Israel & Palestinian

[Shammu]

Israel and Hamas Reject U.N. Truce, Intensify Attacks

Friday , January 09, 2009

Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza on Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, as Israel's government said it will press forward with its offensive despite a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

One Israeli airstrike killed two Hamas militants and another unidentified man, while another flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing at least seven people, including an infant, Hamas security officials said. By midday, 19 Palestinians had been killed.

In all, Israeli aircraft struck more than 30 targets before dawn, and constant explosions continued after first light. Friday's deaths in Gaza pushed the Palestinian death toll to more than 760 in the two-week-old conflict, with at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials. Thirteen Israelis have died.

In Israel's first official response to the U.N. Security Council resolution, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said Israel "has never agreed to let an external body decide its right to protect the security of its citizens."

The military "will continue acting to protect Israeli citizens and will carry out the missions it was given," the statement read. The rockets fell in Israel on Friday "only prove that the U.N.'s decision is not practical and will not be kept in practice by the Palestinian murder organizations."

Israel launched its assault on Dec. 27 in an attempt to halt years of rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled territory.

Despite the devastating offensive, Hamas continued to bombard residents of southern Israel. Rockets hit Friday morning across southern Israel, including in and around Beersheba and Ashkelon, which — like other cities within rocket range of Gaza — have largely been paralyzed since the fighting began.

The U.N. Security Council resolution was approved Thursday night by a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining. The resolution "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."

Israel and Hamas were not parties to the council vote and it is now up to them to stop the fighting. But a Hamas spokesman said the Islamic militant group "is not interested" in the cease-fire because it was not consulted and the resolution did not meet its minimum demands.

Israel called up thousands of reserve troops earlier in the week, and they are now ready for action.

The Security Council action came hours after a U.N. agency suspended food deliveries to Gaza, and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers. It also followed concerns of a wider conflict after militants in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel early Thursday, though the border has been quiet since.

The United States abstained from the Security Council vote even though it helped hammer out the resolution's text along with Arab nations that have ties to Hamas and the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. "fully supports" the resolution but abstained "to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation" with Israel and Hamas, also aimed at achieving a cease-fire.

The resolution expresses "grave concern" at the escalating violence and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and emphasizes the need to open all border crossings and achieve a lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

It also calls on U.N. member states "to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable cease-fire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained reopening" of border crossings.

In addition, the resolution "condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians" and calls for "unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza."

Osama Hamdan, a Hamas envoy to Lebanon, told the al-Arabiya satellite channel that the group "is not interested in it because it does not meet the demands of the movement."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the U.N. failed to consider the interests of the Palestinian people. "This resolution doesn't mean that the war is over," he told the al-Jazeera satellite television network. "We call on the Palestinian fighters to mobilize and be ready to face the offensive, and we urge the Arab masses to carry on with their angry protests."

Following the resolution, Egypt was expected to take the lead in persuading Israel and Hamas to accept it. Israeli representatives returned home from talks in Cairo Thursday, and Hamas was due to send political leaders to the Egyptian capital on Saturday.

Israel's government says any cease-fire must guarantee an end to rocket fire and arms smuggling into Gaza. During a six-month cease-fire that ended with the current operation, Hamas is thought to have used tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border to smuggle in the medium-range rockets it is now using to hit deeper than ever inside Israel.

Hamas has said it won't accept any agreement that does not include the full opening Gaza's blockaded border crossings. Israel is unlikely to agree to that demand, as it would allow Hamas to strengthen its hold on the territory which it violently seized in June 2007.

With Israeli troops now in control of many of the open areas used by militants to launch rockets, gunman have continued shooting from inside populated neighborhoods.

The conflict has left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza increasingly desperate for food, water, fuel and medical assistance, and the situation was expected to worsen as humanitarian efforts fall victim to the fighting.

One of the dead Thursday was a Ukrainian woman, the first foreigner to die in the fighting, according to Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain. He said the woman was married to a Palestinian doctor who trained in Ukraine and returned with her to Gaza. Her 2-year-old son was also killed in the tank shelling east of Gaza City, he said.

Details are emerging of other incidents in which civilians were killed. A U.N. agency said Israeli troops evacuated Palestinian civilians to a house in Gaza City on Jan. 4, then shelled the building 24 hours later, killing 30 people.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report was based on eyewitness testimony. It added details to an incident previously reported by The Associated Press and an Israeli human rights group.

The U.N. agency said 110 people were in the house. The 30 people reported killed is a far higher figure than in other accounts.

The Israeli military had no comment on the report Friday.

The West Bank saw its biggest protests so far Friday, as thousands took to the streets following prayers to express their anger at the Israeli offensive. In Ramallah, scuffles broke out between supporters of Hamas and the rival Fatah faction.

Israel launched its offensive Dec. 27 in response to cross-border rocket attacks by the Islamic group Hamas — which the United States and Israel consider a terrorist organization and whose charter calls for the destruction of the state of Israel.

Israel and Hamas Reject U.N. Truce, Intensify Attacks

[Shammu]

Israel's unilateral cease-fire in Gaza goes into effect
By Haaretz Staff and News Agencies
18/01/2009

Prime Minster Ehud Olmert on Saturday night announced that Israel's security cabinet has voted in favor of a unilateral cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which went into effect at 2 A.M. local time.

The announcement comes after three weeks of fighting in the coastal strip, as Israel launched a massive military offensive aimed at halting years of daily rocket fire on its southern communities. Palestinian sources say that more than 1,100 Gazans have been killed since the offensive began on December 27. Three Israeli civilians and 10 Israel Defense Forces have been killed during that period.

"I want to thank, first and foremost, my friend the defense minister, Ehud Barak, for his professional expertise, and the understanding he showed throughout the whole operation," Olmert said.

"I also want to thank and express my appreciation to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for her contributions to the wide-ranging diplomatic efforts that greatly enhanced the international support Israel has received."

The decision to launch the cease-fire was approved during a lengthy security cabinet meeting which began after sundown in Tel Aviv. Two ministers were against the move, and another abstained.

"Our fight is not with the people of Gaza," Olmert said at the Tel Aviv press conference following the cabinet meeting. "We left Gaza in 2005 with the intention of never returning," he said, referring to Israel's unilateral withdrawal of troops and settlers from the territory under former prime minister Ariel Sharon.

Olmert warned that Iran, through its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, was trying to establish its own hegemony in the region. He said that Hamas had underestimated Israel's decisiveness, had been "surprised" by the launch of the offensive, and was still not fully aware of how badly it had been damaged.

Olmert said that "if Hamas entirely ends its rocket fire on Israel, Israel will consider an IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip." If that did not occur, he said, "The IDF will continue to operate in order to protect our citizens."

"If our enemies decide the blows they've been dealt have not been sufficient and they are interested in continuing the fight, Israel will be prepared for such and feel free to continue to react with force," the premier added.

"[Hamas'] leaders are in hiding, many of its members have been killed, its rocket factories have been destroyed, its smuggling routes through the tunnels have been blown up, its ability to move weapons in the Gaza Strip has been reduced and the launching sites where most of the rockets are fired are under Israeli military control," Olmert said.

Barak said on Saturday that if Hamas continued firing, the IDF would respond forcefully.

Calling the operation "a justified war of choice," the defense minister said he was pleased with the results.

"We did not go to war to fight the people of Gaza," he said. "Hamas has taken half of the Palestinian people hostage. The IDF and the Shin Bet dealt Hamas a painful blow."

Barak added that the army "will maintain its level of readiness in Gaza" and that Israel would renew military operations "if the need calls." The defense minister also reiterated Israel's commitment to win the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.

A strong hint at the impending cease-fire announcement came earlier Saturday, when Ehud Barak said that Israel was very close to meeting the objectives of its 22-day-old offensive in Gaza.

"After three weeks of Operation Cast Lead, we are very close to reaching the goals and securing them through diplomatic agreements," Barak said during a visit to the south of the country earlier Saturday, according to a statement from his office.

The decision means Israel has put an end to Operation Cast Lead without an agreement with Hamas, relying instead on the support of the United States and Egypt in battling arms smuggling into Gaza.

Israel said on Sunday it will be prepared to sharply increase the flow of food and medicine to Gaza if the unilateral cease-fire holds, but it ruled out fully lifting a blockade until captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is freed.

"If the quiet holds, there will not be any problem dramatically increasing aid like food and medicine. If this quiet holds, we will work with the international community for reconstruction," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert.

"But you can't have anything close to full normalization of the crossings as long as Gilad Shalit remains a hostage," Regev added. Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid in 2006.

Israel's unilateral cease-fire in Gaza goes into effect

[Shammu]

Hamas Chief Reveals Iran Played 'Big Role' in Gaza War
02/02/09
by Malkah Fleisher

(IsraelNN.com) Exiled Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal praised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his latest trip to Iran, and confirmed that the publicly anti-Israel country played a "big role" in arming and backing Hamas during the recent war in Gaza. Mashaal's statements were publicized by Iranian state television on Monday.

Mashaal, who currently resides in Syria, was quoted by the Iranian network as telling Ahmadinejad that Iran is a "partner in victory", saying Hamas-infested Gaza has "always appreciated the political and spiritual support of the Iranian leaders and nation."

Mashaal was greeted Monday at Tehran University by hundreds of admirers chanting "hail to the soldier of holy war."

Israel launched a 3-week-long offensive in Gaza on December 27 – Operation Cast Lead - to stop the Hamas terror organization from targeting Jewish civilians with rocket fire in southwestern Israel. Almost 1,300 Arabs were killed in the war, as were 13 Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Mashaal was targeted for assassination by the Israeli government under Binyamin Netanyahu in 1997, when Mossad agents poisoned the Hamas leader in Jordan.  When Netanyahu refused the demand of King Abdullah of Jordan to provide an antidote to the poison, US President Bill Clinton intervened, forcing Netanyahu to provide the cure which saved Mashaal's life.

Hamas Chief Reveals Iran Played 'Big Role' in Gaza War
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Well that is no surprise to me, Iran wants the destruction of Israel and will go by any means to achieve it.

[Shammu]

IAF strikes south Gaza targets after two rockets hit Israel
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters
07/02/2009

The Israel Air Force struck targets in southern Gaza on Friday a few hours after Palestinian militants fired two rockets from the coastal strip into Israel.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman confirmed the air strikes. The spokesman said the targets included four smuggling tunnels, as well as a weapons storage facility, which caused a series of secondary explosions to be heard in the area.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Palestinian witnesses said no one was wounded in the IAF strikes.

The first of the rockets fired by Gaza militants Friday hit the Sha'ar Hanegev region, the IDF said. The attack caused no casualties or damage.

Three hours later, a rocket hit near the coastal city of Ashkelon. No casualties were reported in that attack either.

An IDF spokesman said the first rocket was fired from the northern Gazan town of Beit Lahiya.

On Thursday evening, IDF soldiers killed a Palestinian militant who approached the Gaza-Israel border and drew a grenade.

The grenade subsequently exploded as a result of the soldiers' gunfire, killing the militant. There were no casualties among the troops, who were from the Golani infantry brigade. The incident took place near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.

The troops later searched the area from which the militant had come, Army Radio said, then returned to Israeli territory.


The incident came a few hours after senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad headed to Cairo to meet with Egyptian mediators over negotiations for a truce with Hamas in Gaza.

The cease-fire that ended Israel's 22-day offensive against Hamas in the coastal territory two weeks ago has been ruptured by intermittent fighting.

On Wednesday, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip launched a mortar shell at southern Israel, which exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council.

There were no casualties reported in the incident, which came a day after Gaza militants fired the first Grad rocket at Israel since the end of the IDF campaign in Gaza.

IAF strikes south Gaza targets after two rockets hit Israel

[Shammu]

Abbas calls IDF Gaza op 'war crimes'
Feb. 4, 2009
Associated Press
THE JERUSALEM POST

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said the Gaza attacks were war crimes for which Israeli officials should be held accountable, but he insisted he would continue seeking a lasting peace with Israel.

Abbas, who is on a European tour seeking support for a Palestinian unity government, gave a speech at the EU Parliament detailing the suffering of Gaza's civilians during Operation Cast Lead.

The PA president said he would push for a war crimes investigation into the IDF attacks, which ended Jan. 18. When he said he held Israel's leaders accountable, he was applauded by European lawmakers.

"People who committed those crimes have to be held responsible so that these crimes cannot be repeated," he told reporters after the speech.

"We do not want to continue to be the enemies of Israel. We are stretching out our hand for peace with Israel. But what was done is regretfully crimes of war."

He also denounced Hamas' rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel, which triggered the Israeli offensive.

"I have condemned such rocket attacks for years, and I still condemn them," he said. "They do not go in the direction of peace."

However, Abbas said there was no comparison between the IDF operation in Gaza and rocket attacks such as the one Tuesday morning that hit Ashkelon. Vehicles and buildings were damaged, but no one in the 122,000-population city was hurt.

Abbas, also told European lawmakers he was committed to reuniting Palestinians and reconciling with Hamas.

"Our doors are still open" to a unity government with Hamas, he said.

He said such a union would allow Hamas to be part of an effective cease-fire with Israel, but added that "Hamas is capable of respecting a period of calm, whether in government or not."

Abbas calls IDF Gaza op 'war crimes'

[Shammu]

The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, while addressing the European Parliament, called for the European Union to become more involved in the Middle East. That, basically, is a page out of Bible prophecy for the last days.

Though the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was uncharacteristically quiet during the recent Gaza war and even condemned Hamas for instigating the war, the Palestinian leader is now saying that the Israeli war on Gaza was a war crime and he wants the international community to get involved. Abbas used the Gaza war to call for the European Union to become more involved in the Middle East. The Palestinian leader wants the European Union to take a definite part in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

This present scenario is very close to the prophetic scenario that is found in Bible prophecy. The ancient Jewish prophet Daniel reveals that in the last days, the "ten horns" (Daniel 7:7), and the "little horn" (Daniel 7: will be fulfilled by the Revived Roman Empire, today's European Union, and the Antichrist who will come to power as the leader of the Revived Roman Empire - the European Union of today. This worldwide leader, the Antichrist, will establish peace in the Middle East (Daniel 9:27). The Revived Roman Empire will play a major role in Bible prophecy.

The call by the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the European Union to become more involved in the Middle East and, in particular, as it relates to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, does indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

[Shammu]

Hamas Commandeers Seven Tons of Ordnance

Reported: 20:24 PM - Feb/17/09

(IsraelNN.com) Hamas took possession of seven tons of unexploded ordnance that the UN had collected in Gaza for safe disposal. According to the BBC, a UN Mines Action Team had worked in Gaza since the end of the war to collect unexploded Israeli ordnance.

The ordnance included three 2,000-pound bombs and eight 500-pound bombs as well as many artillery shells. The UN has demanded that Hamas return the ordnance immediately to be exploded in a controlled fashion.

Hamas Commandeers Seven Tons of Ordnance
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Hamas' new motto: Who needs Iran to supply us, when the U.N. will work just fine. Plus, it's free!!

[Shammu]

'World duped by Hamas death count'
Feb. 15, 2009
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Four weeks after the cessation of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF finally opened its dossier on Palestinian fatalities on Sunday for the first time, and presented to The Jerusalem Post an overview utterly at odds with the Palestinian figures that have hitherto formed the basis for assessing the conflict.

While the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, whose death toll figures have been widely cited, reports that 895 Gaza civilians were killed in the fighting, amounting to more than two-thirds of all fatalities, the IDF figures shown to the Post on Sunday put the civilian death toll at no higher than a third of the total.

The international community had been given a vastly distorted impression of the death toll because of "false reporting" by Hamas, said Col. Moshe Levi, the head of the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), which compiled the IDF figures.

As an example of such distortion, he cited the incident near a UN school in Jabalya on January 6, in which initial Palestinian reports falsely claimed IDF shells had hit the school and killed 40 or more people, many of them civilians.

In fact, he said, 12 Palestinians were killed in the incident - nine Hamas operatives and three noncombatants. Furthermore, as had since been acknowledged by the UN, the IDF was returning fire after coming under attack, and its shells did not hit the school compound.

"From the beginning, Hamas claimed that 42 people were killed, but we could see from our surveillance that only a few stretchers were brought in to evacuate people," said Levi, adding that the CLA contacted the PA Health Ministry and asked for the names of the dead. "We were told that Hamas was hiding the number of dead."

As a consequence of the false information, he added, the IDF was considering setting up a "response team" for future conflicts whose job would be to collect information, analyze it and issue reports as rapidly as possible that refuted Hamas fabrications.

Basing its work on the official Palestinian death toll of 1,338, Levi said the CLA had now identified more than 1,200 of the Palestinian fatalities. Its 200-page report lists their names, their official Palestinian Authority identity numbers, the circumstances in which they were killed and, where appropriate, the terrorist group with which they were affiliated.

The CLA said 580 of these 1,200 had been conclusively "incriminated" as members of Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Another 300 of the 1,200 - women, children aged 15 and younger and men over the age of 65 - had been categorized as noncombatants, the CLA said.

Counted among the women, however, were female terrorists, including at least two women who tried to blow themselves up next to forces from the Givati and Paratroopers' Brigades. Also classed as noncombatants were the wives and children of Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas military commander who refused to allow his family to leave his home even after he was warned by Israel that it would be bombed.

The 320 names yet to be classified are all men; the IDF has yet complete its identification work in these cases, but estimates that two-thirds of them were terror operatives.

The CLA gave the Post the names of several fatalities who it said had been classified by the Palestinians as "medics," but who it stated were Hamas fighters, including Anas Naim, the nephew of Hamas Health Minister Bassem Naim, who was killed during clashes with the IDF on January 4 in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood of Gaza City.

Following the clashes, the Palestinian press reported that Naim was killed and that he was a medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Gaza CLA, however, produced photographs of Naim posing holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a Kalashnikov assault rifle that had been posted on a Hamas Web site.

Levi stressed that on no occasion were civilians deliberately targeted, and that every effort was made to minimize civilian casualties.

Work on the death toll list was started during Operation Cast Lead under Levi's direction. A special team was set up and led by an officer in the CLA who coordinated efforts with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and worked from statistics and information on the dead from the Hamas Health Ministry, the media in Gaza, and other Palestinian and Israeli intelligence sources.

Much controversy and confusion has surrounded the number of Palestinian noncombatants killed during Israel's three-week campaign against Hamas, with the IDF and the Shin Bet refusing to release official numbers to refute Hamas allegations. Israeli estimates were intermittently leaked to the press but not published in official press statements.

'World duped by Hamas death count'

[Shammu]

Well that was a no brainer............... I figured that Hamas lied about the total number of dead. What doesn't surprise me is that the media reported the Hamas total without hesitation. Anything to make Israel look bad. Why would anyone think otherwise??

There will be a day before the end of this wicked world, when the world comes against Israel I feel sorry for the fools.

[Shammu]

Partners in Arms? Fatah and Hamas Say They'll Unify
February 28, '09   
by Avraham Zuroff

(IsraelNN.com) Fatah and Hamas leaders have announced an “agreement in principle” that would lead to a joint Fatah-Hamas led Palestinian Authority, according to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency. The two groups plan to form a joint transitional government that would operate until elections can be held. In addition, they agreed to a prisoner exchange between them.

The groups began operating in tandem at the helm of the PA in 2006 after Hamas won more legislative seats than Fatah in elections in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. They split again following the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, and have remained separate and hostile ever since, and attempts to reconcile between them have failed.

Hamas politburo chief, Mussa Abu Marzook, said in a press conference in Cairo on Thursday evening that the various factions have reached an agreement to create a transitional government. The Cairo conference of 14 different divisions is an effort to end nearly two years of disunity, mainly between Fatah and Hamas.

Fatah delegation leader, Ahmad Qurei, said, “This government could be formed and approved by all the Palestinian factions, or could be a technocrat government, or another form of government approved by the committees.”

The secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Al-Barghouti, said, “All of the Palestinian factions will together confront any Israeli assault.”

An Arab Liberation Front leader, Wasel Abu Yousef, called for a policy review regarding Arabs living under Israeli rule, construction of a separation barrier, and Jewish towns within Judea and Samaria. “This review should come within a national strategy towards establishing a Palestinian state,” he stated.

The United States, several European nations, and Israel do not conduct direct negotiations with Hamas, as they do not want to acknowledge a terrorist organization. Fatah, however, is not currently regarded as a terrorist organization by any of these governments. Fatah’s reunification with organizations that overtly espouse terrorism methods might cause a political problem for the United States, which has called Fatah “a partner in peace.”

Fatah used to be designated terrorist under Israeli law and was considered terrorist by the United States Department of State and United States Congress until it renounced terrorism in 1988. Israel’s recognition of Fatah, which controls parts of Judea and Samaria, continues despite involvement by the group -- as well as subgroups of Fatah like Tanzim and Al-Aqsa Brigades -- in numerous atrocities against Israel men, women and children since 2000.

One of Tanzim’s leaders, Marwan Barghouti, is currently held prisoner in Israel for murdering civilians. In addition, Tanzim has recruited a number of human bombers, who have killed and maimed Israelis.

Partners in Arms? Fatah and Hamas Say They'll Unify

[Shammu]

After foiled Gaza attack, IDF says Hamas risking another Gaza offensive
Jun. 8, 2009
yaaKOV LAPPIN , THE JERUSALEM POST

Under the cover of morning fog, some 10 gunmen staged a failed assault at the Karni cargo crossing into Gaza on Monday, in which horses laden with explosives were used, a security source told The Jerusalem Post.

At least four terrorists and a number of their horses were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire with the IDF. No soldiers were wounded.

"A very big terrorist attack was thwarted," the security source told the Post.

"These terrorists were armed with a huge quantity of explosives. They launched a combined attack, using mortars, and attempted to approach the border fence with booby-trapped horses to harm our soldiers, before firing on our force," he added.

The Gazan cell belonged to the Janud Ansar Allah (Soldiers Loyal to Allah) organization, a small group that is linked to Iran and Hizbullah, the security source added.

Members of the cell, some of whom had suicide-bomb belts strapped around their bodies, led the horses off of trucks and began placing bombs along the fence.

They were identified by members of Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion, who were on patrol. The terrorists proceeded to open fire on the infantrymen, and mortar fire from deep within the Gaza Strip was also directed at them.

The soldiers returned fire and called for backup. At first, tanks were dispatched to the scene, and fired at the terrorists. Air force helicopter gunships then joined the battle.

Lt.-Col. Avinoam Stolevitch, commander of the 13th Battalion, told Army Radio that future assaults of this sort would put Hamas at risk of a second Operation Cast Lead.

"We are slowly beginning to understand the magnitude of [the threat from the Gaza Strip]," he said.

Stolevitch added that he believed the terrorists had planned a "large explosion... to provide cover for a kidnapping."

He said his men did not pursue the surviving terrorists into Gaza, out of concern the attack was a trap aimed at kidnapping soldiers.

Stolevitch praised his men's alertness.

"Hamas did not carry out this attack but they certainly provide general coverage for these small groups," he said.

The source said it was too soon to know whether the cell had planned to kidnap soldiers.

"The area turned into a war zone," he said. "Southern Command forces are prepared for these types of attacks, and are aware of the dangers present in the morning fog. There is always the chance terrorists will try to use that for an attack."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday afternoon praised the army's "effectiveness" in foiling the attack, and said it was quite possible that the terrorists had planned a kidnapping, a claim made by Hamas television.

"The results speak for themselves, and prove the preparedness and the alertness of our forces along the Gaza border," Barak told a Labor faction meeting. "I hope that all future operations end with the same type of result."

Ismail Haniyeh, who heads Gaza's Hamas government, praised the attackers as "martyrs," and said the violence confirmed Israel's "aggressive intentions" toward the Palestinians.

Following the attack, Israel closed the Karni crossing, the main cargo terminal between Israel and Gaza, as well as the nearby Nahal Oz fuel depot.

But despite the attack, 30,000 vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease were transferred to Gaza via the northern Erez crossing. The IDF said that 125,000 vaccines had been supplied to the Strip in the past three months in three separate transfers, due to the importance of preventing an outbreak.

In addition, 140 truckloads of humanitarian aid was scheduled to be sent to Gaza via the southern Kerem Shalom crossing.

After foiled Gaza attack, IDF says Hamas risking another Gaza offensive

[Shammu]

Ismail Haniyeh, who heads Gaza's Hamas government, praised the attackers as "martyrs," and said the violence confirmed Israel's "aggressive intentions" toward the Palestinians.

They try to plant bombs and have bombs strapped to them and state they are trying to kidnap soldiers and then call Israel agressive. These people are deluded if they think anyone really believes this. I know that people will agree with them but that is because they have an agenda or just plain evil.

Karni cargo crossing into Gaza on Monday, in which horses laden with explosives

Horses, doesn't that sound familiar to what is going to happen one day.

[Shammu]

Rocket attack overshadows EU visit to Gaza

ANDREW RETTMAN

18.03.2010 @ 17:28 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A deadly rocket attack against Israel from Gaza has threatened to spark fresh fighting in the region, overshadowing a high-level EU humanitarian mission.

A Palestinian militant group calling itself Ansar al-Sunna fired the Qassam rocket from Gaza early on Thursday (18 March) killing a Thai-origin farm worker in Israel's Negev district.

The attack came shortly after EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton entered Gaza on a highly-anticipated trip designed to spotlight the humanitarian cost of Israel's blockade of aid shipments to the territory.

Ms Ashton's delegation visited a UN-run food distribution bureau, an EU-funded centre for deaf children and an EU-funded girls school before returning to Israel.

"I condemn any kind of violence. We have got to find a peaceful solution to the issues and problems," she told local media. "What we have been saying to the Israelis for a long time is that we need to allow aid into this region, to be able to support the economy to grow for people to have the things they are clearly lacking," she added.

The Ashton visit came as a breakthrough after Israel had denied access to Gaza to several senior EU politicians over the past year. But the threat of renewed fighting is likely to put off any talk on the aid blockade for now.

"The Israeli response will be appropriate. It will be strong," Israel's deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai said following news of the Qassam blast. "This is a crossing of a red line, which Israel cannot accept."

The Gaza strip is controlled by the more moderate Palestinian militant group Hamas, which linked the rocket fire to Israel's construction activity near Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem.

"It has no connection [to the Ashton trip]. People are angry because of what is happening in East Jerusalem and because the world is keeping silent about it," Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told EUobserver.

Ms Ashton did not meet with any Hamas officials during the visit in line with an international embargo on talks with the group, which is considered a terrorist entity by the EU.

Hamas carried out a safety inspection of Ms Ashton's planned route though Gaza prior to her visit and provided "two or three cars" with unarmed security staff to accompany her convoy, Mr Hamad said.

"We co-ordinated with the UN here to facilitate her crossing."

Rocket attack overshadows EU visit to Gaza