Israel & Palestinian

[Shammu]

Attacks Continue
22 Tevet 5768, December 31, '07

1 Rocket, 14 Mortar Shells from Gaza

(IsraelNN.com) Terrorists in Gaza fired one rocket and 14 mortar shells at Israeli towns in the western Negev on Monday.  No injuries were reported in the attacks.

Terrorists fired one rocket at Sderot overnight on Sunday.  The rocket landed outside the city, causing no injuries or damage.

Attacks Continue

[Shammu]

Five killed, scores wounded in Fatah-Hamas clashes in Gaza
KHALED ABU TOAMEH and ap , THE JERUSALEM POST    Dec. 31, 2007

At least five Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded late Monday in armed clashes between Hamas policemen and Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip.

The clashes erupted when thousands of Fatah supporters took to the streets to celebrate the 43rd anniversary of their faction.

The Hamas government had banned the Fatah celebrations in the Gaza Strip.

Among those killed in the fighting were an elderly man, a child and a Hamas police officer.

The violence erupted less than two hours after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for a "new page" in relations between the bitter enemies.

"There is no way for any party here to be an alternative to the other, and there is no room for terms like coup or military takeover, but only for dialogue, dialogue, dialogue," Abbas said during a major policy speech, referring to Hamas' violent rout of his Fatah forces and takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.

Speaking to a crowd in the West Bank at a rally marking the 43rd anniversary of Fatah, Abbas called for "a new page, writing in its lines a credible agreement based on partnership, on life, on our homeland and our struggle to liberate it."

After nightfall Monday, Fatah backers fired rifles in the air all over Gaza to mark the anniversary. Hamas banned the traditional Jan. 1 Fatah parades in Gaza, and it was not known if there would be attempts to defy the order.

Abbas expelled Hamas from government after its victory in Gaza and set up a Western-backed government in the West Bank that is seeking peace with Israel.

In his speech on Monday, Abbas maintained his position that Hamas must restore power in Gaza to an elected government. But he urged reconciliation and called for new elections in an effort to end the suffering the Palestinian people have endured as a result of the takeover.

Israel, citing security concerns, sealed its border with Gaza after Hamas wrested power, letting in only humanitarian aid. Ensuing shortages have deepened poverty and unemployment in the already impoverished territory.

"I renew my offer for early elections here, as a way out of the hell that was imposed on us," Abbas said Monday.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum rejected Abbas' speech. "It is full of incitement and words calling for divisions. There is no new initiative or practical step in this speech that can pave the road to start an immediate dialogue," he said.

Abbas spoke very differently as recently as November, when he called for the overthrow of Hamas in Gaza after Hamas forces fired on a huge Fatah rally in Gaza City, killing eight civilians and wounding dozens.

"We have to bring down this bunch, which took over Gaza with armed force, and is abusing the sufferings and pains of our people," Abbas said at the time.

The two rival Palestinian groups have been at odds since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January 2006. Those differences boiled over into open warfare that peaked with Hamas' June victory in Gaza.

Abbas directed some of his comments Monday at Israel. He called on the Israeli government to cease settlement construction and dismantle its separation barrier in the West Bank, saying they "undermine the basis of the independent Palestinian state and block the two-state solution."

He also complained about Israeli army checkpoints in the West Bank. "There are 640 Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank and Israel did not lift or remove any of them," he said.

Five killed, scores wounded in Fatah-Hamas clashes in Gaza

[Soldier4Christ]

Israeli Arabs: Count us out of Palestinian state 
Majority would rather remain under Jewish leadership

If given the option of living in a future Palestinian state, most Israeli Arabs would prefer to remain citizens of Israel, according to a new survey released this week.

Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, with a large concentration living in eastern Jerusalem, including in peripheral neighborhoods Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government has stated could be given to the Palestinians for a future state.

Last month, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni hinted Israeli Arabs living in eastern Jerusalem could remain there and be ruled by a new Palestinian state.

"The future Palestinian state would serve as a national solution for the Palestinians of the West Bank, those living in the refugee camps and those who are citizens with equal rights in the Jewish state," stated Livni at a November press conference with France's foreign minister.

But a new poll conducted by Keevoon, an Israeli research and strategic communications company, found the majority of Israeli Arabs – 62 percent – don't want to live under Palestinian rule.

Only 14 percent of respondents said they would prefer to live in a Palestinian state and not Israel if given the choice, while 24 percent did not express an opinion or refused to answer.

Mitchell Barak, managing director of Keevoon, told WND, "The survey challenges the widely held claim that Israeli Arabs have national aspirations for statehood. Most expressed a desire to remain Israeli when given a choice."

Barak said the results "also demonstrated a gap between policies articulated by the Israeli government and the citizens it would affect most – Israeli Arabs."

"While senior members of the government here, including Livni, have spoken openly about a future Palestinian state possibly including Israeli Arabs who live in Israel, most Israeli Arabs prefer to remain Israeli citizens," Barak said.

Keevoon's survey found the strongest support for remaining citizens of Israel was exhibited by members of the Druze Arab community, 84 percent of whom rejected the notion of living in a Palestinian state. Lower-income Arab households also showed strong support, with 71 percent choosing Israel.

The strongest support for becoming citizens of a future Palestinian state was demonstrated by Arab students, with 21 percent, compared to the overall average of 14 percent, according to the poll.

The survey was conducted about a month after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committed at November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit to aim at concluding an agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas by next year. The Jewish state is widely expected to evacuate swaths of the strategic West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, handing the territories to Abbas for a Palestinian state.

Israeli officials in recent months listed specific eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods Israel may evacuate.

In a speech in early November, Olmert asked whether it was "really necessary" to retain certain Arab neighborhoods in the eastern parts of Judaism's capital city.

"Was it necessary to also add the Shuafat refugee camp, Sawakra, Walaje and other villages and define them as part of Jerusalem? On that, I must confess, I am not convinced," stated Olmert, speaking at a special Knesset session.

Just this week, Olmert indicated Jerusalem could be split, stating in an interview with the Jerusalem Post that the world that is "friendly" to Israel insists on dividing the city.

Previous Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, including U.S.-mediated talks at Camp David in 2000, agreed to sections of Jerusalem being split according to population demographics, with Israeli Arab neighborhoods becoming part of a Palestinian state.

After Annapolis, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon stated any future division of Jerusalem would be mapped out along the same lines.

"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods [of Jerusalem], including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," Ramon said.

Since Annapolis, Israeli media reports marked an increase in Israeli Arab clients enlisting Jerusalem real estate companies to relocate to Jewish sections of Jerusalem.

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

If you think about this, it's all pretty silly from a Biblical point of view. The land and Jerusalem belongs to GOD. JESUS CHRIST will rule and reign from the Throne of David in Jerusalem for 1,000 years after HIS SECOND COMING, and no army on earth will be able to deny GOD what is HIS!

Who owns and occupies the land is not negotiable! They will fight wars over it, and the end result will be GOD'S Result and what GOD Promised thousands of years ago. Israel will be RESTORED! - PERIOD! - END OF STORY! JESUS CHRIST has always been the KING OF KINGS, but HE'S also the ANOINTED KING OF ISRAEL! HE will NOT be denied what is HIS!

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 NASB  For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

[Shammu]

Clashes between Hamas, Israeli Navy on Gaza coast

Hamas forces exchange fire with naval boats off Strip's southern coast; IDF missile targeting Islamist group outpost south of Rafah lands in Egyptian territory; no immediate reports of casualties

Associated Press
Published:    01.08.08, 12:18 / Israel News

Hamas forces on shore traded fire with Israeli naval boats off Gaza's southern coast Tuesday, and an Israeli missile landed in nearby Egyptian territory, Hamas said.

During the exchange of fire south of the town of Rafah, an Israeli Apache helicopter fired two missiles at the Hamas forces in a security post, Hamas said. One missed a car and the second struck inside Egypt, it said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Israeli army spokesman could not immediately say what was happening in the area. There was no immediate reaction from Egypt.

Israeli forces frequently conduct operations in the Gaza Strip to thwart rocket fire from the volatile area, which the Islamic militant Hamas took over in June.

Clashes between Hamas, Israeli Navy on Gaza coast

[Shammu]

Israel, PA negotiating teams to start talks on core issues Monday
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
13/01/2008

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia will meet Monday to begin talks on the core issues of the conflict, including Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and the final borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state.

During a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the sides negotiating teams, headed by Livni and Qureia, would begin discussion of six issues: Jerusalem, settlements, refugees, borders, security and water resources.

"If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement," Abbas said, adding that a peace treaty must resolve disputes over all the issues.

Prime Minister's Office spokesman Mark Regev confirmed that the negotiating teams would meet Monday, and that they received a mandate to begin discussions on the core issues.

Abbas also criticized the Hamas-led Gaza regime for allowing rockets to be fired into Israel but said the rocket fire hurts the Palestinians more than the Israelis, who keep demanding that Abbas take action to stop it.

A Hamas statement denounced Abbas' speech as full of lies and fabrications.

The Palestinian president said if Hamas relinquishes power in Gaza, he will begin talks with the Islamic militants, even if the Americans reject that.

Dichter: Agreements with PA should go through Kadima first

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter called on Sunday for agreements under discussion with the Palestinians to go through internal Kadima hearings before going into effect.

"An orderly discussion should be held in Kadima institutions before reaching any framework agreement with the Palestinians," Dichter told the party's ministers.

Dichter added that "it is forbidden to reach such an agreement before the implementation of stage one of the road map. We must demand that the Palestinians establish a chain of law enforcement in West Bank territory."

In additional to Israel's road map commitment to halt settlement construction and dismantle outposts, the Palestinians are required in the first stage to boost their security forces to fight terror.

Olmert said at the outset of the cabinet meeting on Sunday that U.S. President George Bush, who visited Israel and the West Bank last week, accepts that "no agreement will be implemented in the field without the fulfillment of Palestinian commitments, both in the West Bank and in Gaza."

Olmert also said that Bush said that "though there is one year left in the president's term, I think that even in his last year, he has enormous and extraordinary weight."

Israel, PA negotiating teams to start talks on core issues Monday

[Shammu]

Bomb-Making Chemicals Disguised as Humanitarian Aid to PA, Again
 
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Security agents of the Israel Airport Authority (IAA) discovered two tons of material used to manufacture explosives on a truck supposedly delivering humanitarian aid for residents of the Palestinian Authority. The discovery was made Monday afternoon at the IDF checkpoint at the Kerem Shalom Crossing into southern Gaza, a transit point for goods from Egypt destined for the PA.

The bomb-making ingredient was found by IAA officials during routine and random inspections of vehicles supposedly carrying humanitarian supplies into southern Gaza. According to security sources, the chemical compound, made from fertilizer, is used as fuel for PA rockets and in the manufacture of incendiary devices. The quantity of material discovered was sufficient for hundreds of rockets.

Security officials have yet to determine the source and destination of the explosives supplies. The investigation continues.

The smuggling incident was the second of its kind in less than a month. In late December, IDF soldiers discovered 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks marked "sugar" and earmarked for needy Arabs in Gaza. Potassium nitrate is a banned substance in Gaza, Judea and Samaria due to its use by terrorists for the manufacturing of explosives and Kassam rockets. The bags were marked as humanitarian aid from the European Union, Gaza's biggest source of assistance.

While security officials investigating the December case do not assume that the potassium nitrate was sent by the European Union, they have noted that terrorist groups have learned to take advantage of such shipments. An IDF source said at the time, "This is another example of how the terror organizations exploit the humanitarian aid that is delivered to the Palestinian population in Gaza with Israel's approval."

PM Olmert Opposes Gaza Incursion
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday that Israel was at "war" with Arab terrorists in Gaza, but said he opposed a full-scale invasion of the area "right now."

The prime minister explained his position: "Hundreds of fatalities amongst terror organizations in Gaza in the last year are a heavy price for the terror groups to have paid. I highly recommend that we do not get involved in operations and costs out of all proportion to the issues we are dealing with."

At the same time, Olmert stressed that he did not underestimate the severity of Kassam attacks on Sderot and other Jewish communities located near Gaza.

Israel Lifting Fuel Sanctions
The random discovery of the bomb-making material last month and on Monday did not change Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision to drop fuel sanctions imposed on Gaza by the government last month.

The cutbacks in fuel supplies were implemented as part of the effort to isolate and pressure the Hamas government in Gaza. The High Court of Justice heard several petitions against the move. On Thursday, the state submitted a motion in which it announced the suspension of the punitive measures.

Canada to Provide Aid
In addition to the assistance from the EU for the PA, Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier announced that his government would allocate $300 million for the PA over the course of the next five years. The money will be used to reform the PA and to fund its security forces, Bernier said.

The PA security forces have begun patrolling Shechem and Bethlehem in an effort to prove that the PA is able to fight terrorism and control crime. Terrorists who are caught by PA forces serve up to three months in prison and then become members of the force, provided with weapons and a salary from the PA.

Bomb-Making Chemicals Disguised as Humanitarian Aid to PA, Again

[Shammu]

International aid for Palestinians increases to $7.6 billion

PA minister of planning laments difficulty of fulfilling development plans in Hamas-controlled Gaza, despite willingness to allocate some 40% of new development budget to impoverished coastal territory

News Agencies
Published: 01.17.08
Israel News

Total donations from a Paris aid conference for the Palestinians last month have increased to at least $7.6 billion after countries fine-tuned their contributions, officials said Thursday.

Overall international pledges from the Dec. 17 conference - which originally totaled $7.4 billion - have risen to $7.6 billion, a French Foreign Ministry official said. The Palestinian minister of planning, Samir Abdullah, put the figure at $7.7 billion.

The French official said he could not immediately explain the discrepancy, but both he and Abdullah said donors had clarified their pledges in recent weeks, and that the final figure could still change.

Abdullah said the Palestinian Authority has already begun receiving aid. The European Union transferred $44 million, France some $35.2 million, the United Arab Emirates paid $42 million, and Saudi Arabia paid $30 million, he said.

The minister, speaking to reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said the money has allowed his government to pay salaries to some 170,000 employees for January and part of February.

Abdullah said some 40% of the development budget would normally go to Gaza, but said his government would face tremendous hurdles in fulfilling its plans because of the closure of Gaza and Hamas' control of the Strip.

France has not specified how much money each donor gave at the conference, though the United States and many Arab League and EU member states - the biggest donors - individually announced their pledges.

The pledges, made over three years, topped the Palestinian Authority's own appeal for $5.6 billion and were seen by many as an endorsement of the authority and its push for an independent state. The funds are for budgetary support, development projects and humanitarian assistance by aid agencies.

International aid for Palestinians increases to $7.6 billion

[Shammu]

PA president: Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip are 'brutal'
jpost staff and AP
THE JERUSALEM POST
Jan. 18, 2008

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday denounced Israel's ongoing military strikes in the Gaza Strip as "brutal," but also accused Gaza's Hamas rulers of trying to destroy the Palestinian dream of statehood.

"In these days, we can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," Abbas during Christmas celebrations of Armenian Christians in Bethlehem.

Abbas also reiterated his demand that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza, saying that since it took over the area last June, the Islamic group has "destroyed and tries to destroy our dreams, future and national aspirations."

Meanwhile, with the intensified Kassam rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip continuing to pound Negev communities for the fourth consecutive day, the IDF has responded in kind, striking an abandoned building which had once served as the Hamas-run interior ministry.

According to Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials, one woman was killed in air strike, and at least 48 people were injured. The building, which was situated in a residential district of the Gaza Strip, sustained severe damage, the witnesses said.

An IDF spokeswoman confirmed the strike, and said it targeted "a Hamas headquarters", and was part of Israel's campaign against the constant firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel.

Friday evening's air strike was the second for the day. Hours earlier, the IAF targeted a cell of rocket launchers, killing one civilian and wounding three Hamas operatives.

Also on Friday, Israeli troops from the elite under-cover "Duvdevan" unit killed a top Palestinian terror chief in the West Bank who was affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, group with ties to the Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Ahmad Sanakra, a commander in Tanzim, was killed in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The PA has in recent months been unable, or at least claims to have been unable, to rein in the renegade group.

Sanakra had been on Israel's wanted list for several years but repeatedly eluded capture. However, on Friday he was shot and killed by troops in what the IDF calls the "pressure cooker" tactic: a house where refugees hide is surrounded and the troops call for those hiding inside to give themselves up.

Sanakra refused to surrender, however, and an exchange of fire ensued. He was killed and four of his men, also Tanzim members, were taken into custody.

A commander in the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. -Gen. Noam Tivon, praised the soldiers of Duvdevan for their achievements over the last few days.

Kassam rockets have continued to rain down on Sderot and other Negev communities throughout Friday.

Eight rockets were fired towards Sderot, two of which landed in open fields.

Two rockets fired Friday afternoon landed near Havat Hashikmim, a farm owned by hospitalized prime minister Ariel Sharon. The two rockets caused no casualties or damage.

Of the four rockets that reached Sderot, one landed near a WIZO center, damaging several cars in the area.

PA president: Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip are 'brutal'

[Shammu]

Israel closes vital Gaza crossings

By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel sought to put an end to a surge in rocket attacks from Gaza, sending its air force Friday against a symbol of Hamas power in the heart of Gaza City and simultaneously choking off shipments of fuel and food across its border with the strip.

An Israeli warplane attacked the downtown offices of the Palestinian Interior Ministry, flattening one wing of the empty building, killing a woman at a wedding party next door and wounding at least 46 other civilians, some of them children playing soccer in the street, hospital staff and witnesses said.

"It was more like an earthquake ... smoke covered the area for a few minutes, we didn't know what was hit at first," said resident Yehia Rabbah.

The attack was the first on a ministry building since Hamas seized control of Gaza last June. An Israeli military commentator said it was meant to send a message to the violent Islamic group that further rocket attacks could cause the conflict to spiral.

The building, in a residential neighborhood flanked by the apartments of well-to-do residents, had been empty since it was severely damaged in a July 2006 airstrike. But even though it was unoccupied, it was seen as a symbol of Hamas authority.

In a parallel move, Israel sealed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Friday, cutting the flow of vital supplies in an attempt to pressure Hamas to halt the rocket fire. But the attacks continued, with 16 rockets falling in southern Israel, including one that damaged a day care center in the town of Sderot. Children were inside the building at the time, but no one was hurt, the prime minister's office said.

Violence has grown since Tuesday, when an Israeli ground and air offensive against rocket squads claimed the lives of 19 Palestinians, including the militant son of a prominent Hamas leader. By Friday night, the Gaza death toll stood at 34, including at least 10 civilians.

In northern Gaza, an Israel airstrike on Friday killed one member of a rocket launch squad and a civilian bystander, Hamas said. The air force also attacked a base of Hamas security forces in central Gaza, but it was not in use and there were no casualties.

Since Tuesday, Hamas has joined other militant groups lobbing crude rockets and mortar shells across the border, and by nightfall Friday over 160 projectiles had fallen, according to the Israeli military. They caused no serious injuries.

Military analyst Yoav Limor, speaking on Israel's Channel One television, said the Israelis had expected a violent response to Tuesday's killing of the son of Hamas strongman, Mahmoud Zahar. But when rockets rained down on southern Israel for a fourth day Friday, the Israeli military sent the radical Islamic movement a message.

"It's to signal Hamas that this is what we can do and it will hurt you," Limor said, adding that Israel sought to avoid a large-scale ground offensive against the rocket launchers.

An escalation of the Gaza fighting could complicate President Bush's efforts to prod the sides toward a final peace deal by year's end and sour newly revived talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank government.

The International Committee of the Red Cross called on Israel and the Palestinians to respect international law and stop harming civilians.

Christoph Harnisch, head of the organization's delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories, said in a statement he was "in daily contact with the Israeli army and Palestinian armed factions in an effort to persuade them to respect the civilian population."

Abbas denounced Israel's strikes in Gaza, but also accused Hamas of trying to destroy the Palestinian dream of statehood.

"We can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," Abbas said.

Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said crossings into Gaza were not opened Friday, preventing the scheduled passage of about 20 truckloads of food. The crossings, which normally work only a half-day on Fridays and are routinely closed Saturdays, may not open Sunday if rocket fire continues, he said.

He said Gazans had sufficient stocks of food so that no one would go hungry, adding that about 9,000 cows were allowed into the strip in the past two months.

"There is a government decision that there will not be a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Dror said.

John Ging, the Gaza-based head of UNRWA, the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, said the most immediate concern was the halt in delivery of fuel, of which there are no stockpiles.

"The supplies that are in most desperate need is the fuel," he said. "This is a very precarious situation." He said Israeli officials told him they would meet early next week to evaluate the situation and decide whether to reopen the passages.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon implored Israel to reverse its decision to seal the border crossings, warning that the violence and cutoff of supplies was provoking a humanitarian crisis.

"If this situation endures, the closure will also cause further shortages of food, medical and relief items," he said in New York.

Ban said he was concerned that the situation "will undermine the hopes for peace" that have come out of the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md.

Since Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Abbas loyalists, Israel has isolated the territory, although it generally allowed food, fuel and humanitarian shipments to pass.

In recent months, however, Israel has reduced fuel supplies in the hope that Gaza's population would pressure the militants to stop the rocket fire.

The Israeli human rights group Gisha wrote to Israel's attorney general this week, saying that due to fuel shortages the Gaza power plant had been forced to halve its output from 80 to 40 megawatts and asking him to order the immediate lifting of sanctions.

For weeks Gaza has been subjected to blackouts of up to 12 hours a day, and aid workers said the situation would turn critical if the closure lasted into next week.

Hamas warned of suicide attacks in Israel if it did not end the sanctions and military operations.

"If the bloodshed in Gaza and the West Bank does not stop, there will be similar bloodshed in ... Tel Aviv," Hamas spokesman Hamad al-Rukeb said in a statement.

The last suicide attack claimed by Hamas was in August 2005, when a suicide bomber severely wounded two security guards outside the bus station in the southern city of Beersheba. The last Hamas bombing to claim Israeli lives was in the same city a year earlier, when two bombers on separate city buses blew themselves up, killing 16 people and wounding 100.

Israel closes vital Gaza crossings

[Shammu]

Dichter: We must stop attacks from Gaza at all cost

Internal security minister warns that 'Sderot might collapse if there is no deterence in Gaza’. Barak: This is panic-driven talk

Roni Sofer
Published: 01.20.08
Israel News

Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter expressed a harsh reality to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Sunday, warning that “without military deterrence in Gaza, Sderot could very well collapse.”

Dichter furthermore noted that conditions in Qassam-weary Sderot are grim indeed, and praised the prime minister for his visit to the town last week. “Your visit was a positive event in a town whose morale is exceedingly low,” he told Olmert.

The internal security minister, who also visited Sderot last week, made these statements at a Kadima ministers' meeting, which was held right before the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.

During the actual cabinet meeting, Dichter spoke in an even more resolute fashion. He praised IDF operations in Gaza, but noted that they "were not quite enough to change the outlook for Sderot, which is beyond bleak.”

Dichter added that “the government must instruct the IDF to eliminate the rocket fire from Gaza entirely. These attacks need not be minimized or managed, but stopped completely irrespective of the cost to the Palestinians.”

The internal security minister noted that 180 Qassam Rocket have been fired at Gaza vicinity communities since the start of 2008. Referencing his recent visit to Sdeort he stated that “the weekend was absolutely terrible on them. After a draining week like that I would expect the IDF chief of staff to address the government as well.”

Ashkelon-resident Dichter lashed out at Prime Minister Olmert and his fellow government ministers, noting that “the government is entirely obtuse to the goings-on in Sderot”.

Olmert: We must be sensitive to repercussions

Responding to Dichter’s scathing criticism, Defense Minister Ehud Barak replied that Israel must uphold its current policy vis a vie Gaza. To this Dichter replied “I respectfully disagree with the defense minister. Israel’s policy in Gaza must not continue, as the military must reestablish deterrence in the Strip.”

Barak also  refered to Dichter's statments as "panic-driven talk the likes of which I had never heard in the government before," and assured the cabinet ministers that "we are taking the right action in Gaza. We will resolve the Qassam situation just as we have dealt with suicide bombings in the past."   

"We are impacting the overall quality of  life in Gaza and destroying the terror infrastructure," said Barak. 
As the cabinet meeting opened, Olmert praised IDF and Shin-Bet operations in the Gaza Strip, and noted that such strikes will continue.

“We must be sensitive to the very real repercussions that these attacks have for residents of Sderot and other Gaza vicinity communities”, said Olmert. “They live in constant fear and are threatened by persistent attacks that cause damage far beyond that which can be assessed in casualties alone.”

The prime minister also assured his cabinet that the government will address all civilian concerns in these communities, as well as addressing nagging security concerns. “We will address the needs of the residents of Sderot and other Gaza vicinity communities in the upcoming weeks,” he stated.

Housing Minister: No humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Also during the cabinet meeting, Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim addressed the crisis in Gaza, precipitated by the blockade imposed on the Strip by the defense minister Thursday. This in light of persistent rocket attacks originating from the region.

“We should not manufacture a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Its residents are hostages of a deranged regime, but there is no real humanitarian crisis there,” said Boim.

The housing minister also attacked the UN, which condemned Israel following the Gaza closure. “I don’t hear the UN speak out for residents of Gaza vicinity communities which have been living in the shadow of rocket salvos for weeks, months and even years,” he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to Qassam rocket and sniper attacks on the western Negev during the weekend, but also called on Israel to show restraint in wake of these attacks, warning of a looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Dichter: We must stop attacks from Gaza at all cost

[Shammu]

Fatah TV Broadcasts Daily Call For Ethnic Cleansing of Jews
21 Shevat 5768, January 28, '08
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Fatah chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's PA television has been repeatedly broadcasting a hate-filled music video calling for the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people from Israel.

There is video on the news page.

"My enemy, oh snake! Around the land, you are coiled. You have no choice, oh enemy, but to leave my country," is the refrain in the video, which has been broadcast on a daily basis for the past several months, according to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

"The song's refrain, 'My enemy, oh enemy,' is repeated over and over throughout the song. Israel is not even given the courtesy of a name, but is tagged with such labels as 'treacherous,' 'imperialism' and a 'coiled snake,'" PMW Director Itamar Marcus points out. "The Palestinian is portrayed as a heroic victim who courageously confronts the evil 'enemy' Israel."

The song incites Arabs living under Fatah's rule in Judea and Samaria to fight to the death to rid the land of Jews, assuring them that, through this, they will ultimately prevail: "You have no choice, oh enemy, but to leave my country," it says.

"The goal of this music video clip is to inculcate loathing of Israel and anticipation of its destruction," Marcus explains. "The repeated broadcast over recent months by Fatah-controlled television is consistent with other Arabic-language hate messages currently being disseminated - in spite of the peace talks."

PA TV first aired the music video in 2004 and resumed its broadcast in October, 2007. It was broadcast throughout the Annapolis conference as well as during US President George W. Bush's visit to Israel, PMW reports. It continues to be aired on almost a daily basis.

The following is the text of the hate video:

"My enemy. Oh, my enemy.
Stop your crimes.
Treaty breaker! Treacherous!...
If you pull out my eyes,
My heart will see. (x2)
If you cut off my hands,
My chest is knives and swords.
My enemy! Oh imperialism!
This homeland is ours. (x2)
This land will be tilled
only by our hoes. (x2)
Whenever the tension rises,
Whenever this land weeps, (x2)
the flower will return
to grow in our house.
My enemy. Oh, my enemy.
Stop your crimes.
Treaty breaker! Treacherous!...
My enemy! Oh snake!
Around the land, you are coiled. (x2)
We, noble, courageous,
on the day of ruin [battle], shall stand.
You have no choice, Oh enemy,
but to leave my country.
And my children will return.

Fatah TV Broadcasts Daily Call For Ethnic Cleansing of Jews

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

This is obviously sick, twisted, and violent EVIL! The entire world will see much more than just words when Bible Prophecy is fulfilled, and it will MOST CERTAINLY be fulfilled at GOD'S Appointed time. We are actually watching EVIL spread it's roots, and those roots will extend throughout the entire world. EVIL will ripen and the global work of EVIL will begin. ONLY THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WILL BE ABLE TO STOP IT!

[Shammu]

Rocket attacks from Gaza continue, Israel strikes back
JPost.com Staff
THE JERUSALEM POST
Feb. 8, 2008

After a turbulent day on which some 40 Kassams and mortar shells slammed into the western Negev, the attacks continued Saturday morning as two rockets fired from Gaza hit the Sha'ar Hanegev region.

One of the rockets landed next to a kibbutz, while the other fell near a junction. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

The IAF hit back, striking a Popular Resistance Committees rocket launching cell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun. The army said that the terrorists were standing next to rocket launchers. Two of the terrorists were wounded in the air strike, including one seriously, Palestinian medics reported.

The air force also destroyed four other rocket launchers in the area.

Late Friday, two Sderot homes suffered direct hits from Kassams, sending six people into shock - four of whom were eating their Shabbat dinner when the rockets struck.

One man was evacuated to a hospital, suffering from chest pains and two other residents of the beleaguered town were lightly wounded after falling down while scampering for shelter from the rockets.

Following Friday's rocket barrage, Israel's UN ambassador Dan Gillerman issued a harsh complaint to the UN secretary-general and the UNSC president. Gillerman cited the severe and worrying terror activities which have been perpetrated against Israel over the last few days.

In his formal letter of complaint, the UN envoy highlighted the two young girls wounded in a Kassam rocket attack on Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday.

He wrote that the rocket attacks were part of a campaign by the Hamas leadership, the principal aim of which is to kill Israelis.

Due to the incessant rocket attacks, some 30 people blocked traffic in both directions at the southern entrance to Sderot on Friday night, protesting the government's "neglect" of the town's residents.

Meanwhile, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the rocket attacks were a justified response to Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Haniyeh also said that there was no progress in negotiations to secure the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.

Nevertheless, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhari proposed a truce saying that rocket attacks would be stopped if the IDF halts all its operations against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

In an interview with a Saudi newspaper, Zuhari said that "the ball is in Israel's court."

Hamas said Friday that it would not be deterred by Israel's cutback of the power supply.

"The Zionist enemy must understand that the policy of assassinations, of attacks, of embargo, of cutting electricity and fuel will not halt the resistance and will not break the back of the Palestinians," said senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan. "We warn them of a large volcano that will erupt if their aggression increases."

Meanwhile, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO executive committee and a senior adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the rocket attacks, calling them a "worthless" tactic which was being used by Israel as an excuse to "continue its acts of aggression," Army Radio reported.

Rocket attacks from Gaza continue, Israel strikes back

[Shammu]

Extremists poured into Gaza
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST    Feb. 6, 2008

Thousands of Arab men have flocked into the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the past two weeks, offering to join in the fight against Israel, sources close to Hamas said Wednesday.

The men, who came from Egypt and several other Arab countries, entered the Gaza Strip after the border with Egypt was torn down, the sources said, adding that they had offered to join Hamas and other armed groups.

Egyptian sources said the men had toured a number of training bases and security installations belonging to Hamas and other groups and expressed their desire to remain in the Gaza Strip and launch attacks against Israel.

The sources said some of the men had recently fled from Iraq, where they had been carrying out attacks against US troops.

The Bethlehem-based Maan news agency quoted Hamas sources as estimating the number of Arab men who had entered the Gaza Strip at 2,000. According to the sources, the Palestinian groups expressed their gratitude for the show of solidarity, but said they already had enough men to fight against Israel.

Palestinian Authority security officials told The Jerusalem Post that many of the men were Muslim fundamentalists who were eager to launch terror attacks on Israel.

"Hamas has turned the Gaza Strip into an international center for global jihad," said one official. "Most of the men who entered the Gaza Strip through the breached border are now being trained in Hamas's camps and schools."

Another PA security official said that according to his information, dozens of al-Qaida operatives have managed to enter the Gaza Strip in the past two weeks. He said some of them had already been recruited to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"They brought with them tons of explosives and various types of weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles," the official said. "What's happening in the Gaza Strip is very dangerous not only for Israel, but for many Palestinians as well."

He added that a number of Iranian security experts had also entered the Gaza Strip to help train members of Hamas and other armed groups.

Earlier this week, PA officials told the Post that Iran and Syria were behind Monday's suicide bombing in Dimona.

Hamas's representative in Teheran, Abu Osama Abdel Mu'ti, announced Wednesday that his movement was planning more suicide attacks against Israel.

"The armed wing of Hamas has decided to resume martyrdom [suicide] operations against Israel after a one-year lull," he said. "The enemy should expect more attacks."

He said the fact that Hamas suicide bombers had managed to carry out an attack in Dimona, "one of the most sensitive areas," was a major victory. "This operation shows that the Palestinian resistance groups won't succumb to the pressure from the Zionists, Americans and their allies in Ramallah," he stressed.

In another development, the family of Luai al-Aghwani, a 21- year-old man from Gaza City initially believed to be one of the Dimona suicide bombers, demanded on Wednesday to know whether he was still alive or not.

Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, claimed shortly after the bombing that Aghwani had been one of the two suicide bombers who died in the attack. The group even released a videotape showing the would-be suicide bomber reading out his will before the attack.

However, the Fatah claim later turned out to be false as Hamas took credit for the Dimona attack, saying the terrorists were from Hebron.

Following the Hamas claim of responsibility, Aghwani's family, who have been sitting in mourning since Monday, said they had not ruled out the possibility that he had been arrested by the Egyptian authorities after crossing through the breached border.

"I want to know what happened to my son," his mother, Ibtisam, told reporters at her home in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. "If he didn't carry out the attack in Dimona, then where is he? It's possible that he's being held by the Egyptians after he crossed the border."

The mother said she had last seen her son five days before the Dimona bombing. "He woke up one morning, wore two coats on top of each other, and walked out of the house," she recounted. "When I asked him why he was wearing two coats, he just smiled and walked away."

Extremists poured into Gaza