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| Conflict |
Rafah shelling kills prominent member of the Al Quds Brigades
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 5/1/2008
The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, reported that the Wednesday evening Israeli shelling which targeted a workshop in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, killed one of its prominent leaders; five Palestinians including two children were wounded, at least two seriously. The Brigades stated that the Israeli air force fired a missile at a blacksmith workshop in Rafah killing the fighter and wounding five others. The workshop was completely destroyed and damage to several surrounding houses was reported. Medical sources in Rafah reported that residents Karam Hammad, 23, and Osama Al Hooby, 25, suffered serious injuries. The sources added that two children, identified as Ahmad Salah, 10, and his brother Amjad Salah, 11, suffered moderate wounds. All of the wounded residents were moved to Abu Yousef Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah. more.. e-mail
12 Qassam rockets hit western Negev
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 4/30/2008
Sderot, Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council residents begin their day with rocket salvo, yet again. No injuries, damage reported in any of rocket landings - Residents of the western Negev communities were awakened by a series of Color Red alerts Wednesday, as a dozen Qassam rockets fired from northern Gaza hit the area. No injuries or damage were reported. At around 7:00 am, two rockets landed near a kibbutz in Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. A third rocket followed within 30 minutes. An hour and-a-half later, three more rockets were fired: One landed near a Sderot school, the second landed in Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council’s industrial area and the third in an open area. Around 2 pm, the Palestinians fired four rockets at Israel. One landed in Sdot Negev Regional Council limits, another in Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council limits and the third near Sderot. more.. e-mail
Palestinian groups shell Israeli areas near Gaza despite news of ceasefire
Ma’an News Agency 4/30/2008
Gaza Ma’an Palestinian military groups continued to launch homemade projectiles and mortar shells into Israel from the Gaza Strip despite news that the factions had agreed during talks in Egypt on a ceasefire. The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, and the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, said that their fighters fired barrages of projectiles and mortars at the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon in the western Negev. It appears that Palestinian factions are awaiting for the official announcement of a ceasefire before holding their fire. Meanwhile, Israeli sources reported that 12 homemade projectiles and 3 mortar shells landed in Negev towns. One homemade projectile landed near a school in Sderot and another landed in the hills outside the town, causing a fire. more.. e-mail
Palestinians: Militant killed, 3 others hurt in IAF strike on Gaza
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 4/30/2008
An Israel Air Force aircraft attacked a metal workshop in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing an Islamic Jihad top militant and wounding three other people, Palestinian officials said. The attack came as Palestinian militant groups agreed in principle to a cease-fire with Israel. Shortly before the air strike, Hamas’ prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, had said the "ball is in the Israeli court" to keep to the terms of the truce. The IDF confirmed the air strike in Rafah, a town located next to the Egyptian border. Residents said the air strike targeted a metal workshop close to border crossing with Egypt. Metal workshops are often used by militants to make homemade rockets. One witness said three helicopters hovered over the southern Gaza town and were fired at by Palestinian militants on the ground before the air strike took place. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces target Rafah shop in missile attack, kill one man, injure 6, including child
Palestine News Network 4/30/2008
Rafah / PNN - Medical sources and eyewitness reported Wednesday that Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and injured six others in a targeted hit in the southern Gaza Strip. The shop was for painting cars in Rafah. The man killed was a member of Saraya Al Quds, the armed resistance wing of Islamic Jihad. He was an employee of the workshop. A spokesperson for the party said today that two others among the injured were also members of Islamic Jihad. The Director of Ambulance and Emergency in the Palestinian Health Ministry, Dr. Hassanain said that the man killed was in his thirties and among the six injured was a child. Shrapnel fired from an Israeli missile led to the injuries and death. All were taken to a Rafah hospital. One of the injured is in critical condition. Eyewitnesses confirmed that an Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a workshop for painting cars belonging to a man from the Tal Zo’rob neighborhood. more.. e-mail
Police, IDF troops demolish illegal outpost in West Bank
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 4/30/2008
Police and Israel Defense Forces troops on Wednesday demolished an illegal outpost near the northern West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashachar. At the site, Maoz Esther, security forces dismantled a synagogue which had been constructed there without permit. It was built in memory of Yonadav Chaim Hirschfeld, who was killed in the terror attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem in March. The synagogue, which was not a permanent structure, was dedicated during the intermediate days of the Passover holiday. On Tuesday, police and the Civil Administration demolished a swimming pool which had been built without permit at a home in the Havat Yair outpost, near the northern West Bank settlement of Nofim. Head of the Samaria Regional Council Gershon Mesika lambasted the demolition. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize ten in raid on Askar refugee camp
Ma’an News Agency 4/30/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces seized ten young Palestinian men from Askar refugee camp east of the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday morningPalestinian security sources told Ma’an’s reporter in Nablus that Israeli troops stormed the camp from the east after midnight and ransacked several houses before seizing ten young men. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades fighter evades capture in Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 4/30/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces raided home of wanted Palestinian activist Ammar Abu Ghalyun in Jenin refugee camp after midnight on Wednesday. Ghalyun is affiliated to Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades. Local sources told Ma’an’s reporter that undercover Israeli forces entered the camp after midnight in three Palestinian-plated cars at midnight and surrounded Abu Ghalyun’s house. Then more than 20 Israeli military vehicles invaded the camp and closed all its entrances amidst heavy gunfire. They ordered Abu Ghalun through a loudspeaker to turn himself over. They recieved no answer because he was not at home. Local sources added that after a number of unanswered calls, the soldiers broke into the house and damaged its interior as they searched for Abu Ghalun. When they failed to find him in his own home, the Israeli troops broke into neighboring houses and searched them, again in vain. more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza survive an Israeli missile attack
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 4/30/2008
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshot of Fatah party in Gaza survived on Wednesday an Israeli missile attack in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanoun. In a statement, faxed to press, the brigades confirmed that a number of their fighters survived early on Wednesday morning an Israeli land-to-land missile just near the Agriculture college in the Beit Hanoun city in northern Gaza Strip. The statement also read that the brigades’ fighters managed to launch two homemade shells onto the nearby Israeli town of Sderot. " the aL-Aqsa brigades is determined to keep up in the path of resistance until the Israeli occupation comes to an end", the statement further read. Over the past five months, the Israeli army has stepped up attacks on Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza, in what Israel says ’crackdown on launchers of homemade shells’. more.. e-mail
Sderot: Qassams hit during Holocaust ceremony
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 4/30/2008
Two rockets fall in Negev town after Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony opens in sheltered cultural center. Mayor: Our answer to terrorism is not being afraid -Two Qassam rockets landed in an open area near Sderot Wednesday night shortly after the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony began in the western Negev town’s sheltered cultural center. No injuries or casualties were reported. The western Negev was hit with 15 Qassam rockets since the morning hours. Mayor of Sderot, Eli Moyal, told Ynet that "While the IDF Central and Southern Commands asked us to take precautions, they permitted us to hold the ceremony opposite the Holocaust monument in Sderot. On Wednesday morning we received many requests from Holocaust survivors who reside in Sderot asking us to move the ceremony to the cultural center. more.. e-mail
Undercover Israeli forces seize Fatah activist in Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 4/30/2008
Ramallah Ma’an Israeli forces seized a Fatah-affiliated activist in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. Local sources told Ma’an that an undercover Israeli force entered the Ash-Sharafa neighborhood of Ramallah near Al-Am’ary refugee camp and seized 27-year-old Muhammad Da’amin who has been pursued by the Israelis for five years. Local sources said the Da’amin have evaded previous attempts at his arrest. [end]
Palestinian fighters launch barrage of projectiles and mortars into Israel
Ma’an News Agency 4/30/2008
Gaza Ma’an Several Palestinian military organizations fired barrages of homemade projectiles at Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the groups said. Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades said on Wednesday that their fighters launched three homemade projectiles at the town of Sderot. Separately, another group affiliated to Fatah, the Al-Mujahidin Brigades, claimed responsibility on Tuesday evening for launching two mortar shells at the Israeli military post at Nahal Oz. A third Fatah-affiliated group called the Abu Ammar Brigades said its fighters launched two homemade projectiles at Sderot on Tuesday evening. For their part, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, said their fighters fired five mortar shells at Nahal Oz at midnight on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the. . . more.. e-mail
IOA decides to wipe out Palestinian village
Palestinian Information Center 4/30/2008
JENIN, (PIC)-- Apparently bowing to pressures from the Israeli military institution, the Israeli high court issued a ruling entitling the Israeli occupation authority to confiscate most of the land in the Palestinian village of Al-Aqaba that overlooks the Jordanian valley. Palestinian villagers dwelling in the city accused the Israeli court of prejudice, affirming that the Israeli occupation army wants their land to use it for military purposes. The village is situated in a strategic location overlooking the Jordanian valley region near the West Bank city of Tobas. Sami Sadek, the head of the village’s municipal council, explained that the IOA presented a new structural scheme that sharply reduced the total area of the village from 3,500 dunums (1 dunum= 1000 sq meter) to 100 dunums only, spurring the villagers to file a protest with the high court against the said plan. more.. e-mail
As Qassams pound Negev, Sderot residents urge boycott of Independence Day
Mijal Greenberg, and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 5/1/2008
As the Qassam rocket barrage on Israel continued on Wednesday, a group of residents of the rocket-stricken town of Sderot called for a boycott of the Independence Day celebrations, scheduled for next week. At least ten rockets and three mortar shells were fired on Wednesday at the western Negev from the Northern Gaza Strip. There were no injuries reported in any of the incidents, but a woman and child were treated for shock when a rocket struck the Ashkelon regional council. Two of the Qassams sparked a fire in an open area near Sderot on Wednesday, another struck next to a school in the southern town, and another hit the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council’s Industrial district. None of these rocket attacks caused casualties or property damage. Yossi Timsit, whose wife was seriously injured after a Qassam rocket hit their. . . more.. e-mail
Former Shin Bet figure: Why didn’t guards protect Barak?
Yossi Verter, Ha’aretz 5/1/2008
A former senior Shin Bet security service officer yesterday blasted bodyguards from the service for failing to protect party leader and defense minister Ehud Barak at a violent incident earlier this week, in what he called "an extremely serious security and protection failure." Shin Bet guards stood by while a Labor Party activist attacked Barak and Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon at a gathering at the party’s headquarters in Tel Aviv on Monday. Sami Shoshan, a brother-in-law of former party leader Amir Peretz’s reportedly assaulted Barak and Simhon, slamming a microphone in Simhon’s face and snatching a microphone from Barak. Eyewitnesses said Barak was injured, but throughout the incident, which lasted several minutes, the security guards refrained from intervening or protecting Barak, as is their duty. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 043008
Aaron Lakoff, International Middle East Media Center News 4/30/2008
Click here to download or play MP3 file| 3. 66 MB | 4m 0s Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Thursday April 10th, 2008. The Israeli army invades Gaza and attacks farmers, while in the West Bank Israeli troops kidnap 10 civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. On Wednesday morning at approximately 1am, Israeli troops raided the Al Shariya girls orphanage and school in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. They destroyed a sewing workshop in the school’s basement. The raid came after an ultimatum of April 28th was given by the Israeli army General of Command to close and evacuate all properties and institutions funded by the Islamic Charitable Society, including the Al Shariya school. The Israel army claims that the ICS has ties to Hamas, but the society denies this allegation. more.. e-mail
Israeli snipers kill Palestinian young man in Beit Hanoun
Palestinian Information Center 4/29/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The IOF troops killed Monday evening a Palestinian young man called Mu’ad Al-Akhras, 21, near the Nada towers in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip. According to medical sources, Akhras sustained gunshot wounds in his chest and head fired by IOF snipers who are deployed on the borders between northern Gaza and the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948. The IOF troops killed earlier Monday seven Palestinians including a mother and her four children from the family of Abu Ma’taq after their house was pounded by three projectiles fired by Israeli tanks that also led to the injury of 13 citizens. The Palestinian masses of the northern Gaza Strip marched on the same day in the funeral procession of Abu Ma’taq family and bid farewell to the Palestinian mother and her four children. more.. e-mail
Killing of young man brings Beit Hanoun death toll to eight
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli troops killed a young Palestinian man, 22-year-old Mu’adh Al-Akhras, in the An-Nada neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday evening, witnesses and medical sources. Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, said the victim was taken to Kamal Udwan Hospital in the town of Beit Hanoun. Eyewitnesses said the Israeli troops continued to fire at residential houses in the area. Israeli tanks and aircraft invaded Beit Hanoun early on Monday and bombarded the town until evening. Eight Palestinians were killed in the incursion, including a mother and her four young children, a teenager on his way to school, and one armed fighter. Palestinian leaders condemned the killings, terming Monday’s events a "massacre. more.. e-mail
Qassam hits Sderot home; residents treated for shock
Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 4/30/2008
Nine Qassam rockets and six mortar shells fired from Gaza slammed into the western Negev Tuesday morning causing damage at three different locations, but no injuries. One of the Qassams directly hit a house in Sderot, while it was empty. There were no injuries in the attack, but a few people were treated for shock. Earlier Tuesday, a Qassam hit a guard post at Sha’ar Negev Kibbutz while another rocket hit an infirmary at another Kibbutz. On Monday, at least 18 rockets and dozens of mortar shells were fired at Israel from Gaza Monday, IDF sources said. The rocket attack comes in the wake of the death of a Palestinian woman and her four small children in their home in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip during an Israel Defense Forces operation in the area. more.. e-mail
IOF shelling knock out Beit Hanun electricity transformer
Palestinian Information Center 4/29/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- IOF shelling of the Beit Hanun electricity transformer station during its incursion into the town in northern Gaza on Monday knocked out power in the area and paralyzed water supplies. A Hamas statement on Tuesday charged the Israeli occupation forces with deliberately targeting the transformer station in line with the policy of tightening the siege on Gaza. It said that around 200,000 citizens in northern Gaza spent Monday night in complete darkness and are still suffering from electricity outage and lack of water for 24 hours, which also affected work in hospitals and clinics. Attempts to repair the transformer went in vain because the IOF troops continued to shell the vicinity, Hamas said, and held the "Zionist enemy" responsible for the catastrophic results of continued electricity blackout for the second consecutive day. more.. e-mail
Settlers attack Palestinian homes near Hebron
Ghassan Banoura, International Middle East Media Center News 4/29/2008
A group of radical Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes located in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday at dawn. Witnesses reported that a dozen armed Israeli settlers from the illegal Qiryat Arba settlement, located in the eastern part of Hebron, hurled stones and empty glass bottles at residents’ homes and cars. Witnesses added that several homes sustained damage and a number of cars were also wrecked in the attack. The settlers also attempted to set fire to a number of homes, but the residents defended them and managed to make the settlers leave the area. [end]
Israeli forces raid Qarawat Bani Zeid, near Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Ramallah Ma’an Israeli forces on Tuesday morning invaded the West Bank village of Qarawat Bani Zeid, north of the city of Ramallah. Palestinian journalist Yahya Nafi’ told Ma’an that Israeli troops searched and ransacked Palestinian homes. The Israeli soldiers did not say who they were looking for. They also erected a flying checkpoint at the entrance to the village impeding residents’ movement and searching them as they move in and out of the community. Qarawat Bani Zeid is located on the main road between Ramallah and the towns of the northern West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces seize 12 Palestinians in West Bank raids
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Ramallah Ma’an Israeli forces seized 12 several Palestinians in the West Bank on Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said. Palestinian security sources identified the arrestees as being from Al-Am’ari refugee camp near Ramallah, and Al-Ezariyya and Abu Dis in East Jerusalem. Others were seized in Tulkarem, Qalqilia and Nablus and Jericho. [end]
Al-Mujahidin Brigades fire four homemade projectiles at Israeli sites
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al-Mujahidin Brigades, an armed group linked to Fatah, claimed on Tuesday morning that their fighters launched four homemade projectiles at Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that two projectiles were launched at the Nahal Oz military position and two others at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The statement added that the shelling was part of "the Palestinian resistance’s retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people, the last of which was in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. " [end]
PFLP’s military wing fires projectile at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
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 a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot, near the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. [end]
Qassams, mortars rain on western Negev
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 4/29/2008
Projectile attacks on Israel renewed after brief lull over afternoon, in all over 15 rockets, 20 mortar shells fired from Gaza on Tuesday - Palestinian rocket attacks against southern Israel resumed on Tuesday evening after a short respite. The barrage was launched in the early evening hours, with two Qassam rockets and eight mortar shells landing in and around communities in the western Negev. The rockets landed south of Ashkelon and in the Sha’ar HaNegev and Eshkol Regional Councils. No injuries were reported and no damage was caused. In all, over 20 mortar shells and 15 Qassam rockets have been fired towards Israel throughout the course of the day. Magen David Adom emergency crews tended to five people who were lightly wounded by rockets in Sderot, including one woman who injured her leg while running for cover. more.. e-mail
Qassam rockets, mortar shells hit Negev
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 4/29/2008
Gaza vicinity residents wake up to another morning of rocket alerts. Ten Qassams fired from Strip; one directly hits house in Sderot, several people sustain light injuries. Mortar lands near clinic, causing light damage -Gaza vicinity residents awake to another morning of rocket fire: Palestinians fired 10 Qassam rockets towards Israel on Tuesday morning. Four of the rockets exploded in Sderot and the area, one directly hitting a house, causing damage. Three people sustained light wounds. Magen David Adom emergency crews tended to three people in Sderot, including a woman who hurt her leg while running to take shelter. She was evacuated to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. Two people were treated for shock. Five rockets exploded within the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. more.. e-mail
PRC’s military wing launches projectiles and mortars at Israeli targets bordering Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, claimed responsibility on Tuesday morning for firing six homemade projectiles and two mortar shells at Israeli targets east of the city of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. The military group said in a statement that they fired two mortar shells at Israeli forces east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, two homemade projectiles at the Nirim Kibbutz, two more at the Nir Oz Kibbutz and two at the Kisifim military installation. The statement said the shelling was in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West bank and the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldier injured in shooting near Nablus, Al-Aqsa Brigades claim
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Nablus Ma’an The armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed on Monday evening that their fighters shot and injured an Israeli soldier near the Huwwara intersections south of the West Bank city of Nablus. The Al-Aqsa Brigades’ northern West Bank spokesperson, Abu Mujahid, told Ma’an that a group of fighters opened fire at an Israeli settler’s and then fired at a military patrol to aid the settlers. However, Israeli sources did mention any injured soldiers in that area. Israeli forces later stormed the village of Beita, also near Nablus, imposing a curfew. [end]
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians in Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camp
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces seized two young Palestinian men from the West Bank city of Tulkarem and nearby Nur Shams refugee camp on Tuesday morning. Israeli troops entered the city and broke into the home of Imad Safi, damaging objects in the house and abducting 22-year-old Safi Safi. In Nur Shams camp, Israeli soldiers seized 20-year-old Mu’min Nabrisi who was released from an Israeli jail just two months ago after serving three and a half years. [end]
Planned settlement in East Jerusalem an attempt to negate Palestinian claims to their capital, researchers say
Ma’an News Agency 4/29/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an A new illegal Israeli settlement planned in occupied East Jerusalem is a part of a plan conceived by former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon to negate Palestinians claims to Jerusalem as their capital, researchers in Jerusalem are saying. On Monday, Israeli and Palestinian media reported that the Israeli police will allow right-wing settlers to take up residence in a former police station in East Jerusalem’s Ras Al-Amoud neighborhood. The site of the police headquarters will become the nucleus of a new settlement called "Ma’ale David. " According to the Mapping and GIS Department of the Arab Studies Society, a research center in Jerusalem, Israeli planners have already approved the construction of a the new settlement. Maps obtained by the Arab Studies Society show a plan for 110 housing units on approximately 10 dunams of land. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 042908
Aaron Lakoff, International Middle East Media Center News 4/29/2008
Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday, April 29, 2008. On Tuesday The Israeli High Court of Justice in Jerusalem ruled against the villagers of Al Aqaba. Al Aqaba village is located in the northern part of the West Bank. Two years ago the Israeli army issued orders in Al Aqaba cutting permission for Palestinian home construction from 3000 dunums of land to just 100. The villagers contested this action in the Israeli Court, which today ruled in the Israelis Army’s favour. The Al Aqaba village council stated that at least 60 per cent of village homes face demolition as a result of the decision. The council added that the army has already distributed demolition orders to all the houses outside the permitted 100 dunums. According to the village council, the Israeli army wants the land due to its strategic importance for military training. more.. e-mail
Ex-worker may have carried out Nitzanei Oz shooting
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 4/30/2008
Security officials are examining the possibility that Friday’s shooting attack at the Nitzanei Oz industrial zone, in which two Israeli civilians were killed, was carried out by a disgruntled former employee at one of the factories there. There has been a lot of tension in recent years between Palestinian employees and Israeli employers at the industrial zone near the West Bank city of Tul Karm, with many cases of Palestinian workers arguing that they were not receiving their full salaries or benefits. Several Palestinian groups have claimed responsibility for the attack, but so far there has been no evidence linking any of the groups to the shooting. However, the IDF is also examining the possibility that the Tul Karm network of one of the organizations, Islamic Jihad, is behind the attack. Since the shooting, the Israel Defense Forces has arrested several Palestinians in Tul Karm. more.. e-mail
Israeli army intends to lower the scale of operations in Gaza
Ghassan Banoura, International Middle East Media Center News 4/29/2008
Israeli security sources reported on Tuesday that the Israeli army intends to lower the scale of military operations targeting the Gaza Strip in coming days in order to avoid any possible escalation in the region during the Israeli holidays. Israeli radio reported that despite the tragic accident in Beit Hanoun on Monday, which left seven civilians dead, including four children, Hamas will not create an escalation. Rather than to militarily engage Israel for the time being, the movement has decided to wait for the Egyptian mediation efforts to broker a truce between Hamas and Israel. [end]
New Israeli settlement to block route from East Jerusalem to West Bank
Palestine News Network 4/28/2008
Jerusalem / PNN -- The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that buildings now belonging to the Israeli police in East Jerusalem will soon be given to Jewish settlers. This is another move on the part of the Israelis to entirely overtake Jerusalem and convert the West Bank into a series of cantons, Palestinian officials report. President Abbas, the people, and other officials are clear to point out that the Israeli settlement policy is a major blocking point in the ’peace process. ’ These buildings in the Ras Al Amud neighborhood were used as the Israeli police headquarters in the West Bank which will soon be transferred to the hill between Jerusalem and the settlement of "Ma’aleh Adumim," a distance of about 10 kilometers east of the holy city. Agence France Presse reported that the buildings will be handed to the Assembly of the Salvation of Jerusalem, which now requested. . . -- See also: Police move to new HQ east of Jerusalem, Ha''aretz, 4/28/2008 and Settlers to move into E. J''lem police HQ, Ha''aretz, 4/28/2008 more.. e-mail
Lebanese army: 12 Israeli jets flew over Beirut
Associated Press, YNetNews 4/28/2008
Tensions in the north? Lebanon says ’enemy’ airplanes violated its airspace Monday, flew over Lebanese cities; Meanwhile, Israel complains that UNIFIL forces fail to report illegal Hizbullah activities - The Lebanese army reported that Israeli Air Force jets flew over Beirut on Monday. The army said in a statement that 12 "enemy" Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace before noon Monday by flying missions over Beirut and elsewhere in the country. The IDF said it will not discuss its operational activities. The Lebanese statement added that four jets flew over the Mediterranean off the coastal city of Byblos in the north and headed toward the eastern province of Hermel, while eight other jets flew over the southern town of Rmeish, then headed north to Beirut, the Chouf Mountains, southeast of the capital, and Hermel before flying back to the "occupied territories. more.. e-mail
IDF: Gaza blast was caused by militants’ explosives
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 4/29/2008
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that a blast that killed six Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza earlier in the day was not caused by an IDF tank shell, as the Palestinians had earlier reported, but was rather a result of militants’ explosives. The IDF investigated the incident, which left a Beit Hanoun mother and her four children dead along with a 17-year-old passerby, and concluded that the deadly explosion occurred when the Israel Air Force, targeting two Palestinian gunmen, fired a missile and hit the gunmen’s bags, which were full of ammunition. The missile caused the ammunition cache to explode with force, setting off a chain reaction of additional explosions. Palestinian medics identified the dead children as sisters Rudina and Hana Abu Meatik, ages 6 and 3; and their brothers, Saleh, 4 and Mousab, 15 months. more.. e-mail
An Israeli air strike on Gaza wounds four fighters
Rami Almeghari, International Middle East Media Center News 4/28/2008
An Israeli air strike wounded on Monday four Palestinian resistance fighters of the Popular Resistance Committees, while driving along the Salah Eldin main road in northern Gaza Strip. Dr. Mo’awiya Abu Hasanin, chief of emergency and ambulance service in Gaza said that four people were admitted to the Kamal Edwan hospital in northern Gaza Strip. The latest air strike came hours after the Israeli army tanks had killed earlier a mother and her four children in the Om Alnasser village in northern Gaza Strip. The military escalation on the ground comes as representatives of Palestinian resistance factions headed for Caior today for talks over possible ceasefire with Israel. Last Friday, the Israeli government dismissed the ceasefire offer, branding it a maneuver by the ruling Hamas part in Gaza to ’rearm and reorganize’. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces kill 6 more Palestinians in northern Gaza Strip
Palestine News Network 4/28/2008
Gaza / PNN -- Six Palestinians are dead and seven injured in the latest Israeli attack on the northern Gaza Strip, which have become a daily occurrence in addition to the siege. Hamas says this proves that Israel is not serious about reaching a calm. The party’s ousted Prime Minister Ismail Haniya issued a condemnation, as did President Abbas. The leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s armed resistance wing says that Israel has not intention of ceasing its attacks, while Saraya Al Quds of Islamic Jihad is among those mourning the loss of one of its members. A group of armed resistance members were targeted, as was a home in Beit Hanoun. Palestinian medical source confirmed on Monday that six Palestinians were killed, their bodies burned after being shelled by Israeli forces in eastern Beit Hanoun. more.. e-mail
Report: 3 hurt in IDF airstrike in Gaza
Ali Waked, YNetNews 4/28/2008
Palestinian sources report that IDF airstrike in northern Gaza wounds three Palestinians, one of them critically. Five Palestinians, including five members of the same family, killed by IDF shell in Beit Hanoun earlier Monday - Three Palestinians were wounded in an IDF airstrike in northern Gaza Monday afternoon, sources in Gaza reported. In addition to aerial operations, the IDF continued to operate on the ground in the Strip throughout Monday. A soldier was lightly wounded in his hand earlier during a clash with Palestinian gunmen and several missiles were launched at IDF tanks. Four Palestinian children, all members of one family, were killed earlier Monday in Israel Defense Forces strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources reported. According to the report, an IDF shell hit a house in the town of Beit Hanoun, killing four members of the Abu Meatak family. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces raid Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Ramallah Ma’an Israeli forces invaded the central West Bank cities of Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Beitunia and the nearby Al-Jalazun refugee camp on Monday morning. Palestinian security sources stated that several Israeli military vehicles stormed the southern neighborhoods of Al-Bireh and patrolled the city’s streets. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers ransacked several homes in Ramallah. The same sources explained that Israeli military vehicles roamed several neighborhoods in Beitunia and Al-Jalazun camp. No casualties or arrests have been reported. [end]
Four Palestinian fighters wounded by Israeli air bombardment in Beit Hanoun
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an An Israeli airstrike in the town of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, left four Palestinian fighters wounded on Monday afternoon, medical sources said. The four fighters were affiliated with the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. Mu’awiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services, in the Palestinian Health Ministry told Ma’an that all the injured were evacuated to Kamal Udwan Hospital. Israeli tanks and warplanes invaded Beit Hanoun early on Monday morning, killing seven Palestinians, including a mother and her four young children. Tanks are still operating in the town at the time of writing. more.. e-mail
Palestinian military groups confronting ongoing Israeli incursions in the Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades said on Monday that their fighters fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military personnel carrier in a citrus grove in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. A statement released by the Al-Quds Brigades said the operation came in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. Separately, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, said that their fighters blocked an Israeli incursion attempt near the area of Al-Hawooz in the northern Gaza Strip. The group claimed that they injured Israeli soldiers during an exchange of fire. more.. e-mail
Palestinian fighters unleash barrage of projectiles and mortars at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
responsibility on Monday afternoon for launching five homemade projectiles and three mortar shells at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Netiv Ha’asara and at Israeli forces invading Beit Hanoun. Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (PFLP) military wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said their fighters fired four homemade projectiles at Sderot. They also said they shot and injured an Israeli soldier. Moreover, the PFLP’s and Fatah’s military wings said their fighters fired mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip. For their part, Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing five mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Gaza militants pound Negev with Qassams and mortar shells
Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 4/29/2008
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Monday launched at least nine Qassam rockets and nine mortar shells at the Western Negev, just after an Israel Defense Forces strike on a house in the northern Strip town of Beit Hanoun killed at least six Palestinians. Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades, said it fired three rockets at the Negev town of Sderot in response to the Beit Hanoun killings. Islamic Jihad and two other Palestinian factions said they launched several rockets before and after the home in Beit Hanoun was hit. One of the rockets exploded near a housing complex in Sderot. There were no injuries in the incident, but the building was damaged. Another rocket exploded in an open field near Kibbutz Gavim, sparking a fire. Of the nine mortar shells launched on Monday, the exploding sites of eight were located. more.. e-mail
Fatah’s military wing claims responsibility for projectile
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an A military group affiliated to the armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday evening for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli community of Yad Mordechai, north of the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. [end]
South under fire: More rockets fired from Gaza
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 4/28/2008
At least three rockets land near Sderot Monday night; overall, nearly 20 rockets fired at south throughout day - Rocket attacks continue:At least three rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed in open areas near Sderot Monday night, and later a rocket landed near Nahal Oz. No injuries or damages were reported in the latest barrage. Overall, at least 19 rockets were fired at Israel’s south throughout the day. Monday afternoon, Palestinian terrorists fired at least seven rockets and one mortar shell at southern Israel, with two landing in open areas near Sderot. Another rocket landed in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. Two more rockets landed in Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, and one more landed in Palestinian territory. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks. Terrorists have been firing Qassam rockets and mortar shells at Gaza-region communities. . . more.. e-mail
Right-wing Israeli settlers will move in to Palestinian town of Ras al-Amud
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 4/28/2008
In the next few days, a new Israeli settlement will be established in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, east of Jerusalem, according to the former Israeli police commissioner Moshe Karadi. Israeli sources reported Monday that the new Israeli settlement will be constructed on land that is supposed to be part of future negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. As is the case with most of the 300 settlements that Israel has built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the construction is in direct violation of Israeli promises made during negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, in which Israeli officials promised to halt the construction of new settlements on stolen Palestinian land. But despite Israeli promises to the contrary, settlement construction has contininued unabated through all ’negotiation’ processes, until nearly 500,000 Israelis. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli forces close checkpoint near Ramallah after Palestinians fire on Israeli bus
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces on Sunday closed the Atara checkpoint north of the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday evening, ensnaring hundreds of cars in a traffic jam. Israeli soldiers stopped all traffic for more than two hours, Palestinians waiting at the roadblock said. School busses were reported to be among the vehicles waiting. Israeli sources said the closure of the checkpoint came after an Israeli bus came under fire in the area. No casualties were been reported in that incident. Fatah’s military wing claimed responsibility for the shooting saying it was in retaliation for Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people. Atara checkpoint lies at the northern entrance of the village of Bir Zeit, on one of the main routes between Ramallah and the city of Nablus. Israel maintains more than 500 checkpoints and other roadblocks in the occupied West Bank. more.. e-mail
Army kills seven Palestinians, including four toddlers and their mother in northern Gaza
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 4/28/2008
An Israeli shell tore through a Palestinian home in the northern Gaza Strip village of Izbit Abed-Rabo, near Beit Hanoun, early Monday morning, killing four siblings under the age of six and their mother. The army also killed one fighter, member of armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, and a 17-year old youth. Dr. Mo’awiya Abu Hasanin, chief of emergency and ambulance department at Gaza’s health ministry, confirmed that the four children and their mother were from the Moatiq family. The slain children were identified as Ahmed Abu Moatiq, 1 year old, Hanna, 3, Saleh, 4, Rodaina, 6. Also, resident Ayoub Atallah, 17, was killed and his friend Moatassim Sualem was seriously injured. Medical sources reported that Ibrahim al-Jahjouah, member of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, was killed as well - the shelling was apparently an extrajudicial assassination targeting him. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces destroy family at breakfast
Palestine News Network 4/28/2008
Gaza / One Democratic State Group - While the Abu Mu’attaq family in the northern town of Beit Hanoun was having breakfast, Israeli tanks shelled their house. The mother, Khadra Abu Mu’attaq, and herchildren, 8 year old Ahmed, three year old Hana, four year old Salih, six year old Rudayna, in addition to 17 year old Ayyoub Atalla, who was on his way to school, died on the spot. This latest war crime comes at a time when the Gaza Strip is witnessing its worst period since it was occupied in 1967. The heinous siege imposed on it has so far led to the killing of 140 terminally ill patients that were denied permits by the Israeli forces to be treated in West Bank hospitals. The severe shortages in fuel, electricity, medicine, water, food, amongst other things, have transformed the Strip into a waste land. more.. e-mail
Israeli tanks kill seven Palestinians, including mother and four young children, in Beit Hanoun
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an Seven Palestinians were killed, including a mother and her four young children, and at least seven others were injured when Israeli tanks shelled a house in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday morning, witnesses and medics said. Palestinian medics identified the mother, Khadra Abu Mu’attaq, and her children Ahmad Abu Mu’attaq, three-year-old Hana Abu Mu’attaq, four-year-old Salih Abu Mu’attaq, and six-year-old Rudayna Abu Mu’attaq, medics reported. The family was inside the house, eating breakfast at the time of the shelling. A student, 17-year-old Ayyub Atallah, was killed on his way to school. His friend Mu’tasim Sweilim was injured. The sixth Palestinian killed was a member of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, named Ibrahim Al-Hjuj. more.. e-mail
Israeli fire ’kills four children in Gaza’
Reuters, The Independent 4/28/2008
Israeli fire hit a house in the Gaza Strip today while a family was eating breakfast, killing six Palestinians, including four children and their mother, residents and medical officials said. The deaths in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun cast another shadow on Egyptian efforts to forge a ceasefire between Israel and militant groups and end violence threatening US-brokered Palestinian statehood talks. "This aggression does not serve efforts being exerted to achieve calm, and it obstructs the peace process," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, referring to Israel’s military activities, said in a statement carried by WAFA news agency. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, without giving details of the raid in Beit Hanoun, said Hamas Islamists controlling the Gaza Strip bore overall responsibility for casualties among non-combatants because gunmen "operated among civilians". more.. e-mail
Five killed in Israeli attack on Gaza Strip
Haroon Siddique, The Guardian 4/28/2008
Four Palestinian children and their mother were killed in an Israeli attack on the northern Gaza Strip today, officials said. The attack happened in Beit Hanoun, near the Israeli border. The town is often used by Palestinian militants as a base from which to fire rockets into southern Israel. Palestinian doctors said the dead children were Rudina and Hana Abu Meatik, sisters aged six and three, and their brothers, four-year-old Saleh and 15-month-old Mousab. Their mother, Miyasar, was in her late 30s. Her two older children were critically wounded in the strike, officials said. The Israeli army said it had used tanks and aircraft to target a group of gunmen who had approached the border. alestinian militants have carried out a series of attacks in the area over recent weeks. The Islamic Jihad militant group said one of its gunmen was killed near the family’s home. In a separate strike, a tank shell apparently veered off target and struck the building. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces unseal West Bank; detain three Palestinians
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces reopened the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Monday morning after a week of total closure for the Jewish Passover holiday. The Gaza Strip, which has been sealed by the Israeli military since last June, will remain closed. The Passover closure mainly effected Palestinians in the West Bank, who were not allowed to enter Jerusalem or Israel, even with a permit. Separately, Israeli forces seized two Palestinians near the city of Ramallah, in the central West Bank, and one from Bethlehem, in the south, during overnight raids. [end]
Palestinian court sentences accused collaborator to death
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 4/29/2008
Palestinian judges ordered the execution of a man for collaborating with Israel in Hebron on Monday. Judges say the man provided information that helped Israeli forces kill four Palestinian militants. On Monday, they ordered he be executed by a firing squad. The order still has to be signed by the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinians look harshly toward brethren who provide Israel with information about Palestinian militants. Suspected collaborators are often killed vigilante-style. Last June, Palestinian militantskilled a man they suspected of collaborating with Israel, as he lay on the X-ray table at a hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus. In November last year, authorities in Jerusalem arrested four residents of the Jabel Mukaber section of East Jerusalem for allegedly conspiring to kill a man they suspected of cooperating with the Israeli security services. more.. e-mail
Hamas calls on all resistance factions to retaliate strongly to Israel’s crimes
Palestinian Information Center 4/28/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement called Monday on all Palestinian resistance factions spearheaded by the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, to retaliate strongly to Israel’s crimes especially to the Beit Hanoun massacre committed in the morning and to be fully prepared to protect the Palestinian people. "We inform all parties that we have done everything we can in order to achieve calm in the Palestinian arena, but in the light of the occupation’s positions and its ongoing aggression and siege, the Movement declares that our people are not to blame for anything they do to stop the aggression and break the siege," Hamas underlined in a press conference. Hamas said that the Beit Hanoun massacre against children and women is evidence of the Nazism of the Israeli occupation and its persistence in committing war crimes, adding that this massacre also represents a practical response to the truce issue. more.. e-mail
Seized weapons cache linked to Hamas, Palestinian intelligence claims
Ma’an News Agency 4/28/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an The Palestinian intelligence services seized a stockpile of weapons and explosives in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday. Intelligence officials said the armaments belonged to a Hamas cell. The intelligence services showed the seized equipment to journalists at their headquarters in Bethlehem. On display were 250 and 300 millimeter machineguns, Kalashnikovs, M1 rifles, old English rifles, land mines, dumdum bullets, chemicals for manufacturing explosives, silencers and military uniforms and helmets. Bethlehem intelligence director Abu Dawood refused to answer questions about the weapons, saying only that the case is pending investigation. He refused togive names anyone who may have been arrested in connection with the seizure. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Fighting Jihad in cyberspace
YNetNews 4/28/2008
Israeli company Terrogence specializes in monitoring Middle Eastern and terror-related internet sites. ’We infiltrate those forums and websites using false identities in order to obtain the data that we need,’ one staff member explains (04. 28. 08)Author: Infolive [end]
Four wheels and an electronic brain: Meet IDF’s newest soldier
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 4/29/2008
Israel’s newest soldier can see at night, never nods off on sentry duty and can carry 300 kilograms (660 pounds) without complaining. The Guardium, an unmanned ground vehicle commissioned by the Israel Defense Forces is essentially a robotic soldier, among the first in the world to be operational. It can replace human soldiers in dangerous roles, cutting casualty rates. Like the pilot-less drones that have become a mainstay of air forces in Israel, the U. S. and elsewhere, the four-wheeled Guardium is operated from a command room that can be far from the front line. It can be mounted with cameras, night-vision equipment and sensors, as well as more lethal tools like machine guns. Following pre-programmed routes, it can navigate alone through cities - the vehicle knows how to deal with intersections, traffic and road markings. more.. e-mail
Two days after terror attack, factories reopen in Nitzanei Shalom
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 4/28/2008
Two days after two Israeli security guards were shot dead in a shooting attack at the Nitzanei Shalom industrial zone, near the West Bank city of Tul Karm, the workers returned to their factory jobs Sunday. Management said that 85 percent of the factory workers were present. 500 of the 700 workers at the industrial zone are Palestinians from Tul Karm. Security officials suspect a militant from the Islamic Jihad organization infiltrated the industrial zone and opened fire at close range. The bodies of the two middle-aged men were discovered Friday morning. An investigation into the shooting by Shin Bet, Israel Defense Forces and the factories themselves is still ongoing. The two guards were apparently screening Palestinians workers coming in when the gunman approached them, opened fire and then escaped, the military said. more.. e-mail
Israel tanks roll into central Gaza Strip
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 4/27/2008
A number of Israeli tanks rolled on Sunday morning few hundred meters into the eastern parts of central Gaza Strip city of Deir Elbalah, Palestinian security sources reported. The sources said that the Israeli army detained two Palestinians, the army says tried to infiltrated into Israel through a border barbed-wire. Israeli bulldozers, accompanying the tanks, razed Palestinain-owned farm lands in the area, as the Palestinian resistance fighters attempted to force the tanks back by firing hand grenades and live ammunition, media sources said. In the meantime, the Saraya aL-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, claimed in a statement, faxed to press today, that its fighters managed to detonate an Israeli armored vehicle to the east of Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, since the early hours of morning, Israeli drones have been hovering over the central Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Police move to new HQ east of Jerusalem
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 4/28/2008
In the middle of nowhere, far from any community, stands the new headquarters of the Samaria and Judea Police District. The access road to the building is long and wide, and connects to the Ma’ale Adumim-Jericho road. This access road provides tangible evidence of the intention to turn the compound into a residential neighborhood: Three traffic circles have been built; along the road on either side run dirt paths that are destined to be paved for two additional lanes someday; the hills in the way were blown up to blast through to the district’s new home. On the adjacent rise, an extensive plot of land has been prepared for a future neighborhood. Why locate a police station away from any existing community? There are no clear answers. In the past few days, the police have begun moving the various Samaria and Judea District offices to the new building. more.. e-mail
Israeli army wounds a Palestinian near a border fence in northern West Bank
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 4/27/2008
The Israeli army shot and wounded on Sunday morning a Palestinian resident when he approached a barbed wire security fence just near the Israeli settlement of Elkana to the north of West Bank. Eyewitness said the Israeli soldiers, manning the fence, opened fire at the resident’s foot, shortly after they ordered him to stop. No further details were reported. [end]
IOF kidnap two citizens in Gaza, storm West Bank towns
Palestinian Information Center 4/27/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces announced the kidnap of two Palestinians near the Kissufim crossing in southern Gaza Strip after trying to infiltrate into Palestinian lands occupied in 1948. Hebrew media said that the IOF soldiers detained the two unarmed Palestinians after combing the area where they were spotted. IOF troops on Saturday bulldozed Palestinian lands west of Karm Abu Salem crossing east of Rafah city in southern Gaza and on Sunday morning bulldozed cultivated lands east of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. Palestinian resistance factions said they fired a number of mortars and RPGs at the invading troops. In the West Bank, the occupation forces stormed Jenin and a number of its villages last night and at dawn Sunday broke into Nablus and ransacked a number of civilian homes in search of alleged wanted activists. more.. e-mail
Islamic Jihad fighters fire two projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to the Islamic Jihad, Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility on Sunday for firing two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot in western Negev. They said in a statement that the shelling came as natural retaliation for the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the West bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Qassam causes fire in Sderot
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 4/27/2008
Two rockets fired from northern Gaza land in Sderot Sunday afternoon. One rocket hits local cemetery, another lands near house, sets fire to gas tanks. Earlier Sunday rocket lands in kibbutz south of Ashkelon - A Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza landed at the Sderot cemetery Sunday afternoon. Another rocket landed near a house in town, causing substantial damage to the building. Gas tanks nearby caught fire as a result of the rocket’s explosion. Fortunately, the house’s residents were not there at the time of the attack. A rocket fired from northern Gaza earlier Sunday landed near the local garage in a kibbutz south of Ashkelon. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack. Damage caused by rocket (Photo: Ze’ev Trachtman)On Saturday, a Qassam rocket landed in an open field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, causing no injuries or damage. more.. e-mail
Four Qassams strike western Negev, causing damages but no injuries
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 4/27/2008
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Sunday fired three Qassam rockets at southern Israel. Two of the rockets struck the western Negev town of Sderot. One exploded in the yard of a home, causing damage to the building. A second rocket exploded in an open field in the city. No injuries were reported in either incident. Earlier Thursday, a rocket exploded in Kibbutz Zikim, south of Ashkelon. No damages or injuries were reported. Israel is waiting for the results of talks between Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups in Cairo this Wednesday before it takes a position on an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Security officials have said that if Hamas cannot restrain the smaller groups, first and foremost Islamic Jihad, there will not be much point to the agreement. more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Brigades ’attack Rabbis’ car’ near Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Gaza/Qalqilia Ma’an A group of fighters affiliated to the armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday for opening fire at the car containing a number of Israeli rabbis near the Immanu’el settlement, east of the West Bank city of Qalqilia. The group said in a statement that they used machine guns to fire at an Israeli car in which the rabbis were traveling. Separately, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said their fighters launched a homemade projectile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Sunday. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for ongoing Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinians arrested for allegedly crossing into Israel from Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli authorities announced on Saturday evening that the Israeli army arrested two Palestinians who crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip near the Israeli military installation at Kisufim. Israeli media reported that military forces in the Kisfuim area are now on high alert after news spread that two Palestinians crossed the border with the aim of undertaking a military operation. Israeli helicopters are surveying the area from the air, while Israeli authorities called on the residents of the area to stay in their homes. [end]
Israeli forces raid Al-Yamun, near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Jenin Ma’an Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank town of Al-Yamun, west of the city of Jenin, and ransacked several Palestinian homes after midnight on Sunday. No arrests have been reported. Palestinian security sources said that 13 Israeli military vehicles raided the town at 1:30am searching for "wanted" Palestinian activists. Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli troops fired live ammunition in the air and detonated sonic bombs. Israeli military vehicles patrolled the town till the early morning hours. [end]
Islamic Jihad fighters attack undercover Israeli forces in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday for hurling an explosive device at an undercover Israeli force which they discovered east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The military group said in a statement that the bomb hit its target and that the operation came in retaliation for "ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. " [end]
Israeli military forces invade Kafr Qaddum
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an More than twenty Israeli military vehicles invaded the northern West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilia, overnight, witnesses said. The invading forces surrounded home of Wisam Shtaiwi and Ahmad Jum’a, forcing the residents of the houses into the street before searching the houses. [end]
Israeli forces detain five Palestinians in overnight raids near Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces on seized five Palestinians in the southern West Bank district of Bethlehem. Israeli sources said that the Israeli army raided the town of Al-Khadr, south of Bethlehem, and apprehended five allegedly wanted activists. [end]
Algerian hackers break into Bank of Israel site
Erez Wollberg and Zeev Klein, Globes Online 4/27/2008
The central bank’s website is "temporarily closed". The Bank of Israel is "temporarily closed", after Algerian hackers broke into the site on Friday to leave a message: "Hear me Jews, you’re a nation whose fate is sealed and sooner or later you will lose in war. "Senior bank officials, away on their Passover holiday, were unaware of the break-in until they learned about it on "Globes", which broke the story. "Globes" has obtained an image of the Bank of Israel’s website after the break-in. The text goes on to say, "Victory will come, inshallah and the scenario of Chechnya will be repeated and we will drive you out. Millions of young Muslims are willing to die for al-Quds, which belongs to us. "This is the first time that hackers have succeeded in planting their own message on an official Israeli website. more.. e-mail
Men who hacked into Israel Bank site were motivated by Islamism
Guy Grimland, Ha’aretz 4/28/2008
Contrary to previous reports, the computer hackers who commandeered the Bank of Israel Web site early Friday and filled it with virtual anti-Israel graffiti in Arabic, are nationals of various Arab countries and not solely Algerian. The hackers belong to a group called MaXi32, which is considered one of the world’s leading groups of computer hackers. "The hackers who attacked the Bank of Israel site were motivated by ideology," said Moran Zavdi, the chairman of Israeli internet security company Securevision, who is in contact with the hackers. Zavdi said that the hackers are motivated by their zealous Islamism and believe that anyone who does not believe in the Prophet Mohammed is a valid target. Zavdi also believes that one of the hackers is able to read Hebrew and follows the Israeli media reports on the cyber-attack. more.. e-mail
Fayyad hopeful about security in Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 4/27/2008
Jenin Ma’an Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad expressed optimism about the security situation in the Jenin district of the West Bank, where Palestinian security forces are poised to take over at least partial control, during a visit there on Sunday. During a press conference at the Palestinian Authority (PA) headquarters in Jenin, Fayyad said that the PA is in discussions with Israel about allowing Palestinians living in Israel to cross into Jenin. He also said that Israel has approved the establishment of an industrial zone near the border with Israel, which he said will create thousands of jobs. Fayyad also stressed that stable internal security will encourage entrepreneurs to invest in Palestine, and that Jenin district has achieved a great deal in that respect. Fayyad was hosted by the governor of Jenin, Qaddura Mousa, and the district’s security commander, Abu Al-Fath. more.. e-mail
’Gaza still poses a major challenge’
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 4/27/2008
Southern Command chief warns IDF’s mission in Gaza far from over at evening honoring exemplary servicemen. Field commander who received citation says troops ’were fighting a Hamas organized like a proper army’ - "Our mission in Gaza has not yet been completed and a period of difficult trials lies ahead," said Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant on Sunday evening at a ceremony for Golani Brigade troops who took part in combat efforts against terror groups in the Gaza Strip over the past few months. Gallant, who heads the army’s Southern Command, conferred citations to a number of soldiers and officers who were singled out for exemplary conduct. The 51st Battalion, said Gallant, displayed determination, perseverance and daring during its time in Gaza from July 2007 to February 2008. Among the recipients was Lt. more.. e-mail
News in Brief
Ha’aretz 4/28/2008
Cattle breeders: Cancel Independence Day celebrationsThe Israeli Cattle Breeders Association is calling for the cancellation of the state’s 60th anniversary festivities in the wake of a cow-poisoning incident Saturday, in which the cattle breeders are accusing Arabs of fatally poisoning 17 cows with the intention of taking control of the pastureland. The farmers and the animal-protection organization Let the Animals Live are also requesting that animal poisoning be treated as a felony rather than a misdemeanor, which would lead to a harsher sentence for convicted poisoners. (Eli Ashkenazi) Sheetrit rejects leaving IACC legal status unchangedInterior Minister Meir Sheetrit yesterday rejected a compromise proposed by lawyer Yaakov Neeman that would allow The Israel Association of Community Centers’ legal status to remain unchanged. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Teenage girl killed in Gaza raid
Al Jazeera 4/26/2008
A 14-year-old Palestinian girl has been killed in an exchange of heavy fire between