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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, t