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Hundreds of new settler homes planned in Jerusalem
Joseph Krauss, Daily Star 4/1/2008
Agence France Presse - OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Local authorities announced the construction of hundreds of new houses in a Jewish settlement in Occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, dealing a new blow to faltering peace talks. The Israeli municipality made the announcement as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a tour of the region aimed at bolstering the peace process and amid Palestinian outrage at continued settlement activity. "The plan is part of a global initiative by the mayor of Jerusalem to build 40,000 housing units in the city to ease access to housing for young couples," the city authorities said in a statement. It said 600 homes will be built in Pisgat Zeev, a Jewish settlement in the mostly Arab east of the Holy City which was seized by Israel in the 1967 war and annexed shortly thereafter in a move not recognized by the international community. more.. e-mail
IOF troops advance into southern Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 3/31/2008
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- A number of IOF armored vehicles on Monday advanced into eastern Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, amidst intensive firing at citizens’ houses and bulldozed agriculture lands. PIC correspondent reported that the IOF soldiers’ limited advance was covered by Apache choppers and escorted a number of bulldozers. He said that the choppers also fired at civilian neighborhoods. Palestinian resistance fighters confronted the IOF advance as the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, took the credit for firing five mortar shells at the invading troops. At dawn Monday, the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said it engaged an IOF special force that infiltrated from Kissufim crossing east of Khan Younis into Palestinian lands in southern Gaza. It said that it fired three mortar shells at the invaders and opened machineguns at them. more.. e-mail
Terror attack thwarted near West Bank settlement
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 3/31/2008
Palestinian attempting to stab people standing at hitchhikers’ station near Shiloh shot to death by Israeli citizen; 7. 5-inch knife found on terrorist’s body - An Israeli citizen shot dead a Palestinian man who attempted to stab people standing at a hitchhikers station near the West Bank settlement of Shiloh on Monday evening. The Magen David Adom emergency services, there were no Israeli casualties in the incident. A 20-centimeter (7. 5-inch) knife was found on the terrorist’s body, in addition to the knife he used to try and stab the citizens. An initial IDF inquiry revealed that the Palestinian ran towards the hitchhikers’ station in an attempt to stab two citizens standing there. One of the civilians pulled out his personal weapon, fired at the terrorist and killed him. A police sapper examined the terrorist’s body in order to rule out the presence of explosive devices. more.. e-mail
Jerusalem council okays 600 new Jewish homes in Arab area
Nadav Shragai and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 4/1/2008
The municipality of Jerusalem on Monday approved the construction of 600 new homes in Pisgat Zeev, east of the Green Line. Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski approved the expansion in Pisgat Zeev - a Jewish settlement surrounded by Arab towns in the West Bank - as part of a plan to construct 40,000 more homes in the area as foreign interest drives property prices up. Also Monday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised the spiritual leader of the Shas Party, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, that he would authorize construction on "Jerusalem envelope" lands which have been thus far frozen, sources from the ultra-Orthodox Party said. "The Prime Minister promised Rabbi [Yosef] unequivocally that the construction in all the Jerusalem envelope communities will not be hindered and will be unfrozen without delay," sources from the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party said. more.. e-mail
Construction of 600 new homes in east Jerusalem approved
Neta Sela and AP, YNetNews 3/31/2008
Jerusalem’s city hall announces its plan to construct new apartments in Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood, part of eastern part of city Palestinians hope will one day be their capital. Prime Minister Olmert has stressed building will not disrupt peace negotiations - Condtruction beyond Green Line continues in full pace: Jerusalem’s city hall announces Monday its plan to construct 600 new apartments in the neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev, part of the eastern part of the city Palestinians hope will one day be their capital. The apartments are an element of Mayor Uri Lupolianski’s plan to build 40 thousand new apartments for young couples in Jerusalem’s municipal territories, some of which are beyond the 1967 borders. Lupolianski said that he believed "that following the prime minister’s declaration that the construction in Jerusalem’s neighborhoods will continue, the government won’t impose any delays on this plan. more.. e-mail
IDF tracker charged with ’aiding Hezbollah in war against Israel’
Fadi Eyadat, Ha’aretz 4/1/2008
An indictment was submitted to the Haifa military court on Monday against an Israel Defense Forces tracker who was accused of divulging military intelligence to Hezbollah in order to facilitate the smuggling of illicit drugs from Lebanon into Israel. The indictment included charges of treason, aiding an enemy during wartime, contact with a foreign agent, conspiracy to commit a crime and "assisting an enemy in a war against Israel. " The indictment reveals that between December 2007 and February 2008 Louai Balut made contact on several occasions with a Lebanese citizen named Elias Hazbani, who is a member of the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah. The indictment adds that the defendant used cellular phones to contact two other Lebanese citizens, Abu Hassan and Abu Ali, who also belong to the militant group. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces raid Al-Asakra, near Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 3/31/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces invaded the southern West Bank village of Al-Asakra on Monday , near the city of Bethlehem, Palestinian security sources said. The sources told Ma’an that Israeli troops broke into home of Fuad Dar Ali. Although Dar Ali was not home, the soldiers delivered a document ordering him to appear at the Israeli intelligence station in the Eztion bloc of Israeli settlements. [end]
2 Qassams land in western Negev; no injuries
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/31/2008
On backdrop of drop in number of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza, Color Red alert system activated once again in south of country - Palestinians fired two Qassam rockets from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel on Monday evening. The rockets landed within the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The Color Red alert system was activated prior to the landing. Despite the drop in the number of Qassams fired from the Gaza Strip since the IDF’s Operation Warm Winter, the Palestinians continue to fire rockets and mortar shells on a nearly daily basis. Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said that the municipality did not rely on the relative calm in the past 24 hours. "This calm is false, deceiving and extremely dangerous. Last week we held a wide-scale emergency economy drill, in which we examined the functioning of all the systems during times of emergency. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize eight Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/31/2008
Ramallah Ma’an Israeli forces seized eight Palestinians in the West Bank on Sunday night and Monday morning, witnesses and security sources said. Israeli military vehicles invaded the towns of Beit Rima and Deir Nidham, near Ramallah, on Monday, witnesses said. The Israeli forces entered at 1:00am, firing sonic bombs before seizing two young men. In the city of Tulkarem, residents and Palestinian security sources said that Israeli forces detained four Palestinian teenagers who were playing near the Israeli separation wall. In the city of Nablus, Palestinian security sources said the Israeli forces raided the city on Sunday evening and stormed several houses before seizing a young Palestinian man from the eastern neighborhood of the city. The Israeli military raids West Bank cities virtually every night, arresting Palestinians they suspected are involved in political or military activity. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize Palestinian teenager in Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 3/31/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces seized a Palestinian teenager at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday. Local sources said that Israeli troops stopped 18-year-old Ahmad Qaddura in his car at a flying checkpoint, and arrested him. Qaddura is from the town of Kafr Qalil, near the city of Nablus. In addition to more than 500 permanent checkpoints, gates, and other roadblocks in the West Bank, Israeli troops frequently impose "flying checkpoints" at will on roads throughout the West Bank. [end]
Settler who killed terrorist: Government policy foolish
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 3/31/2008
Erez Bar-On of Ofra tells Ynet how he shot Palestinian who tried to stab him at West Bank hitchhikers’ station, criticizes government over decision to remove roadblocks, supply Palestinian Authority with armored vehicles - Erez Bar-On, 30, of the West Bank settlement of Ofra, became a hero Monday after shooting a terrorist to death as the latter attempted to stab him and a teenager at a hitchhikers’ station near the settlement of Shilo. Talking to Ynet, Bar-On slammed the government’s roadblock removal policy and its decision to supply the Palestinians with armored vehicles. "This is a foolish policy which directly acts against us," he said. After reenacting the incident before police officers, Bar-On said that what was important to him at the moment was that the lessons would be learned. more.. e-mail
Hamas and Fatah fighters in Gaza claim attacks on Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 3/31/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for firing five mortar rounds at Israeli military vehicles east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. Separately, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed to have fired a homemade projectile at an Israeli town east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp, also in Gaza. Both groups, in separate statements, said the two attacks were a response to Israel’s "atrocities" in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. [end]
Islamic Jihad’s military wing ’engages’ invading Israeli troops in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/31/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed that their fighters fought with undercover Israeli forces who attempted to enter the Gaza Strip near the Kissufim military installation on Monday morning. The Al-Quds Brigades said they fired rocket-propelled grenades at the Israeli troops, who were forced to withdraw. [end]
Two Palestinians killed, six wounded in IOF shelling
Palestinian Information Center 3/30/2008
JABALIA, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian resistance fighters were killed and a third was wounded in an IOF air raid on a group of AMB members in Jabalia north of Gaza Saturday evening while preparing to fire locally made missiles on Sderot to the north of the Gaza Strip. A spokesman for Ayman Jouda group, affiliated with the AMB the armed wing of Fatah faction, said that Rabi Mohsen and Murad Khader were killed in the missile raid. Medical sources said that a third wounded Palestinian in the same raid was hospitalized. IOF artillery shelling before the raid wounded five other citizens while a group of the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, survived a similar assassination attempt Saturday night. For its part, the Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees, fired a Nasser-3 home made missile at Sderot on Saturday night. more.. e-mail
Southern Front / IDF upping Gaza ground ops in face of heavier rocket fire
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/31/2008
The Israel Defense Forces has been broadening its ground operations in Gaza in response to the increase in rocket fire on Israel since Wednesday. During the past three days, two Palestinian gunmen were killed in IDF operations in the Strip, and at least 10 Qassam rockets and 25 mortars were fired at Israel. On Friday, a rocket struck a kibbutz in the western Negev, and the shrapnel hit a kindergarten. No one was injured because the kindergarten teacher rushed the children into the reinforced area when the Color Red missile warning siren sounded. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of rockets fired since Wednesday. Most were fired by Islamic Jihad, but smaller groups, like the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, are also involved. Hamas is not believed to be involved. more.. e-mail
Settlers suspected of injuring Palestinians’ sheep
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 3/30/2008
Police launch investigation into report that Jewish Mount Hebron residents fired at Palestinian shepherds’ herd - Jewish residents of the settlement of Havat Maon in South Mount Hebron have allegedly fired at Palestinian shepherds, wounding three sheep. Last Wednesday, Palestinian shepherds arrived with their herd at a field near the settlement, where they were reportedly fired at. Hafez Harini Mautwana, who was present at the area during the incident, told Ynet that "the shepherds were walking with their herds, and at one point a settler arrived from the grove, fired at the shepherds and injured three sheep. " According to Harini, "The shepherds didn’t know what to do. Police officers arrived at the area and took two of the sheep. They also collected evidence from the shepherds. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize Palestinian presidential guard at checkpoint
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces seized an officer in the Palestinian Presidential Guards at the Atara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday. Witnesses said Israeli troops stopped a car at the checkpoint, and detained Mousa As’us, who is from the village of Muthallath Ash-Shuhada, south of the city of JeninAs’us was on his way home after taking part in a training course for the security forces in Ramallah. The Presidential Guards are affiliated to President Mahmoud Abbas. [end]
Israeli strikes leave two Palestinians dead in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli tank fire and air strikes left two Palestinian fighters dead in the northern Gaza Strip overnight on Saturday. Palestinian medical sources said that the bodies were found hours after the attack, east of Jabalia. Ambulances failed to reach the two fighters in time, and they bled to death, medics said. The medical sources named the victims as Rabea Muhsin and Murad Khadir, both activists with the armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades. [end]
Medics recover bodies of Palestinian fighters in Gaza
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 3/31/2008
GAZA CITY:Palestinian medics said on Sunday they had recovered the bodies of two Palestinian militants killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip. The two men were identified as Murad Khader, 24, and Rabia Mohsin, 23, were fighters from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, an armed group tied to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, they said. Another four militants were wounded in the Saturday evening strike near the northern town of Jabaliya in the Hamas-ruled territory, medics said. The Israeli army said it carried out an air strike against a group of armed men near the border fence separating Gaza from Israel. The raid came after a three-week relative lull in violence between Israel and Gaza following a massive operation in and around Jabaliya earlier this month that killed more than 130 Palestinians, roughly half of whom were civilians and included dozens of children. more.. e-mail
Qassam hits western Negev, causing no damage or injuries
Haaretz Staff and Agencies, Ha’aretz 3/31/2008
A Qassam rocket landed in the western Negev yesterday, causing no damage nor injuries, a day after a rocket hit between a children’s house and a nursery school in a Negev community. Israel Defense Forces troops killed two armed Palestinians in Gaza. In Friday’s rocket strike, there were no injuries as staffers and children reached shelter in time though one woman suffered from shock, and a nearby structure was damaged. In Gaza, IDF soldiers shot dead a gunman in the northern part of the territory late Friday after he hurled a grenade close the border fence with Israel. Palestinian medics were allowed to retrieve his body the next morning. Earlier Friday, troops opened fire on gunmen during an incursion into the southern Strip, killing one and wounding two others. Two other rockets fired by Gaza militants on Friday struck a Negev kibbutz and an open field. more.. e-mail
Palestinian military groups claim three attacks on Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2008
Gaza Ma’an Palestinian fighters claimed to have fired four homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, which borders Gaza, and the Sufa border crossing, in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday evening. The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed joint responsibility for those attacks. Separately, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, Al-Quds Brigades, said their fighters launched two homemade projectiles at the Kissufim military installation, to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday evening. [end]
PFLP fighters fire two projectiles at Sderot and Zekeim
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday for firing two homemade projectiles at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Zekeim. They said in a statement that the shelling was a signal that resistance is the best choice to respond to Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
An-Nasser Brigades ’fire’ three projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2008
Gaza Ma’an The An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility for launching three homemade projectiles and the Israeli town of Sderot, bordering the Gaza Strip, on Saturday. The group told Ma’an that the attack was a response to Israel’s assassinations and incursions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Egypt-Gaza border tunnel collapse kills Palestinian smuggler
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 3/31/2008
An Egyptian security official says a tunnel used for smuggling between Egypt and Hamas-controlled Gaza has collapsed and killed at least one Palestinian. The official says Sunday’s collapse occurred when the tunnel’s fragile sand ceiling fell under its own weight. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. He says Palestinian rescue workers are trying to extract the Palestinian man’s body from the Gaza side of the border where he entered the tunnel. Palestinian smugglers have used tunnels to move weapons and contraband goods from Egypt into Gaza, which was taken by the militant Palestinian group Hamas in June. Two weeks ago, an underground tunnel collapsed near Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip, burying alive one smuggler and injuring another, a security official said. more.. e-mail
Egypt saves Palestinian smuggler trapped in tunnel
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/30/2008
Egypt rescues Palestinian who fell into coma while digging smuggling tunnel under Gaza border, says his condition remains critical - Egyptian security authorities recovered a Palestinian man who had fallen into a coma after being trapped Sunday for several hours inside a tunnel he was digging to smuggle goods between Egypt and Hamas-controlled Gaza. Imad Kharboush, head of the northern Sinai emergency unit, said Palestinian Abdul-Rahman Attiya Shalloub, 24, was in a deep coma and had been rushed to surgery at the El-Arish general hospital. His condition remains very critical. Earlier, an Egyptian security official said the tunnel collapsed and the man was killed while a Palestinian official said the man was simply overcome with fumes from the gasoline he was smuggling overnight. more.. e-mail
Islamic Jihad says hacked Israeli websites
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 3/30/2008
London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper quotes statement by al-Quds Brigades saying group’s ’electronic surveillance unit’ defaced ’Zionist websites’ - Islamic Jihad operatives have been able to hack into several Israeli websites, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Sunday. "The electronic surveillance unit of the media warfare division has been able to hack into several Israeli websites and take them over," said a statement by the al-Quds Brigades, quoted by the paper. According to the report, the operatives were able to plant images of Hassan Shakura, the former head of the Jihad’s media warfare division in Gaza, who was killed by the IDF, on the sites; along with other images and Jihad videos. Hacking "Zionist websites," said the statement "was part of our response to the elimination of the head of the media warfare office in Gaza, as well as a token of our allegiance to the blood of our troops. " more.. e-mail
New terrorist traps attempt to fool troops
Yossi Yehoshua, YNetNews 3/30/2008
Palestinian terrorists deploy new booby-traps: Bombs meant to explode in soldiers’ hands hidden in books, canteens, shampoo bottles. IDF special task force: ’There is no room for error’ - ’Yahalom’, a special task force of the Engineering Corps, is battling a revolution in the world of terrorism these days. A few months ago a unit of troops from the force was doing a routine scan of a seemingly ordinary tunnel dug by Hamas militants near the Karni Crossing in Gaza, when they discovered that the hen-house blocking the entrance was actually a ticking time bomb. This is one of the many examples of sophisticated terrorist plots the task force has come in contact with lately, in which Palestinians hid bombs inside of mundane objects. Recently Yahalom soldiers have seen booby-trapped books, egg trays, canteens, and even baby shampoo bottles. more.. e-mail
Police lift high state of alert in Bat Yam
Avi Cohen, YNetNews 3/30/2008
Alert level in central Israel raised, large forces deployed in area for fear of terrorist infiltration; four suspects arrested, questioned - The police on Sunday lifted the heightened state of alert declared in central Israel after arresting four illegal Palestinian residents in the city of Bat Yam. At around 9:15 am, the police raised the alert level in the Bat Yam and Holon area and deployed large forces in the two cities for fear of a terrorist infiltration. In addition, roadblocks were set up along the Seam Line and in central routes in the Tel Aviv area. The police used a helicopter in a bid to locate the infiltrators. Four suspects were later arrested in Bat Yam and taken in for questioning. The security checks at the roadblocks caused traffic jams in the Ayalon Freeway in the Bat Yam and Holon area. more.. e-mail
Seven Hamas members arrested in the West Bank, Hamas says
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2008
Nablus Fatah-allied Palestinian Security forces detained seven Hamas members in the West Bank, Hamas claimed. Hamas released a statement on Sunday saying arrestees are from Tulkarem, Jenin, Qalqilia, Bethlehem and Ramallah. According to the statements, three of the detainees are university students and is was a physician. [end]
Israeli air strike hits northern Gaza, killing 2
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/29/2008
Air Force fires at group of "terrorists" near Jabalya in response to rocket, mortar attacks - An Israeli air strike killed two Palestinian militants late Saturday in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said. Rescue workers reported three explosions near the town of Jabaliya. They said the two dead were militants. Gaza militants often fire rockets and mortars at communities in southern Israel. The army confirmed it struck, saying it targeted a group of militants. It added that two rockets and three mortars were fired toward Israel earlier in the day. A Qassam rocket fired shortly following the attack landed in Palestinian territory. The rocket attacks onIsrael have subsided since operation "Warm Winter", but mortars and Qassams are still fired on an almost daily basis. more.. e-mail
Hamas fighters assault Israeli forces in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an The armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for bombing a group of Israeli special forces in Beit Hanoun, at the northern end of the Gaza Strip, on Satruday. The group said that the attack was a response to what they called the "crimes of the occupation" and the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Islamic Jihad fighters ’fire projectile’ at Israeli position
Ma’an News Agency 3/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility on Saturday morning for launching a homemade projectile at an Israeli military position east of Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip. The group said the attack was a response to Israel’s ongoing arrests and assassinations of Al-Quds Brigades fighters in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Islamic Jihad fighters ’confront’ Israeli forces in Qabatiya
Ma’an News Agency 3/29/2008
Jenin Ma’an The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed that their fighters confronted Israeli forces that entered the West Bank town of Qabatiya, near the city of Jenin on Saturday. The group’s spokesperson said that Al-Quds Brigades fighters threw grenades at Israeli forces who invaded the town from several directions. "The occupation forces raided a number of houses and spread through the streets and alleys of the town looking for resistance members, but Al-Quds Brigades fighters [blocked] the operation amid a barrage of gunfire and grenades," he saidThe spokesman said at the conclusion of his speech that the Israeli forces withdrew from the town without arresting any fighters or civilians. more.. e-mail
IDF: Islamic Jihad producing Grad-like rockets
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/29/2008
New type rockets can reach 12. 5-mile range, carry double amount of explosives compared to Qassams. ’The fact terror groups can manufacture their own long-range rockets is disturbing and worrying,’ army official warns - The Islamic Jihad terror group has recently began manufacturing rockets capable of reaching a 12. 5-mile range, similar to the Grad rockets already in use by terror organizations in Gaza. The new rockets are armed with a much deadlier warhead that carries double the amount of explosives compared to the regular Qassams, the IDF has recently learned. According to army data, the terror groups have made use of the new rocket at least three times since the IDF’s Warm Summer Operation in Gaza concluded. Regular Qassam rockets carry about 11 lbs of explosives and have a 4. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday night. A medical crew succeeded in retrieving the body of the 18-year-old and transferring it to Kamal Udwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Mu’awya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the body had been shot dozens of times. Health Ministry officials are still waiting for Palestinians to come forward and identify the victim. Separately, Israeli forces shot a 23-year-old farmer in the town ofKhuza’a, in the southern Gaza Strip, near the Israeli border wall. The victim was a member of the Qudeh family. The Israeli military recently enlarged the "Buffer Zone" inside the Strip along the border with Israel. Palestinian are now forbidden from approaching within 800 meters of the border. more.. e-mail
IOF troops kill Qassam fighter, wound two others in Khan Younis
Palestinian Information Center 3/29/2008
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- A Palestinian resistance fighter of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, called Bilal Al-Astal, 17, was killed and two others were wounded during confrontations on Friday with a special Israeli force that infiltrated into an area east of Al-Karara in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. In another context, the IOF troops told Palestinian medical parties Friday evening that they shot dead a Palestinian citizen in the north of Gaza near the security fence but Palestinian ambulances could not transport his body that night for security reasons. In retaliation to the Israeli ongoing infiltrations, crimes and siege, the Qassam Brigades announced in a communiquΓ© received by the PIC that its fighters managed at dawn Saturday to detonate two anti-personnel explosive devices at infiltrating Israeli special forces followed by heavy gunfire in two separate areas north of Beit Hanun, northern Gaza. more.. e-mail
Israel to open controversial West Bank police HQ
Middle East Online 3/29/2008
JERUSALEM - Israel is set to inaugurate a new police headquarters for the occupied West Bank in an area outside occupied Jerusalem that is at the heart of a bitter land dispute. "The building, which can house hundreds of police, will be inaugurated on Monday," a spokesman for the public security ministry said. The police station is located in the 12-kilometre (7. 5-mile) E1 corridor between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim, the largest illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Continued settlement activity in the territory is seen as one of the major stumbling blocks in slow-moving peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel insists that building the police station is not linked to the settlement issue as it is a security installation. Palestinian officials warn that Israeli construction in E1 would completely block the narrow corridor of land running east of Jerusalem. . . more.. e-mail
IDF kills gunman on Gaza border fence
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/28/2008
Exchanges of fire erupt as lookouts spot armed "terrorist" near northern Strip fence. Army believes gunman planned "terror" attack against IDF patrol - A Palestinian gunman was killed Friday evening in an exchange of fire with IDF soldiers near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip. Lookouts spotted the "terrorist" near the fence and alerted a Givati Brigade forces. An exchange of fire erupted in the area, during which the "terrorist" hurled a grenade at the force. The soldiers fired back and killed him. There were no injuries among the troops. Military sources noted that the "terror" organizations continue to try and carry out "terror" attacks against Israeli targets on the border fence. According to estimates, the "terrorist" planned an attack against the force patrolling the area. A more.. e-mail
Three Palestinians killed, 13 hurt in clan violence in Qalqilyah
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/29/2008
Three Palestinians were killed and 13 others wounded Friday in clashes between rival family clans in the West Bank city of Qalqilyah, Army Radio reported. Israel allowed the Palestinian Authority to dispatch 100 armed police officers to the city in order to separate between the sides and restore order, the radio said. According to the report, the Civil Administration has also been in touch with the PA in order to offer Israeli assistance in treating the wounded, four of whom are in serious condition. [end]
Qassam damages nursery, children unharmed
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/28/2008
Palestinian rocket shatters windows of kibbutz nursery but children managed to take cover in bomb shelter prior to impact. ’We were very fortunate that none of the children were injured but they were very frightened. This is the reality they have to deal with,’ says kibbutz nurse - Three Qassam rockets were launched from northern Gaza towards Israel on Friday by noon, with one of the rockets narrowly missing a nursery in Kibbutz Nir Am. The rockets were fired several short hours after IDF soldiers killed a Hamas gunman in an exchange of fire in southern Gaza. The nursery in question is intended for toddlers aged one and half to two. The nurse for the children’s homes, Orna Schwartz, told Ynet of the ordeal: "The children were in the yard when the rocket alarm sirens sounded. We rushed to bring them into the bomb shelter and then we heard a loud explosion. more.. e-mail
Al-Quds Brigades launch 3 projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an - Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for launching three projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot on Friday. The brigades said that the operation came in response to the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian resistance and emphasised that they would continue with resistance and jihad. [end]
Brigades claim action against Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 3/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an - The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing ofIslamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for targeting an Israeli special force with seven projectiles south of the Kissufim settlement at dawn on Friday. The brigades said that the shelling was a natural response to the Israeli crimes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees announced they struck the Israeli border town of Sderot with two missiles. [end]
Qassam explodes between Negev preschool, children’s house
Reuters, Ha’aretz 3/29/2008
A Qassam rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday exploded in a western Negev community directly between a children’s house and a nursery school. There were no injuries in the incident, as the nannies and children managed to reach shelter in time. One woman suffered from anxiety, however, and a nearby structure was damaged. Another rocket fired by Gaza militants on Friday struck an open field. In addition, militants fired six mortar shells at southern Israel, which exploded near the security fence in the central Gaza Strip. Also Friday, Hamas and Palestinian medical staff said that Israel Defense Forces troops killed two armed Palestinians and wounded two others during clashes in the Gaza Strip. An IDF spokesperson said troops shot a gunman in the northern part of the territory after he hurled a grenade at them near the border fence with Israel. more.. e-mail
Palestinian man evades undercover Israeli force
Ma’an News Agency 3/28/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an - Israeli Special Forces failed to arrest a man they describe as ’wanted’ in Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Friday. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that 31-year-old Nihad Mer’i managed to evade the Special Forces by escaping from the camp shortly before undercover unit arrived in a civilian car. According to witnesses, an Israeli military force backed up the undercover unitand stormed the area, discharging sound bombs as the undercover unit withdrew. Israeli undercover units have recently been increasing their activities in Palestinian cities, targeting ’wanted’ Palestinians. [end]
Al-Qassam activist killed in armed clash near Israeli military base
Ma’an News Agency 3/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an An Al- Qassam Brigades activist was killed and two others were injured at dawn on Friday during clashes with Israeli special forces near the Kissufim military base, east of the town of Al-Qarrara in the southern Gaza Strip. Dr. Muawya Hassanain, director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that the dead man, 23-year-old Bilal Al-Astal, and the two other injured men were taken to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. A resistance group calling itself the Nation’s Army said on Friday morning that their fighters had also targeted three Israeli soldiers south of Kissufim. "The attack came in response to the drawings which insult the Holy Prophet and crimes against Muslims in Jerusalem," the group said in a statement. more.. e-mail
Israeli attack kills militant in Gaza
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 3/29/2008
GAZA CITY: A Hamas militant was killed and two others were wounded on Friday in exchanges of fire with Israeli forces who carried out a brief ground incursion into southern Gaza, Palestinian medics said. Several Israeli armored vehicles and tanks crossed into Gaza near the Kissufim crossing and they engaged in a gunbattle with militants, the medics said. One member of Hamas’s armed wing was killed and two other militants were wounded by Israeli fire, the sources said. An Israeli army spokesman said that "during a regular operation in Gaza, a force identified militants and opened fire at them. "Meanwhile, two rockets fired by Gaza militants hit southern Israel, but caused no casualties, the spokesman said. One rocket hit a nursery school in a kibbutz, which children had evacuated after a rocket alert sounded. Friday’s death brings to 360 the number of people killed, the vast. . . more.. e-mail
This Week In Palestine "" Week 13 2008
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/28/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || File 10. 9 MB || Time 12m 0s ||This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. IMEMC. org, for March 22nd through to March 28th , 2008. Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas agree on a national reconciliation deal, while this week the Israeli army attacks on Gaza leave five Palestinians dead, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance Let’s begin our weekly report with the nonviolent actions in the West Bank, IMEMC’s Conscience Londres with the details: Bil’in On Friday, scores of residents from Bil"in, a village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, took to the streets along with their international and Israeli supporters to conduct their weekly nonviolent protest against the Israeli Wall and illegal confiscation of the village land. more.. This Week In Palestine " Week 13 2008
http://www.imemc.org/article/53801
link courtesy www.vtjp.org">e-mail
Hamas gets Iranian plans for improved Qassams
Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/29/2008
Hamas militants who recently returned to the Gaza Strip after training in Iran have a detailed plan for upgrading the capabilities of the rockets being developed in the Strip, according to senior Palestinian Authority sources. A senior Palestinian source told Haaretz this week that members of Hamas’ military wing smuggled blueprints and other detailed technical instructions into the Strip that will enable the group to develop rockets capable of striking at longer distances. The PA source was unable to estimate the actual distance that these upgrades will allow the Qassam rockets to cover, but said that the aim is to strike at communities north of Ashkelon, which is approximately 15 kilometers north of the northern border of the Strip. Israeli security sources said recently that Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip have developed their own upgraded version of the Qassam rocket, with an estimated range of 18 kilometers. more.. e-mail
The Israeli army invades Gaza, Palestinian Resistance shells nearby Israeli areas
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/27/2008
Israeli army tanks and bulldozers invaded the village of Al Qarrara in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday night. Tanks and bulldozers destroyed two homes owned by local farmers in addition to bulldozing 50 Dunums of land used for farming local sources reported. (one Acre = Four Dunums). Meanwhile the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated that its fighters fired at least nine home-made shells at southern Israeli areas located near Gaza on Wednesday late at night. Israeli media sources reported that two Israeli civilians were lightly wounded when a Qassam shell landed in their home in the Negev area in southern Israel. [end] [end]
What’s lying behind Jerusalem’s secret tunnel?
Joseph Krauss JERUSALEM, Middle East Online 3/27/2008
Amin al-Siyam says he is awakened nearly every night by the sound of Jewish settlers tunneling under his east Jerusalem house towards the Old City’s deeply sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound. "We hear them at night, under the house. Sometimes the whole building shakes. Then they leave the next morning, early," Siyam says. Siyam lives in the heart of one of the world’s most bitterly contested cities, his house sitting above a tunnel that has struck a new fault line in the Middle East conflict. The house faces an archaeological dig in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan in annexed east Jerusalem, just a few hundred metres (yards) from Judaism’s holiest site and Islam’s third holiest site -- which occupy the same space. Jews call it Temple Mount -- the site of the Second Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Muslims call it Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, from which they believe their prophet Mohammed ascended into heaven on a horse. more.. e-mail
Israel to open controversial West Bank police HQ
Middle East Online 3/27/2008
JERUSALEM - Israel is set to inaugurate a new police headquarters for the occupied West Bank in an area outside occupied Jerusalem that is at the heart of a bitter land dispute. "The building, which can house hundreds of police, will be inaugurated on Monday," a spokesman for the public security ministry said. The police station is located in the 12-kilometre (7. 5-mile) E1 corridor between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim, the largest illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Continued settlement activity in the territory is seen as one of the major stumbling blocks in slow-moving peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel insists that building the police station is not linked to the settlement issue as it is a security installation. Palestinian officials warn that Israeli construction in E1 would completely block the narrow corridor of land running east of Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
Hizbullah increases rocket range; can now reach Dimona
AP, YNetNews 3/27/2008
Anonymous Defense Ministry officials reveal Iran, Syria arming Hizbullah with new rockets ranging up to 300 km. Organization can now hit almost all major cities - With Iranian backing, Hizbullah militants have dramatically increased their rocket range and can now threaten most of Israel, anonymous Defense Ministry officials said Wednesday, explaining that the Lebanese organization has acquired new Iranian rockets with a range of about 300 kilometers. This means the guerrillas can hit anywhere in Israel’s heavily populated center and reach as far south as Dimona. During the Second Lebanon Warof 2006, Hizbullah fired nearly four thousand rockets into Israeli territory. The longest-range rockets fired, which officials said were Iranian-made, hit about 70 kilometers inside Israel. Although the Air Force managed to take out most of Hizbullah’s. more.. e-mail
IDF: Islamic Jihad producing Grad-like rockets
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/27/2008
New type rockets can reach 12. 5-mile range, carry double amount of explosives compared to Qassams. ’The fact terror groups can manufacture their own long-range rockets is disturbing and worrying,’ army official warns - The Islamic Jihad terror group has recently began manufacturing rockets capable of reaching a 12. 5-mile range, similar to the Grad rockets already in use by terror organizations in Gaza. The new rockets are armed with a much deadlier warhead that carries double the amount of explosives compared to the regular Qassams, the IDF has recently learned. According to army data, the terror groups have made use of the new rocket at least three times since the IDF’s Warm Summer Operation in Gaza concluded. Regular Qassam rockets carry about 11 lbs of explosives and have a 4. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces storm towns in Tulkarem district
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces stormed in several areas in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem on Thursday morning, Ma’an’s reporter said. Our Tulkarem reporter said that an Israeli infantry unit stormed the towns of Anabta and Bal’a in eastern Tulkarem. No arrests have been reported. He added that another Israeli force closed the track road between the towns of Bazaria and Ramin using a military bulldozer. [end] [end]
Palestinian security seize 4 Hamas affiliates in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas said that the Palestinian security services affiliated to the Fatah-led caretaker government in the West Bank arrested four Hamas loyalists on Wednesday evening. They said in a statement that the arrestees were from Nablus and Salfit districts in the northern West Bank as well as Hebron in the south. [end] [end]
Army invades a Bethlehem town
Manar Jibrin& agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/27/2008
Thursday afternoon a massive number of Israeli soldiers had invaded the al Balou’ neighborhood in the West Bank town of al Khader southern of Bethlehem. Local eyewitness reported that the soldiers are surrounding a house that belongs to Mohamad Husein Salah under the pretext of having "wanted Palestinians" inside it. [end] [end]
IOF troops kidnap Palestinian young woman
Palestinian Information Center 3/27/2008
NABLUS, (PIC)-- IOF soldiers at dawn Thursday kidnapped a 26-year-old Palestinian young woman from her parent’s home in Rafidia suburb, Nablus city, local sources reported. The sources said that the soldiers broke into the home of Samir Kenan and abducted his daughter Hanadi after ransacking the house. Relatives of the young woman said that the troops violently stormed the family home before taking away Hanadi, who is a post graduate student at Najah University. They recalled that the IOF troops had earlier kidnapped Hanadi’s brother. In another unrelated development, detained PLC speaker Dr. Aziz Dwaik is scheduled to attend a hearing into his case in Ofer detention center on Thursday along with other detained MPs affiliated with Hamas’s parliamentary bloc. The Israeli occupation authority is holding 47 Palestinian MPs in custody including Dr. more.. e-mail
Israeli settler attacks Palestinian woman on road near Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an An Israeli woman from the Tappuh settlement near Qalqilia in the northern West Bank attacked attacked a Palestinian woman as she waited for a taxi by the side of the road on Thursday. Rawda At-Tabib was attacked as she was on her way to work in the Bureau of Social Affairs in Salfit in the northern West Bank, she told Ma’an. She explained that the Israeli woman suddenly began hitting her with a club whilst uttering a stream on invective. Israeli soldiers came and took away the settler. According to Palestinian medical sources in Qalqilia, the Palestinian woman sustained serious bruises to her leg. [end] [end]
Palestinian military groups fire projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility on Thursday morning for launching three homemade projectiles at the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Separately, the military wing affiliated to the Popular Resistance Committees said a group of their fighters fired two homemade projectiles at the Israeli Kibutz of ’Ein Hashlosha east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday morning. The Brigades said in separate statements that their activities came in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end] [end]
Israeli forces demolish three houses, farm and groves in southern Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli forces demolished three houses in Al-Qarara in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening, Ma’an’s reporter said. Eyewitnesses told our reporter that Israeli military vehicles raided the area in the evening under cover of a military helicopter, withdrawing at 10pm after demolishing three houses belonging to Hisham, Nasser and Yasser Abu Mudeif. Israeli forces also demolished a poultry farm belonging to the Abu Shamas family as well as bulldozing 13 acres of olive trees. [end] [end]
Israeli forces arrest 3 Palestinians near Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces raided the small village of Jbara, south of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank on Thursday morning, imposing a curfew before apprehending three men. Ma’an’s reporter quoted Palestinian security sources as saying that the arrestees were taken to the Qidomeim settlement near Tulkarem. Local sources named one of them as 44-year-old Tahsin Awad while the identity of the other two remains unknown. [end] [end]
PFLP’s military wing fires two projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed responsibility on Thursday for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. [end] [end]
Identity of NCO charged with spying for Hizbullah revealed
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 3/27/2008
Louai Balut meets with family for first time since arrest on espionage, drug charges. Continues to insist allegations are conspiracy - The Haifa Military Court on Thursday remanded to custody for an additional four days First Sergeant Major Louai Balut, a 34-year-old from the village of Fasuta in the Upper Galilee accused of aiding Hizbullah. In addition the court released his name for publication. Military Prosecution representatives stated in court that an indictment will be filed against Balut by next Monday. He is accused of contact with a foreign agent and espionage, and was detained on illegal drug charges, as well as charges of assisting Hizbullah operatives and handing sensitive military information over to them. On Thursday, for the first time since his arrest, Balut met with his family, but was not permitted to speak with them. more.. e-mail
Fatah in Tulkarem warns of "organized attack" against Fatah leadership
Ma’an News Agency 3/27/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an The Fatah movement in Tulkarem on Thursday warned of what they described as an "organized attack" against the movement’s leadership by "enemies of the movement. " "The Fatah movement is now paying the price for its struggle and insistence on countering the enemies of the Palestinian question inside the Palestinian territories and abroad, and we are paying the price for our commitment to our people’s legitimate rights," they said in a statement. The statement said that negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis have faltered because Palestinian negotiators can not give up Palestinian inalienable rights despite Israeli pressures. [end] [end]
Israeli rabbi calls for ’terrible revenge’
Middle East Online 3/27/2008
TEL AVIV - A prominent Israeli rabbi has called on the state to exact "terrible revenge" against Palestinians for the recent killing of eight teenagers at a religious school in occupied Jerusalem, drawing heavy criticism. In an article on the front page of a Jewish nationalist pamphlet, Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of the northern city of Safed, blasted the state for failing to avenge the March 6 attack. "Two weeks have passed since the attack in Merkaz Harav Yeshiva and we have yet to hear of an Israeli retribution. Something has gone wrong with the decision makers. This used to be one of Israel’s basic policies," he wrote in the latest issue of the weekly publication. "We must call a spade a spade. Revenge, revenge, revenge. We must not forget. We must exact terrible revenge for the Merkaz Harav attack. "I am talking about the state. " more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 032708
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/27/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Thursday March 27th, 2008. The Israeli army attack Gaza and level a home, a new round of talks takes place in Rafah between Hamas and Egypt over a possible truce, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Israeli army tanks and bulldozers invaded the village of Al Qarrara in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday at dawn. Tanks and bulldozers destroyed two homes owned by local farmers in addition to bulldozing 50 Dunums of land used for farming local sources reported. (One Acre = Four Dunums). Meanwhile the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated that its fighters fired at least nine home-made shells at southern Israeli areas located near Gaza on Thursday at dawn. more.. e-mail
IOF troops shoot, critically wound Palestinian youth
Palestinian Information Center 3/26/2008
NABLUS, (PIC)-- IOF troops on Tuesday night shot and critically wounded a Palestinian young man at the Hawara military road barrier south of Nablus city after claiming he did not listen to their orders. The young man, from Orta village, was hit with a bullet that penetrated his abdomen and got out from his back. His condition was described as "difficult". The IOF soldiers mounting armored vehicles on Wednesday morning stormed the city of Nablus along with Beit Al-Ma and Balata refugee camps to the east and west of Nablus and stormed many homes but no arrests were reported. The soldiers also burst into the villages of Burka and Yasid to the north of Nablus city and broke into and ransacked many citizens’ homes. Meanwhile, tens of IOF armored vehicles stormed the city of Jenin at dawn Wednesday and broke into a number of buildings including the premises of the Nafha legal society defending rights of Palestinian prisoners in occupation jails. more.. e-mail
Safed chief rabbi calls on state to exact ’revenge’ against Arabs
Nadav Shragai Jack Khoury and, Ha’aretz 3/26/2008
The chief rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, is calling on the government to carry out "state-sanctioned revenge" against Arabs in order to, in his words, restore Israel’s deterrence. The Musawa Center for Arab Rights in Israel said it planned to urge the Attorney General to censure Eliyahu over the comments and punish him "at the fullest severity of the law. "In a piece penned for this upcoming weekend’s edition of the newsletter "Eretz Yisrael Shelanu," Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu wrote: "It’s time to call the child by its name: Revenge, revenge, revenge. We mustn’t forget. We have to take horrible revenge for the terrorist attack at Mercaz Harav yeshiva," referring to the incident in which eight students were killed earlier this month. "I’m not talking about individual people in particular, I’m talking about the state," Eliyahu wrote. more.. e-mail
Sderot: 2 wounded in Qassam barrage
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/26/2008
Eight Qassams land in western Negev in late evening, bringing Wednesday’s total to 17 in end to brief lull in rocket fire - Two people were lightly wounded and nine others suffered from shock after Palestinian terror groups in northern Gaza launched a barrage of eight Qassam rockets towards Israel late Wednesday evening. Two of the rockets landed in the town of Sderot, causing structural damage near the town’s commercial center. Security forces have yet to confirm where the remaining rockets crashed. The military wings of the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committee’s - the al-Quds Brigades and the Salah a-Din Brigades - claimed responsibility for the Qassam barrages. The last barrage bring to 17 the total number of rockets fired on Wednesday, a significant increase compared to numbers recorded in recent days. more.. e-mail
After two weeks of quiet, Negev slammed by 15 Qassam rockets
Avi Issacharoff Amos Harel Yuval Azoulay and Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 3/27/2008
Approximately 15 Qassam rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip against the western Negev yesterday. Two Israeli citizens were lightly injured in Sderot while another Israeli was lightly wounded when he was shot by a sniper as he worked the fields of Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha, near the border with the Gaza Strip. Israeli security forces meanwhile yesterday arrested a senior Hamas operative from Tul Karm, Omar Jaber, who reportedly played a key role in organizing the Passover-eve suicide bombing at Netanya’s Park Hotel, six years ago today. In that attack, 30 Israelis were murdered and 143 wounded when a terrorist blew himself up in the hotel dining room while the Seder service was in progress. After a lull of nearly two weeks, in which fighting in the south was almost non-existent, the Palestinians fired at least 15 rockets at western Negev communities. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinian homemade projectiles ’land in Ashkelon’
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, and the military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Wednesday for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip. The two organizations said in a joint statement that resistance against Israeli occupation will continue until Palestinian land is freed. [end]
Al-Quds brigades attack Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds brigades, claimed responsibility on Wednesday evening for launching two projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, bordering the Gaza Strip. They sent a statement to Ma’an, saying the operation was in response to the continuing policy of detention, adding they would continue to resist the occupation. [end]
After Jenin, PA forces will move into Bethlehem, other cities
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Following the expected deployment of hundreds of Palestinian security forces in the West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian forces will also move into Bethlehem and other major West Bank cities, Israeli security sources said on Wednesday. Voice of Israel radio reported that Israeli security officials believe that the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) officers have achieved relative success in restoring security in the cities of Nablus and Tulkarem, where they have already been allowed to resume control. The Israeli military, the officials said, would be able to operate freely even in those areas where Palestinian police are supposedly in control. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to inform Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the decision to deploy 700 members of Palestinian security forces in Jenin in a meeting on Wednesday, Israeli media reported. more.. e-mail
IOF troops demolish two houses, bulldoze agriculture lands
Palestinian Information Center 3/26/2008
KHAN YOUNIS (PIC)-- IOF troops on Wednesday demolished two Palestinian homes and bulldozed 100 dunums of agriculture lands in Qarara town east of Khan Younis, to the south of the Gaza Strip, locals reported. They told PIC correspondent that the lands were cultivated with olive trees and vegetables, and added that the soldiers were still firing indiscriminately at citizens this afternoon. In the West Bank, Hebrew media reported that IOF soldiers rounded up 13 Palestinians in various areas including the commander of the Qassam Brigades in Tulkarm. Meanwhile, IOF command on Wednesday dismantled the Mintad outpost east of Qarara which has been repeatedly attacked by Palestinian resistance in Gaza especially the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. Witnesses reported that Zionist tractors were seen removing the outpost amidst feeling of satisfaction among the nearby Palestinian. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize Al-Qassam Brigades leader in Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces seized a top activist in the armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, and one of his aides during an incursion in the West Bank town of Bal’a, east of the city of Tulkaremon Wednesday morning. Witnesses said that Israeli forces detained 45-year-old Umar Jabir, who they have pursued for seven years. Israeli intelligence services accuse Jabir of involvement in anti-Israeli military activity. 39-year-old Hani Barabrah was the other arrestee. Abu Jabir had been deported to Marj Az-Zuhur in Lebanon in 1992 along with 415 other Islamic activists, most of whom were affiliated with Hamas. Eyewitnesses told our reporter that Israeli forces raided Bal’a and searched several houses, arrested three other Palestinian teenagers, 17-year-old Nihad Zitawi, 19-year-old Mihad Harash and 18-year-old Eyhab Ammar. more.. e-mail
Palestinian fighter dies of combat wounds in Egyptian hospital
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Gaza Ma’an Twenty-four-year-old Palestinian activist Mahmoud Abid Rabbu died on Wednesday in an Egyptian hospital where he was being treated for serious wounds. The Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, said that Abid Rabbu was one of their fighters who was injured during a massive Israeli incursion in the northern Gaza Strip in late February. Abid Rabbu was from Izbat Abid Rabbu, in the northern Gaza Strip. 120 Palestinians, most of them unarmed civilians, were killed in the five-day Israeli incursion. Due to the high number of casualties, Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing to allow wounded Palestinians to be treated in Egyptian hospitals. more.. e-mail
Resistance fighter dies of wounds sustained 3 weeks ago
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/26/2008
A Palestinian resistance fighter was pronounced dead on Wednesday at midday of wounds sustained during an Israeli attack targeting the Gaza Strip three weeks ago. Mohamed Abed Rabuh, 24, was injured earlier this month; during Israeli attacks where thei army killed at least 130 Palestinian 95 of whom were civilians. The Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, stated that Abed Rabuh was one of their fighters; he had been transferred to Egypt for emergency treatment shortly after he was injured and died today. Shortly after the three day attack on Gaza, Egypt allowed a number of injured Palestinians entry for medical care, the Israeli army has placed Gaza under total siege since June 2007. more.. e-mail
Islamist Leader found dead in Gaza Strip
George Rishmawi, International Middle East Media Center 3/26/2008
A senior Islamist leader was found dead in the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday morning, near the evacuated settlement of Nitzarim south of Gaza city, Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses reported. Mahmoud Basal, senior leader of a group known as "Army of Islam", was found dead after he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen on Monday. Local sources said that the Palestinian police placed an umber of checkpoints in the Gaza Strip after they found the body. Basal was known to be the second man in the group, where the first is known as Mumtaz Dughmush. Dughmush was an officer in the Palestinian security forces loyal to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before he left and formed the group that he called, the Army of Islam. more.. e-mail
IDF captures Hamas man behind 2002 Passover bombing at Netanya hotel
Amos Harel Haaretz Correspondent, Ha’aretz 3/26/2008
The Israel Defense Forces captured Wednesday a senior Hamas terrorist who helped mastermind the 2002 suicide bombing at a Passover seder at Park Hotel in Netanya, in which 29 people were killed and nearly 150 others wounded. Omar Jabar, who headed Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank city of Tul Karm, was among seven wanted Palestinians detained by the IDF early Wednesday. Jabar was arrested in a town northeast of Tul Karm by IDF infantry troops, who raided a house in which one of Jabar’s aides was believed to be hiding when it became apparent that Jabar himself was at the scene. Jabar tried to flee, but was captured along with his aide. Jabar was responsible for recruiting the individual who led the bomber to Park Hotel, and helped plan the attack alongside Abbas Sayed, who headed Hamas in Tul Karm. more.. e-mail
Israel announces kidnapping of Qassam leader in Tulkarm
Palestinian Information Center 3/26/2008
TULKARM, (PIC)-- Israeli sources announced that the IOF troops managed to kidnap Omar Jaber, one of the wanted leaders of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, during a complex security operation in Tulkarm. Palestinian local sources reported that a large number of IOF troops and special forces stormed the Balaa town, east of Tulkarm at an early hour Wednesday, broke into and ransacked the house of Hani Barabra, 35, for more than an hour and a half before they kidnapped Barabra along with another person believed to be the Qassam leader. Qassam leader Jaber, 50, escaped from dozens of attempts to arrest him during the Aqsa intifada; the PA security apparatuses also tried to arrest him and raided his house in Ektaba village many times during the last months. In retaliation to the ongoing Israeli crimes and siege, the Qassam Brigades announced that its fighters engaged Tuesday. more.. e-mail
Palestinian security seize 4 Hamas affiliates in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Ramallah Hamas said on Wednesday that the Palestinian security services affiliated to the West Bank-based caretaker government arrestedfour Hamas’ loyalists in various West bank districts on Tuesday evening. Hamas said in a statement that arrestees were from Ramallah district in the central West Bank, Nablus in the north and Hebron in the south. The statement also highlighted that Palestinian security services in Tulkarem in the northern West Bank are continuing to detain Tariq Abu Shihab, correspondent for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa radio station for the fourth day. [end]
PFLP’s military wing fires mortars and homemade projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility on Tuesday night for firing three mortar rounds at the Israeli military base Nahal Oz and two homemade projectiles at Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that their fightesr launched 11 more homemade projectiles earlier on Tuesday and attacked Israeli soldiers, seriously injuring one officer. [end]
Israeli forces seize five Palestinians in Tulkarem raid
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces on Wednesday stormed the West Bank town of Qaffin, north of the city of Tulkarem, and seized five Palestinians including two Islamic Jihad fighters. Local residents said that Israeli forces raided several houses before arresting 17-year-old Amal Harsha, 26-year-old Muhammad Ammar, 27-year-old Jamil Khatib, and two Islamic Jihad activists, 21-year-old Kahlid Ajjuli and 20-year-old Rashwan Ajjuli. [end]
Israeli forces raid Jenin, storm several buildings
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday and ransacked several residential buildings, commercial complexes, and charities amidst heavy gunfire. Local sources told Ma’an’s reporter that more than 15 Israeli military vehicles entered the city and stormed several buildings, breaking doors and damaging the contents of shops, apartments and charities. No casualties have been reported. [end]
Israeli forces seize seven Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/26/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized seven "wanted" Palestinian activists in the West Bank on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Israeli army sources said. According to the sources, the arrestees were from Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, Ramallah in the center, and Bethlehem and Hebron in the south. [end]
IDF soldier dies of wounds sustained in gun cleaning accident
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 3/26/2008
An Israel Defense Forces soldier died Wednesday of injuries he sustained a day earlier in a gun cleaning accident on a military base in northern Israel. The soldier was critically wounded in the Tuesday morning incident, and his family was notified. He received first aid at the base and was later transferred to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for further care. An initial investigation into the incident revealed that one of the soldiers in the unit had accidentally fired his gun while cleaning it, and hit the victim. A high ranking officer was appointed to investigate the incident further, while a simultaneous military police investigation is also underway. [end]
Ein Hashlosha farmers fear for their lives
Yonat Atlas, YNetNews 3/26/2008
’Soldiers are supposed to protect us while we work in the fields,’ injured farmer says following sniper attack from Gaza. Eshkol Regional Council head: We are not living in Palmach times; we have an army, and it must protect the farmers’ - "Despite the apparent agreements with the Palestinians regarding the Qassam rocket fire, the attacks emanating from Gaza with the use of firearms continue unabated," Eshkol Regional Council head Haim Yalin told Ynet following Wednesday morning’s sniper attack on Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha. During the attack, which occurred at around 10 am, Palestinian snipers opened fire at 32 farmers as they were cultivating their fields. One farmer, Yochi Kopler, was lightly injured from a ricochet. The farmers were forced to leave their agricultural fields and return to the kibbutz, this during the peak of the potato-picking season at the kibbutz and the entire Eshkol region in the Negev. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 032608
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/26/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Wednesday March 26th, 2008. A resistance fighter and a civilian are pronounced dead in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks, while in the West Bank Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmers, these stories and more coming up. Stay tuned. The News Cast A Palestinian resistance fighter was pronounced dead on Wednesday at midday from wounds sustained during an Israeli attack targeting the Gaza Strip three weeks ago. Mohamed Abed Rabuh, 24, was injured earlier this month during Israeli attacks in which the army killed at least 130 Palestinians, 95 of whom were civilians. The Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, stated that Abed Rabuh was one of their fighters. more.. e-mail
Israeli army attacks two Palestinian Radio stations and kidnaps four civilians from Hebron
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/25/2008
The Israeli army searched Palestinian homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron and nearby villages, kidnapping four civilians and attacking two Palestinian radio stations in the city on Tuesday. Israeli troops kidnapping a Palestinian civilian in Hebron - Photo by IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura -File 2008Troops searched homes in the old city of Hebron and the nearby villages of Beit Umer and Deir Samit, kidnapping three civilians. Local sources identified the three men as: Mohamed Nasser Al Deen, 52, Jameel Alqam, 62, and Imad Abu Maryia, 30. Meanwhile another Israeli force attacked the offices of Al Huriya (freedom) and Siraj Radio stations located in Hebron city and closed them down. Witnesses said that troops searched and ransacked the two offices then took computers and broadcasting equipment. Ahmad Sonokrot, a radio technician from Siraj Radio was kidnapped by the Israeli troops during the attack. more.. e-mail
Israel still hampering efforts to clear unexploded ordnance - UNMACC
Mohammed Zaatari, Daily Star 3/26/2008
SOUTH LEBANON: Nearly a year and a half after the 2006 war with Israel came to an end, efforts to clear South Lebanon of unexploded ordnance are still being hampered by Israel’s refusal to provide key information to the United Nations, the UN Mine Action Coordination Center’s (UNMACC) media and clearance officer Dalia Farran told The Daily Star on Tuesday. "Israel is still refusing to inform the UN of the geographic spots it littered with cluster bombs, and of the quantity and type of such ordnance," she said. The UN still does not even know the number of weapons Israel dropped north and south the Litani River, Farran added. "There are millions or hundreds of thousands. . . we do not know, despite our repetitive calls on Israel to hand over maps of the planted mines and cluster bombs. All we know is that we could get rid of 141,000 cluster bombs. more.. e-mail
Barak approves five mobile homes for Hebron Hills settlement
Akiva Eldar, Ha’aretz 3/26/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently approved the the transfer of five mobile homes to the settlement of Teneh Omarim in the southern Hebron Hills for evacuees from the Gush Katif settlement of Morag. The Civil Administration spokesman confirmed that the mobile homes had been set up with the full approval of the authorities. In response to a question by MK Avshalom Vilan (Meretz), Eitan Broshi, the minister’s aide on settlement issues, said the mobile homes "had been approved for transport and placement within an area that has a valid construction plan for lots intended for housing. "Broshi noted that the structures "constituted a substitute for [permanent] housing that by law could be implemented by virtue of the plans being valid. "Teneh Omarim is located east of the security fence, and outside the West Bank’s large settlement blocs. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces storm houses, seize Islamic Jihad activist near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces raided the West Bank town of Qabatiya south of the city of Jenin and seized an Islamic Jihad activist, witnesses said. Local sources told Ma’an’s reporter in Jenin that Israeli forces broke into several houses in Qabatiya searching for "wanted" Palestinians before they seized 22-year-old Kamal Kameel, an activist with the Islamic Jihad movement. The sources added that Israeli troops ransacked the homes of Abdul-Fattah Khuzaima, Alaa Abu Rub and Bilal Kameel, all activists in Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades. They also stormed homes of Sulaiman and Ahmad Nazzal, activists with the left-wing Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) as well as home of Mu’adh Saba’nah, an activist in the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces raid Bethlehem and seize three Palestinians
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces morning seized three Palestinians from the West Bank city of Bethlehem and the neighboring town of Doha on Tuesday, Palestinian security sources said. Security sources said Israeli forces raided As-Saf area in the centre of Bethlehem and apprehended 21-year-old Hamza Al-Kamil and 27-year-old Nidal Khalawi, the head of the freed prisoners’ society in Bethlehem. In Doha, Israeli forces stormed the city and seized 22-year-old Nael Muslih after ransacking several houses. [end] [end] [end]
Israeli forces storm Balata refugee camp, detain three Palestinians
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces invaded Balata refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday morning, seizing three Palestinians, local sources said. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an’s reporter that more than 20 Israeli military vehicles and a bulldozer stormed the camp at 3:00am ransacking dozens of Palestinian houses on the pretext of searching for so-called "wanted" activists. The Israeli forces also raided the nearby village of Kafr Qallil and forcibly searched several homes. [end] [end] [end]
IOF troops kidnap four Palestinians in Nablus
Palestinian Information Center 3/25/2008
NABLUS, (PIC)-- A large number of IOF troops invaded at dawn Tuesday the Nablus city, the Balata refugee camp and the Kufr Kalil village in the West Bank, where they broke into and ransacked many houses, and kidnapped four Palestinian citizens. Palestinian local sources reported that there is an injury in the ranks of the invading IOF troops after they engaged in armed clashes with Palestinian resistance in the camp. The IOF troops are still in the camp until this moment, where they have established many military posts there and prevented thousands of Palestinian students from going to their schools. Many Israeli military tanks and armored vehicles stormed the Yamoun town, west of the Jenin city in the West Bank and roamed its streets before withdrawing. The IOF troops invaded the Qabatiya town after midnight Monday where they came under fire by Palestinian resistance fighters and retaliated by firing intensively at the source of fire. more.. e-mail
Four Palestinians kidnapped in Balata refugee camp
Ameen Abu Wardeh, International Middle East Media Center 3/25/2008
Israeli forces invaded the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus city in the early hours of Tuesday morning and kidnapped four Palestinians. Sources in the refugee camp reported that the Israeli military invaded the camp from its entrances and fired rounds of live ammunition and sound bombs on students and civilians. Sources added that Israeli soldiers turned rooftops of civilians’ homes into military posts. The operation in the camp is still ongoing and clashes between Palestinian resistance and Israeli forces were reported. The clashes broke out in the northern entrance of the camp. Sources added that there had been four Palestinians kidnapped in the operation after attacking and searching their homes. Among those kidnapped were Bashar Hamadan, Diya’ Huweity, Sameer Hashash,. All have been moved to an undisclosed detention center. more.. e-mail
Palestinian children confront invading Israeli troops near Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Hebron Ma’an Confrontations broke out between invading Israeli troops and Palestinian school students from the southern West Bank town of Beit Kahil, north of the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday afternoon. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that Israeli troops raided the town while students were heading home from school. Israeli soldiers seized 12-year-old Wajdi Az-Zuhur, sparking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian children. On Monday evening, Israeli forces raided Hebron and the nearby towns of Beit Ummar and Deir Samit, detaining three PalestiniansThe head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society in Hebron, Amjad Najjar, identified the arrestees as 52-year-old Muhammad Nasser Addin from Hebron, 62-year-old Jamil Alqam and 30-year-old Imad Mariya, both from Beit Ummar more.. e-mail
Red Crescent: Israeli army open fire on Palestinian youth
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Nablus Ma’an - The Palestinian Red Crescent in Nablus said that the Israeli army opened fire on a Palestinian man, wounding him. The incident took place in the village of ’Orta southeast of Nablus on Tuesday. The Red Crescent told Ma’an that 18-year-old Sa’ed ’Awad was shot in the stomach and was taken to Rafedia Government Hospital, as Israeli troops attempted to arrest him while he is in the ambulance. Israeli sources said that the Israeli soldiers fired at the young man during clashes in the village of ’Orta. [end] [end] [end]
The Israeli army kidnaps three civilians from Bethlehem
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/25/2008
The Israeli army invaded several parts of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and nearby villages on Tuesday morning and kidnapped three civilians. Local sources said that the Israeli troops attacked and searched homes in Bethlehem’s city center in addition to the nearby Al Duha and Taqua villages. The sources identified the three kidnapped as; Hamzah Al Kamel, 21, Nidal Khalawi, 27, both from Bethlehem city, while Nael Abu Mofarreh, 22, from the village of Taqua near Bethlehem. [end] [end] [end]
Palestinian military groups fire at Israeli targets bordering Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for firing six homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot in the western Negev. Separately, Hamas’ military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters launched four mortar shells at the Karni crossing near Al-Qarara in the southen Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The military groups said in separate statements that their activity came in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. [end] [end] [end]
Two Palestinian military groups fire projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Monday night for launching three homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, bordering the Gaza Strip. Separately, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, said its fighters launched three homemade projectiles an Israeli military position at Nahal Oz, east of Gaza City on Monday evening. The military groups said in separate statements that "the battle with occupation is ongoing and the shelling was in retaliation for Israeli atrocities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. " more.. e-mail
Nine Hamas members ’arrested’ in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas movement said on Tuesday that the Palestinian security services affiliated to the West Bank-based caretaker government apprehended on Monday evening 9 Hamas’ affiliates in the West Bank. According to a statement released by Hamas, the arrestees were from Qalqilia and Tulkarem districts in the northern West Bank as well as Ramallah in the center and Hebron in the south. The statement highlighted that Palestinian security services stormed four mosques in Hebron district during apprehension and removed posters defending Prophet Muhammad against cartoons as well as posters related to the anniversary of the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen, the founder of Hamas movement. more.. e-mail
A large-scale military operation in Qabatiya to kidnap members of Islamic Jihad
Ali Samoudi, International Middle East Media Center 3/25/2008
Sources from Islamic Jihad in the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin reported on Tuesday that Israeli forces kidnapped one of its members in the town in a large-scale military operation that targeted the wanted Palestinians of al-Quds brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. Sources added that at least 20 military vehicles invaded the town from several directions and surrounded homes belonging to official leaders of Islamic Jihad. Troops ransacked the houses causing damage to property, but no injuries or abductions were reported. The army withdrew later from the area with one member of the movement, Kamal Kameel. Kameel, abducted and moved to an unknown detention center. Translated by Nisreen Qumsieh - IMEMC News. more.. e-mail
Hamas: PA forces arrest 9 of the movement members in the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/25/2008
The Hamas movement reported that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ security forces had arrested nine of the movement’s members from several West Bank areas. In a press statement faxed to the press, the movement said that the arrests took place in the cities of Hebron, Tulkarem, Qalqilia and Ramallah. Among those arrested were Adnan Jaber, of the Islamic Charity Society in Ramallah in addition to the secretary of the society Ahmad Husni, Rustom Al-Qathawani, of the employees’ affairs office in the society and Salah Suliman, the accountant of the society. The movement added that Palestinian Authority forces also searched several mosques in Hebron city and confiscated photos of the late Hamas leader Ahmad Yassin, who was assassinated by the Israeli army in Gaza four years ago. more.. e-mail
IDF arrests ’top PFLP operative’ involved in death of soldier
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/25/2008
A gag order was lifted Tuesday on the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Ben security service operation that culminated in the January 15 arrest of a senior operative with the militant Palestinian group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Ibrahim Sayid Ibrahim Salem of the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank admitted during questioning to his involvement in numerous shooting attacks, detonation of explosive devices and a car bombing targeting IDF forces in the Nablus region in October 2006. Ibrahim Salem also admitted to being involved in the shooting attack against IDF troops on September 18, 2007, during which IDF soldier Staff Sergeant Ben-Zion Henman was killed. Several additional wanted PFLP operatives took part in the 2007 shooting attack, among them Majdi Mabruk who was also recently arrested. more.. e-mail
Hamas-allied police assault deportee from Nativity church in Gaza, victim says
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip have reportedly attacked one of the Palestinian activists who was deported to the Gaza Strip from the West Bank after the 2002 siege by Israeli forces of the Church of the Nativity in the city of Bethlehem. Deportee Khalid Salah, said he was assaulted by Hamas-allied police while waiting in his car at a gas station in the southern Gaza Strip. Salah said that, when it was his turn to refuel his car, a police officer asked him to turn back. When he refused, three police officers dragged him from the car and beat him, bruising him badly. He was hospitalized. Salah is originally from the West Bank town of Al-Khadr, near Bethlehem. With fuel shipments almost completely stopped by the Israeli blockade, fuel for automobiles has been extremely scarce in the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces focus on Islamic Jihad during Tuesday arrest campaign
Palestine News Network 3/25/2008
Jenin / Ali Samoudi - Sources in the Islamic Jihad movement in the town of Qabatiya, south of the city of Jenin, report that Israeli forces arrested at dawn Tuesday arrested one of its members. Israeli forces also arrested seven Palestinians during early morning raids in Bethlehem, Nablus, and Hebron. Fateh reports that one of its members was also taken from Qalqilia, while Israeli forces have detained a young boy at Nablus’ Beit Iba Checkpoint and continued the invasion of the city and Balata Refugee Camp this morning. The Israeli invasion of Qabatiya involved at least 20 military vehicles and targeted Saraya Al Quds, the armed resistance wing of Islamic Jihad. As reported by the sources the raid on the town came from several axes. Israeli forces surrounded the home of Jihad leader, Abdel Fattah Khozimah, and the commander of Saraya Al Quds, Abu ’Ala Rabna. more.. e-mail
Hamas under threat from both the PA and Israelis
Palestine News Network 3/25/2008
Bethlehem / PNN -- Sources in the Hamas party told reporters Tuesday morning that Palestinian Authority security services continue to target its members, as do Israeli forces. The population of Hamas members is growing in both PA jails and Israeli prisons. And members of the Israeli government have said that its leaders in Gaza are targeted for assassination, while putting the onus of the acts of Israeli forces on the party. The party says that everyday more of its ranks are arrested, yesterday nine from throughout the West Bank. They also report PA security as "storming" four mosques in the southern West Bank’s Hebron, where the PA reportedly took pictures from the Walls that commemorate Sheikh Yassin, assassinated by Israeli forces several years ago in Gaza City. Israeli forces attacked an orphanage affiliated with the party in the same city and demanded that it closes its doors by 1 April. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Recent incidents suggest rise in violence between Haredi, messianic Jews
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 3/26/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 daily feature for March 24, 2008. Recent incidents point to heightened tensions inside Israel between the ultra-Orthodox community and messianic Jews, who believe in Jesus but consider themselves Jewish. In the desert town of Arad, a religious argument recently ended in an attempt by a messianic Jewish man to run over a member of Yad L’Achim, a Haredi anti-missionary organization. Edwin Beckford, a messianic Jew and resident of Arad, has been charged with assault and is now under house arrest. He says his action was a result of years of provocation and abuse. Just last week, the conflict appeared to have spread to Ariel, when a bomb seriously injured a teenage boy. Police suspect the boy’s family was targeted due to their messianic Judaism. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize Palestinian man near Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces seized 31-year-old Palestinian man Faris Mahdawi on Monday evening a Palestinian 31-year-old Faris Mahdawi from the village of Izbat Al-Jarad east of the city of Tulkarem city in the northern West Bank. Israeli army sources said the man was accused of trading weapons. Meanwhile, security sources said he was affiliated to Hamas. [end] [end] [end]
Israeli forces besiege Palestinian house near Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 3/25/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an Israeli forces have besieged a Palestinian house amidst heavy gunfire in the town of Azzun east of the West Bank city of Qalqilia, local sources said on Tuesday. The sources say the house, located in the center of the town belongs to Isam Hannun, and that Israeli forces have detained some of the members of the family. Azzoun is subject to frequent Israeli raids and is often placed under curfew. [end] [end] [end]
Police lower alert in hunt for suspected terrorist near Hadera
Ruth Sinai and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/25/2008
Police on Tuesday afternoon were searching for a woman near the town of Hadera, in the Sharon region, whom they suspected of intending to carry out a terror attack. Police had initially declared a high alert in the Sharon region, which is north of Tel Aviv, but subsequently lowered it despite continuing to search for the woman. The woman was described as wearing glasses, black trousers and a red shirt, and carrying a bag. Following the alert, there was a heightened presence of police forces in the Sharon region. Police used helicopters and erected roadblocks to aid their search. Related articles: Eight killed when terrorist opens fire in library at Jerusalem yeshiva Hamas claims Dimona attack, says bombers came from Hebron more.. e-mail
IDF soldier critically hurt in gun cleaning accident at army base
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 3/25/2008
An Israel Defense Forces Soldier was critically wounded Tuesday morning when he was accidentally shot at a military base in northern Israel. The soldier’s family has been notified of the incident. The victim received first aid at the base and was later transferred to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for further care. An initial investigation into the incident revealed that one of the soldiers in the unit had accidentally fired his gun while cleaning it, and hit the victim. A high ranking officer was appointed to investigate the incident further, while a simultaneous military police investigation is also underway. Meanwhile Tuesday, an IDF reserves officer was moderately injured by an explosion that occurred during a training exercise at a base in southern Israel. more.. e-mail
An Amalek in our times?
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 3/25/2008
Purim 5768, just two weeks after the terrorist attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, transforms the annual, almost traditional, discussion over the image of Amalek and his offspring, Haman, into one that is more alert and pointed than ever. The embodiment of the eternal evil, the one that attacked the weakness of the children of Israel as they left Egypt and which, according to a Torah commandment, must ostensibly be obliterated from the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 25:17-19), is each year associated by many in the religious public with Israel’s enemies in contemporary times. The attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva intensified this association. Numerous sermons, articles and classes are being devoted this year to the relevance or lack thereof of the obliteration of the memory of Amalek in practical terms in our day and age. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 032508
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/25/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday March 25th, 2008. The Israeli army attack several parts of the West Bank, troops storm local radio stations and kidnap a school boy, meanwhile in Gaza, Palestinian resistance fighters target Israeli army posts at the borders, these stories and more coming up. stay tuned. The News Cast The Israeli army invaded several parts of the West Bank on Tuesday and kidnapped at least 14 Palestinian civilians. Five of those kidnapped were taken from the West Bank city of Hebron and nearby villages where the army also attacked two Palestinian radio stations. Israeli forces attacked the offices of Al Huriya (freedom) and Siraj Radio stations located in the city of Hebron, shutting the stations down. more.. e-mail
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes in Hebron city, one Palestinian injured
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/24/2008
Palestinian sources reported on Monday that Israeli settlers attacked a number of Palestinian homes in the old city in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on late Sunday night injuring one civilian. Sources said that a number of right wing Israeli settlers threw stones, glass bottles, and trash at Palestinian homes located in Tal Rumeida in the old city in Al-Khalil (Hebron). The settlers also chanted hateful slogans calling for killing Arabs in addition to beating up some of the men in those houses. During the attack Arowa Abu Hikal, in her 20’s, was lightly injured when a stone hit her in the head [end]
IDF deploys new ’anti-terror’ system around Gaza
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/23/2008
Army upgrades its capabilities in the Gaza region: New system combines camera, machine gun and enables IDF troops stationed in operations room to identify and fire at terrorists without risking themselves - First report : A new system deployed by the IDF in the Gaza-region enables soldiers stationed in the operations room to fire at Palestinian terrorists near the Gaza fence, Ynet has learned. The systems, which are equipped with a camera and a machine gun, enable soldiers to watch any activity that takes place near the fence and if necessary to fire at the push of a button. The new system will soon be officially declared "operational. "In recent months, the IDF Southern Command has integrated the system into its operational routine and instructed IDF field intelligence troops on using it. The system was developed by the Israel Armament Development Authority. more.. e-mail
Hit-and-run Israeli driver runs over Palestinian young man
Palestinian Information Center 3/24/2008
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- An Israeli setter driving a car wounded a Palestinian young man called Jihad Sharawneh, 20, very badly when he deliberately sped up and ran over the young man near Na’lin village west of Ramallah city. Palestinian eyewitness reported that the settler fled the scene, while the young man was bleeding and groaning with pain, adding that he got fractures in his limbs. Meanwhile, another Israeli settler on Sunday kidnapped two Palestinian children called Iyad Al-Hindi, 14, and his cousin Bilal Al-Hindi, 17, as they were grazing sheep on the outskirts of the Laban village, east of Salfit in the northern West Bank, according to local sources. The sources added that the settler took the two children to the Israeli Shilo settlement and let them go after questioning them. more.. e-mail
Palestinian man run over by Israeli settlers near Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 3/24/2008
Ramallah Ma’an A Palestinian man was moderately to seriously wounded when he was run over by an Israeli settler’s car on the bypass road near the central West Bank village of Ni’lin, west of Ramallah. Eyewitnesses named the victim as Jihad Sharawna, a man in his twenties. The settlers drove away without aiding the visibly wounded Sharawna, the witnesses said. Settler bypass roads, some of them designated for use by Israelis only, crisscross the West Bank. [end]
Palestinian Authority forces ’arrest five Hamas members’
Ma’an News Agency 3/24/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Hamas movement said on Monday that Fatah-allied Palestinian security forces detained five Hamas supporters in the West Bank on Sunday evening. According to a Hamas statement, the arrestees were from the Nablus and Tulkarem districts in the northern West Bank as well as Hebron in the southern West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces seize five Palestinians near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/24/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces seized five Palestinians from the West Bank towns of Tammun and Tubas, north of the city of Nablus on Monday morning, witnesses said. The director of the Palestinian prisoners society in Tubas, Mahmoud Sawafta, condemned ongoing Israeli arrest raids, saying they are intended to provoke Palestinians to respond. Every night Israeli forces raid West Bank cities and towns, abducting Palestinians, without charge or trial, from their homes. There are currently more than 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centers. [end]
The Israeli Army Kills a Palestinian Farmer in Gaza and Another Man Dies of Earlier Wounds
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/24/2008
The Israeli army shot and killed a Palestinian farmer on Monday midday in the southern part of the Gaza strip. Yousif Abu Thahier, was working his land located in the southern border between Israel and Gaza near the city of Khan Younis when Israeli troops from a nearby army post opened fire; killing the 55 year old man. Witnesses said that soldiers opened fire at the farmers without any reason. Israeli media sources said that Israeli troops engaged in armed clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters in the early morning near those borders. On Monday at dawn, Nidal Shaqurah, from the Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, was announced dead after succumbing to wounds he sustained last week. Shaqurah was injured in the town of Beit Lahyia, in the northern part of the Gaza strip, when an Israeli unmanned plane fired missiles at him and his comrades. more.. e-mail
Palestinian old man hit in IOF shooting left to bleed to death
Palestinian Information Center 3/24/2008
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- IOF troops killed a Palestinian old man east of Khan Younis on Monday after shooting at him then leaving him to bleed to death, eyewitnesses reported. They told PIC correspondent that Yousef Abu Daher, 70, was left to bleed for almost two hours after the IOF soldiers blocked ambulance vehicles from reaching him. They said that the old man was hit near his home in Abu Daher suburb, and added that the soldiers continued to fire at the area preventing citizens or ambulance cars from evacuating him. Meanwhile, two Palestinian seriously ill patients died in Gaza on Sunday as a result of inability to leave the Strip for treatment abroad in view of the tight Israeli siege and lack of appropriate medical care in the beleaguered Strip. Medical sources said that Zainab Bashir from Deir Al-Balah, and Yousef Al-Madhoun from Gaza city died after long suffering from chronic diseases. more.. e-mail
Palestinian resistance groups claim three attacks in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/24/2008
Gaza Ma’an Palestinian resistance groups claimed responsibility for three separate attacks on Israeli targets in and around the Gaza Strip on Sunday and Monday. Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades claimed that their fighters shot and injured an Israeli soldier east of the town of Al-Qarara in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoonThe military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday for firing three mortar rounds at the Gaza Strip’s Sufa border crossing. They said in a statement that the shelling was meant to emphasize that resistance is their choice to counter Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Separately, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility for launching a homemade. more.. e-mail
Israel eases closure of West Bank, high alert along northern border
Deutsche Presse Agentur, ReliefWeb 3/24/2008
Tel Aviv_(dpa) _Israel early Monday eased a closure of the West Bank, imposed five days ago to prevent attacks by Palestinian militants during the Jewish festival of Purim (Lots), the military said. During the closure, no Palestinians were allowed through military checkpoints into Israel, with the exception of special medical or humanitarian cases. Israeli media, however, reported that the Israeli army was on high alert along Israel’s northern border, as Lebanon’s Hezbollah was commemorating 40 days since the assassination in Damascus of its top military commander, Imad Mugniyeh. Israel did not claim responsibility for the assassination, but Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, was quoted as charging Friday his radical Shiite organization had "clear proof" that Israel was behind his killing. more.. e-mail
Israeli authorities sentence Al-Aqsa Brigades activist to 5 years
Ma’an News Agency 3/24/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an - An Al-Aqsa Brigades activist found guilty of committing a failed bomb attack was sentenced to five years in prison by an Israeli military court on Monday. 19-year-old Majdi Samir Abu Sfaqa from Tulkarem had been in custody on remand since April 7 last year, his father told Ma’an. Majdi was sentenced for his membership to the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, and planting an explosive device that failed to detonate at a crossroads used by Israeli settlers near Tulkarem. [end]
Hamas: PA forces arrest five members of the Movement from several parts of the W.B.
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/24/2008
The Hamas movement stated on Monday that the security forces of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had arrested five Hamas activists from several parts of the West Bank on Sunday. According to the statement the arrests were made in the cities of Hebron, Tulkarem, and Nablus. Meanwhile Bassel Idwedar, a Hamas member who is being held in the PA Jericho prison, announced on Monday that he is on hunger strike in protest of his arrest. Idwedar was arrested by the Palestinian Authority forces a week ago. [end]
An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades ’fire RPG’ at Israeli bulldozer in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/24/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, claimed responsibility on Monday for launching a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at an Israeli military bulldozer east of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The group said in a statement that the shelling was in retaliation for ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. [end]
Fatah man arrested on suspicion of weapons trading
Jerusalem Post 3/24/2008
A Fatah operative was arrested in Khirbat-a-Taykh, southeast of Tulkarm on suspicion of weapons dealing, the army announced Monday. The man, Faras Ma’adui, 31, was arrested in a joint IDF-Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation. He was transferred to security forces for interrogation. [end]
Al-Aqsa brigades bomb Israeli military jeep near Khan Younis
Ma’an News Agency 3/24/2008
Gaza Ma’an Fatah’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa brigades claimed responsibility on Monday for bombing an Israeli military jeep near Khaza’a, east of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. The brigades told Ma’an that the attack was in response to "Israeli crimes. " [end]
Rabbi Melamed: Soldiers must refuse orders contradicting Jewish law
Kobi Nahshoni, YNetNews 3/23/2008
In op-ed published prior to Purim, prominent Zionist rabbi notes that IDF troops must boldly and directly defy orders instead of evading acting as ordered - In an op-ed released prior to Purim, prominent Zionist Rabbi Zalman Melamed stated that "when an IDF soldier is given an order which contradicts halacha or Jewish law, he must not find ways to evade acting as ordered or make excuses for not following orders, but state outright and directly that he refuses to act in any manner which contradicts halacha. "The article was published in the Komemuyot Movement’s pamphlet. In an illustration stemming directly from the story of Purim itself, the rabbi noted that Mordechai’s adamant refusal to bow down to Haman, as told in the Book of Esther, teaches us that soldiers must proudly refuse to follow orders which contradict Jewish law, even if this comes at great personal risk. more.. e-mail
Report: Iranian, Syrian missiles to pound Israel in next war
Itamar Eichner, YNetNews 3/23/2008
Secret report paints grim picture: Thousands of casualties, nationwide power outages - Hundreds of dead, thousands of injured, missile barrages on central Israel, full paralysis at Ben-Gurion Airport, constantly bombed roads, nationwide power outages that last for long hours, and whole regions’ water supply being cut off - this is what the next war could look like. A secret report recently distributed among government ministries and local municipalities details various wartime scenarios. The report deals with very harsh possibilities, including some that are downright horrifying, formulated as part of the lessons drawn in the wake of the Second Lebanon War. Notably, the document does not aim to predict future developments with certainty, but rather, only aims to serve as a guideline for civilian war preparations. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 032408
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/24/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Monday March 24th, 2008. Two Palestinians reported dead in Gaza, while the Israeli army attack a Palestinian University in the West Bank and attack journalists, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast The Israeli army shot and killed a Palestinian farmer on Monday midday in the southern part of the Gaza strip. Yousif Abu Taher, , was working his land located at the southern Gaza Israeli borders near the city of Khan Younis when Israeli troops from a nearby army post opened fire killing the 55 year old man. Witnesses said that soldiers opened fire at the farmers without any reason. Israeli media sources said that Israeli troops engaged in armed clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters in the early morning near that borders. more.. e-mail
Efrat settlement near Bethlehem to expand
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 3/21/2008
The administration of Efrat, an illegal Israeli settlement near Bethlehem, decided to launch a construction project to build a new "neighborhood" which will be added to the settlement by annexing more Palestinian-owned lands. In 2003, the Israeli government gave its preliminary agreement to this project. There are nearly 4000 settlers living in Efrat and it is considered part of the Gush Ezion settlement bloc, south of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, settlers created a new illegal settlement "outpost" composed of four caravans in order to "temporarily" host new settler families after receiving approval from the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Creation and expansion of settlements on occupied land in the West Bank and Jerusalem is in violation of international law. These activities also are in direct violation of the US-backed "Road Map" Plan. more.. e-mail
Israeli settlers attempt to confiscate a Palestinian-owned store in East Jerusalem
Maisa Abu Ghazaleh, International Middle East Media Center 3/21/2008
On Friday, a group of Israeli settlers attempted to confiscate a Palestinian-owned store in East Jerusalem. The Palestinian family who owned the store were surprised when a group of Israeli settlers accompanied by construction workers entered illegally and would not leave. Wesal Arna’ut, member of the owner’s family, said that she filed a complaint with a nearby Israeli police station against the invasion and submitted a court order she obtained from an Israeli court preventing any kind of unauthorized construction work in the store. She stated that later four Israeli police officers arrived at the scene and stopped the workers, forcing them out of the store. A few hours later she received a phone call from the police station telling her that the Israeli settlers submitted documents in which they claimed that they purchased the store from the family. more.. e-mail
IOF troops kidnap six Palestinians and Abbas’s security kidnap six others
Palestinian Information Center 3/21/2008
The Hawwara roadblockNABLUS, (PIC)-- IOF troops, Thursday night and Friday morning, kidnapped six Palestinians in the northern West Bank, while Abbs’s security men kidnapped six Hamas supporters. IOF troops raided the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus in the early hours of Friday, broke into a number of homes and ransacked them before kidnapping Muntaha al-Khatib (an 18-year-old girl). The IOF had kidnapped earlier on Thursday another 18-year-old girl called Ayat al-Qaisi whose fiancΓ© was killed 3 weeks ago by the IOF and three of her brothers are captives in Israeli occupation jails. A Palestinian young man was also kidnapped while leaving Nablus through the notorious Hawwara roadblock where he was detained for 3 hours before being taken to the Hawwara military post. In nearby Baita village, to the south of Nablus, three more young men were kidnapped one of them taken. more.. e-mail
Clashes between Palestinian forces and civilians near Nablus
Ameen Abu Wardah, International Middle East Media Center 3/22/2008
On Saturday clashes erupted between Palestinian security forces and civilians from the Huwwara village located near Nablus city in the northern part of the West Bank. Witnesses stated that security officers searched several homes causing damage which sparked protests against the home invasions. Clashes occurred between officers and local youth after they attempted to barricade the road to the village with tires and stones. Local sources said that four civilians and some police officers sustained injures. Palestinian Security sources stated that the PA was attempting to arrest suspects involved in an ongoing murder investigation. In related news, Israel decided to allow 50 armored vehicles donated by Russia to reach the Palestinian Authority. Israeli approved the first 25 vehicles initially, and plan to allow another 25 later. more.. e-mail
Five injured in confrontation between PA and gunmen near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/22/2008
Nablus Ma’an A Palestinian security officer and four civilians were injured, one seriously, during a shoot-out between Palestinian Authority forces and dozens of armed men on Saturday morning in the village of Huwwara, south of the city of Nablus. Palestinian medics told Ma’an’s correspondent in Nablus that officer Bashar Attiyani was injured in the foot, while local Palestinian sources said that 30-year-old civilian Nur Al-Akhras was seriously injured in the head. The governor of Nablus, Jamal Muheisin told Ma’an that security forces were attempting to arrest the armed men in response to requests from Huwwara residents. Muheisin said that his forces have instructions to shoot back when they are fired upon. Colonel Fawaz Dawoud, the Nablus police chief, told Ma’an that the arrest campaign began at 4am Saturday morning. more.. e-mail
Police arrest 2 youths suspected of stoning cars on Wadi Ara road
Eli Ashkenazi and Jack Khoury Haaretz Correspondents, Ha’aretz 3/22/2008
Police arrested two boys, age 20 and 17, who are suspected of hurling stones at cars traveling on the main Wadi Ara Highway late Friday. The suspects deny any involvement with the incident. In recent weeks, authorities have reported a noticeable increase in the number of incidentsof rock-throwing at traffic along the major roadways and arteries in the north. Last week, a crowd of Arab youths stoned an Egged bus in the approach to Acre. The bus’ front windshield was shattered. Earlier this month, rocks were thrown at cars driving on the Tel Aviv-Haifa coastal highway along the section near the Arab village of Jisr al-Zarqa. Similar incidents were reported on Highway 79 between the Somech and Shfaram junctions. Most of these incidents are believed to be acts of tomfoolery by children rather than the result of national-ethnic resentment harbored by Israel’s Arab minority. more.. e-mail
IOA to build residential neighborhood in Efrat settlement in WB
Palestinian Information Center 3/22/2008
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The municipality of the Israeli Efrat settlement in the southern West Bank announced a new scheme to build a residential neighborhood in the settlement, according to Hebrew press reports. The reports added that Efrat’s mayor Eli Mizrahi along with the settlement’s rabbi would lay down the cornerstone of 54 settlement units and a park in Efrat. The IOA also placed four mobile houses in another settlement, south of Al-Khalil city in the southern West Bank. In another development, Palestinian local sources reported that a large number of IOF troops and armored vehicles invaded anew at dawn Saturday the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, northern West Bank, amid intensive gun fire and bombardment, where they broke into and ransacked many houses therein. The sources said that the invading IOF troops ransacked the houses of Mohamed Zaki Al-Tirawi and Hosni Al-Sallaj. more.. e-mail
Israel to equip passenger aircraft with anti-missile flares to counter terror attacks
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 3/22/2008
Israel is to begin fitting some of its passenger aircraft with flares to counter potential missile attacks, defence officials said. The missile protection system was first proposed in 2002, but was delayed by disagreements over funding between government ministries, reports said. Within weeks a system of flares will be installed on some aircraft, particularly those flying to countries regarded as more dangerous, including in Africa and Asia. The system is similar to one installed on military aircraft. For protection against heat-seeking missiles flares can be dropped to draw off the weapon. The proposal emerged after two missiles were aimed at an Israeli passenger plane just after take-off in Mombasa, Kenya. The rockets narrowly missed the Boeing 757 jet but the attack seemed linked to a suicide bombing soon afterwards at a Mombasa hotel where Israeli tourists were staying - 13 Kenyans and Israelis were killed. more.. e-mail
PFLP, Islamic Jihad claim two attacks on Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 3/22/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for launching four projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, bordering the Gaza Strip on Friday evening. The Brigades claimed that Israel acknowledged that the projectiles hit a party in Sderot, reportedly causing panic. The brigades agued that the attack "is to show that resistance against occupation is a right of ours and that it is a natural response to the assassinations and massacres and as a rejection of the siege. " Separately, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for engaging Israeli military vehicles pm Friday evening. more.. e-mail
Six Hamas supporters arrested in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/21/2008
Nablus Ma’an - Hamas said on Friday that Palestinian security services arrested six of the movement’s supporters in the West Bank on Thursday evening. They said that teacher Ziad Raddad from Seida in the Tulkarem governorate was arrested after being called in for interview by the security services. Ayman Assi, director of the Polytechnic School was also arrested after being called for an interview. In the province of Jenin a student from An- Najah National University, Ibada Nawahda from Qabatia, was arrested. In the province of Nablus, the security services arrested Naseem AL Kharaz and Amid Al Kharaz. [end]
Al Qassam activist killed, one injured in explosion in Khan Younis
Ma’an News Agency 3/21/2008
Gaza Ma’an - A 34-year-old Al-Qassam Brigades activist was killed and another injured in an explosion in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an they heard an explosion in a location used by the Brigades which appeared to be a shell exploding during the Brigades training exercise. Mu’awiya Hassanain, director of emergency and ambulance services in the ministry of health said that the body of Wael Hammouda and an injured fighter named Ibrahim Abu Shammala were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. [end]
VIDEO - News / Ariel boy seriously hurt by bomb he mistook for Purim gift
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 3/21/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for March 20, 2008. In this edition:A 15-year-old Ariel resident is seriously wounded by a pipe bomb he thought was a purim gift basket. The Health Ministry plans to vaccinate all health workers against measles. The panel of judges in the trial of the man accused of brutally murdering a 13-year-old Golan visit the scene of the crime for the first time. Tiberias garbage disposal workers discover dozens of 200 shekel notes buried in city sewage. [end]
Three Palestinians killed in separate incidents in Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/20/2008
Three Palestinians have been reportedly killed in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip, medics and media sources reported. Palestinians security sources said early on Thursday that farmer Hassan Abu Abed, 60, was shot dead by the Israeli army fire to the east of Qarrara town, in southern Gaza Strip. Medics confirmed that Abu Abed was shot in the chest with a live bullet. Witnesses said that the Israeli soldiers, manning the Gaza-Israel border line, opened fire at Abu Abed, causing his instant death on the spot. Israeli media sources reported that the Israeli army claimed its soldiers spotted a figure near the border-fence with Israeli, just east of aL-Qarrara town. The al-Qarrara town is an agricultural area, where many Palestinians have farm lands and earn a living. Meanwhile, conflicting reports said two Palestinian resistance fighters of the aL-Qassam brigades,. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli teenager seriously injured in ambiguous explosion
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an An Israeli teenager sustained serious injuries to the head, chest and neck after a parel exploded in his house in the Ariel settlement near Nablus in the northern West Bank, Israeli media sources said. Israeli police said the cause of the explosion is unclear and could have been caused by a firecracker during the Purim celebrations. The website of the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the injured boy has been taken to Bellinson Hospital for medical treatment. They quoted the boy as saying that he was trying to open some sort of food delivery which exploded in his hands. Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for sending a parcel bomb to an Israeli settler in Ariel near Nablus. They said in a statement, "Fighters of the Al-Aqsa Brigades Struggle and Return Battalion - detonated a new kind of explosive device through a parcel mailed to the Ariel settlement near Nablus. " more.. e-mail
Palestinian civilian shot dead
Al Jazeera 3/20/2008
A Palestinian civilian has been shot dead by Israeli troops near the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Hassan Abed, 60, was farming his land on Thursday in al-Qarara when he was shot, according to medics and witnesses. The Israeli military said it was examining reports of the incident. Israeli troops often shoot at Palestinians close to the border fence as fighters have previously tried to plant explosives there or cross into Israel unnoticed. The death came as two members of the armed wing of Hamas died in a explosion south of Gaza City. Hamas initially claimed that the explosion was caused by an Israeli air raid, but later acknowledged that the blast was accidental. An Israeli military spokesman had already denied any role in the blast saying: "The armed forces have nothing to do with the Gaza explosion. " more.. e-mail
Israeli "Civil Administration" demolishes three Palestinian houses near Jerusalem
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 3/20/2008
Bulldozers belonging to the so-called Civil Administration Office, which is under the Israeli army control in the occupied territories, demolished on Wednesday three Palestinian houses in two villages near Jerusalem. Two houses were demolished in Hizma village and one house was in Al Jeeb village. The first demolished house belongs to resident Sa’id Arman, who was kidnapped by the army several months ago and is currently detained in Hadarim Israeli prison. The house is located close to the Hizma secondary School for Boys and is close to the Annexation Wall. The father of Sa’id, Abu Thaher, said that he presented a construction license to the soldiers but they went on and demolished the house. The house was constructed five years ago and included four rooms, bathroom and a balcony. Abu Thaher lived in the houses along with his wife and four children. more.. Israeli "Civil Administration" demolishes three Palestinian houses near Jerusalem
http://www.imemc.org/article/53612
link courtesy www.vtjp.org">e-mail
Boy hurt in West Bank attack
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 3/20/2008
West Bank terror: 14-year-old boy sustains light to moderate wounds in terror attack in south Mount Hebron area Thursday night; Earlier, Palestinians fire at bus traveling south of Nablus, no injuries reported - Terror attack in West Bank: A 14-year-old boy sustained light to moderate wounds Thursday night after the vehicle he was traveling in came under attack in the south Mount Hebron area. The army initiated a search for suspects shortly after the attack was reported. According to initial reports, the vehicle was targeted by shooters, but later the IDF said it found traces of an explosive device that was apparently detonated near the car. Army sappers were dispatched to the scene of the attack and examined the area. According to the initial report received by the IDF, the vehicle that came under attack managed to reach Kiryat Arba, where the wounded boy was treated by rescue services volunteers. more.. e-mail
IOA expands tunnel beneath Omeria School in occupied Jerusalem
Palestinian Information Center 3/20/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Palestinian citizens in occupied Jerusalem said that the IOA is carrying out excavations inside the western tunnel beneath the Omaria School in the old city with the aim of expanding it. In its issue published on Thursday, the Palestine newspaper quoted the citizens as saying that workers were removing and transporting large quantities of soil from the tunnel. The citizens told the newspaper that the workers were removing mud from the pond inside the tunnel in order to expand it and build a bridge over it. For his part, Hayel Sandouqa, a researcher in settlement issues in the old town, said that these excavations affect the vulnerable foundations of the Dome of the Rock mosque, adding that the tunnel extends from the Buraq wall to the Islamic council. In another context, Arab Knesset MP Abbas Zakkour accused the Israeli occupation police of complicity. . . more.. e-mail
Rocket damages Negev house; Medics: IDF kills Gaza civilian
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 3/20/2008
Israel Defense Forces troops killed a Palestinian civilian near the border fence with the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medical officials said. The officials said the 60-year-old farmer was shot dead riding on his donkey near the frontier fence east of Khan Younis in the central part of the Hamas-controlled territory. An IDF spokeswoman said she was looking into the report. A statement from the IDF spokesman’s office earlier reported that a roadside charge was detonated as an army patrol passed along the border fence, also in the central Gaza area. No injuries were reported in the blast and it was not clear if the two events were related. In a separate incident, the Islamist group Hamas said two members of its armed wing were killed by an Israel Air Force strike on a training camp in Gaza City. more.. e-mail
2 killed in blast at Hamas base
Ali Waked and AP, YNetNews 3/20/2008
Palestinian security officials report of explosion at a beachfront facility in Gaza Strip. According to initial report, two people killed in incident, one injured. Palestinians say IDF struck in area; Israeli army denies claim -Palestinian security officials reported Thursday of an explosion at a beachfront facility of the militant Hamas organization. According to an initial report, two people were killed in the incident and one was injured. Palestinians claimed that the facility was attacked by the IDF, but the Israeli army denied striking in the area. Sources in Gaza did not rule out the possibility that the incident was a "work accident". The blast took place in a Hamas training base, where ammunition and explosives are being held. Hamas members prevented photographers from entering the site. more.. e-mail
Two Qassam fighters die in yet unknown explosion
Palestinian Information Center 3/20/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two members of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, were killed on Thursday in an explosion south of Gaza city, medical sources said. The sources told PIC that Noor Jundia and Mohammed Banar were killed in the explosion, which the QB did not explain so far. The blast rocked the Badr position of the QB, the sources said, noting that two others were wounded in the incident. Reports said that it was the result of an IOF shelling while others said that it was an internal incident. No official report from QB was available so far. [end]
Israeli air raid on Gaza City leaves two dead
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Gaza Ma’an Two Palestinian activists affiliated to Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades were killed on Thursday when Israeli warplanes attacked their base in Tal Al-Hawa in Gaza City. Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry named the victims as 18-year-old Noor Jundiyya and Muhammad Banar. He added that a third activist was seriously injured. [end]
Midday GMT Two killed in explosion at Hamas base
Fred Attewill, The Guardian 3/20/2008
Two Palestinians handling explosives at a Hamas training base have died in an accidental blast in Gaza today. Hamas initially blamed Israel for the deaths, but later said the men had died on a "holy mission" at the base, south of Gaza City. The deaths were confirmed by Palestinian medical officials, who also said Israeli forces had shot and killed a 60-year-old Palestinian farmer on a donkey cart near the border of the territory. Israeli army officials said the report was being investigated. Amid an overall decrease in violence, there are tentative signs that Hamas and Israel could be preparing for a ceasefire after Israeli officials talked to Egyptian mediators. A Hamas spokesman today confirmed that talks had taken place in Cairo. "As we have always said, the ball is in Israel’s court," he said. more.. e-mail
IDF denies involvement in death of Palestinian farmer
Ali Waked, YNetNews 3/20/2008
Palestinian officials report 65-year-old man riding his donkey killed near Gaza border fence; Israeli army denies troops opened fire. Earlier Thursday morning, gunmen detonate explosives against Israeli patrol along border, causing no injuries - Palestinian sources in Gaza reported on Thursday morning that IDF troops shot dead a 65-year-old Palestinian farmer near the security fence along the border with Israel. The army denied soldiers had opened fire in the region but said it was still looking into the claim. The farmer is said to have been riding his donkey to tend to his fields, located east of the town of Khan Younis. Earlier on Thursday a roadside charge was detonated as an army patrol passed along the border fence, also in the central Gaza area. No injuries were reported in the blast. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize four Islamic Jihad activists near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces apprehended four Islamic Jihad activists in the northern West Bank town of Qabatia in the southern Jenin district on Thursday morning after ransacking several homes. Local sources told Ma’an’s reporter that the Israeli troops damaged furniture and other contents in the homes they raided. According to local sources, the arrestees were 38-year-old Amin Nazzal, 21-year-old Ammar Tazaza, 24-year-old Muhammad Saba’nah and 32-year-old Nadeem Kameel. The sources added that the soldiers also handed warrants to the families of Sulaiman Nazzal, Mu’adh Saba’nah, ’Alaa Abu Rub and Bilal Kameel telling them to turn themselves over to the Israeli authorities. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces arrest 11 Palestinians in Hebron and Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Hebron Bethlehem Ma’an- Israeli forces stormed the southern West Bank towns of Surif, Halhul, Beit Sahour and Al-Khadir on Thursday morning, seizing 11 people. Ma’an’s Hebron reporter said Israeli forces raided Surif and apprehended six Palestinian men. He added that one Palestinian was also arrested in Halhul - 45-year-old Khadir Mubarak, head of educational guidance in Hebron. In the Bethlehem district, Israeli forces arrested three teenagers from Al-Khader south of Bethlehem and a Palestinian policeman from Beit Sahour to the east of Bethlehem. [end]
Israeli forces arrest Palestinian near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces apprehended a Palestinian man from Balata refugee camp east of Nablus in the northern West Bank on Thursday after storming several neighborhoods in the city. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that Israeli forces stormed Balata camp and the old city of Nablus and conducted house to house raids, claiming they were looking for ’wanted’ Palestinian activists. The sources named the only arrestee as 21-year-old Ayyub Shtaiwi from Balata camp. [end]
PRC fighters clash with Israeli force
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades announced on Thursday morning that a group of their fighters clashed with an undercover Israeli force which infiltrated near the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip. The military group said in a statement that there were casualties amongst the Israeli force. [end]
Israeli forces raid several West Bank cities
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces apprehended twelve ’wanted’ Palestinians on Thursday morning after raiding several West Bank cities. Israeli sources said the army raided Qabatia and Nablus in the northern West Bank as well as Hebron and Beit Sahour in the south and Ramallah in the centre. They said all arrestees were taken for interrogation. [end]
Palestinian security arrest three Hamas affiliates in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/20/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Palestinian security services affiliated to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority seized three Hamas members on Wednesday evening, a Hamas statement said. The statement explained that the arrestees were from the districts of Jericho in the eastern West Bank, Tulkarem and Qalqilia in the northern West Bank. [end]
Palestinians open fire at Israeli bus south of Nablus
JPOST.COM STAFF, Jerusalem Post 3/20/2008
Palestinians opened fire at an Israeli bus near Hawara, south of Nablus, on Thursday evening, Army Radio reported. No casualties or damage were reported. [end]
Qassam rocket lands in western Negev kibbutz
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/20/2008
Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council suffers another hit as rocket narrowly misses residents’ homes, causes mild peripheral damage - Not such a placid Purim after all. Despite of the overall feeling of calm in southernIsrael, a Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council’s limits Thursday, causing no injuries, but damaging several buildings. "The rocket landed very close to one of the houses. There was a loud explosion and several houses’ windows were shattered by the blast," Ami Rabin, the security officer of the kibbutz which was hit, told Ynet. "Unfortunately, the kibbutz homes are not fortified, a process we are hoping to accelerate," he added. The Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council was hit by another Qassam rocket Wednesday, as Palestinians fired two Qassams at the area. more.. e-mail
Boy hurt in blast; cult involvement suspected
Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 3/20/2008
Ariel teen severely injured after opening package he believed was Purim basket; Police investigating all possible leads, including cult involvement - Is a cult responsible for an explosion that severely wounded an Ariel teen? The 15-year-old teenager opened a package that he believed was a Purim gift Thursday, and was severely wounded in the intense explosion that followed. Ariel police said they are investigating all possible leads on this incident, including the suspected involvement of a cult. Investigators are looking into the possibility that the attack is related to that fact that the boy’s parents are messianic Jews. The explosion occurred around 2:30 pm local time, and Magen David Adom medics as well as police officers were immediately dispatched to the scene. Yarkon Area MDA medic, Nir Katua, said that the teen sustained severe neck injuries. more.. e-mail
No limits on rules of engagement to avoid abduction of soldiers
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/20/2008
Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday that the Israeli army instructed troops deployed at the Gaza-Israel borders to do whatever it takes in order to foil any abduction attempts of Israeli soldiers, even if that leads to causing harm to the abducted troopers. The Israeli Radio announced on Thursday that Israeli reserve troops were instructed during the briefing before the last operation in the Gaza strip to fire at the fighters abducting the soldiers even if that means endangering the life of the abducted soldiers. The commander who informed the reserve troops of the new orders said that if that procedure was done during the abduction of the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, Palestinian fighters would not have managed to abduct him. Shalit was abducted by thee Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza two years ago during an attack that targeted an army post on the border area in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 032008
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/20/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Thursday March 20th, 2008. The Israeli army kills three Palestinians in Gaza, and kidnaps 13 civilians in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Three Palestinians have been killed in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip, medics and media sources reported. Palestinians security sources said that early on Thursday farmer Hassan Abu Abed, 60, was shot dead by the Israeli army to the east of Qarrara town, in southern Gaza Strip. Medics confirmed that Abu Abed was shot in the chest with a live bullet. Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers, manning the Gaza-Israel border line, opened fire at Abu Abed, killing him instantly. more.. e-mail
Israeli ground attack in N Gaza
Palestine News Network 3/19/2008
Beit Hanoun / PNN - Israeli forces invaded on ground into the northern Gaza Strip at dawn Wednesday, arresting seven Palestinians. The target was the northeastern town of Beit Hanoun, already under heavy siege. Palestinian security sources said that several military vehicles entered this morning under a "barrage of intensive gunfire," and arrested a father, his sons and a number of his relatives. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said that the resistance wing fought against an Israeli special unit in Beit Hanoun after the invasion. At the level of sustained artillery shelling, the Israeli forces at dawn today opened missile fire from eastern Gaza City, exploding in open areas in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood. more.. e-mail
Israeli bulldozer destroys one-room house near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces demolished a one-room house on Wednesday in the northern West Bank village of Barta’a Ash-Sharqiyya in southern Jenin district under the pretext that it was built without license. Ma’an’s reporter said that eight Israeli military vehicles and a bulldozer stormed the village at 7:30 in the morning and demolished the 50-meter hom belonging to Sabri Kabaha. The village has been cut off from the rest of the West Bank by Israel’s separation wall. [end]
Israeli forces seize teenager from his home in Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday morning and seized a Palestinian teenager after damaging the furniture in his family’s house. The young man’s grandfather visited Ma’an office in Bethlehem and explained that more than ten Israeli military vehicles besieged the family’s house at As-Saf neighborhood. He said the soldiers completely destroyed the family’s furniture before arresting his grandson 17-year-old Abed Al-Hraimi. The grandfather also said that 480 NIS were missing from a bedroom that the troops destroyed. [end]
Palestinian security forces ’detain five Hamas members’ in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Palestinian security services affiliated to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority seized five Hamas members on Tuesday evening, Hamas statement said. According to the statement, one of the arrestees was the head of the municipal council of the village of Husan village, near Bethlehem, Ali Shawasha and another member of the municipal council Hasan Za’ul. The rest of the arrestees were from Jenin, Jama’in and Qalqilia in the northern West Bank. [end]
Palestinian student seized at checkpoint near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces seized a Palestinian student at the Huwwara military checkpoint south of the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses said that the Israeli soldiers operating the checkpoint detained 25-year-old Khalil Al-Atrash, a journalism student at An-Najah National University while he was attempting to cross the checkpoint out of Nablus. Al-Atrash is from the southern West Bank city of Hebron. [end]
Israeli forces raid Qaffin, near Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank town of Qaffin in north of the West Bank city of Tulkarem, violently searching several houses for "wanted" Palestinian activists. Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the Israeli troops ransacked home of Walid Sabbah and conducted looking for his son, 18-year-old Ahmad Sabbah, an activist in the Islamic Jihad movement. [end]
Israeli forces detain three Palestinians near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces seized three Palestinians from the northern West Bank village of Sarra, west ofthe city of Nablus, at midnight on Tuesday, local sources said. Witnesses said that several Israeli military vehicles stormed the village and ransacked several houses before arresting 19-year-old Amin Kayid, 20-year-old Qays Abu Turab, and 19-year-old Tariq Abu Turab. [end]
Israeli forces seize Palestinian man in Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli forces on Wednesday morning stormed the southern West Bank city of Hebron and detained 30-year-old Tariq Sayyid Ahmad. Ahmad’s brother told Ma’an that an Israeli force ransacked the family’s home and damaged its contents before arresting his brother. [end]
Israeli troops attack villages in southern W.B and demolish at least four homes
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/19/2008
On Wednesday, Israeli troops using military bulldozers stormed Um-Nizel, and Briet villages located to the south of Hebron city in the southern part of the West Bank and demolished four homes. [end]
Israel orders army to use lethal fire against Palestinians protesting illegal wall
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/19/2008
Israeli media sources reported on Wednesday that the Israeli government has given new orders to the army, which allow troops to use live rounds at Palestinian protesters near the illegal wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem. The new orders allow soldiers to use lethal force, referring to live rounds fired to kill, during protests against the illegal Israeli wall surrounding the city, yet the new orders do not include those actions that have the participation of Israeli and international peace activists. Having occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel decided in 2002 to build a wall, encapsulating Jerusalem and Israeli settlements and annexing them to Israel. The wall was deemed contrary to international law by the International Court of Justice in 2004, when Israel was ordered to remove it. Instead, Israel continues to construct the wall at the expense of privately owned Palestinian land. more.. e-mail
Popular Resistance Committees shell Israeli forces
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades claimed responsibility on Wednesday for launching two mortar shells at Israeli forces east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling was at 1:50am. In a separate statement, the PRC’s military wing said they launched five more mortar shells at the Israeli military post east of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. [end]
Palestinian man shot dead in Khan Younis
Ma’an News Agency 3/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an A Palestinian man was killed by unidentified gunmen in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, seemingly as a result of a family dispute on Wednesday morning. Palestinian medical sources named the victim as Salamah Al-Agha whose corpse was taken to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City for forensic medical investigation. The sources said he had been shot in the head. Immediately after the killing, members of Al-Agha family attacked a house belonging to Kalakh family and set fire to the house. Al-Agha was in his thirties. [end]
Jerusalem rabbi in moderate condition after Old City stabbing
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/19/2008
Rabbi Yechezkel Greenwald of Jerusalem’s Ateret Cohanim yeshiva was stabbed in the neck yesterday morning near Damascus Gate in the Old City. Greenwald, 49, was taken to Hadassah University Hospital Ein Kerem in good to moderate condition. Greenwald was walking toward the yeshiva, located inside the Old City, when an unknown assailant approached him and plunged a knife into his neck and fled. According to the police investigation that followed, Greenwald did not see his attacker’s face. After removing the knife from his neck, Greenwald found a couple of police officers who summoned a Magen David Adom ambulance to the scene. He was given first aid before being evacuated to hospital. Attacker at large A large police force searched for the attacker but he was still at large at press time last night. more.. e-mail
UAVs to replace most manned coastal air patrols
Ran Dagoni, Washington, Globes Online 3/19/2008
IAI’s Heron 1 will replace the IAF’s 30-year fleet of Westwind Seascan jets. "Defense News" reports that a new fleet of Heron 1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), made byIsrael Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE:ARSP. B1 ) will soon be deployed operationally for coastal air patrol by the Israel Air Force (IAF). The UAVs will replace manned air patrols, easing the burden of the flight and ground crews. The Heron 1 is the first marine patrol UAV developed and built in Israel. It will replace the 30-year old Westwind Seascan patrol planes currently used for the coastal patrol mission. The Westwind Seascan is a military version of the Westwind executive jet. "Defense News" adds that the Heron 1 will be equipped with EL/M20222U reconnaissance and surveillance radars made by IAI subsidiary Elta Systems Ltd. more.. e-mail
Security forces fear double Hezbollah revenge attack in Israel and abroad
Amos Harel and Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/19/2008
Security forces are on high alert here and at Israeli and Jewish institutions abroad before the end of the 40-day mourning period for Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyah, who was assassinated in Damascus last month. A full closure was imposed on the West Bank as of last night. Iran and Hezbollah blame Israel for the February 12 assassination, and Hezbollah has threatened revenge attacks in Israel. The mourning period ends on Sunday. In the past, extremist Islamic organizations have launched revenge attacks at the end of the mourning period. Israeli military officials are particularly concerned about possible simultaneous attacks in Israel and on Israeli diplomatic offices and Jewish institutions abroad. Security at many Israeli diplomatic missions has been tightened in response. Security officials say that Hezbollah wants to "reset the balance of terror vis-a-vis Israel. . . more.. e-mail
News in Brief I
Ha’aretz 3/19/2008
IAF strike wounds 12 Palestinians in Gaza At least 12 Palestinians were wounded in an Israel Air Force strike on a car carrying four Islamic Jihad militants in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday. The strike wounded the four militants, one of whom was critically hurt. Also yesterday, Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzuk said his organization had sent a delegation to Yemen to receive that country’s proposal for a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. The proposal calls to return the situation in Gaza to that which existed before Hamas’ takeover of the Strip last June. Another clause calls for PA early elections. To date, the proposal has been accepted by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas but rejected by Hamas. (Avi Issacharoff) Some 15,000 children from the Negev region will be given 50- to 90-percent discounts on extracurricular activities and courses, it was announced yesterday. more.. e-mail
Sderot: Those who can afford it have already left
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/19/2008
Mayor of rocket-battered town estimates 3,000 of residents "10% to 15% - have deserted city, many others remain only ’on paper’. Aid organizations present higher figures -up to 25% of population - One issue Sderot’s mayor doesn’t like to talk about is the number of residents who have left the rocket-battered southern town. Only talking about it, Eli Moyal believes, causes many people to leave. In difference speeches and conventions he reiterates that the residents are strong and are not abandoning the city, but are only "stepping out to relax In an honest talk, however, he is forced to admit that 10% to 15% of the city’s residents -about 3,000 people -no longer live in Sderot, according to his estimates. Aid organizations present higher figures -up to 25% of the population. It’s not easy to obtain accurate data on the number of people who have left the city. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 031908
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/19/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Wednesday March 19th, 2008. Unknown gunmen kill a Palestinian man in Gaza, while Israeli military bulldozers demolish homes in the southern West Bank. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast A Palestinian man from the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis has been reportedly shot dead on Wednesday by unknown assailants, medical sources revealed. The medics added that the victim had received a bullet to the head, leading to his instant death. Salama Al-Agha, in his thirties, was killed for reasons relating to past family feuds between his family and another local family, local sources alleged. Immediately following the incident, a large number of the Al-Agha family attacked. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli missile wounds 5 in Gaza
Ali Waked and Reuters, YNetNews 3/18/2008
IDF forces fire at group of Islamic Jihad militants in northern town of Beit Lahiya; Palestinians say two civilians among wounded - Israeli forces fired a missile at a group of Islamic Jihad militants in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding five, the Palestinian militant faction said. Palestinian sources said two of the wounded were civilians, one of them mentally-challenged, while the rest were militants in Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the al-Quds Brigades. An Israeli military spokesman had no immediate comment on Tuesday’s incident in the town of Beit Lahiya, which hospital officials said had left two militants in critical condition. Islamic Jihad last week resumed cross-border rocket salvoes after Israeli troops killed four of its members in the occupied West Bank. Three rockets were fired toward the Negev region on Tuesday, but caused no injuries or damage. more.. e-mail this link
Rabbi stabbed in neck in E. Jerusalem terror attack
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/18/2008
A Palestinian stabbed a Haredi rabbi in the neck in Arab East Jerusalem on Tuesday, but medical workers said his wounds were light and not life-threatening. A police spokesman confirmed that the attack, near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, was politically motivated. The Zaka emergency service said the rabbi, 49, was walking with a bodyguard in Jerusalem’s walled Old City, where his seminary is located, when he was attacked. The bodyguard gave chase but the attacker escaped, leaving behind a blood-stained knife. According to police, the unidentified assailant stabbed the man once and fled the scene. Security forces are currently searching the area in hopes of capturing the attacker. The man was taken to Hadassah Hospital in West Jerusalem for treatment. more.. e-mail this link
Settlers back on Al Khader lands
Palestine News Network 3/18/2008
Bethlehem / Najib Farrag -- Settlers have returned to Al Khader Village lands and are overtaking even more on the western mountains. All Israeli settlements contravene international law and considered by President Abbas to be a "major impediment to the peace process. "Many other officials have stated that if the Israeli settlement process does not end, there will be no hope for future negotiations or justice. Munir Hussein Mousa was shocked to find yet another settlement unit being built on his land that the Gush Etzion Settlement bloc has already built up against. The new units will attach to the illegal, yet standing, Elizer Settlement built on western Al Khader lands in Bethlehem. The area is teeming with Israeli forces, including soldiers, settlers, sniper towers and military machines. The latest "house" is approximately 100 square meters and is being placed as the nucleus, for an extremist Israeli government member. more.. e-mail this link
Israeli forces raid several West Bank cities
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces raided several West Bank cities on Tuesday morning, apprehending 23 Palestinians, who are allegedly activists. Israeli sources said the army stormed Ramallah and the nearby Al-Jalazun refugee camp in the central West Bank, Bethlehem in the south, Jenin, Qalqilia and Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank and seized 23 Palestinians. Ma’an’s reporter in Tulkarem quoted Palestinian security sources as saying that 12 Israeli military vehicles stormed Nur Shams refugee camp at 2am and ransacked several homes before arresting four activists, two affiliated to Fatah and two affiliated to Islamic Jihad. In Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, Israeli forces ransacked the home of Fawwaz Khleif, an Islamic Jihad activist the Israelis have been pursuing for 12 years. The invading Israeli forces fired gunshots and sonic bombs at the house. . . more.. e-mail this link
Israeli military declares total closure of the occupied Palestinian territories
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/18/2008
The Israeli military establishment declared on Tuesday a total closure of the occupied Palestinian territories, starting from today morning until next Sunday. In the wake of security assessments, the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, had learned, the Israeli military decided to seal off the border crossings with Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli media sources reported. The sources cited underway celebrations for the Jewish holiday of Purim, as well as Israeli fears of a retaliation attack by the Lebanese Hizbullah party for the assassination of senior Hizbullah leader , Emad Mughaniya, several weeks ago. Chief of Israeli police, Dudi Cohen, was reported by Israeli media sources as having conducted enlarged assessment of the situation and ordered deployment of his forces in the various Israeli cities and towns. more.. e-mail this link
Palestinian resistance group escapes Israeli ambush near Jenin
Ali Samoudi, International Middle East Media Center 3/18/2008
A group of Palestinian resistance fighters, on Tuesday at midday, escaped an Israeli army ambush in the village of Zababda, located south of Jenin city in the northern West Bank. Palestinian sources said that at least 20 Israeli armored vehicles stormed the village of Zababda on Tuesday morning, surrounding the local mosque. Israeli military figures claimed that Palestinian resistance fighters were hiding inside. Israeli troops attacked and searched a number of nearby homes before opening fire at the mosque and the nearby Catholic monastery. Damage was reported, but no injures. During the attack, invading troops clashed with local youth who hurled stones at the soldiers. Troops responded with tear gas and live rounds, although no injures have been reported. The operation finished on Tuesday at midday, when troops left the village after kidnapping local Shiekh, Fathi Qatiyah, 35. more.. e-mail this link
At least 12 Palestinians wounded in IAF strike in Gaza
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 3/18/2008
At least 12 Palestinians were wounded Tuesday evening in an Israel Air Force strike on the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian sources said. Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said the four members of his militant group were near a mosque when they were targeted by an IAF aircraft. The militants were wounded in the strike, one of them seriously. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the air strike, saying the men had been involved in rocket attacks on southern Israel. It said one of the men personally fired the rocket that severed the leg of 9-year-old Sderot boy Osher Twito last month. On early Saturday, an IAF strike in Gaza killed three other Islamic Jihad militants which, according to the Shin Bet security service, were involved in the rocket attack that wounded Twito. more.. e-mail this link
Israeli air strike wound five Palestinians in Gaza; resistance retaliates
Palestinian Information Center 3/18/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- At least five Palestinians, including three members of the Islamic Jihad, were wounded on Tuesday night after an Israeli reconnaissance plane targeted their vehicle in Beit Lahai city, north of Gaza Strip, Palestinian security and medical sources confirmed to the PIC correspondent. According to the sources, the Israeli drone unleashed an air-to-surface missile at a car in which the three Islamic Jihad fighters were traveling, wounding them and two passers by. The sources described the condition of at least two of the wounded Palestinian as "very serious". However, eyewitnesses in the area opined that the shelling was carried out by an Israeli tank stationed at the boarder of the Gaza Strip and not by a drone. In the West Bank, large numbers of IOF troops backed by military vehicles and jeeps ended a military incursion into the village of Zababda , east of Jenin,. . . more.. e-mail this link
Farmers in South eke out a living amid war fallout
Rebecca Murray, Inter Press, Daily Star 3/19/2008
Aitaroun residents continue to struggle with repercussion of Israel’s aerial bombardments and cluster-bomb hazards 18 months after conflict -- TYRE: "I think the biggest challenge is to stay in the village," says Ibrahim Sayyed, 28, a municipality accountant from the beleaguered farming town of Aitaroun, less than 2 kilometers from the heavily patrolled Blue Line and Israel beyond. "My father and grandparents told me stories going back to 1948. All this time there has been war," he added. Sayyed is watching the distribution of up to 120 goats to impoverished local dairy farmers in Aitaroun’s dusty town square, a joint effort by the Tyre-based Mine Action Coordination Center in South Lebanon (MACC-SL) and international charity World Vision, to improve agricultural livelihoods for those hit especially hard during the conflict with Israel in 2006. Hassan Issa, a 25-year-old family man, hauls three goats toward his truck parked along the edge of the square. more.. e-mail this link
Israeli settlers start new settlement post near Bethlehem
Najjeb Faraj, International Middle East Media Center 3/18/2008
Villagers of Al Khader, located south-west of Bethlehem city in the southern West Bank revealed on Tuesday that Israeli settlers have started to build a new settlement post on their lands. Mounier Mussa, the land owner where the post is being constructed, stated that, on Monday afternoon he went to his land following reports from neighbors over Isreali settlers beginning construction on his land. When he arrived at the land he said that a group of right wing Israeli settlers from the Gush Etzion settlement, already built on land originally belonging to Al Khader village, had started to build a new post on his land. Mussa stopped the work on his land, argued with the settlers and made them leave. Since his land is in Area C according to the Oslo accords, it is under full control of the Israeli military. He reported the attack to the Israeli military police. more.. e-mail this link
Elderly Palestinian man killed by unknown gunmen near Qalqilia
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/18/2008
Palestinian sources reported that unknown gunmen opened fire at Abed Al Karem Al Abeet, 75, killing him in the village of Bein-Amein, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia on Tuesday afternoon. Palestinian security sources in the city said that Abeet operates a water well near his village, and that he was gunned down by unknown gunmen. Security forces gave no further details. Medical sources revealed that Abeet sustained multiple wounds and died instantly. Local sources allege Abeet’s son to be a collaborator with the Israeli army, after he was involved in the death of a Palestinian youth during the first Intifada [Uprising]. Abeet’s son was attacked by Palestinian resistance fighters in the early 1990s but escaped, and is now living in an Israeli controlled area. No Palestinian group has yet claimed the attack. more.. e-mail this link
Elderly Palestinian man shot dead in Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an Unidentified gunmen killed a 75-year-old Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Qalqilia on Tuesday afternoon, Palestinian security sources said. The sources said that Abdul-Karim Umar was shot by three masked men traveling in a car with Israeli license plates. The attackers then fled the scene. Umar was from the nearby village of Beit Amin, and was visiting Qalqilia at the time of the shooting. Miqdad Khattab, Qalqilia’s prosecutor, said that the security services do not see a clear motive for the killing at this time. [end]
VIDEO - Rabbi stabbed in Jerusalem
Meital Yasur-Beit Or, YNetNews 3/18/2008
(Video) Less than two weeks after "terror" attack at Mercaz Harav yeshiva, rabbi at Ateret Kohanim yeshiva stabbed in neck in Old City, sustains light-moderate injuries. Nationalistic motives believed to be behind stabbing - VIDEO - An Israeli man has been stabbed in the Old City of Jerusalem, Magen David Adom emergency services paramedics reported Tuesday. The man, 49, was stabbed in the neck and sustained light to moderate injuries. Nationalistic motives are believed to be behind the stabbing. Video: Infolive. tv According to an eyewitness, the man attacked is a rabbi at the Ateret Kohanim yeshiva in the Old City, who was accompanied by a security guard. "An Arab stabbed him in the neck," spokesman for the United Hatzalah of Israel rescue organizationYerach Tucker told Ynet. more.. e-mail this link
Ahrar Al-Jalil claims responsibility for Jerusalem stabbing
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Jerusalem Ma’an Ahrar Al-Jalil, the militant Palestinian group based inside Israel’s 1949 borders, has claimed responsibility for stabbing an Orthodox rabbi near Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday. The group said in a statement: "Thanks to god our fighters, who are spread in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, succeeded in stabbing a Jewish rabbi with a knife in his neck near Bab Al-Amud [Damascus Gate] in the occupied old city of Jerusalem. The rabbi is called Yehizkel Greenwood. The operation took place on Tuesday at 9:10am. " The statement added that the attack, named "Mujahid," escaped safely. Ahrar Al-Jalil (literally "The Free People of the Galilee") also calls themselves the "Imad Mighniyya Group," after the Hizbullah military leader who was assassinated in Syria in February. more.. e-mail this link
Palestinian young man stabs extremist rabbi in occupied Jerusalem
Palestinian Information Center 3/18/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A Palestinian young man stabbed on Tuesday morning a rabbi working for a Zionist extremist society outside the Damascus Gate in occupied Jerusalem and ran away. Palestinian sources in the city said that the stabbed Israeli settler, 49, is a rabbi in the Ateret Kohanim society which is working on confiscating Palestinian lands in Jerusalem by all means and settling Jews in the holy city to change the demography of the city. Israeli medical sources said that the rabbi stabbed in the neck while he was walking with a bodyguard in Jerusalem and described his wounds as serious. Israeli police presence in Jerusalem has been intensified since Monday morning because of the tension which exists in the city as Jewish extremists tried to attack the family of Alaa Abu Dehim, who carried out the Jerusalem attack more than a week ago. more.. e-mail this link
Israeli forces destroy Palestinian house, car, near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces demolished part of a house and blew up a Palestinian civilian car in the West Bank town of Az-Zababda, near the city of Jenin. Palestinian security sources said that more than 15 Israeli military vehicles raided the town in the early morning, surrounding the town’s mosque and catholic church before demolishing sections of a house which owed by Nabil Az-Zuzu, a Palestinian civilian. The invading troops also ransacked home of Sheikh Fathi Qutait, the Imam of the mosque, damaging his furniture. As a result of the incursion, clashes erupted between the Israeli troops and Palestinian young people, who pelted the soldiers with stones, while the soldiers fired back using live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets and teargas canisters. No injuries or arrests have been reported. more.. e-mail this link
Israeli forces seize Palestinian for knife attack on Israeli employer
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces on Tuesday arrested one of two Palestinians who stabbed his Israeli employer three months ago over a work dispute. Ma’an’s correspondent quoted a Palestinian security source as saying that Israeli forces stormed Nur Shams refugee camp east of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank and seized 23-year-old Ahmad An-Najjar. According to our correspondent, immediately after the attack An-Najjar and 20-year-old Anas Abu As-Samin turned themselves over to Palestinian security in Tulkarem saying they had stabbed "to death" their Israeli employer over a work dispute. They were then held in Palestinian custody for two months before being released. The Palestinian security had informed the Israelis they were holding the attackers, but the Israelis did not demand they were handed over. more.. e-mail this link
Israeli settler wounded in Jerusalem old city
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/18/2008
An Israeli settler was stabbed on Tuesday morning near Damascus gate in Jerusalem’s old city, eyewitnesses said. Witnesses added that the man, reported to be a rabbi, was walking near the gate when an unknown man stabbed him several times in the neck. Israeli medical sources stated that the man sustained moderate wounds and was moved to a nearby Israeli hospital for treatment. Israeli police sources said that an Israeli police officer chased the attacker, but he managed to escape, leaving behind the knife used in the attack. Israeli police sources maintain that the attack was politically motivated. The Israeli army and police subsequently swamped the old city of Jerusalem in an attempt to locate the attacker. more.. e-mail this link
Palestinian security arrest two Hamas affiliates in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Hamas said on Tuesday that the Palestinian security services affiliated to the caretaker government in the West Bank seized two Hamas activists on Monday evening. Hamas released a statement saying that the Palestinian security services seized Marwan Makhlouf from the village of Anabta in the Tulkarem district in the northern West Bank and Mahmoud Faris from ’Ein Beit Al-Mai refugee camp in western Nablus in the northern West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces raid Nablus; arrest five
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces raided Nablus in the northern West Bank on Tuesday and ransacked several homes before arresting five Palestinians, Ma’an’s reporter said. Eyewitnesses told our correspondent in Nablus that Israeli forces raided the town of Kafr Qallil south of Nablus as well as Balata and ’Ein Beit Al-Mai refugee camps and several neighborhoods in the old city of Nablus. [end]
PFLP military wing fire projectile
Ma’an News Agency 3/18/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for firing a homemade projectile at an Israeli military airstrip east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that their fighters launched the projectile and returned unharmed. [end]
Gaydamak brings portable shelters to Sderot
Elad Rubinstein, YNetNews 3/18/2008
Billionaire arrives in rocket-battered town with trucks carrying five new portable bomb shelters to be placed in various locations across Sderot. ’If there’s demand for more structures, we shall consider it positively,’ Gaydamak pledges. Billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak arrived in the rocket-battered town of Sderot Tuesday with a convoy of trucks carrying five new portable bomb shelters that he has donated to the municipality. Three Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev during Gaydamak’s visit in Sderot, and three mortar shells fired from northern Gaza landed near the Gaza border fence. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks. Gaydamak, who was greeted by residents chanting "Arcadi the king," told Ynet that the shelters would be placed in various public locations in town, including schools and supermarkets, "So that the residents will truly be protected. more.. e-mail this link
A love story that ended in divorce
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 3/18/2008
Haggai Huberman loves the settlers, admires their activity and is not ashamed of this. He grew up with them, has lived among them, has written thousands of news reports about them and is now publishing a two-volume book about them. "Against All Odds," published in Hebrew by Midreshet Netzarim, documents the settlement project in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) during the past 40 years. Anyone who is as enthusiastic as Huberman about the settlements will not put this book down. But those who see the settlements as a mistake will also find it very interesting. Huberman describes the settlers’ world and modus operandi "from within," using a high-resolution lens that makes even the clothesline outside the mobile home perfectly clear. The cabinet ministers, Knesset members and army officers who helped this project - Huberman does not omit a single one of them - will also find a great deal to interest them in the book. more.. e-mail this link
Palestine Today 031808
Ghassan Bannoura- Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/18/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday March 18th, 2008. Unknown gunmen kill a Palestinian man in the West Bank, while an Israeli settler is stabbed in Jerusalem. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian sources reported that unknown gunmen opened fire at Abed Al Karem Al Abeet, 75, killing him in the village of Bein-Amein, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia on Tuesday afternoon. Local sources allege Abeet’s son to be a collaborator with the Israeli army, after he was involved in the death of a Palestinian youth during the first Intifada [Uprising]. Abeet’s son was attacked by Palestinian resistance fighters in the early 1990s but escaped, and is now living in an Israeli controlled area. more.. e-mail this link
Israel approves the construction of settlers homes in West Bank settlements
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 3/17/2008
Mayor of Ariel settlement bloc, Ron Nahman, stated that the Israeli government decided to allow him to carry a project to build 48 houses for settlers in Ariel settlement bloc in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. The Israeli government froze the implementation of the project in October 2007 and yesterday an Israeli military spokesperson stated that the government recently allowed the construction and granted approval for several "small projects". He added that the government also approved the construction of 52 houses in Maali Admumim settlement, east of Jerusalem, 32 houses in Betar Elit, 32 houses in Shaare Tikva and 32 houses in Al Kana. Ariel settlement bloc is inhibited by secular and religious settlers. It is considered the fourth largest settlement bloc in the occupied West Bank. Settlers leaders reported that the approved projects are "smaller than the needs of. . . more.. e-mail this link
"Terror" warnings ahead of Purim
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/17/2008
Shin Bet receives seven warnings regarding possible attempts by "terror" groups to launch attacks in Israel over the holiday; police raise alert level, full closure on West Bank expected- The security establishment is expected to impose a full closure on the West Bank and Gaza on Tuesday ahead of the Purim festivities, this after the Shin Bet security service received seven warnings regarding possible attempts by "terror" organizations to carry out attacks over the holiday Israel is particularly fearful of a possible attack by Hizbullah to mark 40 days since the assassination of the Shiite group’s top commander, Imad Mugniyah, in Damascus. Other warnings relate to a possible attempt by Hamas to launch a "terror" attack in Israel during the holiday, which begins Thursday. The security establishment also fears Palestinian "terror" groups may launch rocket attacks on more.. "Terror" warnings ahead of Purim http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3520347,00.html">e-mail this link
Three Palestinian military groups claim they attacked Israeli soldier
Ma’an News Agency 3/17/2008
(Ma’anImages) Nablus Ma’an Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Al-Quds Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility for shooting and injuring an Israeli soldier. The incident took place on Sunday evening at the Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus in the southern West Bank. A spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Brigades telephoned Ma’an’s correspondent and said that a joint group from the three military Brigades shot an Israeli soldier at the checkpoint. He affirmed that the operation came in retaliation for the assassination of Ahmad Sanakrah and the four "martyrs" in Bethlehem. Israeli sources have not yet announced news of the incident. more.. e-mail this link
Hamas: PA arrested five of its supporters in West Bank
George Rishmawi, International Middle East Media Center 3/17/2008
The Palestinian Authority security forces arrested five Palestinians affiliated with the Hamas movement from Bethlehem, Nablus and Tulkarem on Sunday, a Hamas source stated Monday. The source said that Taher Deriyeh and Saleem Abu Sarhan, from Bethlehem, were arrested by Palestinian security forces. Deriyeh who was released from jail in Israel one month ago, was arrested from his home, meanwhile Abu Sarhan, who works at mosque was arrested after he was summoned to the PA intelligence service. In Tulkarem, security forces arrested Nidal al-Sabbah from the village of Qiffin and Nawwaf Abdul Ghani from the nearby village of Saida. [end]
Israeli General calling for full re-occupation of Gaza
Palestine News Network 3/17/2008
Gaza / PNN- The commander of the Israeli Air Force is calling for a full re-occupation of the Gaza Strip in order to stop projectile launches. Israeli Army Radio reported the news on Monday that Israeli forces believe a full presence in the Strip would stop production of projectiles. They are calling for an occupation similar to that of the West Bank. Another Israeli source reported that Israeli forces are considering using anti-missile devices against the projectiles. Sources in the Israeli military are also reconsidering placing a dome around the area, but that it would not be ready until 2010. [end]
Israeli forces seize Palestinian near Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/17/2008
(Ma’anImages) Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces seized a Palestinian man from the northern West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams in the eastern Tulkarem district on Sunday evening. The Palestinian is named as 22-year-old Marwan MahajnaMa’an’s reporter quoted one of the arrestee’s relatives as saying that Israeli forces raided the camp and seized Mahajna on the main road. Mahajna is an accounting student at An-Najah National University. [end]
Palestinian activists hurl homemade explosive device at Israeli patrol
Ma’an News Agency 3/17/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an A homemade explosive device was thrown at an Israeli patrol near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia on Sunday evening. Israeli sources reported no casualties. Later, the military wing affiliated to Fatah claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was in retaliation for the assassination by Israel of Imad Mughniyya,the senior military leader in Hizbullah. [end]
Israeli forces apprehend Palestinian from east Jerusalem
Ma’an News Agency 3/17/2008
Jerusalem Ma’an Israeli forces apprehended on Monday a Palestinian young man from Al- ’Eizariyya in east Jerusalem. The director of Asrana information office, Munqidh Rumi, said that Israeli intelligence handed a warrant to 21-year-old Hazim Udwan that summoned him to the Shin Bet centre for questioning. Upon arrival Udwan was apprehended by Israeli forces. [end]
Islamic Jihad’s military group fire projectile at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/17/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to the Islamic Jihad movement - Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday evening for the firing of a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot in western Negev. They claimed in a statement that the shelling was to reaffirm their resistance to Israel and its actions. [end]
Warning: IOA almost finished its most dangerous scheme to Judaize Jerusalem
Palestinian Information Center 3/17/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Islamic Christian Front for the Defense of Jerusalem and holy places warned that the IOA made such progress in preparing for the most dangerous and largest scheme aimed at Judaizing the Islamic and Christian holy shrines in occupied Jerusalem. Dr. Hasan Khater, the secretary-general of the Front, explained that the Israeli occupation finished drawing up a very detailed plan for the Judaization of Jerusalem which includes the Aqsa Mosque, its lands, garden, churches and all the area surrounding it. Dr. Khater added that the Israeli occupation, through this plan, is trying to replace the cultural and religious identity of the holy city with a Jewish image predominating over the Islamic and Christian image of the city, pointing out that Israel finished laying its schemes under the name of "Jerusalem interface" and now it is embarking on finishing some technical sides and securing the plan’s financial needs. more.. e-mail this link
VIDEO - Conditions in the Gaza Strip continue to worsen - 17 Mar 08
AlJazeera, YouTube 3/17/2008
AlJazeeraEnglish video [end]
Riots in Jabal Mukaber / Shin Bet worries about usuals who weren’t there
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 3/17/2008
Some new faces could be observed among the crowd of right-wing activists who on Sunday stormed the East Jerusalem house of the terrorist who killed eight yeshiva students earlier this month. The rioters did not all belong to the usual group of extremists who are all too familiar with the insides of interrogation rooms. For instance, there was a group of minors from the big urban settlement of Efrat. One of the slain students’ schoolmates was also present at the riot in the Arab neighborhood of Jabal Mukkaber. Two other rioters were a young man who works for the Ministry of the Interior and a new immigrant who came here just a few months ago. But quite a few of the usual suspects were also there, especially those from the northern West Bank. The contingent from the settlements of Yitzhar and Ma’aleh Levona was especially noticeable, along with prominent extremists such as Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir. more.. e-mail this link
News in Brief
Ha’aretz 3/17/2008
The Home Front Command will test its warning sirens in in Netivot and Ashkelon this morning. At 9 A. M. a minute-and-a-half rising and falling siren sound will be heard in Netivot, and at 11:30 A. M. in Ashkelon. The Home Front Command said that following recent rocket attacks, the intention is to test the sirens and whether citizens hear them. (Yuval Azoulay) Compensation to businesses in Sderot and other communities near the Gaza border will be paid retroactively for the period from November 1, 2006 and until December 31, 2008, according to a compromise proposal approved by the Knesset Finance Committee yesterday. The treasury had wanted the money to cover damages starting only as of May 2007. The new proposal will cover indirect damages to area businesses. (Zvi Zrahiya)The High Court of Justice issued a temporary restraining order against the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA),. . . more.. e-mail this link
Israeli concern about ability of West Bank resistance to launch attacks
Palestinian Information Center 3/17/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli security sources expressed its fears that the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank especially the armed wing of Hamas would be able to launch a big attack in the coming weeks on Israeli areas. The sources explained that Hamas is trying hard to strengthen their presence in all areas of the occupied West Bank, despite the ongoing joint campaign waged by the PA and Israeli security apparatuses against its fighters. "The calm we see now in the West Bank is deceptive because inside the Palestinian cities, there are, all the time, attempts to organize the ranks and carry out attacks against Israeli targets. In another context, a senior officer in the Israeli air force expressed his fears in a press release to the website of the Israeli Yediot Ahronot newspaper that the potential risks which threaten Israeli military aircrafts flying over Gaza could. . . more.. e-mail this link
AUDIO - Palestine Today 031708
Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMc - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/17/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Monday March 17th, 2008. In Gaza one Palestinian dies from wounds sustained over the weekend from Israeli shelling, while in the West bank the Israeli army kidnaps five among them two children, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast A Palestinian resistance fighter of the Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, died on Sunday of wounds he sustained earlier on Saturday. Mohammad Yousef Hammouda, 25, was pronounced dead after being hit, along with three other fighters, with an Israeli warplane’s missile in northern Gaza. On Saturday an Israeli warplane killed Basel Shabet, Mohammad aLSha’er and Hassan Shaqoura, from the media branch of the Al-Quds brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad. more.. e-mail this link
Violence mars Palm Sunday as warship wounds three men in attack on Gaza
Compiled by, Daily Star 3/17/2008
Occupied Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah led thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world on the traditional procession into the Holy City on Palm Sunday, but the peaceful celebration was marred by Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip and an attempt by Israeli extremists to destroy the home of the Palestinian man who shot eight students to death at a Jewish seminary last week before being killed himself. Palm Sunday commemorates followers of Jesus Christ shaking branches to welcome him when he entered Jerusalem. The event marks the beginning of the holy week during which, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was betrayed by one of his supporters, Judas, crucified, and then resurrected on Easter Sunday. As the pilgrims were marking Palm Sunday, however, Israeli police were struggling to contain a violent protest by right-wing extremists bent on demolishing. . . more.. e-mail this link
Rightists hurl stones at Arab homes in Jerusalem
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 3/16/2008
Hundreds of extreme right-wing activists break through police barriers, enter east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber in bid to destroy house of terrorist who killed eight yeshiva students in Jerusalem. Two policemen lightly hurt in clashes; 22 people arrested -More than 100 extreme right-wing activists arrived Sunday afternoon at the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber and began hurling stones at houses. Large police forces were dispatched to the area and 22 of the rioters were arrested. Two policemen were lightly injured in the clashes. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered earlier at Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv promenade in order to march to the Arab neighborhood and destroy the house of the terrorist whokilled eight students at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva about 10 days ago. Hundreds of police officers attempted to block the protestors,. . . more.. e-mail this link
Right-wing demonstrators try to storm home village of Mercaz Harav gunman
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 3/17/2008
Dozens of Jewish teenagers from the extreme right last night pushed through police barricades to gain entry to Jabel Mukkaber, in East Jerusalem. They threw rocks at homes in the Arab village, smashing windows and damaging solar water heaters. Villagers threw rocks back at the assailants. Police arrested 24 demonstrators, including one carrying a long knife. One police officer sustained minor injuries. The incident followed a demonstration, at the Haas Promenade in Armon Hanatziv, of hundreds of Jewish teens and right-wing activists, demanding the demolition of the Jabel Mukaber home of the family of Alaa Abu Dhaim, who killed eight students at the capital’s Mercaz Harav Yeshiva 11 days ago. The demonstration was organized by extra-parliamentary right-wing groups including Komemiyut and Women in Green, and was attended by settlers from the West Bank and former Kach movement activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir. more.. e-mail this link
Next IAF chief: Ground forces needed to stop rocket attacks
Amos Harel and Yuval Azoulays, Ha’aretz 3/17/2008
The commander-designate of the Israel Air Force, Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, says that the presence of Israeli forces on the ground in the Gaza Strip could prevent the manufacture of rockets and the smuggling of arms into the Strip. "Professionally speaking," he said, "if Israel wants to prevent any high-trajectory rocket or mortar fire, it must establish good control on the ground. "At the same time, Israel is examing anew the possibility of purchasing one of two overseas anti-rocket weapons systems to combat the Qassams, according to defense officials, because the Israeli-made Iron Dome system, currently under development at Rafael, the Armaments Development Authority, will not be operational before 2010. In a lecture at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs delivered two months ago, and made public yesterday, Nehushtan, the current head of the IDF Planning Directorate,. . . more.. e-mail this link
Israeli police invade a Hebron neighborhood
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/16/2008
A contingent of Israeli police invaded the Abu Snaina neighborhood in the West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday afternoon, media sources and witnesses said. A large Israeli police force stormed the neighborhood out of nowhere, witnesses said. Witnesses added that the police force pulled back shortly after grabbing a bicycle from a Palestinian child. The police alleged that the youth had stolen the bicycle from an Israeli settler - a charge that the child denied. The occupied Hebron city is a southern West Bank area, where approximately 400 Israeli settlers were placed, under the protection of the Israeli government, inthe 1970s - in the middle of a Palestinian urban center that is home to over 250,000 Palestinians. That small group of settlers is protected by thousands of Israeli soldiers, who refuse to pursue or prosecute the settlers for their daily violent assaults on the Palestinian indigenous population of Hebron. more.. e-mail this link
A resistance fighter in Gaza dies of wounds
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/16/2008
A Palestinian resistance fighter of the Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, died early on Sunday morning of wounds he sustained earlier yesterday. Mohammad Yousef Hammouda, 25, was pronounced dead after having been hit, along with three other resistance fighters, with an Israeli warplane’s missile in northern Gaza. Yesterday, an Israeli warplane killed Basel Shabet, Mohammad aLSha’er and Hassan Shaqoura, of the media branch of the Saraya aL-Quds brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad. From its part, the Sarray aL-Quds Brigades vowed in a statement, faxed to press, to retaliate to the killing of its members, warning of more resistance attacks against the Israeli occupation. Medical sources confirmed that five people, including two women, were yesterday transferred to aLShifa hospital in Gaza city, after an Israeli drone fired a missile towards the vicinity of aL-Shayma’ local school in northern Beit Lahiya town. more.. e-mail this link
Gaza medical officials: their bodies arrived charred and torn to pieces
Palestine News Network 3/16/2008
Gaza / PNN- Israeli forces continued the assault on the Gaza Strip late Saturday night, killing three Palestinians. This comes after the Israeli "response" to human rights groups condemning them for their treatment of the 1. 5 million residents of the Strip in which they blamed the Hamas party for the humanitarian disaster. The dead are from Saraya Al Quds, the armed resistance wing of Islamic Jihad: a frequent target these days in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The injured were hit by artillery shelling near a school in the northern Strip’s Beit Lahia, one is described to be in "critical condition. "The killings were considered assassinations, conducted in the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Al Shajaiyeh. Palestinian medical sources in Gaza City’s Al Shifa Hospital confirmed to PNN that in addition to killing the three people, Israeli forces injured several others. more.. e-mail this link
An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades claims firing two projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/16/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot in western Negev. The Brigades claimed in a statement that the shelling was in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli campaigns and targeted assassinations against Palestinian activists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Separately, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades - the military wing affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades said that their fighters fired seven homemade projectiles and several mortar shells at Sderot, Netive Haasarah and Ra’im on Sunday. They said in separate statements that the shelling was in retaliation for ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. more.. e-mail this link
Police: We were surprised by intensity of rightists’ riots
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 3/16/2008
Despite extreme right-wing activists’ repeated threats to avenge Jerusalem terror attack, destroy terrorist’s home in Arab neighborhood, senior police officials admit ’protestors’ determination and use of stones and firecrackers’ surprised them - The Jerusalem Police on Sunday failed to prevent hundreds of extreme right-wing activists from arriving at the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber and hurling stones at its residents, despite repeatedthreats to by rightists to avenge themurder of eight yeshiva students in Jerusalem 10 days ago and destroy the terrorist’s home. "We were surprised by the intensity of the riots," a senior police official admitted. The Jerusalem District Police held a special evaluation of the situation following the clashes, which left two police officers lightly injured and 22 rioters arrested. more.. e-mail this link
22 right-wing activists detained after storming E. J’lem village
Nadav Shragai and Reuters, Ha’aretz 3/17/2008
Police on Sunday arrested 22 right-wing activists who broke through a barrier near an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem and hurled stones at houses and cars, police and witnesses said. Some 200 activists were attempting to enter the neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber, which was home to a Palestinian terrorist who earlier this month killed eight students at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, the deadliest Palestinian attack on Israelis in two years. They threw rocks at homes in the Arab village, smashing windows and damaging solar water heaters. A police officer sustained light injuries when hit by a stone during the protests. One of the arrestees was carrying a long knife, said police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby. "A number of individuals attempted to make their way inside Jabal Mukaber. . . " more.. e-mail this link
Israelis storm East Jerusalem
Al Jazeera 3/16/2008
Dozens of right-wing Jewish activists have stormed the Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem hoping to attack the home of a Palestinian man who killed eight Israelis at a Jewish seminary earlier this month. Police and witnesses said the protesters broke through police barriers on Sunday and hurled stones at cars and houses in Jabal Mukaber. The district is home to the family of Ala Abu Dhaim, who was buried at night on Thursday after about a week of delays because police feared a public funeral might trigger protests and violence. The demonstrators marched through the streets chanting "Revenge" and "Death to the Arabs". Police moved in to disperse them, sparking clashes and rock-throwing. more.. e-mail this link
VIDEO - News / Rightists attempt to storm E. J’lem home of yeshiva gunman
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 3/16/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for March 16, 2008. In this edition:Rightists attempt to storm the East Jerusalem neighborhood of the yeshiva gunman. Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu responds to reports of lavish spending during a U. K. trip. The Iron Dome anti-rocket system is tested in full for the first time. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer says Israel won’t intervene in the foreign currency market again unless a global crisis erupts. [end]
One Palestinian teen injured by Israeli army fire in Tubass
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/15/2008
A Palestinian teenager was injured when Israeli troops attacked and searched homes in the city of Tubass, located in the northern part of the West Bank on Saturday morning. Medical sources said that Nashaat Sawaftah, 17, was injured in the head when an Israel soldier hurled a sound bomb near him, witnesses said that the boy was standing near his family home. Local sources stated that at least 10 Israeli army jeeps invaded the city on Saturday morning and searched dozens of homes there. During the attacks witnesses said that Israeli troops hurled sounds bombs and the residents in addition to firing at the homes randomly, no kidnapping were reported. [end]
Israeli forces arrest Palestinian in Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 3/16/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces on Sunday morning arrested a Palestinian teenager from Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that several Israeli military vehicles stormed the city and ransacked the home belonging to Barakat Shakhtur in the As-Saf neighborhood in the centre of Bethlehem. They proceeded to arrest 17-year-old Ammar Shakhtur. [end]
Israeli forces seize two Palestinian brothers near Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 3/16/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli forces seized two Palestinian brothers in the early hours of Sunday morning from the southern West Bank town of Taffuh, south of Hebron. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an’s reporter that Israeli forces raided the town from the west and besieged a residential block belonging to the Zreiqat family. Thirty residents were evacuated from the building as it was inspected. The two brothers, 21-year-old Tariq and 18-year-old Bara’ Zreiqat, were then apprehended. [end]
An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades fire projectile at Ashkelon
Ma’an News Agency 3/16/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday morning for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli military post of Zakeim, south of the city of Ashkelon. They said in a statement that a group of their fighters was able to fire the missile despite the Israeli helicopters which were flying over the Gaza Strip. The statement added that the shelling was in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli atrocities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which culminated with the killing of three Islamic Jihad activists on Saturday. [end]
Hamas: Anti-aircraft fire aimed at capturing Israeli pilots
Ali Waked, YNetNews 3/16/2008
Islamist group says it is increasing attacks on war planes, helicopters hovering over Strip in hopes they’ll lead to capture of additional Israeli soldiers, thus strengthening its position in future prisoner exchange deal. Air Force official: Flow of arms into Gaza increasing threat -The increased attacks on Israeli helicopters flying over Gaza are aimed at abducting pilots to be used as bargaining chips in a future prisoner exchange deal, a source inHamas told Ynet on Sunday. "The main objective of these attacks is to shoot down manned Israeli aircrafts," the source said. "Regardless of whether the pilot dies or is taken alive, we hope these attacks will eventually lead to the capture of additional Israeli soldiers. " On Friday Hamas said Palestinian militants hit an Israeli helicopter gunship in northern Gaza. more.. e-mail this link
Barak rethinking ’Iron Dome’ defense system in face of Gaza rockets
Reuters, Ha’aretz 3/17/2008
Spurred by a surge in Palestinian rocket salvoes and charges of arms industry protectionism, Israel is rethinking its rejection of deployable foreign defense technologies which can counter the rocket attacks. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has staked his reputation on Iron Dome, a device in the works at Rafael, the Israel Arms Development Authority, that would use missiles to shoot down the short-range rockets favored by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. But Iron Dome will not be operational before 2010, a lag many Israelis consider insupportable given spiraling violence on the border with Gaza, the territory which Israel withdrew from three years ago and which Islamist Hamas seized last year. There are also ramifications for Israel’s peace talks with Hamas’ rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. more.. e-mail this link
Ashkelon to have longer warning time before rocket fall
Yuval Azoulay and Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 3/17/2008
Beginning Monday, in the event of a rocket attack on Ashkelon, residents will have twice as much time to find shelter. The previous system allowed them a 15-second warning in advance of an attack, and the new system gives them 30 seconds. Technological improvements and analyses of the ranges and landing times of rockets fired from Gaza have been made by the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command since it was decided about a month ago to connect Ashkelon to the warning system, which made the additional time possible. However, residents have said that in some cases, they heard the warning at the same moment they heard the sound of the exploding missile landing. The difficulty many residents were having hearing the "color red" warning led the Home Front Command to install a rising and falling siren, which is to sound if a rocket attack is imminent. more.. e-mail this link
IAF strike kills three Islamic Jihad militants in northern Gaza
Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoffs and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 3/15/2008
At least three Islamic Jihad militants were killed and six others wounded Saturday evening as the Israel Air Force carried out two consecutive air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip. The first air strike killed three militants who were preparing to fire a Qassam rocket at the western Negev. They were identified as Bassel Shabet, Mohammed Sha’er and Hassan Shakura. According to the Shin Bet security service, the three were involved in Qassam rocket attacks and production. The Shin Bet added that, among other attacks, the three were behind the rocket fire that seriously wounded 8-year-old Osher Twito last month. Twito lost a leg, while his 19-year-old brother was also hurt. A short while later, the IAF carried out a strike against two Palestinian militants who were seen approaching the security fence along northern Gaza. more..
Wanted Palestinian activist escapes Israeli raid near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 3/15/2008
Jenin Ma’an - Israeli occupation forces surrounded a "wanted" man’s house in the West Bank village of Dir Abu Da’if, east ofJenin, and also raided the nearby town of Qabatiya early on Saturday morning. Palestinian security sources reported that Israeli forces besieged the house of Mohie Yaseen, an activist with the armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades. Witnesses said that Israeli forces approached the house from several directions, shooting in the air and deploying sonic bombs. The Israeli troops, using a public address system, ordered the residents out of the house. The soldiers then searched the house and withdrew from the area, witnesses added. No arrests were made. Mohie Yaseen was reported to be not at home. In Qabatiya, Israeli forces entered the city from the south, and patrolled the streets, erecting barriers at the main entrances of the town, local residents said. more..
Israeli forces raid Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/15/2008
Tulkarim Ma’an Occupying Israeli forces raided the city of Tulkarem and neighboring Ein Shams refugee camp on Friday evening. Palestinian security sources said ’’The Israeli forces informed the Palestinian side thatthey would launch a security activity in the area. ’’Several Israeli military vehicles then invaded the city and camp, patrolling the streets. The Israeli soldiers broke into and searched the house of Tulkarem resident Mahmoud Masharka. No arrests were reported. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades claim projectile attack on Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/15/2008
Gaza Maan The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing ofIslamic jihad said that they launched a homemade projectile at the Israeli border town of Sderot on Friday evening. The Brigades also said that Israeli forces launched a rocket at a group of Palestinians, who "escaped death. " The Al-Quds Brigades added that the attack on Sderot is a "natural response" to "Israel’s crimes," particularly after the killing of four Palestinian leaders in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Israeli special forces gunned down four Palestinians, three of them Islamic Jihad activists, on Wednesday, ending a momentary lull in Israeli-Palestinian violence. [end]
Israeli Arab leader: Assassination of Arab figure ’matter of time’
Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 3/15/2008
A leading Israeli Arab political figure warned Saturday that it is only a matter of time before an Israeli Arab leader is assassinated. "The political murder of an Arab public figure is a matter of where and when," Amir Mahoul, chairman of a committee for the protection of freedoms, told a conference put together by the organization in Umm al-Fahm. "We are a group that is in real danger, and the state is responsible for this," he said. Mahoul said incitement against the Arab community by Israeli Jewish leaders, especially in the wake of the Mercaz Harav terrorist attack that left eight dead, is not limited to marginal politicians but rather emanates from the political center as well. Several Arab parties that were supposed to participate in the conference boycotted the event, including Hadash. more..
Astal: Zionists plan to kill Sheikh Salah for exposing plot against Aqsa
Palestinian Information Center 3/15/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Dr. Younis Al-Astal, a member of the Hamas parliamentary bloc, on Saturday charged that the Zionist scheme to assassinate Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 areas, was due to his efforts in exposing the accelerating plans to demolish the Aqsa Mosque through excavations, which have started since 1967. In a statement received by the PIC, Astal said that the disclosure of these malicious intentions followed the Israeli latest excavations which show that the Zionists are in a hurry to destroy the Aqsa Mosque. The lawmaker explained that Sheikh Salah does not fear to expose the Zionist schemes to media outlets and mobilizes the Islamic world against those schemes. Astal opined that if those Zionist fanatics carried out their crime and murdered Sheikh Salah, they would never be able to kill the idea he struggled and lived for. more..
Arab leaders say state promoting ’political assassination’
Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 3/15/2008
Against the backdrop of rising tensions between Jews and Arabs, prominent Israeli-Arab figures warn incitement by Jewish politicians translates into atmosphere that legitimizes killing of their leaders -The political murder of an Arab leader "is only a matter of time," Israeli-Arab leaders warned Saturday during a conference in the town of Umm al-Fahm, against the backdrop of growing tensions between Jews and Arabs in the country in recent months. " The people willing to do this are not in the fringes, they are part of the regime," stated Amir Mahoul, chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Arab Society Liberties. The conference, organized by the Israeli Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, hosted prominent figures in the sector, including MKs, intellectuals and local leaders, who claimed they were united by the realization that they are being persecuted by the Israeli establishment. more..
Shin Bet: No evidence of far-right plot to avenge J’lem yeshiva massacre
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/15/2008
The Shin Bet security service said Saturday evening that it has found no evidence of a far-right plot to avenge last week’s terror attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva that left eight students dead. "After a comprehensive and thorough examination, no evidence was found of preparations by right-wing activists who wish to avenge the murder at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva," the Shin Bet said in a statement. The Shin Bet carried out the examination following a Channel 1 television report Tuesday that three yeshiva alumni met at the school with two rabbis to discuss whether Jewish law would permit a revenge attack. On Wednesday, a group of rightist rabbis called on Jews to avenge their enemies ’measure for measure. ’In notices posted along Jerusalem’s Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, near the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, the rabbis wrote: "Each and every. . . more..
Iris Tuito: Osher is thrilled "terrorists" were ’taken out’
Meital Yasur-Beit Or, YNetNews 3/15/2008
Following IDF strike that killed "terrorists" responsible for Qassam attack injuring her son, IrisTuito states "it’s not enough. They deserve more for what they have done to us’ - Following an IDF strike which killed the members of the "terror" cell responsible for the Qassam rocket attack which led to the amputation of her son’s leg, Iris Tuito stated Saturday "I always wanted the IDF to get revenge on those responsible in Gaza. They did a good job. " Tuito’s son, eight-year-old Osher, lost his leg following an injury sustained by a rocket attack on his home town of Sdeort. He remains hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. "This is hardly enough for what they (the terrorists) did to us. They deserve a far harsher blow," said Tuito, also noting that family members told Osher about the IDF strike and that he "he is very glad that the "terrorists" were "taken out" and hopes that their names and memories would be blotted out. " more..
Islamic Jihad members killed
Al Jazeera 3/15/2008
Three members of the Islamic Jihad group have been killed by an Israel missile attack on the Gaza Strip. An Israeli aircraft dropped its payload on the men as they were preparing to launch homemade rockets across the border on Saturday, Israeli army sources said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said that the Palestinian fighters were killed after they had fired four rockets into Israel, three of which had struck without causing casualties. Earlier, three other members of the armed group had been wounded as they prepared to launch their rockets, medics said. The Israeli army has been carrying out near daily air and ground offensives against Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip saying they are attempting to halt the rocket and mortar attacks. more..
Israeli military chopper hit by a Palestinian fire over Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/15/2008
Israeli security sources reported on Friday evening that a military helicopter was hit by Palestinian gunfire when resistance fighters opened fire at it as it flew over Gaza. The sources added that the aircraft managed to fly back to Israel with no casualties. The Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, issued a press release claiming responsibility for the attack and stating that its fighters open fire at the chopper and managed to score direct hits. Abu Obaida, media spokesperson of the Al Qassam brigades, said that the chopper was flying over north Gaza when the fighters opened fire at it. He added that the fighters will continue to target any Israeli war jets that fly over the Gaza Strip "with the continuously improving ammunitions and the more accurate weapons the fighters obtain". Although the Israeli army refused to officially comment on the incident, security. . . more..
Palestinian fighters hit Israeli helicopter over Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/15/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an - Agencies Palestinian fighters hit an Israeli military helicopter flying over northern Gaza on Friday evening, Israeli security officials said. The helicopter returned to Israel safely. There were new casualties, Israeli sources said. The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack. Abu Obeida, the Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson said, "This afternoon our anti-aircraft crew opened fire at an Israeli aircraft over north Gaza, we know that it was hit," said Abu ObeidaAbu Obeida said that Hamas fighters would continue to open fire on Israeli aircraft that fly over the Gaza Strip with the continuously improving ammunitions and the more accurate weapons the fighters obtain. " more..
Palestinian teenager wounded in the head during Israeli incursion in Tubas
Ma’an News Agency 3/15/2008
Jenin Ma’an - A Palestinian teenager was injured in the head a sonic bomb fired by Israeli forces exploded near him during an incursion in the West Bank town of Tubas early on Saturday. Palestinian security sources said that a Israeli military vehicles invaded the town from the east, shooting their weapons. Seventeen-year-old Nashaat Sawaftah was injured and transferred to a nearby medical center for treatment. His wound is said to be slight. [end]
Hamas vows more attacks on Israeli aircraft
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/15/2008
Spokesman for group say militants will continue targeting Israeli planes with heavy machine guns, claims weapons confiscated from Fatah headquarters last year - Hamas said Saturday its fighters will keep targeting Israeli aircraft with heavy machine guns, after hitting an Israeli helicopter over Gaza for the first time. The Israeli military did not comment on Friday’s incident, but security officials said the helicopter was lightly damaged and returned to Israel safely. It was not immediately clear whether Friday’s hit was an isolated incident or a sign of Hamas’ increasing military capabilities. Hamas is believed to have more than a dozen Russian-made KPV-14. 5 machine guns. A Hamas video on YouTube showed a Hamas fighter aiming a machine gun toward the sky as a helicopter flew above. more..
3 "terrorists" killed in IDF strike in Gaza
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/15/2008
Israeli aircraft attacks cell preparing to launch rockets at Israel, killing three Jihad gunmen. IDF: Cell responsible for firing rocket that hit Sderot boy who lost his leg -Three Palestinian "terrorists" were killed Saturday in a joint Shin Bet and IDF airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources identified the men killed as Islamic Jihad operatives. According to the IDF, the cell hit was preparing to fire rockets at Israel. sources added that it was the same cell responsible for launching the rocket that injured eight-year-old Osher Tuito from Sderot, whose leg was amputated following the attack. "We will reach anyone involved in terror," a security official said. "Those who target Israel’s citizens shall never be immune. " In a separate incident, IDF troops opened fire at two gunmen in northern Gaza, and reported hitting them both. more..
Yeshiva students say they were attacked by Peki’in youths
Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 3/15/2008
Students complain they were threatened, harassed by locals during visit to rabbi’s tomb near Druze village -Three yeshiva students who study in New Peki’in filed a complaint with the police Saturday afternoon for being allegedly attacked by six local youths from the Druze village of Peki’in. According to the students, during a visit to a rabbi’s tomb in the area, the local youths approached them and demanded they leave the place, saying Jews "had no business being there. "The youths reportedly threatened the students, cursed them and threw stones at them. One of the students was, according to his own testimony, physically assaulted by the Druze residents before he fled the scene with his two friends. Commander of the Ma’ona police station, Superintendent Victor Buskila told Ynet that the assailants’ identity was not known to the police, but that information. . . more..
Israeli forces invade West Bank village, occupy Palestinian houses
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an - Israeli forces stormed the town of Tuqu, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, occupied several houses on Friday morning. Witnesses said that six Israeli military vehicles and a number of infantry soldiers entered the neighborhood near the municipal government building. Soldiers took up positions on the roofs of houses, including a house belonging to resident Jamil Al-Amour. While on top of the houses, Israeli soldiers blew up residential water tanks, witnesses said. Stone-throwing Palestinian youths confronted the soldiers, who fired rubber-coated metal bullets. Israeli troops also prevented worshippers from attending prayer services at local mosques. more..
Gaza: IDF chopper hit by bullet
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/14/2008
Senior Air Force official tells Ynet threat on Israeli helicopters in Gaza Strip growing - Terror groups in Gaza getting closer to downing Israeli choppers:An IDF helicopter on operational duty in the Gaza Strip Friday was hit by a bullet, the army said. The chopper landed safely at an Air Force base. No injuries were reported in the incident. The army said the helicopter was apparently hit by a machinegun bullet, but fortunately the section of the chopper hit by the bullet was not a sensitive one. The Air Force is looking into the incident. Meanwhile, a senior Air Force official told Ynet that the threat on Israeli helicopters has been growing. "The threat is growing every day," the official said. "Terror organizations have great motivation to hit Air Force aircraft, and helicopters are naturally a major target because they fly at a relatively low altitude. . . " more..
3 rockets hit Negev during Vilnai visit
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/14/2008
Three Qassam rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel on Friday afternoon. Two rockets landed in open areas near the southern town of Sderot, and another rocket hit the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The Qassam were fired at Sderot while Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai was touring the city with Labor Party activists. Immediately upon hearing the alert, Vilnai and his men ran to a fortified building in the area. The deputy minister arrived in the city in order to attend a Labor meeting with local council heads. Simultaneously, a delegation of business people arrived at the city as well in a convoy of 20 taxis and handed out Purim gifts to Sderot’s children. On Friday morning, a Qassam rocket landed within the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage. more..
Qassam Brigades clash with IOF troops in Qalqilya
Palestinian Information Center 3/14/2008
QALQILYA, (PIC)-- Resistance fighters affiliated with the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas clashed with IOF troops during an IOF incursion, at dawn Friday, into the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya. The clashes took place at Nablus street and the Brigades said in a statement on Friday that its fighters were confronting the invading troops in an attempt to defend the Palestinian people against "this barbaric Zionist holocaust which the enemy is bringing to the West Bank after the Gaza Strip. " The Brigades further said: "We, in the Qassam Brigades, stress our right to defend our people in the face of usurping Zionists and we find it strange that Abbas’s security agencies in the West Bank carry out campaigns of arrest and pursue resistance fighters during the day while the occupation forces carry out the same task at night in a very naked collaboration and unprecedented security coordination with the murderers of our people. more..
Hamas fighters confront Israeli forces in Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Palestinian fighters confronted Israeli forces that invaded the West Bank city of Qalqilia at dawn on Friday, Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades said. The Brigades said that their activists engaged in violent clashes with Israeli forces on Nablus Street. Israeli forces reportedly raided several private homes after invading the town from several directions. The Al-Qassam Brigades accused Israel of attempting to transfer a policy of aggression from Gaza to the West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces invade Aqqaba, threatening to demolish houses
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli occupation forces entered the West bank town of Aqqaba, near Tubas, threatening to demolish Palestinian houses. Municipal council chair Sami Sadeq said that the Israeli forces stormed the town and closed the eastern entrance of the town deployed troops in streets throughout the town. Sami Sadeq added that the Israeli troops threatened to demolish the houses built without hard-to-obtain construction permits. [end]
Israeli forces invade Jenin and surrounding area
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces invaded the West Bank city of Jenin and the nearby town of Arraba before dawn on Friday. Local sources said that more than 15 military vehicles invaded Jenin and the surrounding refugee camps, forcibly searching Palestinians’ homes amid a gunfire and sound grenades. The Israeli troops were searching for "wanted" Palestinian activists, though none were arrested. [end]
DFLP fighters ’launch two projectiles at Sderot’
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), claimed responsibility for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, bordering the Gaza Strip, on Friday. The group said the attack was a response to Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people. [end]
Israel concerned about renewed shooting attacks in Gilo
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli police are concerned about the possibility of renewed shooting by Palestinian fighters from the Palestinian town of Beit Jala into the Israeli settlement Gilo, south of Jerusalem after Israeli forces gunned down four fighters in neighboring Bethlehem on Wednesday. Senior Jerusalem police officers toured Gilo on Thursday night and gave instructions on how to respond to new shooting, Israeli media reported. Emergency services in the southern parts of Jerusalem have been put on a heightened state of alert. During the first years of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Gilo was exposed to almost daily attacks from the Palestinian resistance, so that a number of Israeli residents displaced, usually to locations inside Israel’s 1949 borders. more..
Officials: IAF helicopter hit by Palestinian fire over Gaza
Amos Harel and Yuval Azoulays and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 3/14/2008
Palestinians hit an Israel Air Force helicopter flying over the Gaza Strip with machine gun fire Friday but the aircraft returned safely to Israel with no casualties, Israeli security officials said. Hamas said its men fired at the chopper as it raided a rocket-launching site in the northern Gaza Strip and reported hitting the aircraft. "This afternoon our anti-aircraft crew opened fire at an Israeli aircraft over north Gaza, we know that it was hit," said Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas military wing. Abu Obeida said Hamas would continue to try to target IAF aircraft with ever-improving munitions at their disposal. "This is a message from the Qassam Brigades that we are doing our utmost to confront Zionist planes. . . and we will continue to try to hit them with more accurate weapons," he told Reuters. more..
AUDIO - This Week In Palestine - week 11 2008
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 3/14/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| File 10. 9 MB || Time 12m 0s || This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. IMEMC. org, for March 8th through to March 14th, 2008. As ten Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire this week, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak of obstructing peace talks, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance Let’s begin our weekly report with the nonviolent actions in the West Bank, IMEMC’s Mary Firth. with the details: Bil’in Dozens of residents of Bil’in, a village near Ramallah, took to the streets on Friday in their weekly demonstration protesting against the illegal confiscation of village land through Israel’s continued expansion of the wall. more..
IDF strike kills 5 militants; South on alert for Qassams
Avi Issacharoff, Yuval Azoulay and Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/14/2008
The defense establishment expects that the indirect understanding with Hamas over a cease-fire in Gaza is likely to collapse today, as Islamic Jihad is preparing to fire Qassam rockets at the Negev in response to the killings of four of its members on the West Bank yesterday. Five armed and wanted Palestinians were killed in total by Israeli Police anti-terrorist forces in two separate incidents. In the first incident yesterday morning in Kfar Tzaida east of Tulkarem, Salah Karkur, 27, of Islamic Jihad was killed during an attempt to arrest him by a combined operation of the IDF, Border Police and Shin Bet. The second incident, in which four men were killed, occured in Bethlehem. Muhamad Shahade, one of the most wanted terrorist suspects of Islamic Jihad, was killed when the Israel Police special anti-terrorist unit attempted to arrest him. more..
Negev slammed by rockets; IDF: Lull appears to be over
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/14/2008
Qassam rockets and mortars rained on Sderot and other communities bordering the Gaza Strip as Palestinian militants responded to the killing Wednesday of four Islamic Jihad gunmen in Bethlehem. The attacks yesterday broke a week of relative calm in the fighting. As of the time Haaretz went to print, the Israel Defense Forces avoided any response to the rocket and mortar attacks. Senior IDF sources told Haaretz last night that the lull in the fighting seemed to have come to an end. The attacks caused no serious damage or casualties. Most rockets and mortars fell on open fields. The IDF attacked a rocket launcher in the Strip yesterday, after carrying out no operations in the area for several days. Yesterday’s rocket attacks were the work of Islamic Jihad. Aside from the killing of its four men Tuesday, the same day the IDF killed another militant in the West Bank. more..
Confiscation orders in Hebron area to pave the way for the Apartheid Wall
Stop The Wall 3/11/2008
On February 28th, Occupation forces distributed military orders to the farmers of al-Dhahriya and Dura, both located to the southwest of Hebron, which will pave the way for the confiscation of their land. 766 dunums of land will be confiscated along the planned route for the Apartheid Wall, which will surround the Eshkolot settlement, to the west of al-Dhahriya. 3,300 dunums in total will be isolated behind the Wall. The confiscation orders, which were issued by the commander of the Occupation forces in the region, include the Wadi Fatem and Kharbit al-Kubriya areas in al-Dhahriya and the as-Subti area in Dura. In this case, the land belongs to al-Dhahriya, Dura, and the nearby villages that are known collectively as al-Masafer. Everyone in the area is connected in some way to this land, which is used extensively by local shepherds and livestock owners. more..
Wave of Demolitions in the West Bank leave 75 people homeless
Stop The Wall 3/11/2008
Yesterday, Occupation forces carried out a widespread demolition operation across the West Bank. Communities in the Jordan Valley were the hardest hit, although people in the Qalqilya district were also affected. Around 9:00 in the morning, Occupation border police, soldiers and the so-called civil administration forces rolled into al-Hadidya with a bulldozer. Residents reported that a massive number of jeeps and soldiers surrounded the small community and began demolition quickly. In al-Hadidya, four homes and four animals pens were demolished. 34 people have been left homeless, including at least 10 children under the age of 6. These structures belonged to Mohammed Ibn Fahed Mohammed Beni Odeh, Mohammed Ali Mohammed Beni Odeh,Ali Mohammed Mufleh Beni Odeh, Omar Araf Mohammed Sharat, all of whom have large families. more..
Report: Yeshiva graduates plan revenge attack against Arab figure
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 3/12/2008
Students from the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem, where an Israeli Arab gunman killed eight students last Thursday, planned a revenge attack against a senior Arab official affiliated with a Jerusalem mosque, Channel 1 television reported Tuesday. The attack has not been carried out and no arrests have been made, Channel 1 quoted security sources as saying. According to the report, three yeshiva alumni met at the school with two rabbis to discuss whether Jewish law would permit such an attack. The television channel reported that one of the rabbis gave his blessing for the attack, and an additional rabbi from a Tel Aviv suburb also gave his approval for the attack. "Torah law is that you should respond," Channel 1 quoted one of the rabbis as saying. The plan was to harm a senior Arab official affiliated with a mosque at the disputed Jerusalem holy site, Temple Mount, Channel One said. more..
Police officers slam Jerusalem chief’s ignorance about yeshiva attack
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/12/2008
Police officers on Tuesday criticized the results of the initial investigation into last week’s terror attack at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, in which eight students were killed, as presented by Jerusalem District Police chief Aharon Franco to senior commanders on Monday. Franco spent only a few minutes going over the incident, and according to senior officers, he was unable to answer many of the questions he was asked about it. Franco emphasized in the meeting that the district’s investigation is ongoing and will only be completed in another few days. An officer who attended Monday’s meeting said Tuesday that that the incident report raised questions about its timeline, from the terrorist’s entry into the yeshiva until his death. In addition, Franco was unable to end another mystery: Where did David Shapira, the Israel Defense Forces... more..
Israeli jets hit northern Gaza
Al Jazeera 3/13/2008
Israeli fighter jets have hit targets in the northern Gaza Strip after a dozen rockets were fired towards southern Israel, the Israeli military says. Thursday’s developments effectively ended a tacit truce respected by both sides since March 8, and came a day after the deaths of several Palestinian fighters at the hands of Israeli forces. However, a senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that efforts by Egyptian mediators to end the crisis between Israel and the Palestinian group were continuing. He said they were discussing terms for reopening the Rafah crossing with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority both having a role. Israel’s army radio reported that Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief, was due in Israel next week to try to advance truce efforts. The Islamic Jihad group fired more than one dozen rockets from the Gaza Strip early on Thursday but they caused little damage and no injuries. more..
Security forces hunting Gazan heading to Israel from Strip
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/13/2008
Israeli security forces on Thursday were searching for a Palestinian man who escaped supervision at a Gaza border crossing and fled toward Israel, Army Radio reported. The man had been given permission to cross from the Gaza Strip into Egypt through the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment, the radio said. The border with Egypt has been a sensitive subject for the three sides, since Hamas militants breached a frontier wall at the Rafah crossing in late January. Egypt has since sealed the border, and Israel’s defense establishment has promised to set up a security wall along the length of the border within the coming years. The crossings between Egypt and Gaza are a source of tension due to the consistet smuggling of weapons and people. more..
Rightist rabbis call on Jews to avenge yeshiva killings
Yair Ettinger, Ha’aretz 3/13/2008
A group of rabbis identified with the extreme right called on Jews Wednesday to avenge their enemies "measure for measure." An anti-Zionist rabbi, meanwhile, called the massacre "divine punishment." Notices in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, the location of the Mercaz Harav yeshiva where a Palestinian gunman shot to death eight students last week, said: "Each and everyone is required to imagine what the enemy is plotting to do to us, and to match it measure for measure." The rabbis also said it was necessary "to work to create a proper Jewish leadership," and looked forward to the day when "Jews will congregate in their cities... and strike those who wish upon them ill in those days at this time." The latter alludes to the Book of Esther, which will be read next week on Purim. more..
One hour after Olmert’s solidarity visit, rocket strikes southern Ashkelon
Yuval Azoulay and Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 3/13/2008
A Qassam rocket was launched yesterday afternoon from the northern Gaza Strip toward Ashkelon only an hour after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ended a visit to the city. The rocket fell in an open area in southern Ashkelon. There were no damage or injuries. It was the first and only rocket fired from Gaza since Sunday, and it did not elicit an Israeli response. In most cases this week, single mortars were fired at Israel, most of which fell within the Gaza Strip. Ashkelon came under Hamas rocket fire in the recent round of fighting, with a number of Katyushas fired at the city. With regard to the recent relative calm, Olmert said, "They aren’t shooting, and it’s not out of love for Israel and not because they suddenly have taken control of those launching the rockets. We are hitting them painfully and they are pausing to think about it. more..
VIDEO - News / Gaza militants pound W. Negev with Qassams, shattering lull
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 3/13/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for March 13, 2008. In this edition: Gaza militants pound the western Negev with Qassam rockets, shattering a recent lull. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni says that Israel is to halt West Bank settlement activities. Jerusalem’s Mercaz Harav yeshiva commemorates its eight students slain in last Thursday’s terror attack. The body of gunman responsible for the yeshiva shooting attack is buried in a private East Jerusalem ceremony. [end]
Islamic Jihad resumes rocket attacks on Israel after brief lull
Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem The Guardian, The Guardian 3/14/2008
The tacit ceasefire between Hamas and Israel ended yesterday when Palestinian militants launched a volley of rockets and Israel responded with an air raid on Gaza. After seven days of relative calm between Hamas and Israel, rival Palestinian groups indicated they would no longer support Hamas’s proposal for a ceasefire. Islamic Jihad, a group backed by Iran, said it had launched 17 rockets from Gaza as an "initial response" to Israel’s raid in the West Bank the night before, in which four fighters were killed. The fresh violence came within hours of Hamas’s announcement on Wednesday that it and other groups, such as Islamic Jihad, were seeking a ceasefire with Israel through Egyptian-mediated talks. But Hamas has yet to clarify whether it would withdraw from the US-sanctioned negotiations. more..
A ’moderna’ yeshiva, but still a yeshiva
Yair Ettinger, Ha’aretz 3/13/2008
"Jerusalem is weeping over the fact that Jewish boys were unfortunately murdered in such a terrible way. When the head weeps, the entire body weeps, and when Jerusalem weeps all of Israel weeps about such a bitter tragedy." Ultra-Orthodox readers who saw these words this week rubbed their eyes. Not because of the emotional content, but because of the identity of the speaker - Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the head of the Satmar Hasidim; the chasm that separates Satmar and Mercaz Harav circles is deeper than that between the yeshiva and the circles in which Education Minister Yuli Tamir, for example, grew up." The death of young men is as hard for the Holy One, blessed be He as the destruction of the Temple," the admor (leader of a Hasidic sect) told his disciples on Shabbat, in Yiddish, "but when, God forbid, such a tragedy occurs, that that murderers enter the yeshiva, a yeshiva where young men are studying, even though it’s a ’moderna yeshiva,’ it’s still a yeshiva where young men study Torah, Gemara..." more..
Body of yeshiva gunman buried in private East J’lem ceremony
Avi Isaacharoff Jonathan Lis and Shahar Ilans, Ha’aretz 3/13/2008
The body of a terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem last Thursday was buried in a discreet ceremony in the village of Jabel Mukaber in East Jerusalem late Thursday night. Police arrived at the family home of Alaa Abu Dhaim Thursday morning and escorted his father and three brothers to the graveyard, where they held a private ceremony at 3 A. M. in the morning. Police said they had planned to hand over Abu Dhaim’s body to his family on Sunday but did not do so after learning that dozens of people and several television crews were in attendance. Abu Dhaim shot and killed seven teenage boys and one 26-year-old, and wounded nine others, when he burst into the Mercaz Harav seminary in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Moshe neighborhood and opened fire in the library. more..
Food company, co-owner indicted for trading with Gaza terrorists
Ofra Edelman, Ha’aretz 3/13/2008
An Israeli man indicted on Thursday for selling food to Gaza militants. The Tel Aviv District Court heard that Shalom Hatuka, 59, of Rishon Letzion, and Shintraco Ltd. , a food company he co-owns, imported and delivered food supplies to a Gaza company that had been declared a terrorist organization. The State Prosecution claims that the defendants traded with the Gaza company from April 2006 to February 2007 despite being aware of the illegality of such partnership. Shintraco delivered its Gaza partner lentils, rice, tea, peas, beans and peanuts worth NIS 2. 2 million, in addition to another NIS 1. 4 million’s worth of various transactions. The Prosecution claims that legally these profits are considered as money laundering, and that NIS 1. 5 million should be sequestered from the defendants. more..
Settlers vow revenge over Jerusalem massacre
Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem, The Observer, The Guardian 3/9/2008
As violence spirals and calls for peace talks grow, extremists say they will build a new West Bank settlement for each of the eight students killed - Israel’s far-right settler movement has set itself on a renewed collision course with the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, declaring that last week’s massacre in a Jewish religious school had targeted them directly and vowing to build a new illegal outpost in the West Bank for every one of the killed students. Amid a sense of spiralling crisis in Israeli and the Occupied Territories - which has stemmed from the impression that both Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are rudderless amid the climbing violence - Abbas performed yet another policy U-turn, calling for new talks with Israel after having earlier appeared to back away from peace talks. The latest moves follow the killing on Thursday by a Palestinian gunmen more..
Palestinian shot by Israeli forces near Kisufim
Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2008
Gaza Ma’an A Palestinian was shot by Israeli forces stationed at the Kisufim military site, east of the town of Al-Qarara, on Sunday, Palestinian medical sources said. Muawiya Hasanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, said that the Gazan resident is in serious condition, and has been transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for treatment. Israeli sources claimed that Palestinian fighters opened fire at Israeli soldiers near Kisufim on Sunday, but reported no injuries. [end]
A lull in Gaza?
Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/10/2008
The statistics are not lying: Since last Thursday, there has been a lull in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. It is quite certain that this will be a short break. But it is also hard to argue with the data: At its peak, on February 29, some 50 rockets were fired each day, mostly by Hamas militants. In the middle of last week, the rate dropped to 10-15 rockets per day, fired by more extremist groups - but the Qassams were provided to them mostly by Hamas. Since last Friday, one or two rockets have been fired each day. Was their a specific agreement between Israel and Hamas? It does not appear so, even though there are reports on such a deal in some media. It is more reasonable that this is a Hamas initiative, in line with Egyptian expectations. Hamas issued an order to the groups not to fire rockets, and it is being obeyed quite strictly by members of the armed wing of its own organization, and only partially by the other factions. more..
IDF asked to curb strikes against Hamas
Barak Ravid and Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/10/2008
The government recently ordered the Israel Defense Forces to exercise restraint in operations in the Gaza Strip, pursuant to what a senior government official termed new rules of the game forged in the aftermath of last week’s military operation in Gaza. The official credited these rules, under which Israel will not attack Gaza as long as Hamas does not fire at Israel, with the recent lull in violence. Yet at the same time, he charged, they completely contradict last week’s cabinet decision, which stated that Israel should keep up the military pressure on Hamas. The volume of rocket fire from Gaza has declined sharply in recent days: Since last Friday, Palestinians have fired only three Qassam rockets at Israel, compared to some 50 a day during the previous week. The IDF, for its part, has withdrawn all ground troops from the Strip and also halted aerial assaults. more..
West Bank closure extended for at least 24 hours
Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an The Israeli government decided to extend the comprehensive closure on the West Bank for at least 24 hours on Sunday. The government will review the situation again on Monday. Israel ordered the West Bank sealed on Friday following a deadly attack, carried out by a Palestinian man from Mount Al-Mukabber, in Jerusalem, on a Jewish religious school in West Jerusalem. Eight students were killed in the attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, an institution with deep historical ties to the Israeli settler movement. Israeli police will continue to be on high alert throughout the country, especially in Jerusalem. Extra security forces will be deployed at educational institutions. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert linked the attack in Jerusalem to the homemade projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip. more..
Softening Shas / Low-cost housing
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 3/10/2008
Ehud Olmert managed to curb pressure from Shas to release suspended state construction in and around East Jerusalem at a relatively low cost, and without any real change to the general picture of frozen construction in these areas. The Agan Ayalot neighborhood [settlement], whose construction has supposedly been unfrozen, is already partially built. The infrastructure - water, sewage, electricity and roads - is ready. The contractors had initially halted construction not because of a government dictate, but rather due to a security exigency: the second intifada, back at the beginning of 2000. At that time the contractors were the ones to seek to be released from their obligations. They even sued the state in court, but the state opposed halting the project. The attorney general explained to the judges that NIS 100 million had already been sunk into infrastructure and roads, and asked the court to require the contractors to continue building. more..
At Mercaz Harav, Tamir branded ’murderer,’ Olmert told not to visit
Yair Ettinger, Ha’aretz 3/10/2008
"Our strength is in our togetherness, and by one person giving strength to the other. Together is something very, very, very deep. It holds us together, to help and be helped. We all need help, you and me," said Rabbi Yerahamiel Weiss, the head of the high-school yeshiva within the Mercaz Harav complex, speaking in a loud but choking voice to hundreds of his students. Five of the high-school yeshiva’s students were among the eight people murdered in last Thursday’s terrorist attack. Weiss’ students’ week began yesterday with visits to the wounded, visits to the bereaved, prayers and conversation. But for a moment, the controlled mourning broke out into an outburst of rage. It happened at noon, after a meeting between the students and visiting Education Minister Yuli Tamir. Several hundred students gathered at the entrance of the yeshiva and some heckled her with cries of "criminal," "traitor," "murderer. more..
Olmert approves homes for West Bank settlement
Avida Landa, ReliefWeb 3/9/2008
JERUSALEM, March 9 (Reuters) - Israel announced plans to build hundreds of new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Sunday in a move the Palestinians denounced as another blow to U.S. -brokered peace talks. The new building was announced three days after a Palestinian gunman killed eight students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that was associated with the settler movement. Israeli officials said they revived a plan to build a total of 750 homes in Givat Ze’ev, a settlement near Jerusalem. Housing Ministry officials said 200 partially-constructed units would now be completed. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert authorised building another 330 new homes in the area, his spokesman, Mark Regev, said. Housing ministry officials said the remaining homes would be built at a later date. more..
VIDEO - Soldier hurt in Gaza explosion dies
Ynet reporters, YNetNews 3/9/2008
Givati soldier Liran Banai, 20, critically wounded after Palestinians detonate explosive device near IDF jeep in Gaza last week, succumbs to his wounds in Soroka hospital Sunday. IDF tracker killed in incident - Sergeant Liran Banai, who was critically wounded in an explosion near central Gaza last Thursday, has died of his wounds in Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center Sunday morning. The 20-year-old Banai from Ashkelon served at Givati Brigade’s Tzabar battalion as a jeep driver. He has been fighting for his life at the hospital for the past three days, after both his legs were amputated in the blast. Video depicting explosion on border (Video: Infolive. tv) An IDF tracker was killed in the same incident, after Palestinians detonated an explosive device near the force’s IDF Sufa jeep that was patrolling the area close to the Kissufim crossing. more..
Second Israeli soldier dies from Islamic Jihad’s border ambush
Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2008
Gaza Ma’an A second Israeli soldier has died of wounds he sustained on Thursday when Palestinian fighters bombed an Israeli military jeep on the border with the Gaza Strip. Twenty-year-old Liran Banai was critically injured in the attack near the Kisufim crossing point. Another Israeli soldier was also killed in the attack. The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, issued a statement reiterating that they were behind the operation. The group urged other resistance factions to take caution before claiming responsibility for attacks that may have been carried out by others. The Al-Quds Brigades vowed to take more action against occupation forces, stressing that Israel’s assassinations of resistance fighters will only result in more resistance operations, "in the appropriate time and place." more..
IDF captures 70 liters of acid used to make explosives in W. Bank
Jerusalem Post 3/10/2008
IDF forces in the West Bank on Sunday captured 70 liters of acidic materials which can be used to produce explosives. 40 liters of sulfuric acid and 30 liters of nitric acid were discovered in a truck wich was stopped at a checkpoint near Kalkilya. Due to a recent increase in incidents where security forces captured chemicals used to manufacture bombs, the Civil Administration said it would distribute notebooks with details of 27 banned chemicals among soldiers, to help them catch dangerous contraband. [end]
The road to Gaza runs through Tehran
Amir Oren, Ha’aretz 3/10/2008
"Anyone who says that a big operation in Gaza will be 10 times as complicated, complex and dangerous as Operation Defensive Shield" - the West Bank incursion of spring 2002 - "doesn’t know what he is talking about," a senior security expert who is very familiar with the situation in the territories said a week ago. "And not a hundred times, either - it will be a thousand times harder." A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but not completely off the wall. Advanced armies are built to mass forces in order to vanquish rival armies; and on the other side, to attack and destroy those same concentrations of forces, from the air and with shelling and the movement of armored corps. Terrorist and guerrilla organizations operate by the opposite logic: They atomize into particles in order to make action against them difficult. more..
Police probe why first cop on the scene did not fire
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/10/2008
Jerusalem police are looking into the actions of the first patrolman to arrive at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva following reports of shots fired, to determine whether his decision not to engage the terrorist was reasonable. The patrolman, a sergeant, is said to have completed the police academy only a few months ago. He arrived on the scene in a patrol car, together with other police, about seven minutes after students reported shots fired. Police sources said yesterday that about eight more minutes passed until an army officer and additional police killed the terrorist. An investigation by Channel 10, based on Magen David Adom recordings, reveals that about 20 minutes passed from the time the terrorist opened fire until he was killed. The police probe, led by Commander Amnon Alkalai, head of the Moriah sub-district, reveals that the policeman, who was armed only with a revolver, chose... more..
30-year anniversary of vicious terrorist attack marked
Roi Mandel, YNetNews 3/9/2008
On March 11th 1978, Israel was stunned when Palestinian terrorists hijacked bus and went on rampage that left 35 dead. 30 years later, survivors meet and admit that it appears little has changed - 30 years later and nothing has changed: At a monument located at the Glilot junction on the Tel Aviv - Haifa highway, a yearly remembrance ceremony for the victims of a vicious terrorist attack that occurred 30 years ago was held Sunday morning. "On Thursday, eight were killed ; 30 years ago, 35 were killed - once again a terror attack and once again Jews are killed. Everything has stayed the same," Lily Glutman, the event’s organizer and herself a survivor of the attack who lost her husband, wistfully uttered. On the 11th of March, 1978, a Palestinian terrorist cell from Lebanon infiltrated into Israel via the beach south of Kibbutz Maagan Michael. more..
Israeli army invades Bethlehem, four Palestinians wounded
Najeb Faraj, International Middle East Media Center 3/8/2008
Four Palestinian youth were injured by Israeli army gunfire on Saturday at dawn in the village of Beit Fajjar, located west of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Medical sources said that two of the injured sustained critical wounds. Israeli sources said that the four Palestinian youth were injured near the illegal Israeli settlement of Majdal Ouz, located near Beit Fajjar. The army added that the four were on their way to attack the settlement. They added that the four had hand grenades and a home made bomb with them. When encountering Israeli troops they hurled the two grenades at the soldiers; soldiers opened fire and injured the four. Later the army said Israeli troops chased the four youth back to Beit Fajjar and kidnapped three of them while they were receiving medical help. Palestinian sources identified the three as Mohamed Abed Al Salam, 18, Imad Takatka, 20, and Mahmoud Thawabtah, 20. more..
Two Palestinian resistance fighters wounded in IOF missile shelling
Palestinian Information Center 3/8/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian resistance fighters were wounded midnight Friday in an IOF missile shelling that targeted a group of fighters in Shujaia suburb east of Gaza city, medical sources reported. They added that one of them was "seriously" wounded, noting that the IOF troops fired a land-to-land missile at their position. A Palestinian resistance fighter affiliated with the AMB Ayman Jouda group was killed earlier Friday in clashes with invading IOF special units north of Gaza Strip. The group said in a statement that Nafez Abu Karsh, 41, was killed while confronting the advance of an IOF unit pre-dawn Friday. Four other resistance fighters affiliated with the Quds Brigades the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement were killed in two separate IOF raids late Thursday. Meanwhile, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, took responsibility for firing five mortar... more..
Mystery surrounds role of Hamas in attack on Jerusalem seminary
Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Independent 3/8/2008
Did Hamas order the killing of eight Israeli yeshiva students at their seminary library in Jerusalem? There was continued confusion last night over who was behind Thursday’s shooting, following reports that the Palestinian group had claimed responsibility. Reuters news agency quoted an anonymous Hamas source as saying the Islamic faction was responsible The unnamed official reportedly declared: "The Hamas movement announces its full responsibility for the Jerusalem operation. The movement will release the details at a later stage But hours later, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, Abu Ubaida, told Al Jazeera television the attack was "an honour we have not claimed yet". The ambiguity was reminiscent of the initial confusion surrounding a suicide bombing last month which killed an elderly woman in the southern Israeli town of Dimona. more..
Israel on Alert, Gaza Braces after Jerusalem Killings
Agence France Presse, MIFTAH 3/8/2008
Israel was on alert and Gaza braced for reprisals on Friday as crowds mourned eight teenagers killed by a Palestinian gunman at a Jewish religious school in an attack claimed by the Islamist Hamas. Residents of the impoverished Gaza Strip were bracing for punitive Israeli military strikes after the attack which shook the faltering peace talks and provoked strong condemnation from around the world. Thousands gathered in Jerusalem for the funerals of the teenagers killed in the attack carried out by a Palestinian resident of occupied east Jerusalem, who sprayed automatic gunfire at the students before being gunned down by an army officer late on Thursday. Police arrested more than 10 relatives and friends of 25-year-old Alaa Hisham Abu Dheim of the Jabal al-Mukaber area, where a mourning tent draped in Palestinian and Hamas flags was set up. The attack, the first in four years in Jerusalem, was claimed by a senior official of the Islamist movement, which refuses to recognise the Jewish state’s right to exist. more..
Hamas’ armed wing denies claiming responsibility for Jerusalem shooting attack
Ma’an News Agency 3/8/2008
Gaza - Ma’an Hamas armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, has denied claiming responsibility for Thursday nights deadly shooting attack at a Jewish religious school in West Jerusalem. The Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson, Abu Obeida, told Al-Jazeera television, The brigades has not issued any statements so far claiming the responsibility for the operation." Abu Obeida however reminded Al-Jazeera that the Brigades waited for two days to claim responsibility for the bombing in the Israeli city of Dimona on 4 February. Abu Obeida added, "When we have the information with our blessing for the operation we will announce where we stand concerning the operation. However until now we have not claimed any responsibly for it. Ismail Radwan, a prominent figure in Hamas, announced on Friday that Hamas from the military wing to respond to media reports suggesting that Hamas was behind the attack. more..
Zionist settlers try to burn one of the Aqsa gates
Palestinian Information Center 3/8/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A group of Zionist settlers tried midnight Thursday to burn one of the gates of the holy Aqsa Mosque but the attempt was foiled when one of the guards spotted the smoke billowing from the area. The guards reported that the settlers threw a petrol soaked piece of cloth on Sakina corner close to the Silsila (Chain) gate in the western side of the Aqsa Mosque. They said that one of the guards spotted the smoke and smelled fire near the gate, which prompted him to inform the head guard and the Israeli occupation police officer present in the area. He then opened the gate, saw the blaze and started putting it off, which he did after almost half a meter of the wooden gate was destroyed. The sources said that the five cameras in the Silsila gate and a nearby border police center could not detect the culprit, according to the police allegations. more..
Israel imposes West Bank lockdown
Al Jazeera 3/8/2008
Israel has imposed further restrictions on the West Bank, following the shooting of eight students at a seminary in Jerusalem. The occupied territory already has more than 500 Israeli roadblocks, according to UN figures, and Palestinians in the West Bank on Saturday were fearful of what further Israeli response to the shootings might be. Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera’s correspondent reporting from the West Bank, said:"The closure will now mean any task of daily life will become much more difficult." "If you’re living in Nablus for example - where the siege is very strict - and you need to get to a hospital or university inside Nablus city it will take you sometimes hours to get there when it should take you no more than 15 minutes. The attack in the library of the Merkaz Harav Jewish religious school shattered four years of relative calm in Jerusalem. more..
Police arrest 8 suspects in yeshiva shooting investigation
Ynet, YNetNews 3/8/2008
Jerusalem police chief says terrorist who killed eight Israelis in Thursday’s attack on rabbinical seminary led a normal life and was not known to police; adds: Shooting not linked to Gaza operation - Jerusalem District Police Chief Aharon Franco confirmed on Saturday that investigators have arrested eight people suspected of involvement in Thursday’s terror attack at the Mercaz Harav rabbinical seminary in Jerusalem. Franco said the attack had been planned even prior to the IDF’s operation in Gaza, adding that the shooter had apparently scoped out the seminary for some time before the attack." As of now eight people have been arrested. We are looking into how the terrorist got hold of the weapons (used in the attack)," he told Channel 2. Franco added that the terrorist, Alaa Abu Dheim, was not known to police. more..
Police nab 8 in connection to Jerusalem terror attack
Jonathan Lis and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 3/8/2008
Police have arrested eight people in connection to Thursday’s shooting attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva, officials said on Saturday. Investigators were seeking to establish whether Alaa Abu Dhaim, the gunman, had acted alone or was connected to any militant group, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Abu Dhaim, 25, was killed at the scene of the attack by an off-duty Israel Defense Forces officer who lived close to the seminary. A number of the gunman’s other family members were among those detained, including his father. The father also removed Hamas and Hezbollah flags from a mourners’ tent the family had erected, after being instructed to do so by police. According to the Palestinian news agency Maan, Abu Dhaim’s father had in the past been a member of Hamas. more..
Saturday marked with stone-throwing incidents in north
Hagai Einav, YNetNews 3/8/2008
Police alerted to major highways near Arab villages in northern district following reports of youths pelting cars. No injuries have been reported but damage was caused to a number of vehicles and several people were treated for shock. No arrests have been made as of yet - Police in northern Israel reported three separate incidents on Saturday in which rocks were thrown at vehicles traveling in proximity to several Arab communities. No injuries were caused but several cars were damaged. Several motorists were treated for shock as a result. Fearing possible incitement on the part of the Islamic Movement in Israel following the terror attack in Jerusalem on Thursday, police had raised the alertness level over the weekend. The incidents took place near the Faradis and Shfaram junctions and near the village of Jasar al-Zarka. more..
Four Palestinians wounded, three detained in Israeli raid near Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 3/8/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Four Palestinians were injured and three seized during an Israeli military raid in the town of Beit Fajjar, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday night. Witnesses told Maan that Israeli special forces troops stormed the town and began shooting. Ahmas Issa Abu Yaqub was shot in the stomach. His injury was described as seirous. Medical sources told Maan that occupation forces seized 18-year-old Mohammad Mahmoud Abdel-Salam, who had been injured in the attack, by forcibly removing him from an ambulance. Imad Musa Taqatqa and Mahmoud Thawabta, both 20 years old, were also injured and then detained by the Israeli forces. [end]
Two Palestinian resistance fighters injured near Gaza City
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 3/8/2008
Two Palestinian resistance fighters were injured on Saturday at dawn when an Israeli shell exploded near them outside of Gaza City. Palestinian Medical sources said that a group of fighters were gathered outside of Gaza City when Israeli tanks stationed at the northern Gaza-Israel border opened fire on them, injuring the two. Dr. Mo’awyiah Hassanin, of the Palestinian Ministry of Heath, said that one of the two injured sustained critical wounds. Local sources in Gaza city said that two are said to be from the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement. [end]
Two Hamas fighters injured in Israeli raid in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/8/2008
Gaza Ma’an Two members of the armed wing of Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades were wounded, one seriously, in an Israeli raid on the Ash-Shaja’eyah neighborhood of Gaza City. Mu’awiyahHassanain, the head of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the two injured men were taken to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza. [end]
At Mercaz Harav mass funeral, grief but little talk of revenge
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 3/8/2008
Eight silent, crying groups of people huddled over the eight bodies laid out on wooden benches outside the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem on Friday. The dead were wrapped in the same prayer shawls they had worn the previous evening. Students and alumni surrounded them in the yard, the balcony overlooking the yard, the sidewalks and nearby streets. Everyone who ever studied here felt bound to come to the yeshiva on Friday - the yeshiva that had become the wellspring for the religious Zionist movement throughout Israel. It was from Mercaz Harav that Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook, his son Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and their successor, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, sent tens of thousands of their students after the Six-Day War to establish religious communities throughout Israel. Rabbi Shapira died just a few months ago. more..
Soldiers (not innocent students) killed at settler center
Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinian Information Center 3/8/2008
The Israeli electronic and print media on Saturday revealed that the bulk of the eight Israeli Yeshiva (Talmudic religious school) "students" killed or injured in an attack on the headquarters of the Jewish settlement movement in Jerusalem on Thursday were actually paramilitary soldiers. Israeli spokespersons claimed immediately after the attack that the lone attacker, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, targeted innocent religious students. The Israeli media, which is subject to routine government censorship, normally avoids giving "detrimental details" about Palestinian resistance attacks, especially when Israelis get killed, ostensibly in order to reap maximum propaganda benefits by giving an initial impression that the victims were innocent civilians, not soldiers or settlers. more..
Palestinian sources say Hamas, Hezbollah helped in terror attack
Avi Issacharoff Amos Harel Jonathan Lis and Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 3/8/2008
The gunman who murdered eight students at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem last Thursday was acting on instructions from Hamas leaders in Damascus, in coordination with Hezbollah, Palestinian defense sources said. Over the weekend, eight East Jerusalem residents were arrested in connection with gunman Ala Abu Dhaim’s shooting attack. Abu Dhaim’s father, two of his brothers and two cousins are among those detained. The father also removed Hamas and Hezbollah flags from a mourners’ tent the family had erected, after being instructed to do so by police. According to the Palestinian news agency Maan, Abu Dhaim’s father had in the past been a member of Hamas. Abu Dhaim, 25, was killed at the scene of the attack by an off-duty Israel Defense Forces officer who lives nearby the seminary. So far no Palestinian or Arab organization has claimed responsibility... more..
Seven students remain hospitalized after shooting
Haaretz Correspondent and AP, By Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 3/8/2008
Seven of the students injured in Thursday’s shooting attack on Mercaz Harav Yeshiva were still hospitalized at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem and at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, as of yesterday. One of the students, who is 14 and from Sderot, is at Shaare Zedek in serious but stable condition with multiple gunshot wounds. He is sedated and on a respirator, and underwent several operations over the weekend. Three other students are at the same hospital, including one who underwent surgery but is now listed in good condition. The condition of the three students at Hadassah Ein Karem has improved, but one is still in intensive care for observation. A hospital spokesman said all of the students have multiple gunshot wounds. One of the three was named by Bnai Brith Canada as Nadav Eliyahu Samuels, 14, whose father immigrated from Canada before his children were born. more..
Tearful eulogies for the victims, anger at the weakness of Israel’s leaders
Donald Macintyre, The Independent 3/8/2008
After the psalms had echoed through the loudspeaker, the crowd of several thousand packed into the road, having repeated the verses line by line after the rabbi made a narrow space for the slow queue of ambulances bringing the bodies from the mortuary in ones and twos, and fell silent. The sobs of a few mourners, scattered here and there on this, the warmest day of the year so far, were the only sound as the first of eight bodies, lying on a stretcher and covered with a prayer shawl, was carried up the steps to the yeshiva yard for the eulogies and the Kaddish. But by the time Rabbi Yerachmiel Weiss, head of the young yeshiva, the high school section of this rabbinical seminary which had lost four of its students in the previous night’s attack, began to speak, his own repeated and uncontrollable gasps and sobs magnified through the speaker as he did so, the weeping and keening among the crowd became more widespread. more..
Israeli authorities seal the West Bank following Jerusalem attack
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Jerusalem Ma’an Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the complete closure of the West Bank on Friday, sealing all entrances to Jerusalem and Israel. According to the Defense Ministry, the closure will last at least until next Sunday, giving the Israeli security services time to re-evaluate the situation after the attack on a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem on Thursday evening. The Israeli police announced a state of alert in all Israeli cities, especially Jerusalem where thousands of soldiers and police officers deployed preventing Muslims from praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Meanwhile, extremist Jews threatened to take revenge, shouting "death to Arabs". Barak said the attack represented the failure of the Palestinian Authority to fight "terrorism." more..
Israeli forces demolish two houses in Bethlehem in overnight raid
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli military forces invaded the West Bank city of Bethlehem overnight, demolishing two houses, seizing a Palestinian man and injuring another. The forces withdrew on Friday morning. Immediately after an attack on a Jewish school in Jerusalem, to the north of Bethlehem, Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers entered Bethlehem, surrounded the home of Islamic Jihad activist Muhammad Shahada and began to demolish the house. The invading forces fired a missile at the two-storey house before bulldozers began demolishing it. They also demolished house of Shahada’s father and seized his brother. Local sources said that the Israeli forces closed the area surrounding Shahada’s house and searched in the neighbor’s houses looking for Shahada. Bethlehem resident Hasan Abu Sadud was shot in the foot. more..
Responsibility for Jerusalem attack still ambiguous
Ali Waked, YNetNews 3/7/2008
Palestinian Authority, various Gaza groups still baffled as to who ordered Jerusalem shooting. Hamas reneges on responsibility claim; PA believes Hizbullah may have ordered attack - Who ordered the attack on Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem? Hamas may not have claimed responsibility for the attack officially, but the organization is utilizing its aftermath for propaganda. Hamas radio broadcasted Friday a statement in which the organization claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a "jolting response to the violence in Gaza in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed," and calling on all Hamas supporters to "celebrate this victory against the brutal enemy." Shortly after that, the radio station reported Hamas had gone back on the claim - "for now". The Palestinian Authority and the various organizations in the Strip... more..
Palestinian medics: IDF troops kill farmer in northern Gaza
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
Israel Defense Forces troops shot dead a Palestinian farmer on Friday in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical officials said. An IDF spokesman denied the report, saying no operations were carried out and no shots were fired in the area. Six members of the militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad were killed Thursday in three separate IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip. IDF tanks opened fire on four militants near the Kissufim border crossing between Israel and the Strip after identifying an attempt to plant explosives, in the same spot where an explosive device killed an IDF soldier earlier Thursday. The four militants were killed. Another militant was killed earlier in an Israel Air Force strike near the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis. A source in the Islamic Jihad confirmed the dead militant was a member of the group. more..
Israeli forces killed 22 Palestinian students over last week
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli military forces killed 22 Palestinian students in the last week, 20 of them in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Ministry of Education said on Thursday. Ten other students were injured. In a new report, the Ministry said that "Rafah Martyr Secondary School and Beer Al- Sabeaa Secondary school became a subject of the Israeli atrocities. The Israeli incursion troops used their weapons against the two schools, causing serious damages in school buildings and full windows’ breakages." In addition, Israeli curfews prevented students in the West Bank towns of Azzoun, Al-Funduq and Haja to attend their classes. The Ministry called on the international community to intervene ensure the rights of Palestinian students. more..
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian lawmaker near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli settlers attacked Siham Thabit, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), on Friday while she was driving near the West Bank city of Nablus. Settlers assaulted the car when it passed the Yizhar settlement, smashing the windshield. Thabit was taken to a hospital in Nablus. Thabit was driving from Tulkarem, where she is from, to Ramallah with her son Ahmad. Thabit, a Fatah member, is widow of Fatah leader Thabit Thabit, who was assassinated by Israeli forces in 2000. Israeli settlers have been enraged after an overnight shooting attack on a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem that left eight Israelis dead. The school is reported to be linked to the settler movement. more..
Israeli soldier killed in Gaza fighting
Middle East Online 3/7/2008
The Israeli army confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed and several others wounded in a blast on Thursday at a military post near the border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip." An Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded, including one seriously, by an explosion of a device that was set off in the path of a patrol near the security fence in the central Gaza Strip," an army spokesman said. Israeli troops moved into Gaza, exchanging fire with Palestinian militants, after the explosions rocked the army post near the Kissufim crossing between Israel and the centre of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, the witnesses said. One Palestinian was killed and another wounded in an Israeli air raid in the northern town of Jabaliya several hours later, medics said. Radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed it had blown up a military jeep near Kissufim. more..
Yesha rabbis: Government responsible for yeshiva massacre
Neta Sela, YNetNews 3/7/2008
Thursday’s shooting struck ’underbelly’ of settlement movement, Yesha religious leaders direct accusations at weak political leadership ’that arms the enemy and negotiates with Holocaust deniers over the division of holy Jerusalem’ - "The responsibility for the massacre lies with the governments of Israel, which for years have displayed weakness and exhaustion and have seen to the armament of the enemy," the Yesha Rabbinical Council wrote in a stinging rebuke of the Israeli leadership following the Thursday’s deadly terror attack against a Jerusalem yeshiva. Eight rabbinical students were killed in the shooting perpetrated by a Palestinian gunman from east Jerusalem who infiltrated the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in the Kiryat Moshe quarter. Calling the seminary a "flagship of those who love the Torah and the country," the council vowed that the spirit of the yeshiva would "triumph over the evil. more..
Exclusive: Ahrar Al-Jalil claims responsibility for Jerusalem shooting attack
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Exclusive On Thursday at 8:30 pm, a Palestinian called Ala’ Abu Dhaim from Jabal Al-Mukabbir in Jerusalem broke into the Jewish religious school in West Jerusalem armed with a Kalashnikov machinegun and six ammunition clips. He went to the library and stationed himself between the book shelves and started shooting until he ran out of ammunition. After killing and injuring dozens of Israeli students, he attempted to run away, but an Israeli officer approached and shot him before Israeli intelligence arrived and killed him.... immediately after the operation, Ahrar Al-Jalil (the "Free People of the Galilee," or the Galilee Freedom Battalion) based inside Israel claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement they sent to Ma’an, yet it was not published because it seemed unreliable and many details were missing in the statement. more..
Israeli voices: Seminary shooting
BBC Online 3/7/2008
Three Israelis reflect on Thursday’s shooting at a seminary in West Jerusalem in which eight young Israelis were killed. I have been at a girls’ seminary [Midreshet Lindenbaum] near Mercaz Harav for a year. I came here from London with a friend last August. Obviously we were all very shocked - it could have been us. I spoke to my parents in London last night and when I got off the phone, there was a group of around 20 girls sitting around praying. That’s how we reacted. When you hear that people in Gaza were celebrating, I don’t know what to say. We mourn the losses in Gaza; it’s terrible that mothers have lost children. But what is different is the objective. Israel is aiming to stop the rockets; last night was about hatred. I am in Israel to get a deeper understanding of my religion. more..
Gaza City and Khan Younis bury four killed by Israeli forces
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Gaza Ma’an Crowds of Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza City and Khan Younis on Friday for the funeral processions of four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces on Thursday. The funeral of Islamic Jihad fighters Fadi Abu Haddaf, Sa’id Abu Haddaf and Zakariyya Al-’Imawi were held in Khan Younis. The procession began at at Nasser Hospital, proceeded to houses of the families of the death for before prayer at Sheikh Hammuda Mosque and finally to the eastern cemetery in the city. Meanwhile, the funeral procession of Nafidh Abu Karsh, a member of the armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was held in the Saftawi neighborhood in Gaza City. The mourners in both processions shouted slogans condemning what they see as criminal Israeli attacks on Gaza and calling on all Palestinian military groups to take revenge. more..
IDF arrests three Palestinians who threw bombs at settlement
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating near Bethlehem in the West Bank on Friday shot and wounded a group of three Palestinians who were seen earlier hurling explosives and Molotov cocktails towards the entrance of the Jewish settlement of Migdal Oz. The IDF said the Palestinians were subsequently taken to hospital for medical treatment and will later be handed over to the custody of the Shin Bet security service for further questioning. According to the IDF, a contingent of troops from the Shimshon battalion of the Kfir infantry brigades noticed a group of Palestinians who threw explosive objects while in a vehicle near the entrance gate to the settlement, which lies near the Palestinian town of Beit Fajar. The soldiers proceeded to open fire, scoring a direct hit on the suspects before the car sped away. more..
Yeshiva head: J’lem shooting is continuation of 1929 massacre
Yigal Hai, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
In his eulogy to the eight students gunned down Thursday in a shooting attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem, the religious school’s head rabbi Ya’akov Shapira declared the attack "a continuation of the 1929 massacre" of the Jewish community in Hebron. He said the gunman had targeted "everyone living in the holy city of Jerusalem." The eight victims were buried Friday afternoon, each with Torah scrolls stained with their blood, in accordance with the Halakhic decision ruled by former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. Earlier Friday, thousands gathered outside the bullet-scarred Mercaz Harav yeshiva to begin funeral processions for the eight students, who were killed by the gunman from East Jerusalem when he burst into the library were they were studying and opened fire. more..
VIDEO - Officer who shot terrorist: I’m no hero
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 3/7/2008
(Video) In meeting with Jerusalem mayor, David Shapira, IDF officer who stopped shooter at yeshiva attack Thursday, recounts moments of horror. Army chief praises Shapira for courage, exemplary behavior - VIDEO - David Shapira, the IDF officer who shot and injured the terrorist at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva Thursday, was not even supposed to be at the place, after switching his weekend leave with another officer. Eight people were murdered in the attack and 10 have been wounded. [end]
PFLP fighters clash with Israeli troops in southern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said that their fighters clashed with undercover Israeli troops near Al-Ma’arri school, east of Al-Qarara in the southern Gaza Strip, on Friday morning. They said in a statement that their fighters injured Israeli soldiers, and that the operation was in response to Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Israeli forces kill Palestinian man in northern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli forces killed 40-year-old Nafith Abu Karsh in the Al-Waha area in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. A spokesperson for the armed wing of Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, Abu Tha’ir said that Abu Karsh was one of their activists. Muawiya Hasanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said Abu Karsh’s body arrived at the Kamal Udwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. [end]
AUDIO - Somehow he managed to walk in carrying a box containing a Kalashnikov
Rory McCarthy, The Guardian 3/7/2008
Rory McCarthy reports from Jerusalem on the attack on the Jewish seminary and the uncertainty as to who the attacker represented. [end]
PLO initial report: Israeli assaults against Palestinians increased in February
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2008
Hebron Ma’an The monitoring group affiliated with the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) announced on Thursday, in the initial draft of their monthly report, that Israeli assaults against Palestinians increased noticeably during February 2008 in all Palestinian districts. The final report is expected to be released in the coming days. Assassinations - The report lists five instances in which Israeli forces committed "targeted" assassinations of Palestinians in February: An unmanned Israeli reconnaissance plane launched a missile at a civilian car in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, killing Amir Qarmut and injuring two others Undercover Israeli forces entered Nablus, in the northern West Bank, in a Palestinian-plated car, then shot dead Ibrahim Al-Masimi and injured three others. more..
DFLP’s military wing launches projectile at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the National Resistance Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot, near the northeastern border of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday. They said in a statement that they are exercising their natural right to retaliate against Israeli atrocities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades launch four projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for launching four homemade projectiles at the Israeli city of Sderot, near the northeastern border of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday. They described the attack as part of their natural right to respond to the ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades shoot at Israeli military vehicle near Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for shooting at an Israeli military vehicle near the northern West Bank town of Azzun, in eastern Qalqilia, on Thursday. They said in a statement that they will continue to respond to the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Israeli forces seize Islamic Jihad leader in Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces seized Sheikh Khalid Jaradat, an Islamic Jihad leader in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, on Thursday, former spokesperson for Islamic Jihad in the West Bank Sheikh Khader Adnan said. Jaradat is married with four children, and has served 15 years in Israeli prisons. He is considered one of Islamic Jihad’s founders. [end]
Israeli forces impose curfew on West Bank town of Husan
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces imposed curfew on the town of Husan, west of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, after a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown at an Israeli car on Wednesday evening Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that Israeli military vehicles invaded the town and imposed curfew by firing sound grenades. [end]
’He was very enthusiastic about getting married’
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 3/8/2008
From mid-morning yesterday the crowd of relatives and neighbours began arriving at the house of Ala Eddin Abu Dhaim, 25, the Palestinian from East Jerusalem who is believed to have carried out the attack that killed eight young Jewish students at a religious seminary. His family last saw him at about 7pm on Thursday, about two hours before he walked into the Mercaz Harav yeshiva on the other side of the city and opened fired with a Kalashnikov and a pistol into a crowd of praying students. At the house in Jebel Mukaber, on a balcony overlooking the hills of the West Bank, the family set up awnings and rows of plastic chairs where the crowd sat silently until they gathered for lunchtime prayers. Relatives said Abu Dhaim worked as a minibus driver and was well liked and regarded as religious. He had been engaged for six months to a young woman who lived further down the valley. His father, an engineer, was well respected. more..
Hamas ’claims responsibility for Jewish school shooting’
Daily Star 3/8/2008
Hamas on Friday claimed responsibility for a gun attack which killed eight Jewish students at a Jerusalem religious school the night before. "Hamas is responsible for the attack. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades will officially claim the attack at the right moment," a senior Hamas official in Gaza told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the group’s armed wing. Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, told Al-Jazeera television the attack was "an honor we have not claimed yet," but did not deny the Islamist group’s involvement in the attack. During a rally of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, loudspeakers proclaimed Hamas was behind the attack and identified the assailant as a 20-year-old Palestinian who had worked as a driver at the school. Eight students - most of them 15 or 16 years old - were killed when a Palestinian, a resident of Occupied East Jerusalem,... more..
VIDEO - Hamas flags hanged outside terrorist’s home
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/7/2008
(Video) Residents of Jabel Mukaber neighborhood say shooter who killed eight students at Jerusalem seminary Thursday was arrested by Israel four months ago, released two months later; neighbors claim he worked as driver at seminary - VIDEO - East Jerusalem residents said Friday that the terrorist who killed eight students at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem on Thursday had worked as a driver at the seminary. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the gunman was from Jabel Mukaber, a neighborhood in east Jerusalem, where Palestinian residents hold Israeli ID cards that give them freedom of movement in Israel. The man worked as a driver, Rosenfeld said, but would not provide further details Video courtesy of Infolive. tv Rosenfeld said the attacker walked through the seminary’s main gate and entered the library, where witnesses said some 80 students were gathered. He carried an assault rifle and pistol, and used both weapons in the attack. Rosenfeld said at least six empty bullet clips were found on the floor more..
Police to remain on high state of alert
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 3/7/2008
Heightened state of alert declared following terror attack in Jerusalem to remain in place pending further security assessments - Isreali security forces in the capital maintained a heightened state of alert Friday night, more than 24 hours after the deadly attack at Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem. A source in the Jerusalem District Police told Ynet that the police have intelligence indicating more terror attacks are underway, and that the heightened state of alert is expected to remain in place at least until next week. Police sources have stressed that there is no indication of an imminent threat, but nevertheless, the police deployed mass forces throughout the country in an effort to focus on terror prevention. Police efforts will include more visible police presence in crowded places, patrols and roadblocks. more..
Major suicide attacks on Israel since 2000
Agence France-Presse, ReliefWeb 3/6/2008
JERUSALEM, March 6, 2008 (AFP) - A Palestinian gunman opened fire at a religious school in predominantly Jewish west Jerusalem late on Thursday, killing eight people and wounding nine, before being shot dead. Following are details of major attacks inside the Jewish state and the Palestinian territories since the intifada, or uprising, broke out in September 2000: In 2001, the Israeli army says there were 35 suicide attacks, of which four killed 10 people or more. A total of 72 people died. In the deadliest bombing since 1996, 21 people were killed in a suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv nightclub on June 1, an attack claimed by the Islamist movement Hamas. In 2002, the number of suicide attacks soared to 60, according to the army, killing more than 170 people and making it the deadliest year since the outbreak of the intifada. more..
Eight killed when terrorist opens fire in library at Jerusalem yeshiva
Jonathan Lis Yair Ettinger and Amos Harels, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
Eight people were killed and nine others were wounded Thursday evening when a terrorist entered a crowded library at a Jerusalem yeshiva and opened fire. The head of the Zaka emergency service described the scene after the shooting as "like a slaughterhouse." Three of the wounded in the attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood were serious condition, and taken to Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Karem. The other six were lightly hurt and taken to Sha’arei Tzedek Medical Center. One of the wounded is 15 years old. Magen David Adom emergency medical service declared the incident a "multiple casualty event." Jerusalem District police chief Aharon Franco said the terrorist entered the religious school, pulled out an automatic weapon and began firing in every direction. more..
6 Islamic Jihad militants killed in separate IDF actions in Gaza
Mijal Grinberg and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 3/6/2008
Six members of the militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad were killed Thursday in three separate Israel Defense Forces strikes in the Gaza Strip. IDF tanks opened fire on four militants near the Kissufim border crossing between Israel and the Strip after identifying an attempt to plant explosives, in the same spot where an explosive device killed an IDF soldier earlier Thursday. The four militants were killed. Another militant was killed earlier in an Israel Air Force strike near the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis. A source in the Islamic Jihad confirmed the dead militant was a member of the group. The strike came several hours after another member of the militant group was killed in an IAF strike targeting a rocket launching squad in the northern Strip. more..
Soldier killed, three others hurt in attack on IDF jeep near Gaza border
Amos Harel Yuval Azoulay, and Mijal Grinbergs and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 3/6/2008
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when Palestinian militants blew up an IDF jeep patrolling the Gaza Strip border early Thursday. The slain soldier was laid to rest Thursday afternoon, Israel Radio reported. The jeep blew up when it rolled over an explosively formed penetrator next to Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, on the Israeli side of the border. The explosives were apparently activated from Palestinian territory. The slain soldier was sitting in the passenger seat of the jeep at the time of the attack, while the driver was seriously hurt. Two other soldiers, who were sitting in the backseat of the jeep, sustained minor wounds. Several other army vehicles, along with an army helicopter, arrived to rescue the wounded, but also came under fire, witnesses said. more..
IOF troops kill Palestinian young man en route from his work
Palestinian Information Center 3/6/2008
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The IOF troops killed on Wednesday evening a Palestinian young man called Mohamed Aslamiya, 23, and wounded another en route from their work to the Idna town, west of Al-Khalil city in the West Bank. Palestinian eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter, that Israeli soldiers intercepted the young man and shot him dead, adding that a large number of IOF soldiers stormed the Idna town amid intensive and random gunfire imposing a curfew and announcing the area as a closed military area. Meanwhile, in the West Bank a Palestinian old woman died of heart attack when IOF soldiers broke into her home in a pre-dawn raid on Thursday, her relatives said. They said that Zakia Al-Amori was terrified due to the IOF savage storming of her home to capture her nephew who is wanted by those forces. Palestinian medics arrived to her home in Balata refugee camp east of Nablus city and tried to save her life but to no avail, the relatives said. more..
Clashes erupt as IDF vehicles enter south Gaza
Yuval Azoulay Mijal Grinberg and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 3/6/2008
Some 25 Israel Defense Forces armored vehicles advanced into southern Gaza after nightfall yesterday, and troops clashed with militants, Palestinian witnesses said, just a day after the IDF ended its offensive in northern Gaza against Palestinian rocket squads. The Palestinians said the armored column entered Gaza through the Kissufim crossing. Israeli defense officials said it was a pinpoint operation targeting Gaza militants. Helicopters circled overhead near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis as IDF soldiers surrounded the home of a militant. The Hamas-allied Islamic Jihad movement said the man was a leader of its armed wing. IDF tanks reportedly fired shells while the fighter helicopters fired missiles. A one-month-old baby girl was killed by a ricocheting bullet, Gazan medical officials said. Also, six militants and three civilians were wounded, none of then seriously, the officials said. more..
IOF missile raid shreds body of Palestinian
Palestinian Information Center 3/6/2008
BEIT LAHIA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian young man was killed and his body badly mutilated in an IOF air raid that targeted a group of Palestinians east of Beit Lahia to the north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medical sources reported. They told PIC correspondent that the dismembered body of Nader Abu Dayer, 20, was taken to the Kamal Odwan hospital north of the Strip after an IOF missile directly hit him while another man was injured. Two other Palestinians were killed one in Al-Khalil district at the hands of IOF troops late Wednesday and an old woman in Nablus refugee camp as a result of heart attack after IOF troops savagely broke into her home in a pre-dawn raid on Thursday. [end]
VIDEO - IDF to use unmanned jeeps in conflict with Gaza militants
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 3/6/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 daily feature for March 6, 2008. The Israel Defense Forces are set to introduce an unmanned jeep into the ongoing conflict with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. While pilotless drones are already common in the Israel Air Force, this is the first time a driverless jeep will be used by the army’s ground forces. Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries jointly developed the guardian for the IDF, and it is expected to be deployed this summer along the security fence with the Gaza Strip, replacing many manned vehicles. [end]
An assault on the heart of Zionism
Calev Ben-davi, Jerusalem Post 3/7/2008
In striking the flagship institution of the religious Zionist movement, a Jerusalem landmark whose history is linked with the founding and fulfillment of the Jewish national home in the Land of Israel, the gunman aimed his weapon at the heart of the Zionist enterprise. If the goal was to outrage the general public and to inflame that particular segment of it most skeptical of the possibility of Israel one day coming to terms with its most immediate Arab neighbors, then the bullets struck home with deadly and accurate force. Beyond that, as the first terrorist attack on this scale in nearly two years - since a Tel Aviv suicide bomber killed nine in April 2006 - the impact of this incident will be profound. This will be a sharp blow for those Israelis, especially Jerusalemites, who have allowed themselves to let their psychological guard down since the second intifada petered out. more..
Religious Zionism / Hitting where it hurts
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert knows the study hall of the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem very well. Up to a few years ago he was the mayor of Jerusalem and a regular guest of honor at the main event organized by the yeshiva, the annual Jerusalem Day celebration. Olmert would make his crowd-pleasing speeches about the unity of Jerusalem, and a sea of knitted skullcaps carried him on high. A lot of bad blood has passed between Olmert and his former knitted skullcap-wearing fans since then. The pleasant memories have turned into real bitterness against the man they consider to have betrayed them and converted. The bloody terror attack on the flagship of the religious Zionism movement will only make their attitude toward Olmert more extreme. After the funeral, or even possibly during them, religious MKs, and other bodies such as the Yesha Settlers Council and other right-wing,... more..
Terror in Jerusalem / No intelligence ahead of attack
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
After a week of failed efforts to settle scores with Israel for the casualties caused by its operation in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian terror organizations scored a string of successes yesterday. The day began with the bombing of an army jeep along the Gaza border, which was videotaped by Islamic Jihad. It continued with a direct rocket hit on a house in Sderot that wounded several people, and ended with the deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem’s Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, the flagship institute of the religious Zionist movement. The latter was the worst terror attack to take place inside Israel in almost two years. It provided a grim reminder of those days at the height of the second intifada, when Jerusalem was hit by a string of murderous terror attacks. What Israel’s security services have accomplished in the West Bank over the last three years is a virtual miracle in professional terms:... more..
The yeshiva attack / Served cold
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
The celebratory shooting in the air in Gaza that followed the terrorist attack in Jerusalem last night showed that the penetration of Merkaz Harav was viewed as an unusual political and military achievement for the group responsible. The attack brought something to a wide public in the Gaza Strip that it had been waiting for all week - revenge. The horror scenes from Gaza at the beginning of the week sent Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups racing for a terror attack, knowing that whoever managed to pull one off first would score major points in the Arab and Palestinian street. The Israel Defense Forces’ attacks in Gaza, which caused the death of many civilians, provided the legitimacy for yesterday’s brutal attack. Political significance aside, the terrorist demonstrated he could carry out an attack that required prior intelligence gathering. more..
The national-religious camp’s flagship yeshiva
Yair Sheleg, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
The Mercaz Harav rabbinic college is the most prominent yeshiva in the religious Zionist world. It trained the movement’s leading rabbis as well as many yeshiva heads, city rabbis, and teachers in religious colleges and high schools. The school was central in shaping the evolution of religious Zionism. As the flagship of national-religious yeshivas, the religious right is bound to attribute greater symbolic meaning to a terrorist attack here than anywhere else. Founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, then chief Ashkenazi rabbi during the British Mandate, it is seen as the first yeshiva to be Zionist in spirit. Rabbi Kook called it "the central world yeshiva," wishing to set it as a model for a new yeshiva concept, integrating traditional Talmud studies with Jewish philosophy, Bible and even Jewish history, geography and literature. more..
VIDEO - News / At least 7 killed in terror attack at J’lem yeshiva
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 3/6/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for March 6, 2008. In this edition: At least seven people are killed in a terrorist attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva. Palestinian militants kill one soldier and wound three others in an attack on an IDF jeep near the Gaza border. Four people are wounded as a Qassam rocket hits a home in Sderot. Related articles: At least 7 killed in terrorist attack at J’lem yeshiva Soldier killed, 3 hurt in attack on IDF jeep near Gaza border Four people wounded as Qassam rocket hits Sderot home Also on Haaretz. com TV: IDF to use unmanned jeeps in conflict with Gaza militants News / Tempers flare in Knesset as Eitam calls for Arab MKs’ expulsion News / IDF kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza as rockets pound Negev more..
Terrorist kills eight in attack on Jerusalem yeshiva
Globes' correspondent, Globes Online 3/6/2008
A terrorist attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshiva (rabbinical college) in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Moshe neighborhood this evening has left eight people dead and eight wounded, five of them severely, according to official police reports. According to Galei Tzahal (Israel Army Radio) the terrorist entered the yeshiva and opened fire in the library. One of the students at the yeshiva, Yitzhak Danon, eventually managed to hit the terrorist. "I climbed on the roof of the study hall with my gun after I heard the sound of gunshots. The firing continued while I lay on the roof with my weapon cocked. Suddenly he came up, and started spraying bullets in the air. I fired two shots at his head, and saw him stagger," Danon said. The terrorist was finally killed by a paratroop officer, a student at the yeshiva who lives close by and came to the scene with his weapon at the sound of gunfire. more..
Gaza ambush kills Israeli soldier
Al Jazeera 3/6/2008
An Israeli soldier has been killed and near the separation wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip, despite efforts to broker a truce after a week of Israeli military action. Three other soldiers were injured when a bomb detonated in the path of an Israeli patrol near the Kissufim crossing on Thursday, an Israeli military spokesman said. Al Jazeera received a statement from the Ahmed Abu al-Rish Brigades, a Fatah-aligned armed group, claiming to have planted explosive devices near the border overnight. Israeli helicopters landed at the scene and ambulances rushed to evacuate casualties. Exchange of fire - After the explosion, tanks stormed into Gaza near the town of Deir Al-Balah, with an exchange of gunfire erupting between the soldiers and Palestinian fighters, witnesses said. more..
IOF soldier killed in resistance attack
Palestinian Information Center 3/6/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- An IOF soldier was killed on Thursday after Palestinian resistance elements detonated an explosive device in an IOF jeep near the Kissufim military position east of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip. Hebrew media reported that the soldier was killed while others were wounded in the attack. Eyewitnesses in the area said that jeep was directly hit and completely destroyed by the ensuing fire. An eyewitness told PIC correspondent that the blast directly exploded in the jeep putting it on fire. He added that the blaze continued for 15 minutes before a number of IOF armored vehicles arrived to the scene accompanied by a military ambulance vehicle and a helicopter to evacuate the casualties. Violent clashes were reported in the area between IOF troops and resistance fighters during which the IOF troops fired at civilian neighborhoods, locals reported. more..
Jerusalem yeshiva student: I shot the terrorist twice in the head
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
A student at the Jerusalem yeshiva where eight people were killed in a terrorist attack Thursday evening shot the gunman who opened fire inside the religious school’s crowded library, neutralizing him before a soldier killed him with an automatic rifle. Yitzhak Dadon said he climbed onto the roof of a nearby building, armed with a rifle, and waited for the gunman to emerge." He came out of the library spraying automatic fire... the terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head," he said. Witnesses described a terrifying scene during the shooting, with students jumping out the windows of the building to escape. Yehuda Meshi Zahav, head of the Zaka rescue service, entered the library after the attack. "The whole building looked like a slaughterhouse. more..
IDF tracker killed by roadside bomb
Yuval Azoulay Mijal Grinberg and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
Suliman Abu-Juda, 28, was killed yesterday morning when the jeep he was riding in was hit by a roadside bomb near the border fence in the Kissufim area of the central Gaza Strip. Abu-Juda was a tracker on routine patrol with the Tzabar Battalion of the Givati Brigade. He was sitting next to the driver of the jeep, who sustained critical injuries in the blast. Two soldiers in the vehicle’s backseat suffered minor injuries. Soldiers in a second jeep were not injured in the explosion. The injured were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva by helicopter. The driver was hospitalized in Soroka’s trauma ward, while the two soldiers with minor injuries were treated and released. The head of the trauma unit, Dr. Gadi Shaked, said the driver’s legs were badly damaged, and he had shrapnel wounds. He was operated on and taken to the intensive care unit. more..
’Guys lay dead, with holy books around them’
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 3/7/2008
The alert from the Merkaz Harav religious seminary came so soon after the attack began that medics were on the scene while shots were still ringing out. Yerach Tucker, a medic with the United Hatzalah volunteers, said before even thinking of saving lives, the rescue team had to save themselves: "We came a few minutes after getting the call and there was still shooting. We had to crouch down to avoid being hit. There was shooting from the window." Dozens of ambulances had arrived at the scene in Kiryat Moshe, just off the main roads at the entrance to Jerusalem. By the time the medics got inside, the extent of the carnage had become clear. "There were young guys - 16, 17, 18 years old - lying on the floor with blood all over them and the holy books lying around them," Tucker said The lone gunman, a Palestinian reportedly from East Jerusalem, slipped into the seminary at about 9pm. He had disguised... more..
Yeshiva students pledge not to let terror prevail
Yair Ettinger, Ha’aretz 3/7/2008
The Mercaz Harav yeshiva was supposed to mark the first day of the Jewish month of Adar with a party last night. Some 300 students of the Yeshiva L’Tze’irim - the yeshiva high school attached to Mercaz Harav - had waited eagerly for the event known as one of the high points of the year. The food and the musicians had already arrived, as had guests from other yeshiva high schools. Then the shots were heard." At first, we thought it was firecrackers that someone was setting off in honor of Rosh Hodesh," said one student, referring to the minor holiday celebrated on the first day of every Jewish month. Mercaz Harav, the ideological cradle of the religious Zionist community, has been the scene of many historic events. But yesterday’s was surely the most tragic." You see students sitting, deeply engrossed in the Torah, and the next minute, you see them lying on the ground, bleeding,"... more..
Seven Israeli student-soldiers killed in revenge attack for Gaza massacres
Khalid Amayreh in Occupied E. Jerusalem, Palestinian Information Center 3/6/2008
In an apparent retaliation for the recent Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip, (or the assassination in Damascus by Israeli agents last month of Imad Mughniya, a leading Hizbullah figure) unidentified guerillas on Thursday attacked the headquarters of the religious messianic Zionist movement in West Jerusalem, killing and injuring a number of settlers and soldiers. According to Israeli media reports, at least six settler-soldiers were killed and several others wounded. At least one Palestinian guerilla was killed. There was a lot of gunfire and hysteria," a woman who lives across the street from the school told the radio. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The shooting, which was highly expected, is believed to be a revenge attack for the killing by the Israeli army this week of more than 120 Palestinians, the vast bulk of them innocent civilians, including more than 13 children and toddlers. more..
Infant girl, senior Islamic Jihad leader killed in Israeli incursion in southern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli forces killed a two-week-old infant in the southern Gaza Strip in an incursion that also killed a senior leader of Islamic Jihad on Tuesday evening. Yousif Smairi, a leader in Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, was found dead, his body riddled with bullets after Israeli forces invaded the town of Al-Qarara, near the city of Khan Younis, sources in Islamic Jihad said. The sources said Smairi appeared to have been shot at close range, suggesting a summary execution. Islamic Jihad called the killing "cold-blooded. Smairi was in his thirties. Israeli military sources claimed that the operation in Al-Qarara was part of their efforts to stop what they called "terrorist assaults" at the borders between Israel and the Gaza Strip. They reaffirmed that such incursions will continue in the future. more..
Israeli forces abduct 26 Palestinians in the West Bank, continue closures
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an Israeli forces seized 26 Palestinians on Wednesday morning across the central and northern West Bank under the pretext of security concerns. Israeli sources said that 11 of the detainees are from Jenin, in the northern West Bank, four are from the town of Al-Far’a, north of the city of Nablus, and five are from Ramallah, in the central West Bank. Israeli troops have also sealed off the northern West Bank district of Qalqilia, and have continued the curfew on the town of Azzun, in the eastern part of Qalqilia district, for the third day. The main entrance to the town has been closed for three consecutive weeks. [end]
Palestinian killed, Israeli hurt in drive-by shooting in W. Bank
Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoffs, Ha’aretz 3/6/2008
A 40-year-old Palestinian man was killed and an Israeli civilian sustained moderate-to-serious injuries in a drive-by shooting Wednesday in the village of Idna, west of Hebron. Defense authorities are checking whether this was an attempted terror attack against Jews, or a local clan conflict. Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the Palestinian news agency Maan, and said it was an act of revenge for events in Gaza. The Israeli came to the village to sell his car to a local, Mohammad Nofal. As they were standing on the side of the road, they came under fire from a passing Palestinian car. The Israeli, who was hit in the stomach, drove his car to the Tarqumiyeh checkpoint and reported the attack to the soldiers on duty. more..
Israel Says will Take Further Action in Gaza Despite Pullout
Reuters, MIFTAH 3/5/2008
Hamas declared victory after Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza Strip on Monday following a US appeal to end days of fighting that killed more than 100 Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said despite the culmination of the five-day operation, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed, Israel would take further action in the Gaza Strip until cross-border rocket fire was cut significantly. The withdrawal came in time for a two-day visit, beginning on Tuesday, by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a driving force behind peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that have so far shown little progress. The blood of Gazas children has achieved victory and occupation will be removed, Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement. Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fateh faction in June, vowed to continue firing rockets into Israel. It launched one into the main southern city of Ashkelon shortly after the troops withdrew, wounding one person. more..
Cabinet to IDF: Continue operations to halt rocket fire
Barak Ravid, and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/5/2008
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired ten rockets at southern Israel on Wednesday, as the security cabinet met in Jerusalem and voted to press onward with military operations against Hamas. Eight Qassam rockets slammed into open areas in the western Negev and two rockets exploded inside Palestinian territory. There were no reports of injuries or damage in any of the attacks. Two mortar shells were also fired at Israel. The military operations will continue to target areas from which rockets are fired as well as terrorist organizations and Hamas institutions in the Strip, and specific targets will be approved by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The primary objectives of the operation are to end the rocket fire and other terror activity in Gaza, reduce arms smuggling... more..
Cabinet tells IDF to devise plan to completely cease rocket fire
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 3/5/2008
Ministers in political-security cabinet tell IDF to design program for putting total end to ongoing rocket fire on Israel’s south; Vice Premier Ramon calls for unilateral ceasefire - The national security cabinet instructed the IDF to present it with a plan for putting a complete end to rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon. In the past, IDF incursions into the Palestinian enclave aimed to reduce rocket attacks without totally halting them. The cabinet ministers instructed the IDF to act against known Qassam rocket launching areas as well as the centers for their manufacture and storage. The officials also approved plans to damage Hamas institutions in Gaza but said that the prime, defense and foreign ministers would have to personally authorize such attacks. The ministers also agreed to limit Hamas’ growth in power through... more..
Israeli shot south of Hebron
Ynet reporters, YNetNews 3/5/2008
Israeli citizen sustains moderate wounds after being shot near Palestinian village south of Hebron. Meanwhile, Palestinian sources say local man was killed in place. IDF claims Israeli entered area to sell his car, shot during altercation - An Israeli citizen was moderately injured Wednesday after he was shot in the stomach near the Palestinian village of Eidna, south of Hebron. Sources in the West Bank town reported that a local man - Muhammad Salamiyah - was shot to death in the same incident, and that another resident was injured. It is still unclear whether the incident was a shooting attack, or an altercation gone awry. According to IDF sources, the man entered the village in a bid to sell his car to one of the locals, and was shot during a quarrel with one of the residents. Meanwhile, Palestinian sources claimed that the Israeli man was the Palestinian’s employer. more..
Agriculture losses in IOF incursion estimated at quarter of a million dollars
Palestinian Information Center 3/5/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The agriculture ministry in the PA caretaker government in Gaza announced on Wednesday that farmers’ losses in the latest IOF incursion in Jabalia, northern Gaza, had reached around quarter of a million dollars. The ministry statement said that the losses were incurred on cultivated land lots not more than a square kilometer. It explained that the losses included destroying olive, citrus, palm trees and other fruits in addition to direct losses in agriculture installations and livestock ranches. The ministry had earlier announced that the agriculture sector’s losses due to Israeli aggressions in February had reached about half a million dollars in the northern, central and