(AKI) - Clashes between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces escalated on Thursday. Six rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel's western Negev desert by militants from the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the al-Quds Brigades, in retaliation for overnight attacks by the Israeli Air Force.
The latest rocket attacks took place only a day before the end of an Egyptian-mediated six-month truce between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, and the Islamist movement pledged not to renew.
However, the intense tit-for-tat exchange of fire began on Monday with the assassination of one of the al-Quds Brigades leaders, allegedly by Israeli undercover forces in the West Bank.
During the Israeli Air Force attacks late Wednesday, a 53 year-old Palestinian man was killed.
Palestinian media reports said that F-16 fighter jets fired at a car near Khan Younis on Wednesday, and another in the Jabalya refugee camp, but no injuries were reported. In addition, Israeli helicopters were reported to have fired missiles in northern Gaza on Thursday.
Renewed clashes began on Monday, after Israeli undercover forces allegedly assassinated 23 year-old Ameen Jihad Nawahda, a leader of the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank village of al-Yamoon, near Jenin.
Israeli media has said more than 40 rockets have been fired at southern Israel since Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[7 views]
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#1
you declare an end to the so-called truce, expect to reap the consequences.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2008 17:26 Comments ||
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Tariq Alhomayed
Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, the spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Hamas movement was kind enough to respond to my article entitled 'Religious Arrogance'. However, I wish he hadn't done so as his response was as ugly as sin. Hamas considered what I wrote "distortion" and "part of a campaign that is being carried out by some people in the interest of a political group whose aim is well known; to conceal the political downfall of Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas], and to attack forces of resistance and opposition in the interest of settling matters," according to the Hamas spokesperson.
Moreover, towards the end of his speech, Dr Abu Zuhri said that whoever attacks Hamas "needs to remember that the trench that is opposite Hamas is the trench of the occupation and enemies of the nation. Therefore he must reassess his position; he is either with Hamas and the resistance, or with the enemies of the nation."
The spokesman's response clearly demonstrates Hamas's way of thinking; it believes that everybody should support it and must not criticize it otherwise they are deemed supporters of the nation's enemies who choose to stand in the occupier's trench!
This is how Hamas sees matters, in a completely naive and superficial manner. The movement fails to understand that there are people who are enthusiastic about the Palestinian project as a whole, not about the organizations and individuals. One must say here that President Mahmoud Abbas cannot be compared to the leadership of the Hamas movement; Abbas is a political figure who deserves support.
Hamas does not want to acknowledge the extent of the damage that it dealt to the Palestinian cause or face the suffering it inflicted on the people of Gaza, for which Hamas is partly responsible. Yet Hamas still sees things according to the perspective that 'You are either with us or with Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas].'
Dr Abu Zuhri spoke with clear pretentiousness, as he said that those who criticize Hamas are those who defend settling matters, forgetting that his movement is the one that is seeking and defending appeasement, which means losing all Palestinian rights and handing over the Palestinian cause to those who exploit it for even longer, thus prolonging the suffering of Gaza.
That is not all; Dr Abu Zuhra is accusing me of distortion because I said that Hamas has equated itself to Islam as it demanded that President Abbas repent for criticizing the movement. It is doing the same thing with regards to the author of this article, as Abu Zuhra is saying that whoever attacks Hamas is on the side of the occupier and the nation's enemies. This is the exactly the same approach that Hamas followed concerning Abbas; he criticized Hamas and the movement considered this criticism equivalent to transgression against religion and by writing about it, I have joined the occupier's camp!
I was neither mistaken nor exaggerating when I said that Hamas is afflicted by religious arrogance. How else can one interpret the comments made by Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the Hamas coup government in Gaza on the movement's 21st anniversary to the would-be Hajj pilgrims who were prevented from performing the Hajj pilgrimage by the movement?
Haniyeh said to them, "It wasn't in your destiny to witness the great day of the Hajj pilgrimage; God destined for you to witness the great day of Hamas on Palestinian land, and you will be rewarded." Is this rational talk?
Is a day for Hamas propaganda, during the peak of Palestinian division, equal to one of the five pillars of Islam, to the extent that this false day has come to be equivalent to the great day of the Hajj [namely the Day of Arafat]? Didn't we say that every statement that Hamas makes represents an error and that every error means that the Palestinian division will be a long one?!
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
That's the middle east for you.
If you can't explain it as a conspiracy theory, forget it.
#2
"It wasn't in your destiny to witness the great day of the Hajj pilgrimage; God destined for you to witness the great day of Hamas on Palestinian land, and you will be rewarded."
If I didn't know any better, I'd say Haniyeh has been sipping from the Marxist cup.
This is the end
Beautiful friend
The end
My only friend, the end (AKI) - The Islamist Hamas movement declared on Thursday evening an end to a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip - one day before the truce was due to expire. The announcement was made soon after heavy clashes took place in Gaza between Palestinian militants and the Israeli Army. "The calm, which was reached with Egyptian sponsorship on 19 June and expires on 19 December, is finished because the enemy did not abide by its obligations," said Hamas official Ayman Taha.
The Egyptian-mediated truce had been scheduled to end on Friday. "The truce with Israel is finished. Today is the last day of it and there is no possibility of it being renewed," said Hamas MP Mushir al-Masri, quoted by a website affiliated with Hamas.
The intense tit-for-tat exchanges of fire between Israel and Gaza militants began on Monday with the assassination of one of the leaders of the al-Quds Brigades, armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, allegedly by Israeli undercover forces in the West Bank.
In a separate incident, Israeli daily Maariv claims that assassinating Hamas leaders is an option being explored as Israeli forces prepare for the end of the ceasefire. According to the daily, unnamed Arab leaders have given Israel a go-ahead to assassinate Hamas leaders in case the group refuses to renew the truce. The list includes deposed Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, deposed Minister of the Interior Said Siyam, and deposed Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, as well as Ahmad al-Jabary the head of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing. The list also features Gaza MP and leader of the Popular Committee against the Siege in Gaza, Jamal Al-Khudari.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
"...no possibility of it being renewed"
Until the next one, of course. At least we won't have to endure the "threatening the fragile truce" macro, at least for a little while.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/19/2008 18:32 Comments ||
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#5
The fact that they have declared an end to the "Cease-fire" concerns me greatly. We really don't know how close Iran is to making nuclear weapons. Anyone who thinks they won't use them is a fool.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/19/2008 19:18 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"Anyone who thinks they won't use them is a fool."
Especially since Imahdinnahnutjob said he would.
So of course the Lefties don't believe him.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/19/2008 19:31 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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(AKI) - Clashes between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces escalated on Thursday. Six rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel's western Negev desert by militants from the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the al-Quds Brigades, in retaliation for overnight attacks by the Israeli Air Force.
(AKI) - The Islamist Hamas movement declared on Thursday evening an end to a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip - one day before the truce was due to expire. The announcement was made soon after heavy clashes took place in Gaza between Palestinian militants and the Israeli Army. "The calm, which was reached with Egyptian sponsorship on 19 June and expires on 19 December, is finished because the enemy did not abide by its obligations," said Hamas official Ayman Taha.
