Israeli Crimes in Gaza - Last 24 Hours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzwcfxq46GI
Imagine if the children killed were Israelis. The headlines and editorials would be screaming for revenge, and talking about Israel's 'right to self defence'. But several Palestinian children are murdered, and you have to hunt to find the story.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzwcfxq46GI Imagine if the children killed were Israelis. The headlines and editorials would be screaming for revenge, and talking about Israel's 'right to self defence'. But several Palestinian children are murdered, and you have to hunt to find the story.)
Israel destroys Hamas interior office in Gaza
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-28
Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations
GAZA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Apache attack helicopter gunship destroyed by three air-to-ground missiles the building of the interior ministry in the deposed Hamas government in Gaza City, witnesses said.
Three consecutive explosions were heard in the northeastern part of the city, said the witnesses, adding that the building of Hamas interior offices was targeted with three missiles fired by Israeli helicopters.
Medics said that four civilians were lightly to moderately injured, who were treated at Shifa Hospital in the city.
The Israeli strike on the interior offices was reactions to dozens of homemade rockets fired by Palestinian militants at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. One Israeli was killed and four wounded during the attack on the town.
On Wednesday, Israel also killed at least 11 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of them are Hamas militants. Hamas retaliated to the killing by launching several rockets at southern Israel.
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle belonging to Hamas militants after it was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip Feb. 27, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/28/content_7682512.htm
Gaza infant killed in Israeli airstrike on Hamas interior office
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-28 05:45:10
Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations
GAZA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A 5-month-old infant was killed and three civilians were wounded on Wednesday night in an Israeli airstrike on a building belongs to deposed Hamas government in Gaza, medics and witnesses said.
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance service in the ministry of health said that a 5-month-old baby shortly died of his sustained wounds, adding that three more civilians were moderately injured.
Israeli Apache attack helicopter gunship destroyed by three air-to-ground missiles the building of the interior ministry in the deposed Hamas government in Gaza City, witnesses said.
They added that three consecutive explosions were heard in the northeastern part of the city. The building of Hamas interior office was targeted with three missiles fired by Israeli helicopters.
Medics said that four civilians were lightly to moderately injured, who were treated at Shifa Hospital in the city.
The Israeli strike on the interior office was reactions to dozens of homemade rockets were fired by Palestinian militants at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. One Israeli was killed and four were wounded in the town.
(However, the imposition of illegal measures of Collective Punishment on Gaza months ago provoked these rockets. UN report says Israeli occupation causes terror http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=24527 Even Israel's own defense staff warned that this would happen.)
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel also killed 11 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of them are Hamas militants. Hamas retaliated to the killing by launching several rockets at southern Israel.
Palestinian witnesses in Gaza City said that Israeli drones and aircrafts hovered over Gaza City, where several explosions were heard, adding that a blacksmith workshop was destroyed by one Israeli missile.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/28/content_7682241.htm
Israel steps up pressure on Hamas, killing 18 Palestinians in fighting
Published: Thursday, February 28, 2008 | 3:16 PM ET
Canadian Press: Ibrahim Barzak, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli aircraft struck a series of targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing 18 Palestinians - including five youths - in a fresh surge in fighting that threatened to provoke even harsher Israeli action.
(The only action that is being 'provoked' is the resistance of the Palestinians. This Israeli violence is called aggression, and nothing provoked it, except for the ruling Zionist Extremists in Israel rejecting peace, negotiation, and compromise. Most Israelis back talks with Hamas: poll http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2008/February/middleeast_February319.xml§ion=middleeast )
The Israeli attacks stepped up the pressure on Hamas, a day after a rocket fired by the Islamic militant group from Gaza killed an Israeli man. One helicopter attack struck a target outside the home of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
However, Palestinian rocket fire continued throughout the day, lightly wounding two people and in one case, forcing a top Israeli security official to scurry for cover. Police said two rockets reached Ashkelon, a major city about 15 kilometres north of Gaza.
Thursday's violence raised the death toll in two days of fighting to 29 Palestinians and threatened to worsen the ongoing bloodshed in the area, which involves near-daily Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza and harsh Israeli reprisals.
(Note the dishonest Framing of this story.)
Eight children were among the dead, according to Palestinian officials.
The latest wave of violence began on Wednesday when an Israeli air strike killed five Hamas militants travelling in a van. Israeli officials said that among the five were an unstated number who received weapons and explosives training in Iran, and local media reports quoted anonymous officials as saying the men were planning a large attack against Israel.
(But remember, Israel is trying to start a war with Iran, based on LIES. It would appear this is just more of the same. It irresponsible for the media to repeat these empty allegations without following them up with anything.)
Hamas retaliated by firing more than 40 rockets into Israel, one of the heaviest barrages in months. One rocket landed on an Israeli college campus in the southern town of Sderot, killing a 47-year-old father of four. (Interesting that Palestinians are never personalized in such a manner ...)
It was the first fatal rocket attack since last May.
(While Israel has killed Palestinian civilians daily. To hear the media tell it, however, you would almost guess that the opposite was true ...)
On Thursday, Israel carried out at least 10 air strikes in northern and central Gaza, Palestinians said. The army said it was targeting rocket-launching areas. The army said it was targeting "militants and rocket-launcher squads."
(However, the large number of civilians murdered suggests that many of these strikes were arbitrary. Knowing that your attacks kill such a high number of civilians is no different than targeting them directly.)
Officials said 18 people were killed Thursday, including five boys who were struck as they played soccer in Jebaliya in northern Gaza. Relatives said the boys ranged in age from eight to 14.
Ahmed Dardouna, a family member, said four of the boys were related; two were brothers and the other two were their cousins.
"They were playing soccer east of the town, not far from our houses," said Dardouna, 42. He said distraught family members located the bodies at a hospital after the boys failed to come home.
The fifth boy, a 12-year-old neighbour, died later from his wounds, hospital officials said.
Later Thursday, a helicopter attacked a police roadblock about 150 metres from the home of Haniyeh, Hamas' prime minister, in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. One person was killed and four people were wounded, officials said.
The attack appeared to be a message to Hamas, since the area is not used to fire rockets.
(This alsi contradicts Israel's statements about the attacks ...)
Haniyeh, who has been hiding from the Israelis for weeks, wasn't believed to be in the area.
In a statement earlier Thursday, Haniyeh said Israel's ongoing attacks would "not weaken the steadfastness and the determination of the Palestinian people."
The Israeli army has U.S.-made F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters, as well as locally developed pilotless drones, in its arsenal. Palestinian witnesses said all three types of aircraft were used in the recent attacks. The army did not immediately comment.
(Israel is 'softening up' the Strip for the full-scale invasion and reoccupation it planned long before the Annapolis Conference, in which Israel rejected the prospect of negotiation and compromise in the name of peace.)
"We will reach out for the terrorists and we will attack and we will try to stop them," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a news conference in Tokyo, where he is winding up an official visit.
(And apparently, a great deal of children as well. Or is that part of the 'message' ... ?)
He also rejected calls to loosen an economic embargo (Collective Punishment, a War Crime.) on Gaza. The blockade has come under growing international criticism because of the hardship it has caused in Gaza.
"The only requirement we have of the Palestinians is stop killing innocent Israelis like they did last night," he said. "It's hard to do business when you have to bury your population as the result of the atrocities and the terror committed by the Palestinians."
(Such statements, against a backdrop of the civilian slaughter caused by Israel, demonstrates the racism and hypocrisy inherent in Zionism's war.)
Despite the Israeli attacks, Palestinian militants fired at least 10 homemade rockets into Israel, police said. Two people were lightly wounded, including a bodyguard of Public Security Minister Avi Dichter.
Dichter was not in Sderot at the time. But after he arrived, Dichter was forced to cut short a news conference when an air-raid siren went off and his guards rushed him into a concrete shelter.
Police said five foreign-made Katyusha rockets reached Ashkelon, a city of 109,000. One rocket went through the roof of a crowded apartment building, but no one was hurt. A 17-year-old Israeli girl was slightly wounded by the second rocket.
Israel has long feared that Ashkelon could soon face regular rocket attacks. Casualties have been kept relatively low because the rockets mostly land in sparsely populated areas next to the border.
(Because Hamas is trying to send a message, not kill people.)
In Gaza, Hamza al-Haya, the son of Hamas legislator Khalil al-Haya, was among those killed Thursday, Hamas said. The group said he had commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza.
Khalil al-Haya is one of Hamas' top figures in Gaza, and has himself escaped assassination attempts, including an Israeli strike that killed his brother last year.
Visiting the morgue at Gaza City's Shifa hospital Thursday, Khalil al-Haya said he was proud that his son had lost his life for the Hamas cause, like many of his relatives.
"I thank God for this gift," he said. "This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honour of martyrdom." Several thousand people joined the funeral procession.
In Tokyo, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met briefly with Olmert. She said the Hamas rocket attacks "need to stop," but also expressed concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged calm on all sides.
(It's called "APPEASEMENT".)
"We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza: the illegal coup that they led against the legitimate institutions of the Palestinian Authority," Rice told reporters after the meeting. "It is very clear where this started."
(Indeed. The US and Israel rejected the elected Government, and imposed Collective Punishment on Gaza as a result. When this failed to usurp the Government, they used corrupt elements of Fatah in a Coup Attempt which failed. Israel, as a result, increased its illegal blockade, and planned a full-scale attack. The rockets are a result of that provocation.)
Hamas violently seized control of Gaza last year from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
(See above. This is irresponsible journalism, a reversal of the truth.)
Israel has been holding peace talks with Abbas' government in the West Bank, while battling Hamas in Gaza.
(Actually, Israeli Extremists rejected the prospect of peace talks, but went through the motions in the name of PR, which the western press was more than happy to give them. In reality, Israel's Government has scuttled those talks, as they always do.)
Rice is expected to visit the Middle East next week to help push peace efforts forward. Abbas and Olmert hope to reach a peace agreement by the end of the year, though both sides have warned that the target may be too ambitious.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/080228/w022882A.html
Israel considers a U.S-like invasion of Gaza
Rami Almeghari - IMEMC
Thursday February 21, 2008
The Israeli government has been reportedly approved a military plan, similar to the U.S invasion of Iraq in 2003, within underway preparations to massively attack Gaza.
According to the Jewish Press online website on Wednesday, Israeli sources said that a plan, drafted by the Israeli general staff, has been endorsed by the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak.
The website also reported that such a planned invasion has been discussed by several panels of the Israeli cabinet, involving many cabinet members.
A part of the plan, Israel is intending to diminish the Hamas regime in Gaza, with targeting the Hamas leaders and controlling most areas of the Gaza Strip, in a way that dejects momentum of likely international response.
At least 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers, backed by warplanes and warships and battle tanks, will be employed in the Gaza invasion, to be deployed at four main access, including the Mediterranean sea side.
In addition, the Israeli army will dismember the coastal region into three parts, starting with the Gaza international airport of Rafah city in the south, the Jewish online publication added.
Nevertheless, the plan requires approval of the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who is supposed to await the United States' permission to the proposed invasion of Gaza.
Among the possible scenarios of such an offensive, an Israeli army presence on the Gaza-Egypt border line, with a possibility of installing a NATO force into the region, following the Israeli withdrawal.
Recently, a number of Israeli ministers have gestured possibility to eliminate the Hamas regime in Gaza, once and for all.
Israel has warned of massively attack the Gaza Strip as some ministers proposed leveling to the ground entire Gaza neighborhoods, after having evacuated the residents.
Link: www.imemc.org/article/52975
Laying groundwork for Gaza war
Berlin first stop in Israeli effort to obtain international backing ahead of Gaza operation
Roni Sofer Published: 02.14.08, 17:35 / Israel Opinion
Olmert, Livni and Barak know that Israel’s public relations apparatus is currently facing a problem. The Western world, which maintained its support for Israel’s right to act against the rocket attacks from Gaza employed by Hamas and its associates, is inclined to criticize the Jewish State over the Gaza siege and economic sanctions.
(Collective Punishment is a War Crime. The rockets that Israel is trying to use to justify attacks it planned long before Annapolis have been provoked by its imposition of Collective Punishment, its War Crimes. Its own defence staff warned that when these illegal measures were increased months ago, that this policy would provoke such a response.)
Israel’s stock is dropping, reaching the point of a condemnation by British foreign secretary David Miliband last weekend. The concern is growing in light of the possibility that Israel will need to embark on a wide-scale military operation in Gaza early in spring.
(It doesn't 'need' to do this, and therein lies the rub. Israel's ruling Extremists simply reject any notion of ending its war to wipe Palestine off the map, especially if it involves partaking in a 'peace process' it can't control, one which would force Israel to give back much of what it has stolen, as demanded by international Law and UN Security Council Resolutions.)
Olmert is reading the international map and he knows what Israel has planned should the Qassam fire continue. Together with Livni and Barak, they postpone the decision to embark on major Gaza operation every week. Yet the three of them know that it is impossible to go on with a situation whereby civilians are subjected to Qassam barrages and a game of Palestinian roulette.
(But the facts that Israel's attacks on Gaza have doubled since Annapolis, as has the murder of Palestinian civilians during these attacks, and the severity of Israel's War Crimes in Gaza are apparently inconsequential. Israel is wholly responsible for this 'crisis', one which could quickly be averted if they truly wanted this to happen.)
In closed-door sessions, Olmert’s people make it clear that should Israel decide on a wide-scale operation, it would need international room for maneuver. It needs support that would be similar to what Israel enjoyed in the last war in Lebanon. This will enable Israel to complete an effective military operation and also, if necessary, would facilitate the involvement of a UN-mandated multinational force in order to prevent the emergence of a new Gaza vacuum.
(The only UN force needed is one to seperate the Israelis from the Palestinians, and to enforce the many Security Council Resolutions Israel is currently in violation of.)
Grand diplomatic campaign
Berlin, which is undecided on the prospects of a major Israeli operation, was a good place to start. On the one hand there is Chancellor Merkel there, who was convinced of the need to back Israel’s actions – ranging from continued civilian sanctions to expanded military operations. On the other hand, there is German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Merkel’s coalition partner, who does not automatically back everything Israel says.
(Appeasement doesn't work. Haven't we learned that by now? If you allow Israel this murderous rampage, where does it end?)
Olmert presented to the German administration the distress faced by Sderot and Gaza-region residents, pointed to Hamas-Iran ties, and warned that fundamentalist terrorism has no boundaries. This public relations work was apparently useful.
(But that's all it is; empty PR. The attack which has been planned for months would make the abject suffering of Gazans immeasurably worse.)
Now, officials at the Prime Minister’s Office are expecting the grand campaign to start.
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Livni took 70 foreign diplomats to see a 15-second film, about the 15 seconds that Sderot residents have in order to find a shelter from the exploding Qassams. Now she traveled to Washington, where she will meet her counterpart Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to arrive here next month. In the meeting Livni will discuss the intolerable situation in the south.
(Immorality breeds contradiction. Nothing the residents of Sderot have to 'endure' because of their Government's rejection of peace even approaches the suffering endured, the terror felt, by the people of Gaza.)
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Barak traveled to Turkey, and spoke about the need to safeguard southern residents even before promoting negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state. Other ministers will travel worldwide, while our ambassadors will work hard.
(He means to say 'instead of', not 'even before' ...)
Berlin came first, as a harbinger of what the political leadership in Jerusalem wishes to achieve internationally, ahead of the hot summer in Gaza.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3506777,00.html
'IDF should wipe out parts of Gaza'
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?11210S
As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html
As Predicted: Israel Attacks Gaza
http://www.alaanasnews.blogspot.com/2007/12/as-predicted-israel-attacks-gaza.html
Probe: At Least Half of Palestinians Killed by IDF Were Civilians
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944276.html
Israeli Attacks on Palestinians, Killings, Doubled Since Annapolis
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m40008&hd=&size=1&l=e
UN Condemns Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389757.html?c=on#c187937
Israel Destroys Gaza Interior Ministry, Blocks UN Aid
http://www.today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2008-01-18T
UN Condemns 'Cowardly Israeli War Crime'
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389828.html
It's All Right, I'm Only Bleeding
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10557S
An Experiment in Famine: Hamas is Not the Real Issue
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10872S
Jewish Groups Condemn Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10877S
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-28
Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations
GAZA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Apache attack helicopter gunship destroyed by three air-to-ground missiles the building of the interior ministry in the deposed Hamas government in Gaza City, witnesses said.
Three consecutive explosions were heard in the northeastern part of the city, said the witnesses, adding that the building of Hamas interior offices was targeted with three missiles fired by Israeli helicopters.
Medics said that four civilians were lightly to moderately injured, who were treated at Shifa Hospital in the city.
The Israeli strike on the interior offices was reactions to dozens of homemade rockets fired by Palestinian militants at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. One Israeli was killed and four wounded during the attack on the town.
On Wednesday, Israel also killed at least 11 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of them are Hamas militants. Hamas retaliated to the killing by launching several rockets at southern Israel.
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle belonging to Hamas militants after it was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip Feb. 27, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/28/content_7682512.htm Gaza infant killed in Israeli airstrike on Hamas interior office
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-28 05:45:10
Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations
GAZA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A 5-month-old infant was killed and three civilians were wounded on Wednesday night in an Israeli airstrike on a building belongs to deposed Hamas government in Gaza, medics and witnesses said.
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance service in the ministry of health said that a 5-month-old baby shortly died of his sustained wounds, adding that three more civilians were moderately injured.
Israeli Apache attack helicopter gunship destroyed by three air-to-ground missiles the building of the interior ministry in the deposed Hamas government in Gaza City, witnesses said.
They added that three consecutive explosions were heard in the northeastern part of the city. The building of Hamas interior office was targeted with three missiles fired by Israeli helicopters.
Medics said that four civilians were lightly to moderately injured, who were treated at Shifa Hospital in the city.
The Israeli strike on the interior office was reactions to dozens of homemade rockets were fired by Palestinian militants at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. One Israeli was killed and four were wounded in the town.
(However, the imposition of illegal measures of Collective Punishment on Gaza months ago provoked these rockets. UN report says Israeli occupation causes terror
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=24527 Even Israel's own defense staff warned that this would happen.) Earlier on Wednesday, Israel also killed 11 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of them are Hamas militants. Hamas retaliated to the killing by launching several rockets at southern Israel.
Palestinian witnesses in Gaza City said that Israeli drones and aircrafts hovered over Gaza City, where several explosions were heard, adding that a blacksmith workshop was destroyed by one Israeli missile.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/28/content_7682241.htm Israel steps up pressure on Hamas, killing 18 Palestinians in fighting
Published: Thursday, February 28, 2008 | 3:16 PM ET
Canadian Press: Ibrahim Barzak, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli aircraft struck a series of targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing 18 Palestinians - including five youths - in a fresh surge in fighting that threatened to provoke even harsher Israeli action.
(The only action that is being 'provoked' is the resistance of the Palestinians. This Israeli violence is called aggression, and nothing provoked it, except for the ruling Zionist Extremists in Israel rejecting peace, negotiation, and compromise. Most Israelis back talks with Hamas: poll
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2008/February/middleeast_February319.xml§ion=middleeast ) The Israeli attacks stepped up the pressure on Hamas, a day after a rocket fired by the Islamic militant group from Gaza killed an Israeli man. One helicopter attack struck a target outside the home of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
However, Palestinian rocket fire continued throughout the day, lightly wounding two people and in one case, forcing a top Israeli security official to scurry for cover. Police said two rockets reached Ashkelon, a major city about 15 kilometres north of Gaza.
Thursday's violence raised the death toll in two days of fighting to 29 Palestinians and threatened to worsen the ongoing bloodshed in the area, which involves near-daily Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza and harsh Israeli reprisals.
(Note the dishonest Framing of this story.)
Eight children were among the dead, according to Palestinian officials.
The latest wave of violence began on Wednesday when an Israeli air strike killed five Hamas militants travelling in a van. Israeli officials said that among the five were an unstated number who received weapons and explosives training in Iran, and local media reports quoted anonymous officials as saying the men were planning a large attack against Israel.
(But remember, Israel is trying to start a war with Iran, based on LIES. It would appear this is just more of the same. It irresponsible for the media to repeat these empty allegations without following them up with anything.)
Hamas retaliated by firing more than 40 rockets into Israel, one of the heaviest barrages in months. One rocket landed on an Israeli college campus in the southern town of Sderot, killing a 47-year-old father of four. (Interesting that Palestinians are never personalized in such a manner ...)
It was the first fatal rocket attack since last May.
(While Israel has killed Palestinian civilians daily. To hear the media tell it, however, you would almost guess that the opposite was true ...)
On Thursday, Israel carried out at least 10 air strikes in northern and central Gaza, Palestinians said. The army said it was targeting rocket-launching areas. The army said it was targeting "militants and rocket-launcher squads."
(However, the large number of civilians murdered suggests that many of these strikes were arbitrary. Knowing that your attacks kill such a high number of civilians is no different than targeting them directly.)
Officials said 18 people were killed Thursday, including five boys who were struck as they played soccer in Jebaliya in northern Gaza. Relatives said the boys ranged in age from eight to 14.
Ahmed Dardouna, a family member, said four of the boys were related; two were brothers and the other two were their cousins.
"They were playing soccer east of the town, not far from our houses," said Dardouna, 42. He said distraught family members located the bodies at a hospital after the boys failed to come home.
The fifth boy, a 12-year-old neighbour, died later from his wounds, hospital officials said.
Later Thursday, a helicopter attacked a police roadblock about 150 metres from the home of Haniyeh, Hamas' prime minister, in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. One person was killed and four people were wounded, officials said.
The attack appeared to be a message to Hamas, since the area is not used to fire rockets.
(This alsi contradicts Israel's statements about the attacks ...)
Haniyeh, who has been hiding from the Israelis for weeks, wasn't believed to be in the area.
In a statement earlier Thursday, Haniyeh said Israel's ongoing attacks would "not weaken the steadfastness and the determination of the Palestinian people."
The Israeli army has U.S.-made F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters, as well as locally developed pilotless drones, in its arsenal. Palestinian witnesses said all three types of aircraft were used in the recent attacks. The army did not immediately comment.
(Israel is 'softening up' the Strip for the full-scale invasion and reoccupation it planned long before the Annapolis Conference, in which Israel rejected the prospect of negotiation and compromise in the name of peace.)
"We will reach out for the terrorists and we will attack and we will try to stop them," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a news conference in Tokyo, where he is winding up an official visit.
(And apparently, a great deal of children as well. Or is that part of the 'message' ... ?)
He also rejected calls to loosen an economic embargo (Collective Punishment, a War Crime.) on Gaza. The blockade has come under growing international criticism because of the hardship it has caused in Gaza.
"The only requirement we have of the Palestinians is stop killing innocent Israelis like they did last night," he said. "It's hard to do business when you have to bury your population as the result of the atrocities and the terror committed by the Palestinians."
(Such statements, against a backdrop of the civilian slaughter caused by Israel, demonstrates the racism and hypocrisy inherent in Zionism's war.)
Despite the Israeli attacks, Palestinian militants fired at least 10 homemade rockets into Israel, police said. Two people were lightly wounded, including a bodyguard of Public Security Minister Avi Dichter.
Dichter was not in Sderot at the time. But after he arrived, Dichter was forced to cut short a news conference when an air-raid siren went off and his guards rushed him into a concrete shelter.
Police said five foreign-made Katyusha rockets reached Ashkelon, a city of 109,000. One rocket went through the roof of a crowded apartment building, but no one was hurt. A 17-year-old Israeli girl was slightly wounded by the second rocket.
Israel has long feared that Ashkelon could soon face regular rocket attacks. Casualties have been kept relatively low because the rockets mostly land in sparsely populated areas next to the border.
(Because Hamas is trying to send a message, not kill people.)
In Gaza, Hamza al-Haya, the son of Hamas legislator Khalil al-Haya, was among those killed Thursday, Hamas said. The group said he had commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza.
Khalil al-Haya is one of Hamas' top figures in Gaza, and has himself escaped assassination attempts, including an Israeli strike that killed his brother last year.
Visiting the morgue at Gaza City's Shifa hospital Thursday, Khalil al-Haya said he was proud that his son had lost his life for the Hamas cause, like many of his relatives.
"I thank God for this gift," he said. "This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honour of martyrdom." Several thousand people joined the funeral procession.
In Tokyo, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met briefly with Olmert. She said the Hamas rocket attacks "need to stop," but also expressed concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged calm on all sides.
(It's called "APPEASEMENT".)
"We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza: the illegal coup that they led against the legitimate institutions of the Palestinian Authority," Rice told reporters after the meeting. "It is very clear where this started."
(Indeed. The US and Israel rejected the elected Government, and imposed Collective Punishment on Gaza as a result. When this failed to usurp the Government, they used corrupt elements of Fatah in a Coup Attempt which failed. Israel, as a result, increased its illegal blockade, and planned a full-scale attack. The rockets are a result of that provocation.)
Hamas violently seized control of Gaza last year from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
(See above. This is irresponsible journalism, a reversal of the truth.)
Israel has been holding peace talks with Abbas' government in the West Bank, while battling Hamas in Gaza.
(Actually, Israeli Extremists rejected the prospect of peace talks, but went through the motions in the name of PR, which the western press was more than happy to give them. In reality, Israel's Government has scuttled those talks, as they always do.)
Rice is expected to visit the Middle East next week to help push peace efforts forward. Abbas and Olmert hope to reach a peace agreement by the end of the year, though both sides have warned that the target may be too ambitious.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/080228/w022882A.html Israel considers a U.S-like invasion of Gaza
Rami Almeghari - IMEMC
Thursday February 21, 2008
The Israeli government has been reportedly approved a military plan, similar to the U.S invasion of Iraq in 2003, within underway preparations to massively attack Gaza.
According to the Jewish Press online website on Wednesday, Israeli sources said that a plan, drafted by the Israeli general staff, has been endorsed by the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak.
The website also reported that such a planned invasion has been discussed by several panels of the Israeli cabinet, involving many cabinet members.
A part of the plan, Israel is intending to diminish the Hamas regime in Gaza, with targeting the Hamas leaders and controlling most areas of the Gaza Strip, in a way that dejects momentum of likely international response.
At least 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers, backed by warplanes and warships and battle tanks, will be employed in the Gaza invasion, to be deployed at four main access, including the Mediterranean sea side.
In addition, the Israeli army will dismember the coastal region into three parts, starting with the Gaza international airport of Rafah city in the south, the Jewish online publication added.
Nevertheless, the plan requires approval of the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who is supposed to await the United States' permission to the proposed invasion of Gaza.
Among the possible scenarios of such an offensive, an Israeli army presence on the Gaza-Egypt border line, with a possibility of installing a NATO force into the region, following the Israeli withdrawal.
Recently, a number of Israeli ministers have gestured possibility to eliminate the Hamas regime in Gaza, once and for all.
Israel has warned of massively attack the Gaza Strip as some ministers proposed leveling to the ground entire Gaza neighborhoods, after having evacuated the residents.
Link: www.imemc.org/article/52975
Laying groundwork for Gaza war
Berlin first stop in Israeli effort to obtain international backing ahead of Gaza operation
Roni Sofer Published: 02.14.08, 17:35 / Israel Opinion
Olmert, Livni and Barak know that Israel’s public relations apparatus is currently facing a problem. The Western world, which maintained its support for Israel’s right to act against the rocket attacks from Gaza employed by Hamas and its associates, is inclined to criticize the Jewish State over the Gaza siege and economic sanctions.
(Collective Punishment is a War Crime. The rockets that Israel is trying to use to justify attacks it planned long before Annapolis have been provoked by its imposition of Collective Punishment, its War Crimes. Its own defence staff warned that when these illegal measures were increased months ago, that this policy would provoke such a response.)
Israel’s stock is dropping, reaching the point of a condemnation by British foreign secretary David Miliband last weekend. The concern is growing in light of the possibility that Israel will need to embark on a wide-scale military operation in Gaza early in spring.
(It doesn't 'need' to do this, and therein lies the rub. Israel's ruling Extremists simply reject any notion of ending its war to wipe Palestine off the map, especially if it involves partaking in a 'peace process' it can't control, one which would force Israel to give back much of what it has stolen, as demanded by international Law and UN Security Council Resolutions.)
Olmert is reading the international map and he knows what Israel has planned should the Qassam fire continue. Together with Livni and Barak, they postpone the decision to embark on major Gaza operation every week. Yet the three of them know that it is impossible to go on with a situation whereby civilians are subjected to Qassam barrages and a game of Palestinian roulette.
(But the facts that Israel's attacks on Gaza have doubled since Annapolis, as has the murder of Palestinian civilians during these attacks, and the severity of Israel's War Crimes in Gaza are apparently inconsequential. Israel is wholly responsible for this 'crisis', one which could quickly be averted if they truly wanted this to happen.)
In closed-door sessions, Olmert’s people make it clear that should Israel decide on a wide-scale operation, it would need international room for maneuver. It needs support that would be similar to what Israel enjoyed in the last war in Lebanon. This will enable Israel to complete an effective military operation and also, if necessary, would facilitate the involvement of a UN-mandated multinational force in order to prevent the emergence of a new Gaza vacuum.
(The only UN force needed is one to seperate the Israelis from the Palestinians, and to enforce the many Security Council Resolutions Israel is currently in violation of.)
Grand diplomatic campaign
Berlin, which is undecided on the prospects of a major Israeli operation, was a good place to start. On the one hand there is Chancellor Merkel there, who was convinced of the need to back Israel’s actions – ranging from continued civilian sanctions to expanded military operations. On the other hand, there is German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Merkel’s coalition partner, who does not automatically back everything Israel says.
(Appeasement doesn't work. Haven't we learned that by now? If you allow Israel this murderous rampage, where does it end?)
Olmert presented to the German administration the distress faced by Sderot and Gaza-region residents, pointed to Hamas-Iran ties, and warned that fundamentalist terrorism has no boundaries. This public relations work was apparently useful.
(But that's all it is; empty PR. The attack which has been planned for months would make the abject suffering of Gazans immeasurably worse.)
Now, officials at the Prime Minister’s Office are expecting the grand campaign to start.
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Livni took 70 foreign diplomats to see a 15-second film, about the 15 seconds that Sderot residents have in order to find a shelter from the exploding Qassams. Now she traveled to Washington, where she will meet her counterpart Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to arrive here next month. In the meeting Livni will discuss the intolerable situation in the south.
(Immorality breeds contradiction. Nothing the residents of Sderot have to 'endure' because of their Government's rejection of peace even approaches the suffering endured, the terror felt, by the people of Gaza.)
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Barak traveled to Turkey, and spoke about the need to safeguard southern residents even before promoting negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state. Other ministers will travel worldwide, while our ambassadors will work hard.
(He means to say 'instead of', not 'even before' ...)
Berlin came first, as a harbinger of what the political leadership in Jerusalem wishes to achieve internationally, ahead of the hot summer in Gaza.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3506777,00.html 'IDF should wipe out parts of Gaza'
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?11210S As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html As Predicted: Israel Attacks Gaza
http://www.alaanasnews.blogspot.com/2007/12/as-predicted-israel-attacks-gaza.html Probe: At Least Half of Palestinians Killed by IDF Were Civilians
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944276.html Israeli Attacks on Palestinians, Killings, Doubled Since Annapolis
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m40008&hd=&size=1&l=e UN Condemns Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389757.html?c=on#c187937 Israel Destroys Gaza Interior Ministry, Blocks UN Aid
http://www.today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2008-01-18T UN Condemns 'Cowardly Israeli War Crime'
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389828.html It's All Right, I'm Only Bleeding
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10557S An Experiment in Famine: Hamas is Not the Real Issue
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10872S Jewish Groups Condemn Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10877S
