusal to negotiate with the militants, his rejection of the truce offer and his decision to continue the Gaza offensive, the participants said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Israeli ground troops entered Gaza on June 28, three days after Palestinian militants crossed into southern Israel and captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19. While the army's initial aim was to free the soldier, the mission was expanded to halt continuing rocket attacks from northern Gaza.

Israeli forces have battered the coastal strip with heavy artillery barrages and airstrikes in the army's largest operation in Gaza since withdrawing all troops and settlers from the area last year.

Yet Shalit has not been freed, and the rocket fire has continued. Early Sunday, two rockets landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, wounding one person and damaging a house, the army said.

Later Sunday an Israeli airstrike missed a car carrying members of a Hamas rocket squad and killed a bystander instead, Palestinian health officials said. The army confirmed an airstrike.

The Hamas-linked militants holding Shalit have demanded a large-scale prisoner release, a condition Olmert rejects.

Olmert told his ministers Sunday he had been planning a prisoner release as a goodwill gesture to the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, before Shalit was captured. But now, he said, a release appears out of the question.

“It's not a secret before the kidnapping that we would free prisoners. But we intended to release them to moderate elements and not to terrorist elements,” Olmert said. “The release of prisoners means destroying the moderates in the Palestinian Authority, and would signal to the world that Israel can only talk to extremists.”

Palestinian hospital officials say the offensive has killed 51 Palestinians and wounded more than 180. One Israeli soldier was killed last week. Military officials said Sunday he most likely was shot accidentally by Israeli forces.

Most of Palestinians casualties have been gunmen, but civilians have also been killed, including a mother and two children in a blast that hit their home Saturday. Four other family members were wounded.

Palestinians blamed Israel, but Israeli military officials said they weren't responsible. They said the only military activity in the area was a successful airstrike on a cell firing anti-tank missiles.

“There was no tank or artillery fire in the area at the time,” said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman. “Based on the initial investigation, we have eliminated our involvement.”

In Gaza City, hundreds of people joined a funeral procession for the family. The body of 6-year-old Rawan Hajaj was carried on a bloodstained stretcher, her face exposed and body covered with a flag of the Islamic Jihad militant group. In a show of unity, gunmen from rival Palestinian factions fired into the air.

Late Saturday, the United Nations blamed Israel for widespread human rights violations and hardship to civilians. It said the operations “have seen innocent civilians, including children, killed, brought increased misery to hundreds of thousands of people and ... will wreak far-reaching harm on Palestinian society.”

Olmert said Sunday he is not overly concerned about the international reaction; other ministers also rejected the criticism.

“Anybody who calls this operation disproportionate has no clue about the facts on the ground. We have been attacked and bombarded for months and weeks,” Cabinet minister Yitzhak Herzog said Sunday. “With all due respect to all those who criticize us, if anything of this nature would have happened in their homeland, they would have acted much worse.”

Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, commander of Israel's southern region, said Israel would not let up, though it planned to shift the focus of operations from place to place.

“We are prepared to continue the operation a month, two months and, if need be, even more,” he told Channel 2 TV late Saturday. “The Palestinians will do their reckoning. They will count hundreds of dead terrorists, they will count the damaged infrastructure, the destroyed offices, the damaged factories.”

Rejecting criticism, Israel vows to press forward with Gaza offensive

[Soldier4Christ]

Israel to pay for rejecting ceasefire

Yeah right .....  Israel is supposed to cease fire while their opponents keep on firing.

[Shammu]

Gaza Offensive Is Open-Ended, Olmert Says
Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News
 

GAZA CITY, 10 July 2006 — Israel said yesterday that its Gaza offensive to free a captured soldier is open-ended as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent emissaries to Damascus to discuss the soldier’s fate with exiled leaders of Hamas.

“This is a war that cannot be on a timetable,” a senior government official quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as telling his Cabinet, a day after Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas raised the prospect of a cease-fire.

“There is no intention to reoccupy Gaza in order to stay there, but if certain operations are needed they will be carried out. We will operate, enter and pull out as needed,” the official quoted Olmert as saying.

Israeli forces launched their offensive, the first such push into Gaza since troops and settlers withdrew from the territory last year, after Palestinians abducted Cpl. Gilad Shalit in a raid into Israel on June 25.

Olmert, the official said, also rejected calls by the three factions that seized the tank gunner, including the governing Hamas group’s armed wing, to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about him.

Such a move, Olmert was quoted as saying, would only strengthen Hamas at the expense of “moderate elements” in the Palestinian Authority.

Israel also threatened to expand its military operations unless the Palestinian groups freed the soldier and halted rocket attacks on Israeli towns. “The operation will go on until someone on the other side sobers up,” Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Israel Radio.

Abbas yesterday sent two envoys to Hamas’ exiled political leader and Syrian authorities to discuss the fate of Shalit and the crisis in the Gaza Strip. The president instructed members of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, Taysir Khalid and Abdullah Horani, to meet Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, the Syrian leadership and Palestinian factions in Damascus, Palestinian source said.

Israel has repeatedly accused archfoe Damascus of supporting Palestinian fighters and threatened to kill Hamas leaders based in Damascus. Israeli news reports have suggested that Meshaal has blocked mediation efforts to secure the soldier’s release.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat urged international aid organizations to help avert a “human catastrophe” in Gaza. Israeli forces have destroyed a main power station there and killed at least 50 people, residents said. The offensive has been criticized by the European Union and United Nations, but those organizations wield far less influence on Israel than its main ally, the United States, which has led an international aid boycott of the Hamas-led government.

“Let’s remember who started this,” US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN. “It was the outrageous actions of Hamas in violating Israel’s sovereignty, in taking the soldier hostage.”

In the latest violence, an Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car carrying two fighters near the southern Gaza town of Rafah, killing a bystander and wounding one of the gunmen as well as four civilians, Palestinian security officials said.

At least three fighters were wounded in an early morning Israeli airstrike near the Karni commercial crossing between Gaza and Israel, Palestinian medics and police said.

Gaza Offensive Is Open-Ended, Olmert Says