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For the fifth day Gaza still under attack, death toll 390
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/31/2008
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll by Wednesday now stands at 390 as a result of repeated Israeli air raids on the coastal region. According to the Ministry of Health, at least 1,884 Palestinians have been injured by the relentless Israeli bombing. Among the injured 300 are in critical conditions. Local sources reported that the Israeli bombing continued on Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning. Targets included ambulance crews and civilian homes. The Ministry of Health said among those killed on Wednesday at dawn, were Dr. Iyhab Al-Madhom, and medic Mahmoud Abu Hassira. The Ministry said that the two were aiding injured people during the targeting of Gaza City, when an Israeli unmanned plane fired directly at them. Among the civilian targets that were shelled on Wednesday at dawn, was the oxygen refilling plant which is used by local hospitals in the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
IDF bombs ’"terror" mosque’
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 12/31/2008
Gloves are off: Air Force razes Gaza Strip mosque used by Palestinian rocket cells targeting Israeli communities; several people reportedly hurt in strike. Army officials say rockets, explosives stored inside mosque - IDF razes "terror" mosque: The IDF confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Air Force jets bombed a mosque in western Gaza City. Medical sources in the Strip said that several people were hurt in the attack. IDF officials said that the mosque was used by "terrorists" as a storage site for missiles and explosive materials. The army said that Palestinian rocket cells were firing at Israel from the mosque area and from nearby sites. A short while after the Air Force attack, additional explosions could be heard in the mosque, apparently as result of arms blowing up. In recent days, the army had been closely monitoring the mosque. . . more.. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3648349,00.html
link courtesy www.vtjp.org">e-mail
Air force bombs mosque ’used for rocket attacks’
Yoav Stern Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 1/1/2009
The Israel Air Force continued its bombing of Gaza Strip targets yesterday, reporting it hit 25 terror-related targets including the offices of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a mosque in the city of Gaza where Hamas activists were hiding. Rockets had also been fired at Israel from the mosque. Palestinian militants fired about 70 rockets and mortar shells from the Gaza Strip at Israel yesterday, hitting Be’er Sheva and Ashkelon among other targets. Five Israelis were injured in the attacks. At least six Palestinians were killed yesterday in the Israeli attacks including a Palestinian doctor and medic. Until now, 395 Palestinians have been killed in Operation Cast Lead and 1,600 injured. The Philadelphi route along the Egyptian border was bombed again yesterday in a further attempt to destroy the tunnels used by Hamas for smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops attack Bethlehem and Ramallah, kidnapping 22 Palestinian civilians
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/31/2008
Palestinian security sources reported that the Israeli Army kidnapped 22 Palestinian civilians from the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and the Southern West Bank city of Bethlehem during pre-dawn attacks on Wednesday. In Ramallah, Israeli troops kidnapped four civilians during house-to-house-searches, targeting al-Jalazon refugee camp, located in the Northern part of the city. Meanwhile, another Israeli force attacked several parts of Bethlehem City and nearby al-Khader and Hussan villages, kidnapping 18 civilians, local sources reported. Among those kidnapped from Bethlehem by the army were Mohammed Sabaten, age 18, Issa Sallah,age 15, and Sami Sabaten, age 19. [end]
Israeli troops detain 22 Palestinians from the central West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli troops detained 22 Palestinians from the central regions of the West Bank on Tuesday night. Four were detained from the Al-Jalazun refugee camp north of Ramallah, 15 from Hussan village and three from Al-Khader village both in the Bethlehem governorate. The identities of those detained were not released. [end]
Israeli forces arrest five youths near Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces arrested three Palestinian youths from the southern West Bank towns of Al-Khadr and Husan, near Bethlehem, on Wednesday morning, local sources said. Israeli forces raided the town at dawn and ransacked several homes before seizing 17-year-old Haytham Sayil Issa, 17-year-old Builal Ali Sbeih and 16-year-old Issa Fayiq Salah, residents said. In the Bethlehem-area village of Husan village, Israeli soldiers raided several houses overnight, seizing 23-year-old Sami Sabatein and 18-year-old Muhammad Sabatein, according to Palestinian Authority (PA) security sources. [end]
Israeli troops search homes near Jerusalem and kidnap one civilian
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/31/2008
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli Army attacked and searched a number of homes in Selwan town near Jerusalem City on Wednesday at dawn, kidnapping one civilian. [end]
Palestine Today 311208
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/31/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 00s || 2. 74 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Wednesday December 31st 2008. For the fifth day Gaza under attack; Death toll reached 390, while in the West Bank the Israeli army kidnaps 22 Palestinian civilians. These stories and more coming up. Stay tuned. The News Cast The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll by Wednesday midday stands at 390 due to the Israeli attack on the coastal region. According to the Ministry, at least 1,884 Palestinians have been injured by the ongoing Israeli shelling. Among those injured are 300 in critical condition. Local sources reported that the Israeli shelling continued on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. more.. e-mail
War on Gaza diary: The frontline
Alan Fisher in southern Israel, Al Jazeera 12/31/2008
There’s been a build up of military forces. Just driving south, shadowing the Israeli Gaza boundary, men and machines are being brought into the area. Low loaders carry tanks and personnel carriers, which then churn their way on to the fields, their guns pointed towards Gaza. Men in uniform struggle through the clawing mud which would hinder any advance. Our attempts to film what is going on are quickly snuffed out by Israelis who constantly remind us we are in a closed military zone. This Israelis are showing that the possibility of a ground incursion is more than just talk. But there is the argument a ground attack would be a no-win war for the Israelis. It would be difficult. They run the risk of inflicting high civilian casualties on the Palestinian side, world opinion would be against it; if they started losing soldiers, Israeli public opinion could turn and, when they leave, more.. e-mail
IOF raids kill paramedic, wounds others
Palestinian Information Center 12/31/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian paramedic was killed and a number of other citizens were wounded in fresh Israeli aerial raids on the Gaza Strip at dawn Wednesday that claimed the lives of almost 390 citizens and wounded 1800 others since Saturday. Dr. Muawiya Hasanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, told the PIC over the telephone that paramedic Mahmoud Abu Hasira was killed, another paramedic and doctor wounded when the IOF warplanes shelled an ambulance car carrying the international Red Cross flag while on its way to rescue wounded persons east of Gaza. He said that many other casualties were registered in various areas of the Strip, adding that the IOF warplanes shelled and destroyed nine ambulance cars and three vehicles for civil defense. Meanwhile, legal centers refuted IOF claims of bombing a truck loaded with missiles on Tuesday after investigating the incident which the IOF filmed and circulated. more.. e-mail
Authorities name 187 dead Palestinians, four slain Israelis
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Ramallah – Ma’an – The Palestinian Health Ministry on Wednesday released a list of 187 Palestinians killed in the first two days of Israeli airstrikes. According to Dr Omar Nasr, director of the Health Ministry’s Public Relations department, the death toll through Wednesday at midday had exceeded 395, and the ministry is trying to collect all the names of the slain and the wounded. The Health Ministry, Dr Omar Nasr added, will soon provide details of how many civilians were killed and injured in order to present documents to international humanitarian organizations when it files legal proceedings against Israel. On Tuesday, the United Nations announced that 51 innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed since the airstrikes began. On Wednesday, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that 31 of the dead were children. more.. e-mail
Al-Quds, Al-Qassam and An-Nasser Brigades launch projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Brigades step-up projectile fire on fifth day of Israeli military operation. Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades announced that they launched 8 projectiles at Beersheva, Keryat Mlakhi, Ofakim, Sderot, Ashkelon and Ashdod. Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades claimed 8 projectiles that landed near Ashkelon and Sderot. The Popular Resistance Committees’ An-Nasser Brigades said they launched a projectile at Sderot. All factions said their resistance activity is a direct response to the continued Israeli violence against the people of Gaza. [end]
DFLP: Two projectiles fired toward Israeli city, military base
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) claimed responsibility on Wednesday evening for firing two homemade projectiles toward the western Negev. The DFLP-affiliated National Resistance Brigades said in a statement that the group fired two projectiles at the southern town of Ashkelon and Israel’s Sufa military post, which is near Gaza. The Brigades said in a statement that they would continue to lob rockets toward Israeli towns “in retaliation for the Israeli holocaust in Gaza. ”[end]
Fatah affiliates fire five more projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Fatah’s armed wing claimed responsibility on Wednesday for firing five more projectiles toward the Israeli town of Sderot and the military post of Zekeim, it said in a statement. The Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades said the projectile attacks were ongoing, and that fighters are working together in light of recent Israeli airstrikes. [end]
Defiant Hamas launches new rockets deeper into Israel
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 1/1/2009
Despite Israel’s intense five-day bombing campaign of Gaza, Palestinian militants have begun using longer-range rockets that now reach up to 25 miles inside Israel, hitting cities such as Ashdod and Be’er Sheva for the first time. Israeli military officials say the rockets are 122mm Grads, which they believe have been smuggled into Gaza through tunnels under the Egyptian border in recent months. The rockets, which are up to three metres in length, can be disassembled and were almost certainly brought through the tunnels in parts, under the border town of Rafah. In the past, regular Grad rockets had reached up to 12 miles inside Israel, hitting cities such as Ashkelon. But now an enhanced, longer version with a slightly larger 22kg warhead has reached ranges of 25 miles. Rockets fired on Tuesday night and yesterday hit the city of Be’er Sheva, in the Negev desert, for the first time, although they remain inaccurate and are not fired from sophisticated launchers. more.. e-mail
Rocket barrages hit Beersheba, Ashkelon; 5 lightly hurt
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/31/2008
Long-range rocket fire continues: Two projectiles fired at Negev city, land in school, open area. More rockets hit Ofakim and Ashkelon, where five residents were evacuated with shrapnel injuries. Ashdod, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat also targeted - Two long-range rockets fired from northern Gaza landed in Beersheba Wednesday morning. No injuries or damage were reported, but eight people were treated for shock. Residents were instructed to remain in secure spaces. One rocket landed in a schoolhouse located in a residential area. The school was empty at the time of the attack. Severe damage was caused to the structure. The second rocket exploded in an open area in the northern part of the Negev city. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The Home Front Command reported that the siren did not sound prior to the landing of the first rocket at around 8 am due to a technical glitch. more.. e-mail
Beersheba under attack; ’special situation’ expanded
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/31/2008
Terrorists fire more rockets at Israel’s largest southern city Wednesday evening; meanwhile, Defense Minister Barak orders ’special situation on home front’ status to be expanded to 40-kilomter radius - Israel’s largest southern city under fire: Rocket alert sirens were activated in Beersheba Wednesday evening as terrorists from Gaza fired more rockets at the southern city. Residents reported hearing two explosions; there were no reports of injuries or damages. The siren was activated around 10 pm, prompting local residents to take cover. However, many locals complained that they did not hear the siren ahead of the explosions. The rockets are believed to have landed outside the city. Earlier, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered all communities in a 40km (25 miles) range of the Gaza Strip be placed under a "special situation in the home front" status. more.. e-mail
IDF: Rocket that hit Beersheba school made in China
Yael Barnovsky, YNetNews 12/31/2008
Home Front Command’s deputy chief says rocket fired at Negev city can cause much greater damage than the Qassam; adds that all events with 100 or more guests will be cancelled due to attacks - "We are witnessing the expansion of the rocket fire emanating from Gaza to a radius of 30 - 40 kilometers (about 19 - 25 miles)," the deputy commander of the IDF’s Home Front Command said Wednesday. Brigadier-General Avraham Ben-David told reporters that in light of the rocket attacks on Beersheba, all planned events with over 100 participants will be cancelled, including New Year’s Eve parties. Referring to the rocket attack that severely damaged a Beersheba school earlier in the day, Ben-David said the IDF’s decision to cancel classes in all of the Negev city’s educational institutions "saved lives", adding that school will be out at least until the end of the week. more.. e-mail
Negev’s largest cities targeted by Hamas
Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post 12/31/2008
The Negev’s large cities were targeted again by Palestinian rocket-firing crews Wednesday, as two Grads slammed into residential neighborhoods in Ashkelon, and one that hit Beersheba heavily damaged a classroom that was fortunately empty. In Ashkelon, air-raid sirens rang out to warn residents of both attacks, bringing cars to a stop and sending the few residents who had ventured outdoors scrambling for cover. The thud of a rocket landing could be heard shortly after each siren. One rocket landed at a busy intersection while a second slammed into a road. Four people were lightly wounded by shrapnel, police said. By Wednesday evening, well over 60 rockets had been fired at the South from Gaza. Police sappers managed to recover 21 projectiles. One rocket fell in Ashdod, three in Sderot, one in Kiryat Malachi, and 14 in the western Negev region. more.. e-mail
Palestinian projectiles reach outskirts of Beersheva; 12 fired since dawn Wednesday
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Since sunrise on Wednesday 12 projectiles were launched from the Gaza Strip as Israel continues shelling the coastal area. One Ashkelon resident was taken to hospital after one of the projectiles landed near his home. Palestinian projectiles reached the outskirts of Beersheva Tuesday evening, damaging an empty building as factions continue to launch projectiles at Israeli towns and cities bordering Gaza. Israeli media reported that the projectile hit an empty kindergarten, and announced that at least 34 were treated for “shock. ”This is the first time Palestinian projectiles have reached the 35 kilometers from Gaza’s borders and the large Israeli city. Israel claimed that reaching the target has been a principal aim of Hamas for months. Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for firing the projectiles. more.. e-mail
Armed groups step up projectile fire despite five days of attacks
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - "If you assassinate one leader, the body of fighters will continue to act against Israel," said the spokesperson for Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades on Wednesday. For five days Israel has waged a massive campaign to root out the factions responsible for firing homemade projectiles at towns near the Gaza-Israel border. Israeli warplanes, artillery tanks and warships have been bombarding de facto government buildings, workshops and the homes of known leaders, relentlessly. Since the start of the Israeli bombardment, however, armed factions have stepped up their projectile attacks. It appears that attacks are now coordinated between factions, meaning volleys of larger numbers of projectiles are being launched over the Gaza border wall. Factions have also started to launch Grad rockets, used first by Russian soldiers in the 1960s. more.. e-mail
Diskin: Hamas dealt a ’serious blow’
Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post 12/31/2008
Hamas has been attacked in a manner in which it has never been attacked before, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin told the security cabinet Wednesday, a week after the same forum approved Operation Cast Lead. According to Diskin, Hamas’s ability to govern has been seriously harmed, and the organization’s leaders are in hiding. He said that some are hiding in hospitals, disguised as doctors or nurses, while others are hiding in mosques. Diskin said that Hamas has turned some of Gaza’s mosques into command and control centers, assuming that Israel would not bomb them. He also said Hamas has stockpiled weapons in mosques. According to Diskin, the IAF has destroyed Hamas’s weapons-manufacturing capabilities, as well as numerous arms-smuggling tunnels. He said Hamas was trying to rebuild the tunnels to smuggle its leadership to Egypt. more.. e-mail
Shin Bet: Hamas has been hit by IAF’s Gaza offensive like never before
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 1/1/2009
Shin Bet Security Services Director Yuval Diskin said Wednesday that the current Israel Air Force offensive on the Gaza Strip has caused unprecedented damage to Hamas’ infrastructure and personnel. Hamas "has been hit like it has never been hit before," Diskin told a meeting of cabinet officials in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The Cabinet meeting was attended by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, and the head of Military Intelligence, Amos Yadlin. Diskin told the officials present at the meeting that the Islamic group’s ability to govern the Strip has been seriously damaged, and that senior Hamas officials are hiding out in Gaza’s hospitals, where they have "disguised themselves as doctors and nurses. more.. e-mail
IDF: We’re ready for battle
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/1/2009
Military officials say IDF ready to face 15,000-men Hamas army; Israeli troops expected to face massive roadside bombs, Palestinian snipers. ’Anyone who thinks we’ll be conducting ourselves gently is wrong,’ senior officer tells Ynet - IDF prepares for major Gaza battle: Israeli forces are ready to embark on a ground assault in Gaza, a senior military officer told Ynet Wednesday, adding that "anyone who thinks we’ll be conducting ourselves gently is wrong. " "Hamas has indeed prepared for this, but so did we," the IDF official said. IDF officers say they are closely familiar with Hamas’ military buildup but add that troops are prepared for the mission ahead. Ever since the Second Lebanon War, the IDF has been engaged in intensive training sessions and preparations ahead of a possible clash in the Strip. more.. e-mail
U.S. counterterror expert: Hamas has adopted Hezbollah-like tactics in Gaza
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/1/2009
Hamas rockets have struck the large southern cities of Be’er Sheva and Ashdod, home of Israel’s largest port, for the first time since the militant group broke its cease-fire with Israel on Dec. 19. A former U. S. intelligence official said Hamas is now using Iranian versions of the Katyusha and Grad rockets with a range of 18. 6 to 21. 7 miles (30 to 35 kilometers). The new rockets dramatically extend Hamas’ reach. Hamas had relied heavily on the shorter-range homemade Qassams that fly only up to 1. 8 miles (3 kilometers), the former official said. He spoke anonymously in order to discuss Israeli intelligence. The rockets do not have guidance systems so they are indiscriminate in targeting. But that makes them well suited for a barrage on a town or a dispersed battlefield of soldiers, particularly if fired in great numbers. more.. e-mail
Israel launches one-ton seismic bombs at Rafah tunnels
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Israeli warplanes targeted Rafah tunnels for a third time Wednesday, launching new one ton seismic bombs are the area. The bombs, which had not been used before Wednesday, created holes at least 30 meters deep in the areas around the tunnels. [end]
IN PICTURES / Israel battles Hamas in Gaza: Day five
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 12/31/2008
more.. e-mail
School closure saves lives of pupils
Abe Selig, Jerusalem Post 12/31/2008
Beersheba experienced its second day on the front lines Wednesday as Hamas stepped up Grad-type rocket attacks, striking an open area and a high school - the second educational institution in the city to be hit since rockets began falling there Tuesday night. Over 60 rockets from Gaza pound southern Israel A day earlier, a kindergarten was hit. Fortunately, both schools were closed due to the security situation, and no one was hurt. It had been unclear late Tuesday if children were to return to their classrooms on Wednesday in the south’s largest city. But a final decision came at 4 a. m. ,when Mayor Rubik Danilovitz met with officials from the Home Front Command and other security services. more.. e-mail
Hamas rockets hit Beersheva
Globes Online 12/31/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak: A ground operation is probably inevitable. Hamas fired four Grad rockets at Beersheva last night, the first time that the city has been hit since the start of Operation Cast Lead. One rocket hit a kindergarten - fortunately empty at the time - in a residential neighborhood, and nine residents were treated for shock at Soroka Medical Center. Another rocket landed in open space. Beersheva Mayor Rubik Danilovich said, "There are no reported casualties. We ask Beersheva’s residents to say near their protected rooms. We’ve taken responsibility with the Home Front Command and we’re ready for all scenarios. " Danilovich added, "People who live in Israel know that this can happen anywhere. We’ve said that we won’t be complacent, and this city won’t fall into panic. more.. e-mail
Wounded Gaza civilians treated in Israel
Judy Siegel-itzkovich, Jerusalem Post 12/31/2008
A seven-year-old Gaza boy who suffered a serious head wound in Israel’s retaliatory air strikes was rushed through the Erez Crossing and taken to Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva on Wednesday. The boy, whose transfer was facilitated by the Peres Peace Center, was in critical condition in the intensive care unit on Wednesday night. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which favors the transfer of Gaza civilians hurt in the bombings, said the Palestinian Authority is unwilling to pay for their medical care in Israel because Hamas is responsible. The PHR-Israel has urged the PA to facilitate such transfers immediately and argue later about who would finance the treatment to save their lives. Three wounded children had been transferred during the past two days via the Erez Crossing, with help from UNRWA. more.. e-mail
Analysis: The weather favors Hamas
Amir Mizroch, Jerusalem Post 12/31/2008
According to the Israel Meteorological Institute there is still a possibility of very light rain in the Center and South on Thursday, and it will get significantly cooler. On Friday it will be fair and slightly warmer, but still cooler than normal for the season. On Saturday, it will be partly cloudy-to-clear with a rise in temperatures and a drop in humidity. But this is not a weather report - it is a crucial element in the diplomatic and operational calculations of the Israeli leadership for the next few days. The air campaign in Gaza has all but run its course, and now is the time to switch focus - either to a ground operation or a cease-fire. The hesitation we are seeing, choosing neither option, is reminiscent of the indecision displayed during the Second Lebanon War. The IDF has not followed up on its initial operation with any comparable, meaningful strike on Hamas. more.. e-mail
Wednesday forecast
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Palestinian Meteorological Department expects Wednesday’s weather to be cloudy with showers expected during the day. Temperatures will drop down below seasonal. Winds will be westerly to moderate while the sea is expected to be tranquil. On Thursday temperatures are expected to drop further. Skies will stay cloudy and showers are expected. Winds will be southwesterly to moderate. The sea will be tranquil. Frost will cover the streets overnight Wednesday and fog is expected to cover the mountain areas. Expected temperatures are as follows (°C):Jerusalem: 6 to 11/ Bethlehem: 5 to 10 /Ramallah: 5 to 10/ Tulkarem: 6 to 11 /Qalqiliya: 6 to 11/ Salfit: 6 to 11 /Nablus: 7 to 12/ Jenin: 5 to 18 /Tubas: 7 to 14/ Hebron: 4 to 10 /Jericho: 9 to 19/ Gaza City: 8 to 13 /Khan Younis: 8 to. . . more.. e-mail
Despite poor weather, airstrikes continue; 398 killed, 2,000 injured
Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Gaza’s Hospitals are the source of the latest dead as yesterday’s wounded head to overcrowded morgues and medical supplies dwindle. Medical sources put the number of dead at 398. Among those who succumbed to their wounds on Wednesday were:*Mahmoud Abu Nahl, who died in an Egyptian hospital*Ismail Hamdan, a 10-year-old boy who was hit with a missile Tuesday along with his two sisters*Paramedics Eyhab Al-Madhoun and Mahmoud Abu Hasira who were hit while rescuing civiliansFresh airstrikes bring more deadAfter a several-hour noontime lull Israel resumed airstrikes in the Gaza Strip Wednesday afternoon. The lull coaxed many families out of their homes to inspect damage, find family or replenish food reserves. By four o’clock however, Israeli strikes resumed and targeted a donkey-cart in Bani Suhayla Square in Khan Younis, killing two and injuring several others. more.. e-mail
News in Brief - Home Front Command calls up Bedouin reserves
Ha’aretz 1/1/2009
The Home Front Command is mobilizing hundreds of Bedouin reserve soldiers, using emergency orders, in the wake of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into the southern Negev, which has a large Bedouin population. Officials in the command believe that Bedouin communities can be better served by Bedouin reservists working with emergency services due to their language and cultural skills, and that they will be better received by locals than their Jewish colleagues. The Negev Bedouin communities are particularly vulnerable to rocket damage, as many of the residents live in tents and shacks, there are no reinforcements against rockets and the siren alarm system is flawed. (Amos Harel) The state is to respond today to a High Court of Justice proposal that would permit small groups of foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip, thus partially ending Israel’s November ban on reporters from abroad entering the area. more.. e-mail
Home Front confusion / In south, finding shelter is often mission impossible
Nir Hasson, Ha’aretz 1/1/2009
Tens of thousands of people in southern Israel would like to follow the instructions of Home Front Command chief Yair Golan to seek shelter when an alarm sounds, but their houses have no concrete walls or they are mobility-impaired. Golan said Tuesday that the people killed by Palestinian rockets in recent days had not followed the army’s instructions. However, Haaretz has found that most people living in the outer perimeter of the rocket threat in Be’er Sheva and Ashdod have no more than 60 seconds to seek proper shelter when the alarm sounds. And for those who live in a plaster- or wood-walled house, reaching a safe space in that time is impossible. The Home Front Command has expanded the meaning of the term "protected space" to include not only a reinforced room, but also a stairwell and even an inside hallway. more.. e-mail
God’s Chariot
Al Jazeera 12/31/2008
Since it was first produced in 1979, Israel’s Merkava tank has gained a formidable reputation as one of the world’s best-protected fighting machines. Yet, in the summer of 2006, Hezbollah guerrillas in Southern Lebanon shattered this image. In just over a month 49 of Israel’s home-produced Merkava tanks -- the symbol of the Jewish state’s military prowess -- were reported damaged or destroyed. It was not only the tank that was damaged, but the myth of Israeli military invincibility so central to the psychological warfare of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Merkava represents Israel’s technological superiority in conventional warfare, but in the new era of guerrilla war, is the Merkava an asset or a liability? Episode 1Watch part two On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah guerrillas in Southern Lebanon crossed the border into Israel and killed three Israeli soldiers. more.. e-mail
IAF attacks Khan Younis rocket factory
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
As Hamas continued to bombard the South with dozens of rockets on Wednesday, senior defense officials said a ground operation was "days away. " The air force struck Wednesday at more than 25 targets throughout the Strip, including a Gaza City mosque that the army said was being used to hide Kassam rockets. The IAF reported several secondary explosions following the strike. A number of Hamas outposts and command posts were also destroyed, as well as a tunnel in Khan Younis that was used to covertly move weapons throughout southern Gaza. Since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday, fighter jets have carried out some 500 sorties against Hamas targets, the IDF said, adding that attack helicopters had also flown hundreds of combat missions. According to the IDF, at least 95 percent of the targets were hit. more.. e-mail
Israel warns Gaza attacks will go on
Reuters, The Independent 12/30/2008
Israel hit the Gaza Strip with more air strikes today and said its military action could last weeks, while rockets fired by Islamist Hamas struck deep inside the Jewish state. Both sides rejected any notion of a ceasefire soon, three days after Israeli leaders launched bombing raids with the declared aim of halting rocket salvoes from the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave. "None of us can say how long it will take," Israeli President Shimon Peres said after being briefed at the Defence Ministry. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel, which is blockading Gaza, was gathering ground forces at the frontier and would expand its operation "as much as is necessary" to stop the rocket fire and "deal a heavy blow to Hamas". Despite winter rain - weather that could impede any ground incursions - Israeli warplanes pressed on for the fourth day with attacks on Hamas targets, killing 12 Palestinians. more.. e-mail
200 youth kidnapped by the Israeli army and police in Jerusalem in four days
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
Israeli media sources reported on Tuesday that the Israeli army and police have kidnapped at least 200 Palestinian young men from several parts of Jerusalem city during the past four days. [end]
Israeli army attacks Nablus city and imposes curfew in nearby town
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
Palestinian security sources reported that an Israeli army force invaded the Northern West Bank city of Nablus and nearby Hawowra town on Tuesday morning. [end]
Children traumatized as Israeli bombs rain down on Gaza
Adel Zaanoun, Daily Star 12/31/2008
Agence France Presse - GAZA CITY: "We are scared. . . that we can die at any moment," said 11-year-old Mohammad Ayyad, still terrified hours after a massive Israeli bombardment of Hamas government buildings next to his house in the Gaza Strip. Like the rest of Gaza’s children, he has been traumatized by the four-day assault on the coastal enclave that has transformed many areas of the overcrowded territory into piles of rubble and shattered glass. "As they were hitting the center [of Gaza City], we heard an enormous explosion and our house was filled with dust," he said. "We immediately ran toward the ground floor. " His 6-year-old brother Ahmad "peed his pants. We were all scared because the planes are in the sky all the time and we could die at any moment. "Schools in Gaza have been closed since the Israeli strikes began on Saturday and children have passed the time examining the damage caused by the raids. more.. e-mail
IDF ready for ground push, waiting for official go-ahead
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/31/2008
The Israel Defense Forces has finished preparing for a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. However, it will not begin such an incursion until it receives the go-ahead from the government, which is still discussing whether it should first agree to a 48-hour cease-fire intended to prevent further escalation. At least 30 Palestinians - including two sisters aged 5 and 12 - were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza yesterday, and Palestinians fired more than 40 rockets on southern Israel by yesterday evening. A Katyusha rocket hit Be’er Sheva - located 37 kilometers from Gaza - for the first time yesterday. Ofakim and Rahat, both 25 kilometers from Gaza, were also hit by their first Katyushas. Hamas took responsibility for the Katyushas aimed at Be’er Sheva, and its military wing said last night that it plans to fire at Israeli targets that are even further away as long as the IDF operation continues. more.. e-mail
Barak asks cabinet to approve emergency call-up of 2,520 reservists
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 12/31/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak asked the cabinet last night to approve the mobilization of an additional 2,510 reserve forces soldiers by means of an emergency call-up order (Tzav Shmoneh). If approved, they will join the 6,700 reservists whose mobilization the cabinet approved on Sunday. Barak apprised Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel of his decision in writing, and requested approval of the order from the cabinet by phone. The resolution will be submitted to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee within 48 hours, as required by law. The additional reservists will be deployed in the Home Front Command, the Border Police, the Navy, the Logistics Branch, Military Intelligence and Ground Forces headquarters. The Home Front Command will begin training activities today in the communities that were only included in the rocket-strike. . . more.. e-mail
Israel Mounts Third Day of Gaza Raids
Nidal Al-Mughrabi, MIFTAH 12/30/2008
GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes flattened bastions of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip on Monday in the third day of an offensive that has killed more than 325 Palestinians in the deadliest violence in the territory in decades. " We have an all-out war against Hamas and its kind," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in parliament, using a term he has employed in the past to describe a long-term struggle against Israel’s Islamist enemies. Broadening their targets to include the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes bombed the Interior Ministry, which supervises 13,000 members of the group’s security forces. The building had been evacuated and there were no casualties. Israel also targeted the homes of at least two top commanders in Hamas’s armed wing. The commanders were not at home at the time but several family members were killed. Hamas, an Islamist movement that took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, defied the Israeli assaults, the fiercest in the coastal enclave since the 1967 Middle East war. more.. e-mail
Israel Says No Hamas Building will be Left After Gaza Blitz
Agence France Presse, MIFTAH 12/30/2008
JERUSALEM - Israel vowed on Monday to raze every single Hamas structure in the Gaza Strip during its ongoing blitz of the Palestinian enclave ruled by the Islamist movement. " After this operation there will not be a single Hamas building left standing in Gaza, and we plan to change the rules of the game," said armed forces deputy chief of staff Brigadier General Dan Harel, quoted by YNet News. " We are hitting not only terrorists and launchers, but also the whole Hamas government and all its wings," Harel told leaders of Israeli communities that are within range of the rockets fired by Gaza militants. " We are hitting government buildings, production factories, security wings and more," he said. At least 320 Palestinians were killed in three days of air strikes on targets in the besieged Palestinian enclave. Two Israelis were killed by rocket fire from Gaza in the same period. Harel warned that was just the beginning. "The worst is not behind us, it is still ahead of us," he said ominously. more.. e-mail
Jets target Rafah tunnels; 375 now dead, 1,720 injured
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Israeli F16 warplanes fired heavy missiles at the tunnels on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip Tuesday night. According to Israeli TV, 12 heavy missiles landed inside the tunnels. This is the second Israeli attack on the Rafah border and the tunnels beneath the area in as many days. The shelling came hours after the Egyptians announced closure of the crossing following Israeli threats to shell the area. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a speech Tuesday afternoon that his country would not open the Rafah crossing unless it is controlled bythe PA and European monitors. There were no reports of deaths from the latest tunnel attack. The death toll since the Israeli attacks began Saturday has reached 375 with more than 1,720 injured, hundreds seriously so. 5:00pmA lathe workshop belonging to the Ashour family in the Zaitoun neighborhood. . . more.. e-mail
Israel continues Gaza blasts in ’all-out war’
Middle East Online 12/30/2008
GAZA CITY - Warplanes pounded Gaza for a fourth day on Tuesday as tanks stood by to join the "all-out" war Israel vowed, and the Palestinian death toll rose to at least 360. Israel made it clear Monday the offensive was just beginning, even as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to work urgently to end the "unacceptable" violence. Palestinian resistance fighters responded to Israeli air strikes with deadly rocket and mortar fire that has so far killed four Israelis. Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has threatened to launch ground incursions alongside the aerial blitz, said Israel is in "an all-out war with Hamas. " Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon said the offensive’s goal "is to topple Hamas. " With Israeli tanks just metres (yards) away from Gaza, the army decreed the border area a closed military zone -- a move that in the past has been followed by ground operations. more.. e-mail
Hamas warns Israel over Gaza ground invasion
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The armed wing of the Hamas movement threatened Israel on Monday over its alleged plans to launch a ground invasion on the Gaza Strip. The movement’s Al-Qassam Brigades said it would “teach Israeli forces a hard lesson if they dare to invade the Gaza Strip” in a statement sent to Ma’an. Al-Qassam addressed Israel’s leadership in the message, saying, “If you decide to enter Gaza, it will change into a volcano,” adding that fighters would fire missiles even further into Israel. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades said that If Israeli soldiers enter Gaza, “your children will collect your soldiers’ corpses. ”“Hamas and Al-Qassam are in every house. They will attack you from under the debris. If you believe shelling homes will make us retreat, you will learn that your plans are wrong, and we will surprise you,” Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubayda said in a televised speech. more.. e-mail
Hamas vows to hit Israel harder
Al Jazeera 12/31/2008
The warning from Hamas’s armed wing came after Israel said its assault could last "weeks" The armed wing of Hamas has said it will step up its rocket attacks on Israel if the Israeli military continues its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip. "We tell the leaders of the enemy - if you continue with your assault, we will hit with our rockets further than the cities we have hit so far," a masked spokesman for Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a televised statement on Tuesday. "If you think that Hamas and al-Qassam will be crushed, we will rise up from the rubble," he said. The Hamas statement followed Israeli warnings that the onslaught in the Gaza Strip could last for "weeks". More than 380 people have been killed, including at least 61 women and children, in four consecutive days of Israeli bombardment and local hospitals are saying they are unable to cope with any more casualties. more.. e-mail
Army continues is offensive in Gaza; over 385 killed and 1750 wounded
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
The Israeli army continued its offensive against the residents of the Gaza Strip for the fourth day and carried on Tuesday at least 70 strikes, including a recent strike targeting the Rafah-Egypt border, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Death toll exceeded 385 residents, including children, women and elderly while at least 1750 residents were injured. The Qatar-based AL Jazeera reported that the Egyptian Authorities partially closed the Rafah terminal after the Israeli army shelled the border line with a minimum of ten shells. A legislator from Rafah said that the city hundreds of residents started fleeing from Rafah after the Israeli army said that it would shell the areas adjacent to the border with Egypt, especially the tunnels. The Israeli Air Force also shelled several areas in Gaza City and Beit Hanoun; four more residents were killed while medical sources estimated. . . more.. e-mail
Army shelled 56 targets on Tuesday at dawn
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
The Israeli Air Force continued its offensive against the Gaza Strip and shelled overnight and until morning hours of Tuesday 56 targets in different parts of the Gaza Strip. The targeted included Qassam training camps, homes, ambulances, mosques and medics. The shelling also targeted the houses of Qassam Brigades leaders Abdul-Karim Al Shaer and Adnan Rayyan in Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and the house of Raed Sa’ad, a Qassam leader in Jabalia. The army also shelled a sports club in Tal AL Hawa, a police station in Beit Hanoun, Bani Suheila City Council, blacksmith workshop in Gaza, and training grounds for the Al Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza, west of Gaza City and a third camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, soldiers shelled the mosque of Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque in Al Bureij in the central Gaza Strip; this is the sixth mosque that. . . more.. e-mail
Rocket hits Hapoel Ashkelon stadium just before training
Allon Sinai, Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
A Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit the stadium of soccer team Hapoel Ashkelon on Monday, just minutes before the start of a training session. The players and coaching staff were in a protected room when the rocket exploded and training was immediately cancelled. "The rocket hit the penalty box and it was a very scary experience," coach Shiye Feigenbaum said. "There could have been a disaster had the players or the youth departments been on the field at the time. " Following Monday’s intensified rocket fire, Ashkelon decided to accept the Israel Football Association’s invitation and will train at National Stadium in Ramat Gan on Tuesday. The club has also asked to postpone Saturday’s league match against Ness Tziona, and will likely get its wish. Ashkelon’s basketball team was set to renew training on Monday, following a short winter break, but decided to. . . more.. e-mail
Projectile attacks kill Israeli soldier, civilian, injure 34 others
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli medical sources announced on Monday night the death of two Israelis as Palestinian projectiles landed in the Israeli cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ofakim in the western Negev, and Nahal Oz military base. One of the dead was a soldier, killed near the border wall in northern Gaza, and the second was a civilian woman who died in an attack on Ashdod. An additional 34 Israelis were injured in the attacks, and were taken to nearby hospitals. Medical sources said three are seriously injured. In Ashkelon the attacks cut power to the city overnight. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed the shelling at Nahel Oz, while the An-Nasser and Al-Qassam Brigades claimed the launches towards Ashdod in a phone call to Ma’an. Late Monday night five Israeli soldiers were reported injured as Palestinian projectile landed in Ashdod. more.. e-mail
Hamas rockets kill 2 Israelis
Globes' correspondent, Globes Online 12/30/2008
Irit Sheetrit, a 39 year old mother of four, of Ashdod, was killed by a Grad rocket. Hamas rockets killed two Israelis this morning. Irit Sheetrit, a 39 year old mother of four, of Ashdod, was killed by a Grad rocket, and her sister, Ayelet, was seriously wounded. Shortly afterwards, IDF Senior Sergeant Major Lutfi Nasraladin, 38, from the Druze town of Daliyat El-Carmel, was killed at Nahal Oz outside the Gaza Strip, and another soldier was critically wounded. The IDF Home Front Command ordered all schools within 30 kilometers of the Gaza Strip closed today, including Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, Yavne, Ofakim, Sderot, Netivot, and Rahat. Schools reopened after the Hannukah holiday. The Israel Air Force (IAF) and Navy continued hitting Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip, including Hamas government offices, Hamas training. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian military groups continue projectile fire at Israel despite days of airstrikes
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian military groups in the Gaza Strip continued to launch projectiles towards Israeli towns on Tuesday in retaliation for the Israeli air strikes that have now claimed 368 lives. Al-Qassam - Hamas’ Brigades reported to Ma’an that they fired a number of projectiles at the Israeli town of Ashdod Tuesday morning. Al-Quds Brigades - Islamic Jihad’s Brigades reported that they fired three homemade projectiles at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, and two more at Sderot. An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades - The Popular Resistance Committees Brigades said their fighters launched five mortar shells at the Israeli military post of Nahal ‘Oz and earlier projectiles towards Ashdod. “Eagles of Palestine” - A previously unknown military group calling themselves the “Eagles of Palestine” claimed to have fired two projectiles at Sderot. more.. e-mail
VIDEO -Grad rocket lands in Kiryat Malachi
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/30/2008
(Video) Attack marks first time city and its surrounding area targeted by Palestinian gunmen in Gaza; another rocket hits north of Beersheba near Rahat. One person suffers shock as rocket lands in Ashdod area. At least 30 rockets fired toward Israel since late morning hours; IAF jets hit underground tunnels in Rafah area - VIDEO - A Grad rocket fired from northern Gaza landed in the city of Kiryat Malachi on Tuesday afternoon. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The attack marked the first time that the city and its surrounding areas have been targeted. Kiryat Malachi is located 17 kilometers (11 miles) northeast of Ashkelon and 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Israel’s border with Gaza. Several were fired from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening. One of them exploded in the Ashdod area, without causing damage. more.. e-mail
Ashkelon gets rocket tracking system
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) installed a new innovative command-and-control system in the Ashkelon Municipality that is capable of tracking and locating Katyusha rockets that hit the city. The system was installed last week to be tested in a Home Front exercise that was held ahead of Operation Cast Lead launched against Hamas on Saturday. The system is called MC4 - Command and Control Communication Center. The system was developed by the IAI’s Malam Missile and Space Division. The system, the IAI said, uses GPS as well as other sensors and cameras to identify rocket launches and the targets that they hit inside the city. "It helps the emergency services identify the location that was hit and then the municipality knows which infrastructure is there and which forces it needs to dispatch," IAI explained. more.. e-mail
Rockets return to Sderot
Globes' correspondent, Globes Online 12/30/2008
Prime Minister Olmert said the current operations were the first phase of several phases that were authorized by the government. 4 Kassam rockets landed in Sderot. One person was lightly injured, and several suffered shock. One of the rockets landed on a house and caused damage. This morning, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the operation against Hamas in Gaza was far from over. At a meeting today with president Shimon Peres, Olmert told Peres that military is currently executing the first stage of several stages that have been authorized by the political-security cabinet. Olmert added that the political echelons are giving total support to the full range of Israel Defense Force activities and the commanders to continue and fulfill the objectives of the operation as the government has defined them. more.. e-mail
School canceled in Beersheba due to rocket attack
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/31/2008
Following consultation with defense officials, Home Front Command after first rocket fired from Gaza lands in southern city, municipality decides not to open education institutions. Kindergarten hit in attack; 34 people suffer shock - The Beersheba Municipality announced Tuesday night that the southern city’s schools would not be opened Wednesday morning, including special education institutions. The decision was made following a consultation with security officials, the Home Front Command and Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai. Some 43,000 children and youths are expected to stay at home in light of the decision. Tuesday evening saw a first Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip land in Beersheba. The missile hit an empty kindergarten, causing damage to the building and to a nearby house. more.. e-mail
Extra help for handicapped in rocket range
Ruth Sinai, Ha’aretz 12/31/2008
Social workers and soldiers are going house to house to ascertain the needs of elderly and handicapped residents of areas within rocket range from the Gaza Strip. They are also making sure they have people there to help them, and if necessary, they have been doing their food shopping and other errands. The project has been underway since Saturday, when the Israel Defense Forces began its assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Although local authorities and the Home Front Command have been making an effort to avoid evacuating people with special needs from their homes, more than 60 people with severe developmental disabilities were evacuated from an institution at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha on the Gaza border and relocated to another institution in Dimona. Several dozen people with developmental disabilities were moved from Ashkelon to hostels in the center of the country. more.. e-mail
Israelis mourn rocket victim -- and unite against Hamas
Ben Lynfield, The Independent 12/31/2008
Prayers by a rabbi fused with the anguished moans and sobbing in front of the corpse of Irit Shetreet. Her death from a rocket attack on the town of Ashdod has reinforced a sense among Israelis that the country is waging a just military campaign in Gaza despite the scale of the death and destruction on the other side. "Ima, Ima," (mother, mother), Chen Shetreet, 20, one of the dead woman’s four children, cried as the remains of her mother -- killed by shrapnel while on her way home from a fitness centre -- were borne yesterday to burial area number 57 of the Ashdod cemetery. Ms Shetreet was one of four Israelis who have been killed by rocket fire since the bombardment of Gaza began on Saturday. More than 365 Palestinians have been killed. The stated purpose of the bombings, which have been overwhelmingly backed by the Israeli public despite the emergence of calls for restraint. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli forces impose curfew on village near Salfit
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces imposed a curfew on the northern West Bank town of Kafr Haris, west of Salfit, on Tuesday, local sources told Ma’an. Israeli soldiers claimed that Palestinian youths from the town had hurled stones at Israeli vehicles on the main road near the town. According to sources within the town, soldiers then deployed in the area and prevented the movement of residents. [end]
Israeli forces arrest three young brothers in Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces arrested three brothers from the Ar-Rajabi family in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, relatives said. Forces ransacked their home before taking the three brothers into custody; they were identified as 21-year-old Imad, 19-year-old Salah and 17-year-old Salih Ar-Rajabi. A fourth brother told Ma’an that soldiers ransacked their home in a dawn raid before arresting his three siblings. [end]
Palestine Today 301208
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Tuesday December 30th 2008. Death toll 363 as Israeli army air raids continues to pound Gaza, while in the West Bank Palestinians protest those attacked, these Stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources reported that 2 Palestinian children were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a home located in the northern part of the Gaza strip on Tuesday morning. The sources identified the two children as Lamma Hamdan (12), and her sister Hayiah (4). Meanwhile Israel expanded its shelling by Tuesday midday to reach a number of homes and other civilian targets across the Palestinian coastal region. more.. e-mail
Israeli boy, 3, lightly wounded by Palestinian stone-throwers
Jonathan Lis and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
An Israeli boy, 3, was lightly wounded on Tuesday when Palestinians hurled stones at vehicle he was riding in near Zif junction, in the West Bank. Defense officials said Tuesday that they had thwarted two attempted terror attacks in the West Bank. Attacks of the sort have grown more frequent over the past few days, as Palestinians gather amasse to protest Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian youth was arrested on Tuesday after attempting to stab a soldier near the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus, Army Radio reported. Earlier Tuesday, a Palestinian man was arrested in Beit-Iba checkpoint concealing five kilograms of explosives on his body. Also, an East Jerusalem resident was severely wounded i clashes with IDF forces after he reportedly threw a firebomb at the soldiers near the Qalandiya checkpoint. more.. e-mail
Israeli Navy Attacks Humanitarian Aid Boat en Route to Gaza
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
An international humanitarian aid boat filled with medical supplies and surgeons has been attacked by the Israeli navy. According to the Free Gaza movement, the boat called The Dignity has been rammed by an Israeli gunship, and live rounds were fired around the boat, as of 6:45 am Tuesday morning. The group’s media spokesperson said that she had been in contact with the passengers on the boat, which include a former US Congressmember and a Cyprian Member of Parliament, but just before cell phone contact was cut off, heavy gunfire was heard in the background. No one had been injured at the time, but since contact was cut off with the boat, it’s unknown whether anyone has been injured. In a press release, the Free Gaza movement stated, "Contrary to international maritime law, the Israelis are actively preventing the Dignity from approaching Gaza or finding safe haven in either Egypt or Lebanon. more.. e-mail
IOF gunboats assault 'Dignity' boat, damage its bow
Palestinian Information Center 12/30/2008
BEIRUT, (PIC)-- An Israeli navy gunboat on Tuesday deliberately crashed into the front part of the "Dignity" boat that was carrying international sympathizers and doctors from Cyprus to Gaza along with medical supplies and forced it to retreat. Media sources on board the "Dignity" reported that the Israeli occupation forces’ naval units blocked entry of "dignity" into Palestinian territorial waters and destroyed its bow. Amjad Al-Shawa, spokesman for the network of private institutions, said from aboard "Dignity" that a number of IOF gunboats were surrounding it in international waters. He added that "Dignity" was forced to divert its destination and was seeking the nearest possible harbor in view of the damage. He warned that lives of the crew and members of the team on board were in danger, and held the IOF fully responsible for their safety. more.. e-mail
As Israeli shelling continue death toll in Gaza stands at 363
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
Palestinian medical sources reported that 2 Palestinian children were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a home located in the northern part of the Gaza strip on Tuesday morning. [end]
The Israeli attacks on Gaza
The Guardian 12/30/2008
Day by day - photos and maps [end]
VIDEOS - Two Gaza rockets strike Be’er Sheva area for first time
Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
Earlier, one man sustained shrapnel wounds, three others suffered shock as rocket slammed into house in Sderot - ANALYSIS / Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation in Gaza - Hamas hopes it can inflict losses that would cause the IDF to flee Gaza with its tail between its legs - By Aluf Benn - ANALYSIS / Israel’s operation in Gaza is entering its problematic phase - The longer the operation continues, the more trouble Israel’s leadership will have staying unified - By Amos Harel - David Grossman / Is Israel too imprisoned in the familiar ceremony of war? - Stop. Hold your fire. For once, act against the usual response, in contrast to the logic of belligerence - By David Grossman - Amira Hass / Bombing keeps Gazans awake and fearful of who will be next. . . more.. e-mail
Widening range, rockets strike Beersheba kindergarten
Jpost.com Staff, Yaakov Katz And Abe Selig, Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday night fired at least two rockets at Beersheba, adding some 187,000 residents of the largest city in the Negev into the ever-widening range of the rockets attacks. There were no reports of casualties in the attack but one of the rockets landed in a kindergarten, causing damage. Rescue forces were searching for the impact site of another rocket. Shortly afterwards the army announced that The IAF had bombed the Grad launcher as well as the terrorist cell responsible for the Beersheba rocket attacks. Military sources reported that the targets were hit. Meanwhile, one person was lightly wounded by shrapnel when two Grad rockets impacted in the center of Ashkelon. The rocket caused extensive damage to nearby businesses and vehicles. more.. e-mail
Armed groups fire more projectiles at Israeli towns
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The militant wings of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Fatah movement claimed responsibility for launching three mortar shells at Israeli tanks stationed behind the Sufa gate, east of Rafah on Tuesday. The two wings, PFLP’s Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility for the shelling in a statement, which said the attacks “came in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. ”Separately, Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for firing a Russian-made Grad missile on the Israeli city of Ashkelon. [end]
Four Israelis injured by homemade projectile in Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Four Israelis were injured on Tuesday morning as a homemade projectile launched from the Gaza Strip landed in the Israeli town of Sderot in the western Negev, Israeli medical sources said. According to Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom, one of the four injured sustained scrapes to the face from projectile shrapnel, while another three suffered from shock. On Monday night, an Israeli soldier and a woman were killed and 32 injured, including three seriously, as a result of a barrage of Grad missiles and mortar shells, which hit Ashdod and the western Negev. [end]
Palestinian rockets fall in vicinity of Beersheba; no casualties
Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
Rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday night impacted near Beersheba, the furthest Eastward point that such rockets have reached so far. The rockets landed in open areas, causing neither casualties nor damage, Channel 2 reported. [end]
State wants more time to fortify Sderot schools
Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 12/30/2008
State Prosecutor’s Office asks High Court to grant yet another extension for construction of new fortified schools in bombarded city, says municipal bid for project ongoing - The State Prosecutor’s Office petitioned the High Court of Justice on Tuesday, asking it for yet another six months in order to fortify school buildings in Sderot. Six months ago, the court ordered the State to build six new fortified schools in the rocket ridden city, but according to state officials, the construction is being delayed. The State alleged that the construction tender was only recently filed with the City of Sderot, which was tasked with carrying out the court’s original decision, and that the contractors have yet to enter their bids. more.. e-mail
Rockets reach Beersheba, cause damage
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/30/2008
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis join list of rocket-stricken communities as Grad missile explodes in empty kindergarten, causing damage; 34 people suffer shock. Air Force targets launching cell. Man lightly injured by rocket in Ashkelon - Beersheba joined the list of rocket-stricken communities Tuesday evening as an air raid siren sounded across the southern city, followed by several explosions. A Grad missile landed in an empty kindergarten in the city, causing damage. Thirty-four people were treated for shock at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. The Israel Air Force managed to locate the terrorist cell which launched the Grad rocket. The cell was located in the northern Gaza Strip and attacked from the air by an IAF jet. Both the launching pads and the cell members were hit. more.. e-mail
IAF pummels Gaza smuggling tunnels
Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
IAF aircraft on Tuesday evening were bombing smuggling tunnels along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt. Earlier, Al Jazeera reported that Egypt had closed the border crossing at Rafah for fear of an impending Israeli air strike. The army confirmed that it was striking tunnels along the border. Channel 10 reported that "many" jets were participating in the second wave of attacks on tunnels along the Gaza Egypt border near Rafah since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday. On Sunday some 40 smuggling tunnels were bombarded by the air force. RELATEDslideshow: Gaza op, Day IV Earlier Monday, the IAF struck two targets in Gaza City and the city of Khan Yunis, located in the south of the Strip. Army Radio reported that a Hamas police station was one of the targets. more.. e-mail
Israel prepared for ground invasion to last several weeks
Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli army is prepared to launch a ground invasion that is expected to last several weeks, announced Deputy to the Israeli Defense Minister Matan Vilnai Tuesday. The Israeli army has launched hundreds of airstrikes at the Gaza Strip damaging, according to one Hamas spokesperson, at least 95% of the government infrastructure, killing close to 400 and injuring some 2,000 individuals. Vilani said to the media that the Israeli army is prepared to deliver a painful blow and will prevent Palestinian resistance fighters from launching a single additional projectile into Israeli towns. He did not rule out, however, that more projectiles would land before the strike is successful. In preparation for the invasion Israel has declared all areas in a 30 kilometer radius around the strip a “special situation” area. more.. e-mail
Deserted streets and fear as Israel demolishes Gaza
Rami Almeghari, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
As Israel’s relentless bombardment of the occupied Gaza Strip has entered its fourth day, the number of dead and injured has exceeded 2,000. Speaking via Skype, The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari described the situation near his home in al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip:I am in al-Maghazi refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip. This afternoon Israeli drones targeted a house in al-Maghazi with three missiles. Fortunately there were no casualties. But unfortunately there have been many casualties elsewhere in Gaza where they have targeted houses and mosques. I went out of the house to deal with some urgent matters today. But movement is really risky right now. Anyone who moves could be a potential target for the Israeli warplanes that are buzzing overhead all the time. You don’t know what the next target is. more.. e-mail
New Israeli air raids on Gaza
Rami Almeghari&Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/30/2008
Israeli warplanes carried out on Tuesday a series of new air strikes on the Gaza Strip, wounding three Palestinian residents including one critically. According to witnesses, Israeli air crafts bombarded early this morning a Hamas-run police station and a dairy in Gaza city, causing great damages. Also, the warplanes attacked a workshop in the city as well as a Hamas post in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. Also, three Israeli missiles landed on another Hamas post in the nearby Beit Hanoun city. Renewal of the Israeli air strikes came shortly after the Israeli warplanes shelled a third Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. In addition, the Israeli raids hit another target in the Buraij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. With these new attacks, death toll reached 368 as the number of injuries rose tp 1700 , according to medics. more.. e-mail
Barak asks gov’t for more reservists
Yaakov Katz, Ap And Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday evening asked the government to give the IDF authority to call 2,510 more reservists in emergency call-up. The reserve soldiers expected to be called up are from the Home Front Command, Border Police, Logistics, Navy and the Ground Force Command. Earlier, officials in the defense establishment recommended to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to suspend military operations against Hamas in Gaza for 48 hours and during that time to review a number of possible ceasefire solutions for Operation Cast Lead. Senior Israeli ministers were discussing the proposal Tuesday night. According to reports, if the unilateral ceasefire were to fail, Israel would launch a ground offensive. Olmert reportedly opposed suspending the operation while Barak was weighing the idea. The recommendation, disclosed by defense sources on Tuesday evening,. . . more.. e-mail
IOF intensified air raids on Gaza continue unabated for the 4th day running
Palestinian Information Center 12/30/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces continued their devastating air raids on the Gaza Strip for the fourth day running on Tuesday as more casualties were suffered among the Palestinian civilians other than the vast material destruction. Local sources in Breij refugee in central Gaza Strip reported that IOF warplanes dropped tons of explosives and bombs on a five-storey mosque late Monday that completely destroyed it and damaged nearby houses. They said that the mosque included a kindergarten and a small charitable desalination plant. The IOF aerial raids had destroyed seven other mosques in the savage aerial bombardment that left 360 martyrs and 1700 wounded, many of whom are in serious conditions. The IOF F-16s late Monday night intensified their raids on Gaza city targeting official and sports facilities dropping a big number of bombs in the course of five minutes. more.. e-mail
The original plan isn’t the only one
Yonathan Lerner, Ha’aretz 12/31/2008
Until yesterday, the fourth day of the attacks on Gaza, it looked like an ongoing war of attrition. Let’s hope that it’s not, but at least according to what the media report, there is no sign of an attempt to stop the exchanges of fire by other means. It is therefore possible to expect the final results of the operation to differ drastically from what the leaders planned when they began. I experienced something similar at the beginning of the year, when I organized two simulations at the Institute for National Security Studies with my friend Shlomo Brom, a former director of the Israel Defense Forces General Staff strategic planning division. Both simulations examined the issue of a halt to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and in both, Israeli governments had difficulty reaching the goals they had set at the beginning. more.. e-mail
Gaza blitzkrieg follows Israeli tradition of pre-election muscle-flexing
Daily Star 12/31/2008
Analysis - RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: Israel’s stated goals for its massive bombardment of the Gaza Strip looked no closer to being achieved on Tuesday, the fourth day of a devastating offensive dubbed "Operation Cast Lead. "Despite heavy damage to Hamas’ infrastructure and the enormous loss of life inflicted on Gaza, the Islamic resistance organization continues to fire rockets at Israel, with four Israelis killed to date. The Palestinian death toll currently stands at at least 368, with about 1,400 wounded. The UN released figures several days ago stating that at a conservative estimate more than 50 of the dead were civilian, and expected the figure to rise within the coming days. Israel’s stated goals that its massive aerial campaign was meant to stop Hamas and its allies launching rockets at Israel have so far failed to materialize. more.. e-mail
Throngs at Ashdod funeral mark ’war against Israeli normalcy’
Yair Ettinger, Ha’aretz 12/31/2008
The big school in Ashdod where the ceremony took place has a thick concrete ceiling, and the building was overflowing with people on Tuesday afternoon. Huge crowds came to say goodbye to Irit Sheetrit, who was killed Monday by a rocket. Many people had no choice but to gather outside, and there was crying when Sheetrit’s body was brought out. But what really bothered Ashdod police commander Daniel Ohayon was the possibility of a warning siren. Before the eulogies he took the microphone and told the crowd what to do in case of rocket fire, and the speakers were asked to keep their speeches short - this is how the first funeral in the current round of bloodletting in Ashdod started. Irit Sheetrit left a husband and four children as well as thousands who knew her and her family. more.. e-mail
Druze soldier killed by Gaza mortar shell laid to rest
Eli Ashkenazi, Ha’aretz 12/31/2008
Yesterday morning, 4-year-old Asul learned that her father, Warrant Officer Lutfi Nasereldeen, had been killed. "Since then, she has not stopped crying," said her uncle Hadi, who was also in tears. Asul will celebrate her fifth birthday tomorrow, and "Lutfi was so much looking forward to it," said a close friend, Danny Maklada. "He was going to come and surprise his daughter. She was his entire life, his soul. " Nasereldeen, 38, of Daliat al-Carmel, was a career army officer. On Monday, his Golani Brigade unit was transferred to the Nahal Oz Base near the Gaza Strip. The soldiers were preparing for a possible ground operation in Gaza when a mortar shell launched from the Strip hit him. His grandfather, Amal, a Likud Knesset member from 1977-88, described Nasereldeen as "a man with an academic education, a cultured man, who loved and was loved by everyone. more.. e-mail
Ashkenazi: ’Difficult times’ await us
Yaacov Katz And Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
"Difficult times are awaiting us; I am sure we will overcome them as well," IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. -Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said on the fourth day of Operation Cast Lead. Post’s David Horovitz: One hopes realistic goals, exit strategies arranged - Speaking at a joint press conference Tuesday afternoon with President Shimon Peres, Ashkenazi praised the IDF and security forces participating in Operation Cast Lead, which he said was aimed at "creating a better reality for the residents of southern Israel. " He also thanked the general Israeli public for supporting the operation, and expressed his appreciation of Israel’s southern residents, who are "living under constant threat" and providing important support to the operation, "which extends our endurance. " Ashkenazi said he was "very pleased with the operation at this point. more.. e-mail
Israel vows more pain in Gaza as death toll mounts
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 12/31/2008
GAZA CITY: The Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip continued for the fourth day on Tuesday, with Palestinian casualties - including children - mounting amid Israeli statements that the onslaught will be a drawn-out one. The armed wing of Hamas on Tuesday warned the Jewish state that if its bloody offensive continued, the group would send retaliatory rockets deeper into Israel. "We tell the leaders of the enemy - if you continue with your assault, we will hit with our rockets further than the cities we have hit so far," a spokesman for Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in televised comments. "If you think that Hamas and Al-Qassam will be crushed, we will rise up from the rubble," he said. "If you decide to enter the Gaza Strip, the land in Gaza will burn under your feet and it will explode under your soldiers and Gaza children will collect parts of your bodies and your tanks from the streets," he added. more.. e-mail
Palestinian death toll rises to 325 as Israeli strikes continue
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and Ewen MacAskill in Washington, The Guardian 12/29/2008
guardian. co. uk The toll of Palestinians killed by Israel’s three-day bombing campaign in Gaza today rose to at least 325 as Israeli jets bombed a university’s science laboratories and hit the interior ministry in a widening series of air strikes. The Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak - who has already said his government does not want another ceasefire with the Islamist Hamas movement - said his army was fighting a "war to the bitter end". Israel declared the border area around Gaza a closed military zone which, together with preparations for a call-up of thousands of reservists, could suggest a large ground invasion is planned next. Barak said the military campaign would be "widened and deepened as needed". The number of civilians killed in the fighting continued to rise. The UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian refugees and has large programmes in Gaza,. . . more.. e-mail
Hamas: 120 police dead, 95% of security buildings demolished and hundreds of civilians slain
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Gaza- Ma’an - Most of the Israeli airstrikes hit Gazans at work, not activists launching rockets as Israel has reported, said Spokesman for the de facto Interior Ministry Ihab Al-Ghusein in a Monday statement. Those killed in government buildings were ministry employees doing their best to help the people of the besieged Gaza Strip, said Al-Ghusein in a Gaza City press conference Monday afternoon. Al-Ghusein confirmed that Gaza will accept any and all aid from Arab states, and urged Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to aid could come into the Strip. The aid is desperately needed, he added, because Israel has bombed mosques, houses, schools and university campuses. He called on Palestinians to unite, and promised that no political prisoners from Fatah or any other faction were in de facto government custody. more.. e-mail
Five sisters killed while they slept
Donald Macintyre and Said Ghazali, The Independent 12/30/2008
The five Palestinian sisters were fast asleep when a night-time Israeli airstrike hit the next-door mosque in Gaza. One of the walls collapsed on to their small asbestos-roofed home and they were all killed in their beds. The eldest sister, Tahrir, was 17 years old, the youngest, Jawaher, just four. "They grow up day after day and night after night. Within a second, I have lost them," the girls’ father, Anwar Balousha, said yesterday. The 37-year-old, along with another three of his children, was himself injured in the attack on the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp. The funerals of the sisters -- Tahrir, 17; Ikram, 15; Samar, 12; Dina eight; and Jawaher, four -- were attended by family members and thousands of mourners. But with space running out in the cemetery, the five girls had to be buried in just three graves, one for the eldest and the others forced to share. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinians killed near Ramallah in clashes with Israeli soldiers
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Ramallah – Ma’an – Two protesters were left dead as young Palestinians in the West Bank demonstrating against the violence in Gaza met Israeli troops patrolling the streets in an attempt to force calm in the area. A young Palestinian man was killed during Sunday evening clashes with Israeli forces in the central West Bank town of Silwad, east of Ramallah. Local and medical sources identified the victim as 17-year-old Muhammad Hamid. He was transferred to Ramallah Hospital where medics announced he had sustained three gunshot wounds in his abdomen and chest. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Earlier in a separate incident, another young man 20-year-old Arafat Al-Khawaja, was killed and six others were injured. Muhammad Al-Khawaja, also 20-years-old, was hit by a bullet to the head and medical sources in the governmental hospital in Ramallah described his condition as critical. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Palestinian stabs 4 in Modi’in Illit
Judy Siegel-itzkovich And Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 12/29/2008
A Palestinian laborer stabbed and wounded four Israelis Monday in the West Bank settlement of Modi’in Illit before he was shot and wounded by a volunteer medic, police and rescue officials said. The morning attack in the haredi community, located just over the Green Line adjacent to Modi’in, left one victim seriously wounded, and three others lightly hurt. The Palestinian assailant, who had worked in the settlement for over a decade, was shot and seriously wounded by Kobi Rosenstein, a settlement security official who volunteers with Magen David Adom, the rescue service said. Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the stabbing was a "spontaneous" act in response to Israel’s three-day aerial offensive against Hamas targets in Gaza. Initial reports of a second attack in the community an hour after the first were unfounded, he added. more.. e-mail
Three Israelis killed as Hamas launches revenge attacks
Ben Lynfield in Jerusalem and Anne Penketh, The Independent 12/30/2008
Rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip took the lives of three Israelis yesterday, the highest toll since Israel began its devastating bombardment of Gaza on Saturday, while the Israeli Prime Minister’s spokesman warned the conflict could "get worse before it gets better. " In their deepest missile attack yet, Palestinian fighters struck Ashdod, 25 miles south of Tel Aviv yesterday evening, killing one woman and wounding five other people. Police spokeswoman Sarit Philipson said the woman was killed at a bus station and Israeli media reports said she had alighted from her car after hearing the siren that warns of incoming rockets. Another person was killed by a mortar and five people wounded during a separate evening attack on the southern Israeli community of Nahal Oz, while in the morning a medium-range Grad missile fired from the Gaza Strip slammed into a construction. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli forces arrest four Palestinians near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces arrested on Monday morning four Palestinian youths in the northern West Bank village of Madama, south of Nablus. Member of the village’s local council Eyhab Tahsein said that 12 Israeli military vehicles stormed the village at 2:00 am, ransacked several houses and arrested four youths. Israeli forces also entered the Yamen Educational Center and confiscated a computer, the said. Tahsein named the arrestees as 21-year-old Muhammad Al-Qit, 20-year-old Yasser Nassar, 21-year-old Muhammad Nassar and 22-year-old Kamal Nassar. [end]
Soldiers detain three Palestinians north of Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Hebron – Ma’an – The West Bank-based Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said Israeli soldiers detained several residents of a northern village near Hebron on Monday, according to a statement. Soldiers raided the area at dawn on Monday, seizing several Palestinians in the Hebron-area village of Beit Umar, the statement said. The group identified the seized as 20-year-olds Issa Muhammad and IssaAwad, as well as 21-year-old Yousef Ali Musleh Awad. Residents also claimed that Israeli soldiers broke into several houses in the area. [end]
Four Israelis injured in stabbing attacks
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an/Agencies - Four Israelis were injured by Palestinian attackers in the ultra-Orthodox town of Kiryat Sefer, according to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. Three appeared to have been stabbed by one person, while a fourth was found wounded, apparently from a separate Palestinian stabber. One of the Israelis is seriously injured, according to the newspaper. [end]
A Palestinian man attacks and injures four settlers near Ramallah
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/29/2008
Israeli sources reported that a Palestinian man attacked a group of settlers in Kryiat Sfer, an Israeli illegal settlement, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, injuring four on Monday. [end]
The Israeli army kidnaps ten Palestinian civilians from several parts in the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/29/2008
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army attacked several West Bank communities on Monday morning and kidnapped at least 10 Palestinian civilians. In Hebron city, in the southern part of the West Bank, Israeli troops attacked several part of the city then kidnapped two local youth, local sources in the city identified the two as Issa Awad, 20, and Yousif Awad, 21. Meanwhile four civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during an attack targeting the village of Bil’in located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Sources there said that troops invaded the city, searched homes then took the four to unknown locations. In addition, four civilians were taken by the Israeli forces during an attack on the village of Madama, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Monday morning. more.. e-mail
Israeli wounded in stabbing attack
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 12/29/2008
Terror rears its head in West Bank settlement in response to Gaza op: Israeli lightly wounded when Palestinian stabs him in neck - An Israeli citizen was lightly wounded Monday in a stabbing attack near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim. The man was evacuated to the hospital by Magen David Adom (MDA) and the IDF has launched a search for the terrorist. The attack occurred when a Palestinian arrived at the settlement and stabbed one of the settlers in the neck, injuring him lightly. Soldiers and MDA paramedics were alerted to the scene. Earlier four people were injured in a stabbing attack in the community of Kiryat Sefer, near the central city of Modiin. An Arab handyman armed with a sharp tool began running wild and stabbing people on the fourth floor of an apartment building. An initial IDF investigation revealed that at around 8 am the laborer. . . more.. e-mail
Man hurt in Palestinian stabbing attack at West Bank settlement
Amos Harel and Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
A man was lightly wounded on Monday evening after a Palestinian stabbed him in the head at the West Bank settlement of Kedumim. Police suspect the Kedumim resident was stabbed in protest of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Earlier on Monday, a Palestinian laborer stabbed three Israelis in the ultra-Orthodox town of Kiryat Sefer, which lies near Modi’in. One of the wounded was reported in serious condition. Another Israeli was later found wounded after suffering stab wounds at the hands of another Palestinian. The first Palestinian stabber, who works as an air conditioner technician, attempted to flee following the attack. Armed civilians nearby opened fire and wounded him moderately before taking him into custody. Israeli security forces began combing the area in search for a Palestinian suspected of being an accomplice to the attack. more.. e-mail
Senior Jihad man, 14 others die in IDF strikes
Senior Jihad man, 14 others die in IDF strikes, YNetNews 12/29/2008
Ziad Abu Tir, fourteen people killed in strikes on northern Gaza; terror organizations prepare for ground incursion, vow to send out ’hundreds of car bombs and suicide bombers’. Over 60 rockets fired at Israel - Gaza under fire: Palestinian source in the strip reported Monday evening of several IAF strikes across the strip. Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck two targets in northern Gaza, both near the home of one of Hamas’senior military wing operatives. News agencies reported that at least 20 people were killed and dozens were injured. Another strike in the Northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya hit the home of a senior member of the group’s recruiting branch; and a third took out a truck carrying Grad rockets in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Jabalya. According to the IDF, the truck was either headed towards a hiding place or to launching pads. more.. e-mail
IDF: Hamas’ military wing intact
YNetNews 12/29/2008
Army preparing for next stage of Operation Cast Lead; senior officers support launching of ground incursion in Gaza to substantiate Israeli deterrence, say Hamas still capable of carrying out extensive ops - Despite the Israeli Air Force’s massive strikes throughout the Gaza Strip in the last three days, military sources estimated Monday that Hamas’ military wing was still intact and that it was capable of carrying out substantial operations in the near future. Meanwhile, the IDF was preparing Monday for the next stage of Operation Cast Lead, which will see ground forces entering the Strip. Large forces and heavy machinery are already stationed near Gaza, and the IDF is holding deliberations aimed at determining the nature of the ground incursion. The army is inclined to broaden the operation in order to boost Israel’s deterrence vis-Ă -vis Hamas. more.. e-mail
Israel in ’all-out war against Hamas’
Reuters, The Independent 12/29/2008
Israeli air strikes flattened bastions of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip today in the third day of an offensive that has killed more than 325 Palestinians in the deadliest violence in the territory in decades. "We have an all-out war against Hamas and its kind," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in parliament, using a term he has employed in the past to describe a long-term struggle against Israel’s Islamist enemies. Broadening their targets to include the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes bombed the Interior Ministry, which supervises 13,000 members of the group’s security forces. The building had been evacuated and there were no casualties. Israel also targeted the homes of at least two top commanders in Hamas’s armed wing. The commanders were not at home at the time but several family members were killed. more.. e-mail
IAF strikes close to Hamas chief’s home
Globes Online 12/29/2008
The IAF made 40 attacks overnight. On the third day of Operation Cast Lead, Hamas sources reported that Israel Air Force (IAF) planes struck a target near the home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who used the building as an office. The IAF made 40 attacks overnight, mostly on weapons warehouses. Targets included the Islamic University, where Hamas set up a weapons development and production laboraties. "Al Jazeera" reported last night that a senior Hamas official, Ahmed Fayed, a commander in the Izz al-Din al-Kassam brigades, was killed in one of the attacks. The home in Khan Yunis of another military commander, Mohammad Sharak, was also hit. Palestinians reports that there were no casualties in that strike. The IDF has declined to confirm the report. The IDF Home Front Command last night ordered that air raid shelters in Beersheva,. . . more.. e-mail
IAF strikes senior Hamas, Islamic Jihad commanders
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
The Israel Air Force conducted dozens of sorties over the Gaza Strip on the third day of Israel’s military operations. Forty Palestinians were killed in yesterday’s actions, bringing the total number of casualties since the operation began Saturday to 350. At least 51 of the dead were civilians. A great deal of yesterday’s actions were directed against rocket-launching teams, particularly in the northern part of the Strip. However, poor weather hampered efforts to pinpoint targets and Hamas managed to launch more than 60 rockets. One Israeli was killed and 10 were injured during the attacks. Yesterday afternoon the air force hit a Hamas truck carrying dozens of Grad missiles in the Jabalya refugee camp north of Gaza City. The Israel Defense Force said Hamas activists were attempting to bring the rockets to a new hiding place out of concern the previous place had been identified. more.. e-mail
Egyptian forces kill one Palestinian wound 15 others
Palestinian Information Center 12/29/2008
RAFAH, (PIC)-- The Egyptian forces stationed at the Rafah border crossing killed a Palestinian man when a group of Palestinian managed to make an opening in the border fence and bring 12 trucks loaded with aid into the Strip. Local sources told PIC correspondent that the Egyptian forces killed Muhammad Ismail al-Kurd, 21, and wounded 15 others when they opened intensive fire at a group of Palestinians who managed to breach the border fence. The Egyptian forces fired at a group of Palestinians near the border fence after the Israeli occupation airforce destroyed 40 tunnels used for smuggling essential goods to the besieged Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said that a number of Palestinians managed to make a hole in the border fence and let 12 stranded trucks at the Egyptian side and loaded with medical aid into the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
War games predict look of Gaza ground operation
Uri Blau, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi believes that any occupation of Gaza by the army must end as soon as possible, according to an officer who participated in discussions and war games related to such an operation. At the same time, however, Ashkenazi fears that if the operation ends too quickly, the IDF will only have to go back into the Gaza Strip later. The officer added that Ashkenazi seeks to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians, but recognizes that this cannot be prevented completely. One possibility examined during the war games was that international aid organizations might stop supplying Palestinian civilians’ basic needs in areas where the IDF is operating. This would require Israel to do so in their stead. In that case, Israel might reestablish a scaled-down version of the Civil Administration that governed Gaza in the pre-Oslo era. more.. e-mail
Now Israel declares ’war to the bitter end’
Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Independent 12/30/2008
Israel’s defence Minister, Ehud Barak, warned yesterday that his country was engaged in "a war to the bitter end" with Hamas as a third day of fierce bombing brought the estimated Gaza death toll to 320. Two Israelis were killed in retaliatory rocket barrages last night as Hamas struck deep inside Israeli territory. Mr Barak’s declaration to the Knesset -- the Israeli parliament -- came as Israel continued its comprehensive bombardment of Hamas targets after overnight aerial attacks that devastated large parts of the Interior Ministry and the Islamic University. Amid signs of increased international restiveness about the Palestinian death toll, Mr Barak insisted that "we have nothing against Gaza residents" but added: "We are engaged in an all-out war against Hamas and its proxies. This operation will expand and deepen as much as needed. more.. e-mail
IDF: We’re ready to go all the way
YNetNews 12/30/2008
Army prepares for ground incursion, Air Force chief says Hamas must understand Israel ’ready to go all the way’; IDF pounds Gaza targets overnight, at least 10 Palestinians reportedly killed, scores wounded in strikes - The army is "ready to go all the way," Israel’s Air Force chief said Monday night, as operation "Cast Lead" entered its fourth day. IDF officials are waiting for the green light to embark on a ground incursion, which may be unavoidable in light of the latest escalation in fighting. The Air Force attacked Palestinian targets across the Gaza Strip overnight, with eyewitnesses reporting that fighter jets dropped at least 16 bombs on Hamas government buildings and security compounds, destroying them completely. At least 10 people were reportedly killed in the strikes and more than 40 were injured. more.. e-mail
PRC spokesman urges IDF troops to ’fight like men’
Ali Waked, YNetNews 12/30/2008
Gaza group’s spokesman urges Israel to launch ground incursion; death toll in Strip up to 350 - A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees told Ynet Monday night that Palestinian groups in Gaza are preparing for the "real battle," urging Israel to launch a ground operation in the Strip. "If Israeli soldiers are such men, they should fight on the ground, the PRC’s Abu Abir said. "The defeat they suffered on the ground in Lebanon would be even greater in Gaza"¦yet I know that we are dealing with cowards who ever since the 1980s have feared a face-to-face confrontation with us. " While admitting that the first day of Israel’s operation was not an easy one, the spokesman said the clash was now entering a new phase, "where we jump at the enemy, pursue it, and invite it to engage in battle. more.. e-mail
Hamas calls ’reservists’ to foil attack
Jerusalem Post 12/30/2008
Hamas’s armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, on Monday announced that it was recruiting an additional 1,000 militiamen ahead of a possible IDF ground operation in the Gaza Strip. The group said that thousands of volunteers from the Gaza Strip had also asked to be recruited to the movement in the past 48 hours so that they could fight against IDF soldiers. The announcement came as sources close to Hamas said that the movement’s armed wing had hardly been affected by the IDF operation that began on Saturday. The sources told The Jerusalem Post that many of the casualties in the first two days of the operation were "ordinary" policemen who had been recently recruited to various branches of the security forces. "These policemen were being enlisted to direct the traffic and fight crime," the sources said. more.. e-mail
Building worker killed as missile hits Israeli town
Toni O'Loughlin in Ashkelon, The Guardian 12/30/2008
Three Israelis were killed yesterday by rockets fired by militants in Gaza - two in separate attacks less than an hour apart after nightfall. The deaths brought the tally of civilian fatalities from rocket strikes to 19 since 2002, when militants in Gaza first began firing missiles at Israeli towns. An Israeli-Arab labourer was killed and 10 other people were wounded yesterday morning when a Grad-style Katyusha rocket struck a building site in Ashkelon, 10 miles away. "You can hear them whistling, you don’t know where it’s coming from and where it’s going, or where it’s going to land," said the head of Asheklon’s community services, David Wolfson. Fifteen rockets have exploded in the centre of the city since Saturday and scores more have landed on the city’s outer limits. more.. e-mail
ANALYSIS / Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
Three days into Operation Cast Lead, Israel is proposing a diplomatic exit. A ground operation likely looms in an effort to increase the pressure on Hamas. At the same time, however, others argue that the air force is close to exhausting its target bank, so if Hamas can be brought to accept a cease-fire on terms convenient to Israel in the near future it would be better to do so. Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar fire at Israel Monday. It is starting to recover from the initial shock of the assault, and the bad weather is helping to protect its launching crews from Israeli aircraft. By 8 P. M. , Hamas had fired more than 80 rockets and mortars at Israel, including a Grad Katyusha strike on Ashkelon that killed an Israeli construction worker and wounded 10 others. more.. e-mail
Olmert: If the rockets do not stop, the IDF strikes will be even harsher
Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
"Suddenly I saw Hani lying on the floor covered in blood hit by shrapnel in his head," said construction worker Majdi al-Hababin of the Bedouin town of Rahat. "I tried pulling him to the shelter and cried out his name but he didn’t respond. I knew he was dead. "Al-Hababin said construction at the site had continued despite the rocket fire by Palestinian militants and that the laborers would sometimes take cover in one of the sheltered rooms when the sirens sounded. Construction worker Mahmoud al-Adami, 28, of the West Bank city of Hebron, was also wounded by the rocket fired by Palestinian militants. "The window was open and shrapnel flew through," he said. "Palestinians are on the receiving end on both sides, in Gaza and in Israel. more.. e-mail
Israeli strikes on Gaza: What are the motives?
Mark Tran, The Guardian 12/29/2008
As Israel steps up its bombing campaign in Gaza, commentators have been examining the motivations and implications of its decision to launch the airstrikes in which more than 300 people have been killed in the space of a few days. Ethan Bronner, in the New York Times, says Israel’s main aim is to force Hamas to end its rocket attacks and military build-up. He also sees another goal: for Israel to expunge the ghost of its flawed summer 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and re-establish Israeli deterrence. Along the same lines, Meir Javedanfar at the Jerusalem Post says one of the reasons Israel has acted with overwhelming force is that it does not want Hamas to turn into another Hezbollah, which was able to boast that it had defeated Israeli forces in the 2006 conflict. " In other words," he writes, "Israel does not want Hamas to develop a deterrence capability, which it can later use to change the strategic rules of the game. " more.. e-mail
A fatal miscalculation
Jonathan Spyer, The Guardian 12/29/2008
Contrary to much media prediction, a large-scale Israeli land invasion of the Gaza Strip is probably not imminent. Rather, preparations are under way for a prolonged campaign involving air power and the selective use of ground forces. The aim of this campaign is not to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza. Israel seeks a renewal of the "tahdiyeh" (lull), under improved conditions. These would include an end to rocket fire from Gaza, and an end to the large-scale military build-up, in which Hamas has been engaged for the last 18 months. Israel has so far not mobilised the quantity of forces that would make an all-out invasion of the Gaza Strip a possibility. The IDF has called up 6,700 reservists, whose numbers will be added to the regular forces already assembled outside Gaza. To destroy the Hamas regime in Gaza, Israel would need two or three divisions, a force larger than that currently assembled by several orders of magnitude. So what, then, is the plan? more.. e-mail
VIDEO - IAF strikes Hamas rocket chief’s home
Yaakov Katz And Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 12/29/2008
An IAF aircraft on Monday night struck the home of Maher Zakut, the commander of Hamas’s rocket-firing forces, the army said. In was unclear whether Zakut was in the house at the time. Palestinian sources said that seven people were killed in the strike. According to reports, several more targets were struck in the Strip. Several secondary explosions were caused by the strike because of a large weapons warehouse alongside the senior operative’s house. Five people were reportedly killed when an IAF aircraft targeted a car. Palestinian sources reported that 14 people were killed in air-strikes Monday evening. The air force also struck a truck carrying Grad-type missiles, setting off a series of secondary explosions, the IDF said. The army believes that Hamas was transferring the missiles to a hideout out of fear that their location had been compromised. VIDEO - IAF continues to strike Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets throughout Gaza more.. e-mail
Nearly 320 killed in Israeli blitz of Gaza
Mai Yaghi - GAZA CITY, Middle East Online 12/29/2008
Israel bombed Gaza for a third day on Monday in an "all-out war" on Hamas, as tanks massed on the border and the Islamists fired deadly rockets to retaliate for the blitz that has killed nearly 320. Anger over the mammoth bombing campaign spiralled in the Muslim world, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon again deplored the violence, and efforts to hold talks between Syria and Israel were suspended as a result of the bombardment. With Israeli tanks idling along the border of the battered Palestinian enclave, the army declared the area a closed military zone -- a move that in the past has often been followed by ground operations. Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has warned of a possible ground offensive, declared that the Jewish state was in "an all-out war with Hamas and its proxies. " "We will avoid as much as possible hitting civilians while the people of Hamas and other terrorists. . . more.. e-mail
Death toll in Gaza rises to 350; over 1,600 injured
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Seven died when Israeli shells hit the home of Al-Qassam Brigades leader Maher Zaquot in Beit Lahiya north of Gaza City just before five o’clock Monday evening. Witnesses reported that the house had been evacuated shortly before the shelling began, and those killed were passersby on their way home or to local grocery stores to buy food. The shelling also demolished the nearby houses. Shortly after the home of an Al-Aqsa Brigades leader was targeted in Jabaliya and the home of Hamas leader Ayman Balksam in the same neighborhood. Several resistance activists were killed in the two attacks. The overall death toll of the strikes, which began at 11:30am Saturday morning is 345, while about 1,000 Palestinians are estimated to be injured and more than 200 critically so. A timeline of the day’s airstrikes is: 4:00pmAn UNRWA employee and a Police officer. . . more.. e-mail
IMA wants Ashkelon hospital fortified despite haredi protests over graves
Judy Siegel-itzkovich, Jerusalem Post 12/29/2008
There must be an immediate move to fortify Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Israel Medical Association chairman Dr. Yoram Blachar said Monday, calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Health Minister Ya’acov Ben-Yizri to come up with a solution. As The Jerusalem Post reported a few days ago, the hospital - exposed to rocket and missile file from Gaza - has the funds to build an underground emergency room and surgical theater, but the project is on hold because haredi activists oppose the excavation and relocation of Byzantine-era bones discovered on the hospital’s campus. As a result, a few underground storerooms have been turned into fortified areas for urgent treatment. Dr. Ron Lobel, the hospital’s deputy director, said that Barzilai had the $40 million needed to carry out the project, but had been unable since January to recommence work after a preliminary dig. . . more.. e-mail
Salah: IOF launching carpet bombing on Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 12/29/2008
UM AL-FAHAM, (PIC)-- Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement in the Palestinian areas occupied in 1948, said that the American backed Israeli occupation authority was launching a carpet bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip in preparation for invading the Strip and toppling the resistance program. Sheikh Salah on Sunday evening said in a press statement that the IOA war on Gaza was the last in a series of wars launched in the region, charging that the Arab and Islamic official silence encouraged Israel to launch this war. He said that whether this silence was deliberate or not in the end it passed capital punishment against the entire Strip. The Islamic leader said that Palestinians in the 1948 lands have declared general strike and mourning following the start of the military campaign against Gaza while marches and demonstrations were organized in various areas. more.. e-mail
Shallah: Resistance will foil IOA plans
Palestinian Information Center 12/29/2008
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Dr. Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, the secretary general of the Islamic Jihad Movement, has charged that the Israeli occupation forces’ ferocious attacks on Gaza Strip were the tools of a regional, Arab and international plot to liquidate resistance. Shallah told Al-Jazeera TV network in a statement from Damascus on Sunday night that Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni talked during her visit to Cairo about a regional axis to dissect Gaza hoping to change the "rules of the game". He stressed that Israel was the one that breached and ended the truce and not the resistance factions. The Jihad leader underlined that ending the "Zionist aggression" and lifting the siege on Gaza were basic conditions before discussing any new calm. Shallah said that the PA along with a number of Arab countries had given the green light to Israel to carry out its genocide in Gaza. more.. e-mail
Motorcycle-riding Hamas gunman kills suspected Palestinian collaborator
Reuters, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
A gunman on a motorbike shot dead a fellow Palestinian near a Gaza hospital on Monday as militants settled scores with those suspected of collaboration with Israel. Witnesses said the gunman fired three times into the head and chest of a man who fled from detention on Sunday after an Israeli air attack blew up the security complex housing Gaza’s main prison. On Saturday Israel launched the start of a massive offensive against Hamas’ Qassam rocket and mortar fire on its southern communities, targeting dozens of buildings belonging to the ruling militant group in the Gaza Strip. The police stations of Hamas Islamists who control Gaza have been destroyed by Israel’s air strikes on Gaza, but armed militants are out on the streets of the city. Residents said a second suspected collaborator who also fled the prison was shot. . . more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 291208
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 12/29/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Monday December 29th 2008 Death toll 325 as Israeli army air raids continues to pound Gaza, while in the West Bank Israeli attacks leaves 55 Palestinians injured, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast - On Monday the Israeli air attacks targeting Gaza continued, targets included Police headquarters, hospitals, mosques, and schools. Palestinian medical sources in Gaza said that the death toll by Monday afternoon now stands at 325 with 1500 injured among them, 200 in critical conditions. Medical and healthcare services are struggling to cope with the outcome of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, while the bombing continues. more.. e-mail
Barak: Israel will use all measures to stop rocket fire
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 12/29/2008
Defense minister warns Hamas that further fire on western Negev will force Israel to ’all legal means at its disposal in order to halt enemy’s aggression’ - Day three of Operation Cast Lead saw Defense Minister Ehud Barak issue a stark warning to Hamas: "Unless the criminal fire at Israeli citizens stops immediately, Israel will utilize all the legal means at its disposal in order to halt the enemy’s aggression. "Speaking after the daily security assessment, Barak reiterated Israel’s plea to Gazans to keep away from terror hubs for their own safety. Alongside the strikes, Israel allowed 63 truckloads of humanitarian aid, food and medicine into the Strip on Monday, through the Kerem Shalom crossing, as well as 1,000 blood units through the Erez crossing. Egypt allowed five ambulances and basic supplies into the Strip. more.. e-mail
Israel mounts third day of Gaza raids
Matt Dickinson, PA, The Independent 12/29/2008
Israeli aircraft attacked Hamas targets in Gaza today, the third day of an offensive that has killed more than 300 Palestinians, many of them civilians. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said at least 57 of the dead were civilians. It based the figure, which an UNRWA spokesman called "conservative", on visits by agency officials to hospitals and medical centres. Hamas defied the strongest assault against Palestinian militants in decades by launching a rocket attack on Israel that killed one person, the second such fatality since Saturday. Most Gazans in the densely populated enclave stayed at home, in rooms away from windows that could shatter in blasts from air strikes on Hamas facilities. Residents of southern Israel ran for shelter at the sound of alarms heralding incoming rockets. more.. e-mail
Islamic Jihad warns Israel over Gaza ground invasion
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Islamic Jihad’s leadership said on Sunday night that the movement will not stand down to a hypothetical Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah said that his movement will “fight Israeli tanks, which intend to change the situation in the Gaza Strip by force, through destruction and killing. ”Shallah told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV that “Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip was okayed by international, Arab and regional sides aiming to change the current situation in Gaza. ”He insisted that Israel’s “aggression” must stop, the siege on Gaza must come to an end and the crossings must be opened before any positive talks about a ceasefire will be entertained. more.. e-mail
Rocket kills one, injures nine in Ashkelon
Globes Online 12/29/2008
A Palestinian this morning entered a synagogue in Kiryat Sefer and stabbed a rabbi and another man with a screwdriver. A Katyusha rocket killed one person and wounded nine in Ashkelon. The casualties are reportedly Bedouin construction workers from Rahat. Calls by Hamas to Palestinians to take revenge on Israel are apparently finding a receptive audience. A Palestinian air conditioner technician this morning entered a synagogue in Kiryat Sefer in Upper Modi’in and stabbed a rabbi and another man with a screwdriver before escaping. A security guard in the area reportedly subsequently shot and critically wounded a Palestinian, possibly the stabber or an accomplice. [end]
Western Wall: Hundreds pray for soldiers’ wellbeing
Ynet, YNetNews 12/29/2008
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar leads prayer for soldiers, southern inhabitants’ safety, says every Jew in Israel and abroad obligated to join prayer - Several hundred people arrived at the Western Wall on Sunday to attend a lighting of the eighth Hanukkah candle and say a prayer for the wellbeing of IDF soldiers and the residents of Israel’s southern communities. Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Jerusalem District Police chief Maj. -Gen. Ilan Franco were also present at the event. "On these days every Jew in Israel and across the world is obligated to say a prayer for the soldiers and residents who are facing such difficult times," Rabbi Amar told. [end]
DFLP wing fires four projectiles at Kfar Azza and Ashkelon
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The National Resistance Brigades, the militant wing affiliated to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), fired four homemade projectiles at the Israeli towns of Kfar Azza and Ashkelon on Monday morning. The group said in a statement that the shellings were "retaliation for Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip that have so far killed 300 and injured 1000. " [end]
Death toll rises to 310 as strikes level presidential headquarters
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Israeli warships bombarded the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency on Monday morning in Gaza City. The compound is known as Al-Muntada. No casualties were immediately reported in that attack. According to Muawiya Hassanein, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 310. [end]
DFLP fires four projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) fired four projectiles at Israeli targets on Monday, according to a statement. It was not immediatly clear if the DFLP itself had fired the projectiles or if the attacks came from its militant wing. [end]
Seven projectiles fired from Gaza land in Ashkelon
Ma’an News Agency 12/29/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - At least 17 projectiles have been fired from Gaza at Israeli targets by noon on Monday, according to Israeli sources and statements from armed groups. [end]
VIDEO - Gaza air strikes
The Guardian 12/29/2008
Gaza air strikes - Israel has continued its attacks on Hamas in Gaza, with reports of more than 300 dead including at least 100 civilians [end]
Seven Israeli Arabs arrested for hurling stones in protest of Gaza op
Eli Ashkenazi, Yoav Stern, Jack Khoury, and Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
Police on Monday arrested seven Israeli Arabs, three of them youths, for allegedly hurling stones and setting fire to tires near the entrance to the Mishad municipal council in the north. Authorities have arrested 49 people for disturbing the peace since the Israel Air Force began its aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Police will remain on high alert today to deal with a wave of disturbances among Israeli Arabs and residents of East Jerusalem. There is also concern that Palestinian terror groups might try to carry out attacks in protest against Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip. Police Commissioner David Cohen held a series of consultations on Sunday to assess the extent of violence in the area of Arab towns known as the Triangle, roughly bounded by Baka al-Garbiyeh,. . . more.. e-mail
IN PICTURES / Firestorm over Gaza
Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
Scenes from Gaza carnage and worldwide protests [end]
Oil and gold prices sharply higher on Gaza fighting
The Guardian 12/29/2008
Israeli air strikes on Gaza triggered sharp rises in the price of oil and gold this morning. The sudden flare-up in violence raised fears over crude oil supplies and pushed up the price of oil by nearly 8% from the previous session to over $40 a barrel. New York light crude jumped by almost $4 to $42. 20 a barrel. Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza for a third day today and the country’s cabinet has approved the call-up of thousands of reservists, suggesting a major ground invasion is being considered. " It’s a terrible situation and it just seems to be again causing major concerns for all the markets," said Peter McGuire at Commodity Warrants Australia. "But where it’s going, nobody knows. Who can speculate on war? "Oil prices could rebound to around $100 a barrel between 2010 and 2105, according to Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist. more.. e-mail
Gaza area farmers fear fighting may have bumped off crops
Amiram Cohen, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
Even if the world economic crisis hadn’t already struck a fatal blow to agricultural exports from the farming communities in the Gaza area, the current fighting there might have. Military operations underway in the area mean that farmers from 12 of the 14 communities that are less than two kilometers from the border fence are not allowed to go to their fields. By the time things improve, there might not be anything left to harvest. Hashi Rubin a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz and head of the region’s agricultural cooperative, says he knows the Hamas strikes against their communities had to be stopped, but he is worried that economic ruination is in the offing. Dozens of tons of potatoes, the region’s main crop, cannot be harvested, the export of baby radishes had to be stopped in the middle, and carrot exports have not yet begun, he said. more.. e-mail
Israel in ’all-out war’ with Hamas
Al Jazeera 12/30/2008
Israel’s military is in an "all-out war" with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ehud Barak, the country’s defence minister, has said. Palestinian medical sources say at least 345 Gazans have been killed and another 1,450 wounded in three consecutive days of Israeli bombardment in the heavily-populated territory. "We have nothing against Gaza residents, but we are engaged in an all-out war against Hamas and its proxies," Barak said on Monday. There were also growing fears that a ground offensive was being planned after Israel declared a "closed military zone" around the Gaza Strip. Israel says the creation of a buffer zone along the border will help protect it from rocket attacks. Civilians, including journalists, could be banned from an area between 2km and 4km deep under the policy. more.. e-mail
Games, practices banned in 40-km radius around Gaza Strip
Moshe Boker, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
Military authorities yesterday put a halt to all organized soccer matches and practices within a 40-kilometer radius of the Gaza Strip, the Israel Football Assocation announced. According to regulations the IFA received from the Home Front Command, the association will not hold any soccer games within missile range, including in Ashkelon, Netivot, Kiryat Gat, Ashdod and Kiryat Malakhi. Soccer officials were surprised to learn, in conversation with the military, that regular practices would also be forbidden within this area. The army took command of the stadiums in Kiryat Gat and Netivot, turning the first into a helicopter landing pad and the Netivot stadium into a dressing facility for the command’s headquarters. "The Home Front Command’s order is unequivocal - there will be no games or practices held in the region from Netivot-Ofakim to the Ashdod-Kiryat Malakhi region, said Avi Levy, head of the IFA’s amateur leagues division, yesterday. more.. e-mail
No rest for the shell-shocked in Ashkelon shelters
Fadi Eyadat, Ha’aretz 12/30/2008
Dozens of bomb shelters in Ashkelon designed to serve hundreds of individuals and families are not ready for even short-term habitation. The shelters are foul-smelling, dark and decrepit. Some of the residents have resorted to taking shelter in stairwell, even though they are unfortified, and others simply choose to remain in their homes. At issue are private shelters located in the city’s poorer neighborhoods. A residential building on Hagalil Street holds eight households for the elderly, new immigrants and single-parent families. "We don’t go down to the shelters," said Miri Levy, a disabled mother of two young girls. "We stay at home and pray that the rockets don’t fall on us. The girls go to the stairwell sometimes, but it’s open and unprotected. "Yelena Glick, who lives with her chronically ill mother in the same building, has entered the shelter only once. more.. e-mail
Motherly eyes in the sky
Ruth Eglash, Jerusalem Post 12/28/2008
It’s Thursday afternoon at the Israel Air Force base at Palmachim - less than 48 hours before Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against Hamas - and, despite the looming threat of an attack on the Gazan rocket infrastructure, Capt. Shira and Sgt. Keren, two of the female engineers who operate Israel’s unmanned aerial vehicles, appear fairly relaxed. "I read in this morning’s newspaper that there will be military action," says Shira, a 28-year-old who has been a professional soldier since finishing her compulsory IDF service eight years ago. She is not allowed to talk too much about such an operation, but, she explains, "if there is such an action, our job is to help those who are on the ground. We’ll be their eyes from above. Usually that means identifying hostile forces and warning the soldiers about what is waiting for them. " more.. e-mail
Civilian death toll rises after second day of air strikes
Hazem Balousha in Gaza City, Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 12/29/2008
Officials in Gaza say nearly 300 killed, 600 injured as survivors call for retaliation • Calls for investigation after seven students at UN college die in missile attacks - To the doctors at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City it was another body on a chaotically busy day. By early Saturday afternoon the morgue was already overflowing so they laid out the corpse of 20-year-old Ali Abu Rabia on the floor outside. One of the hospital staff pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket, scrolled through the numbers, and called the young man’s father. " I was at work. Someone from the hospital called and said they had found my son," said Marwan Abu Rabia, 44, a plumber. "I went straight to the hospital and found him lying on the floor outside the morgue. There were too many bodies. It looked like a massacre. " The hospital was so crowded staff held back relatives outside the building and turned away the lightly injured. more.. e-mail
Gazans sit atop northern roofs challenging Israeli orders to evacuate or face death
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli forces called to Gazan families through loudspeakers demanding that they evacuate their homes before intense Israeli shelling began in the northern Gaza Strip. As the Abu Sultan family in the Jabalia refugee camp prepared their belongings Israeli fire rained down on their home killing several family members and injuring others. Witnesses of the massacres on Saturday decided to challenge the Israeli order to evacuate and gathered in areas under attack to sit on roofs with families whose homes face imminent destruction. Despite cold weather and Israeli warplanes flying overhead small crowds could be seen on rooftops across the northern Gaza Strip area. One home with large numbers of Gazans on its concrete roof was that of the de facto government Minister of Communication Yousif Al-Mansi. more.. e-mail
IAF uses new US-supplied smart bomb
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/29/2008
The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday. The missile, called GBU-39, was developed in recent years by the US as a small-diameter bomb for low-cost, high-precision and low collateral damage strikes. Israel received approval from Congress to purchase 1,000 units in September and defense officials said on Sunday that the first shipment had arrived earlier this month and was used successfully in penetrating underground Kassam launchers in the Gaza Strip during the heavy aerial bombardment of Hamas infrastructure on Saturday. It was also used in Sunday’s bombing of tunnels in Rafah. The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world. more.. e-mail
Israeli jets pound Gaza tunnels
Al Jazeera 12/29/2008
Israeli aircraft have bombed the length of the Gaza-Egypt border, taking out tunnels used to smuggle in vital goods to the besieged strip. The bombing raid started at dusk on Sunday on the second day of an operation which has so far killed more than 292 Palestinians and wounded more than 600. Dozens of tunnels are said to criss-cross between southern Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai desert, providing a lifeline to residents who are starved of basic supplies due to an 18-month-long Israeli blockade. Avital Leibovitch, an army spokeswoman, said on Sunday: "The air force just attacked over 40 tunnels found on the Gaza side of the border. "We believe [they] were used for smuggling weapons, explosives and sometimes people," she said. "The pilots notified direct hits on these targets. " more.. e-mail
IDF ground forces gather on Gaza border; cabinet approves call-up of 6,700 reservists
Amos Harel Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
The Israel Defense Forces massed troops near the Gaza border yesterday in preparation for a possible ground operation against Hamas. In parallel, the cabinet approved a relatively small call-up of the reserves - some 6,700 soldiers - in case they are needed for the operation. Defense sources said, however, that additional reservists may be called up as the fighting continues. By comparison, only a few thousand reservists were called up in the first days of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. By the end of the war, however, some 62,000 reservists had been called up. The air force struck more than 100 targets yesterday, the second day of Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza. According to Palestinian sources, the bombings killed 43 people, bringing the death toll for the two-day operation to 294. Among the targets were 40 smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, which. . . more.. e-mail
’There’s a strong likelihood that people are dying needlessly’
Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem, The Guardian 12/29/2008
Even before Saturday when dead bodies piled up outside morgues and people with missing limbs were forced to wait for surgery, Gaza’s hospitals were in crisis. With power blackouts lasting up to 12 hours a day, 20% of drugs out of stock, medical equipment standing idle for want of spare parts and stores emptied of basic items, doctors had been turning patients away for months. "The hospitals in Gaza are in a disastrous situation, starved of essential drugs for months and now overwhelmed with casualties from this onslaught. Only the most serious cases are getting any attention," said Chris Gunness, the UN’s Relief and Works Agency spokesman. "There’s a strong likelihood that people are dying needlessly. "Ever since Israel sealed off Gaza in June 2007, allowing only minimum deliveries, there have been shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies. more.. e-mail
Israel considers ground attack as it mobilises more troops
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 12/29/2008
Israel’s cabinet yesterday approved the call-up of thousands of reservists as the military deployed tanks close to the border with Gaza while pressing on with air strikes, suggesting a major ground invasion was being considered to follow the biggest single day of conflict in Gaza since the 1967 war. Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, reportedly told a cabinet meeting the fighting in Gaza would be "long, painful and difficult". After two days of air raids, more than 290 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 600 injured. Gaza’s hospitals, already short of supplies, had corpses lying on their floors as the morgues filled up. In an attempt to escape the mayhem, hundreds of Gazans broke through the border fence with Egypt at Rafah, where Palestinian gunmen and Egyptian border guards traded gunfire, killing one Egyptian and one Palestinian. more.. e-mail
At least 296 dead as Israelis pound Gaza
Daily Star 12/29/2008
At least 296 Palestinians were killed and more than 900 wounded over the weekend as Israel launched its largest attack on the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Late Saturday morning 80 Israeli fighter-bombers and attack helicopters carried out the first wave of raids. Dozens of sorties dropped more than 100 bombs on 150 Hamas targets, destroying 40, including police stations and military installations, in a matter of minutes. Early Sunday morning a second wave targeted a mosque and Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV station. Simultaneously, the Israeli Army massed tanks and hundreds of troops on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground invasion. Most of those killed and wounded were Hamas military and police personnel. However, dozens of Palestinian civilians were also among the dead. The civilian casualties are expected to rise. more.. e-mail
Two Katyusha rockets hit Ashdod area, Gaza militants’ furthest target yet
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of at least 40 rockets at the western Negev on Sunday, as the Israel Air Force continued to pound the coastal territory for a second day. Two Katyusha rockets, with a diameter of 122 mm, exploded near the northern Negev city of Ashdod. More than 30 kilometers from Gaza, this was the deepest into Israel a Palestinian rocket has yet to strike. The rockets, which are the most improved versions of the Palestinian missiles, have a range of up to 40 kilometers. The particular rockets that struck on Sunday traveled 37 and 35 kilometers. At least three more rockets exploded earlier in Ashkelon, leaving one woman with light shrapnel wounds. Another four rockets struck the Eshkol region of the western Negev. more.. e-mail
Israeli Army Call Up 6,500 Reservist for Ground Invasion
Justin Theriault, International Middle East Media Center News 12/28/2008
The Israeli Military announced on Sunday that it has called up 6,500 reservists to duty active duty as Israel amasses it’s ground forces alongside the Gaza Border, Israeli online Haaretz reports. This is being hailed as the largest military offensive on the Gaza Strip since the 1967 war, when Israel captured Gaza. The Israel Army will call up 6,500 reservists to duty, as part of the largest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip since it captured the territory in 1967. Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel, in a statement to the press said that, "the Israel Defense Forces will, in the coming days, call up more reservists. " Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has thus far not said that a ground assault is certain, but judging from the calling up of 6,500 reservists, and the manifestation of ground troops and assault forces along Gaza’s border, it seems as though a ground invasion was planned to follow the air strikes all along. more.. e-mail
Israel mobilizes 6,500 reservists for Gaza operation
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Thousands of Israeli reservists were recalled to duty one day following the deadliest attack on a Palestinian target since Israel first began its occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Israeli army called some 6,500 reservists at the request of the Israeli Cabinet, which approved a proposal sought by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. In preparation for a possible ground invasion, hundreds of other infantry and armored corps soldiers were called to the Gaza Strip border early on Sunday. Israel’s air force launched a barrage of strikes against Palestinian targets in Gaza on Saturday, killing nearly 300 people and injuring close to 1,000, the deadliest day for Palestinians since the Gaza Strip was occupied in 1967. On Sunday, the air force fired missiles at a mosque and television station, killing three and injuring seven. more.. e-mail
Two People Killed as Smuggling Tunnels Destroyed in Renewed Israeli Air Raids
Rami Almeghari&Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/28/2008
Renewed Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip this evening resulted in the death of two people, and the injury of at least twenty others, medics and witnesses reported. Israeli warplanes this afternoon raided the Egyptian-Palestinian border lines in the southern Gaza Strip, destroying scores of underground tunnels used by Palestinians to bring in essential goods that a prolonged Israeli closure has made scarce. Medics said that pillars of smoke filled the sky as some of the tunnels that were hit had been used to bring in gasoline from nearby Egypt. Many of the people on the border line with Egypt escaped the fire to the Egyptian side of the border, witnesses said. Witnesses added that Egyptian security personnel opened fire towards the crowds, causing the many Palestinians to be injured. Also, Israel sealed off the Rafah crossing terminal following the incidents, after it was reopened yesterday to let wounded cross. more.. e-mail
Israeli Air Force shells the Islamic University in Gaza
Saed Bannoura @ Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/28/2008
The Israeli army continued its military offensive against the Gaza Strip and shelled on Sunday at night buildings that belong to the Islamic University in Gaza City. Kamaleen Shaath, Head of the Islamic University in Gaza said that the Israeli army does not hesitate in hitting any target in Gaza as the army shelled a mosque, hospital and several civilian facilities. The Qatar-based AL Jazeera Satellite news channel reported said that several buildings were shelled in the university including a residency for female students. Waleed AL Mudallal, one of the lecturers at the Islamic University, said in a phone interview with Al Jazeera that the university decided yesterday to announce a three -- day mourning in protest to the Israeli military crimes. Al Mudallal added that the carried previously repeated Israeli strikes that targeted the university, including an air strike that. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli occupation air strike against a university, a mosque and fishing harbour
Palestinian Information Center 12/28/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation airforce, Sunday night, continued its air strikes on the Gaza Strip targeting a number of targets, including the Islamic university and the Imad Aqel Mosque. The Islamic University in Gaza is the largest and oldest of the Gaza Strip universities, it was established in 1978 and grew to become the main university in the Strip with about 25,000 students in various faculties of the university. The aerial bombardment of the university resulted in the destruction of a number of buildings and setting them ablaze. No human casualties were reported so far. Another air strike targeted a mosque in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Initial reports talk of the three deaths as well as a number of injuries. This is the third mosque to be targeted since the start of this latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on Saturday. more.. e-mail
Preparing for a possible invasion
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/28/2008
"The combat vests are ready and the weapons are greased," the first soldier said. "Our parents are phoning, but we just don’t answer," said another. On Sunday, soldiers from a wide range of units deployed outside the Gaza Strip. Tanks from the 7th Armored Brigade deployed not far from the northern end of the border as infantry from the Paratroop and Golani Brigades arrived at bases throughout the South ahead of a possible ground incursion. Soldiers from Battalion 101 of the Paratroop Brigade said they were ready for an operation to begin. "The soldiers don’t show it, but they are scared," one officer said. "We’re getting ready and believe that we’re prepared for whatever we will face in Gaza. " On the northern edge of the border, soldiers from Battalion 75 of the 7th Armored Brigade were preparing their Merkava Mk 3 tanks. more.. e-mail
Israel pounds Gaza for second day
The Independent 12/28/2008
Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip from the air today for a second day and prepared for a possible invasion of the territory after killing nearly 290 Palestinians in the opening rounds of a powerful offensive. Israel said the campaign that began yesterday was a response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire that intensified after Hamas, an Islamist group in charge of the coastal enclave Israel quit in 2005, ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago. Despite the air attacks, militants fired some 80 rockets into Israel, emergency services said. In one of the longest-reaching salvoes, two rockets struck near Ashdod, a main port 18 miles from Gaza, causing no casualties. Israeli tanks deployed on the edge of the Gaza Strip, poised to enter the densely populated enclave of 1. 5 million Palestinians. more.. e-mail
IOF air strikes claim more lives, start fires in bombed buildings
Palestinian Information Center 12/28/2008
RAFAH, (PIC)-- Israeli warplanes on Sunday blasted more targets in the Gaza Strip including a fuel truck in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, which started a huge fire that engulfed nearby homes. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli warplanes fired a number of rockets at a big truck loaded with fuel starting huge fire that extended to nearby homes. They said that inhabitants fled their homes and miraculously escaped death, noting that a store for medicines was destroyed in the fire that threatened the entire neighborhood. The warplanes also blasted the Tal Al-Sultan police station west of Rafah city, the locals reported. Later Sunday, Israeli F-16s raided the security compound in Gaza city called "Saraya" that hosts a number of security apparatuses and includes a central prison. The building dates back to the Ottoman era. more.. e-mail
Armed groups call for retaliation, fire projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian armed groups stepped up rhetoric and retaliatory operations on Sunday, launching dozens of projectiles at Israeli targets following a day of airstrikes that killed nearly 300 Palestinians. Fatah’s militant wing announced that it plans to resume "martyrdom" operations inside Israeli cities and has also threatened to target and destroy Israeli military and security establishments. It also called a state of alert in order to retaliate for Israeli attacks in Gaza. “The Israelis can choose either to depart or to die on this holy land,” a Sunday statement from the Al-Aqsa Brigades said. Israeli sources said two of the projectiles fired Sunday were Katyusha rockets, a departure from the standard homemade projectiles usually launched. The rockets landed in the northern Negev city of Ashdod. more.. e-mail
Israeli jets continue pounding besieged Gaza
Middle East Online 12/28/2008
GAZA CITY - Israel warned on Sunday it could send ground troops into Gaza as its warplanes continued pounding Gaza where more than 280 Palestinians have been killed in just 24 hours. Hamas responded by firing rockets the deepest yet into Israel, with one hitting without causing casualties not far from Ashdod, home to Israel’s second-largest port some 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Gaza, medics said. In the latest international call for the violence to end, the United Nations Security Council met in emergency session and urged an immediate halt to all military operations. But Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak vowed to expand the mammoth bombing campaign. "The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) will expand and deepen its operations in Gaza as much as necessary," he told reporters before a cabinet meeting. more.. e-mail
Man, woman dead after house shelled in Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Israel’s air force shelled a house in the Az-Zeitoun area of the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinians late on Sunday. The latest attack brought the death toll of Israel’s ongoing campaign in the Gaza Strip to 292. The shelling apparently targeted a Palestinian security post and a residential building in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood in the south of Gaza City. A car was also targeted at An-Nuseirat Refugee Camp early on Sunday evening. [end]
Two dead, 22 injured in Israeli airstrike on Rafah tunnels
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Israel’s air force shelled a tunnel area in Rafah on Sunday, killing two Palestinians and injuring 22. The new airstrikes targeted Palestinian security buildings and tunnels that provided Gaza with fuel, which led to fires along the border. Hundreds of residents and those working in the tunnel industry poured to the border with Egypt, where Egyptian border police tried to stop them. [end]
Young Palestinian protester killed by Israeli fire
Jackie Khoury, Haaretz Service and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
A young Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire Sunday, while protesting Israel’s raid on the Gaza Strip. 22-year-old Arafat Khawaja from the West Bank village of Naalin was shot in the chest. Another protester was also shot and is in critical condition. Thousands of protesters gathered at Dir al-Assad junction to protest Israel’s strike on Gaza. What started out as an authorized demonstration turned violent as Palestinians began hurling stones at police forces, who responded with tear gas. IDF soldiers who were called to stop the demonstration say they responded with fire as their lives were in danger. The incident is now being investigated. Related articles:Hamas: Time for a third Intifada 3 senior Hamas officers among 230 killed during IAF strikes in GazaOlmert: Our desire for quiet was met with terror. . . more.. e-mail
Youth burn car tires and throw Molotov cocktails at Israeli military posts in Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinian youth hurled Molotov Cocktails at an Israeli military post near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the old city Hebron in the southern West Bank Sunday. The Israeli press said the youth, protesting the Israeli atrocities in Gaza, set fire to car tires and threw Molotov cocktails at the Israeli military post in the West Bank city. On Saturday protests erupted in all West Bank cities and in several neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. In Hebron and refugee camps in Jerusalem clashes broke out when Israeli soldiers tried to stifle the angry crowds who demanded a stop to the Israeli violence. [end]
In response to Gaza raids, Hamas threatens to assassinate Livni, Barak
Amos Harel Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
Hamas on Sunday threatened to respond to an ongoing Israel Defense Forces assault on the Gaza Strip by assassinating senior Israeli officials. Senior Hamas official Fatah Hamad specifically threatened Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He also threatened that Hamas would go after senior Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank, as well as "those in the Arab world who have conspired against us," - an apparent reference to Egypt. PA President Mahmoud Abbas, however, said that Hamas could have prevented Israel’s assault had it only agreed to extend the cease-fire, and he urged it to do so now. Late Sunday Israel Air Force warplanes attacked a building in the Jebaliya refugee camp next to Gaza City, killing a 14-month-old baby, Gaza Health Ministry official said. more.. e-mail
’Shrapnel hit the place where we were hiding’
Ben Lynfield in Ashkelon, Israel, The Independent 12/29/2008
The orange-haired, freckled 12-year-old was remarkably calm as he recounted his escape from a Qassam rocket. "[My mother and I] heard two alarms and I went outside a little bit to look," said Yossi Shalev as he sat in the casualty unit at Barzilai Hospital, which has been moved to a basement to protect it from Palestinian shelling. "I saw something black in the sky that was flying quickly and I went back in. My mother and I were crouched down. The rocket fell in the street, about five or six metres from us. Shrapnel hit the container we were in in six places. "Only his T-shirt was torn, leaving his relatives insisting that it was a Hanukkah miracle. "I have a lot of luck," the boy admitted. His story will reinforce among his countrymen the sense that the attacks in Gaza are justified. As of yesterday, only a handful of people in southern Israel had suffered shock or been slightly hurt after more than 20 rockets and mortars hit the area. more.. e-mail
Hamas increases range of rockets, but paucity of missiles surprises IDF
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
Palestinians have fired more than 140 rockets and mortars into Israel proper over the course of the last two days, far less than forecast by the Israel Defense Forces. Yesterday, Palestinians launched upgraded Katyushas with a maximum range of 40 kilometers. The rockets landed in moshavim adjacent to Ashdod. The two long-range Katyushas fired yesterday were made either in China or Iran. Their maximum range is just shy of 40 kilometers; those fired reached a maximum distance of 34. 4 kilometers. According to IDF assessments, Palestinian terrorist groups are capable of firing some 200 (some reports put the number at 300) rockets per day. At this stage, it remains unclear whether the low number or rockets stems from the potency of the blow dealt Hamas in the Israel Air Force aerial assault of two days ago, or that Hamas is tactically waiting an opportune moment to deal a powerful strike to Israel proper. more.. e-mail
Kibbutzim provide shelter to those in range of rockets
Eli Ashkenazi, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
The Kibbutz Movement has implemented a plan to host families from 26 kibbutzim within rocket range of the Gaza Strip. Most of the host kibbutzim are in northern Israel. The movement has asked kibbutzim to host families and individuals, noting that the hosting plan was successfully carried out during the Second Lebanon War when residents of kibbutzim in the Upper Galilee were evacuated southward out of Katyusha range. By the weekend a number of families from Kibbutz Kfar Aza had been moved to kibbutzim Nir David and Ma’aleh Hahamisha. Some 80 teens from kibbutzim Zikim, Carmiya and Yad Mordechai arrived yesterday at a boarding school at Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’emek where they are to stay for two nights. Over the weekend a group of HaShomer Hatzair World Movement youth participating in a program at Kibbutz Holit were also being hosted at Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’emek. more.. e-mail
Armed groups fire two Katyusha rockets at northern Negev
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – A Palestinian armed group fired two Katyusha rockets toward the northern Negev city of Ashdod in Israel on Sunday, the furthest distance reached yet for a projectile launched from Gaza. The two rockets exploded near Ashdod, which is more than 30 kilometers from Gaza, without causing injuries or damage, according to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. Fighters stepped up rhetoric and retaliatory operations Saturday and Sunday, launching at least 14 projectiles at Israeli targets following a day of airstrikes that killed more than 200 Gazans. Israeli media reported that eight were injured when a projectile landed near the city of Ashkelon. Fatah’s military wing announced that it will resume bombing operations inside Israeli cities and has threatened to hit and destroy the Israeli military and security entities. more.. e-mail
Two wounded by rocket in Ashkelon
Abe Selig, Jerusalem Post 12/28/2008
Warning sirens sounded in Ashdod Sunday morning as two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip landed east of the city. Hamas launches rockets on Ashdod, furthest hit yet, several wounded by shrapnel in Ashkelon Over 35 rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as two of the projectiles, reported to be Grad-type rockets - landed near Ashdod, some 40 kilometers from Gaza. While the total number of rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza was significantly lower than Saturday’s barrage of over 60 missiles, the strike near Ashdod marked the farthest point into Israel a Hamas rocket has reached since the terrorist organization began firing them on Israel some eight years ago. Warning sirens were heard throughout the city - the country’s largest port town after Haifa - around 9:30 Sunday morning, followed by loud booms. more.. e-mail
Ashkelon hospital moves its essential departments underground
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Fearing missile strikes from the Gaza Strip, Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital on Saturday moved its most essential departments into an underground bomb shelter. The hospital in this city of 120,000 people about 17 kilometers (11 miles) north of the Gaza border has sent half its patients home to get them out of harm’s way. Those remaining have been placed in cramped rooms previously used for storage. In February, a rocket from Gaza landed adjacent to the hospital’s helicopter pad and in May a rocket crashed into a busy shopping mall in the city, injuring 14 people. After Israel an air offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza on Saturday, Barzilai put its emergency plans into operation. It activated a war room, with direct lines to the military, police and paramedics in the field. more.. e-mail
NRB, 'Hizbullah Brigades' claim projectile launches at Sufa, Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Two military factions launched projectiles, two at Israeli military post and three at Sderot. The National Resistance Brigades (NRB), a military wing affiliated to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), fired two projectiles at the Israeli military post Sufa. The group said in a statement that the shelling came as a reaction to the second day of "Israeli atrocities" in the Gaza Strip. Another military group calling itself the Hizbullah Brigades claimed to have launched three projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot. [end]
PFLP armed wing fires five projectiles on nearby cities
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)’s armed wing claimed responsibility for firing five homemade projectiles on the nearby Western Negev and southern Israeli town of Ashkelon on Sunday. Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said in a statement that the shelling, which was apparently carried out in partnership with the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was aimed at an Israeli military post in eastern Rafah. The Brigades affirmed that the projectiles were fired “within the continued response to Israeli crimes in Gaza. ”[end]
Three Grad rockets fired toward Ashdod
Globes Online 12/28/2008
Five kassam rockets landed in Ashkelon and in areas around the Gaza Strip. Three Grad rockets were fired by Hamas from Gaza toward Ashdod this morning. Air raid sirens were also sounded in Yavne. No casualties were reported. One of the rockets fired toward Ashdod landed in the yard of a house in a commnuity in the region. No injuries were reported. Five kassam rockets landed in Ashkelon and in areas around the Gaza Strip. Smoke was reported near the Palmachim road, south of Rishon LeZion. [end]
War’s economic consequences
Avi Temkin, Globes Online 12/28/2008
Why the Gaza operation will not end - economically - like the Second Lebanon War. Naturally, economic calculations are currently of secondary importance to the government’s decision makers. In the near terms, the main efforts will be to reach what will be considered a successful conclusion, militarily and diplomatically, and will not seem like a repeat performance of the Second Lebanon War. But when economic considerations do return to the fore, there actually will be a longing for the way the economy responded to that war’s end. After one quarter, maybe less, the economic ramifications of the battles in the North were essentially forgotten, and the economy returned to the state it was in before the war, with high growth, a rising stock market, low inflation, and a low budget deficit. The situation after the operation in Gaza is liable. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli cabinet calls up reservists as Gaza strikes continue
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 12/28/2008
Israel’s cabinet approved a call-up of reservists today, as its military continued attacking Gaza, destroying the main security headquarters after killing more than 280 Palestinians in a first round of strikes yesterday. Israeli tanks were seen deploying in southern Israel, close to the Gaza Strip, raising the prospect that the air raids - which brought the biggest loss of life in a single day in Gaza for more than 40 years - might escalate into a major ground offensive. The latest Israeli attack flattened most of the buildings in the security headquarters, the second time the compound had been attacked in two days. At least four Palestinians were killed. Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets into southern Israel, with two missiles reaching as far as Ashdod, an Israeli port about 18 miles north of Gaza. One Israeli was killed in a rocket attack on Saturday. more.. e-mail
Strikes continue on Gaza; 292 dead, more than 1,000 injured
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli airstrikes continued on Gaza throughout Saturday night and into Sunday afternoon. The death toll of the attacks rose to 292, with more than 1,000 injured, 180 of them seriously. Israel began attacks on Gaza at 11:30 Saturday, ostensibly to root out Palestinian military groups launching rockets at Israeli targets. Two massive waves of strikes kicked off the operation, known as Operation Cast Lead, and strikes have continued throughout the night and early morning. The death toll rises with each strike, and as more bodies are pulled out of Saturday’s rubble. A timeline of the latest is as follows: 17:30 - Hundreds of Gaza residents climb border walls toward Egypt; Egyptian border police use force to prevent entry. 17:30 - Two dead, 22 injured in Israeli airstrike on Rafah tunnels. 14:30 - Israeli airstrikes over Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. . . more.. e-mail
A year’s intel gathering yields ’alpha hits’
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/28/2008
A year of information-gathering by Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) paved the way Saturday for Operation Cast Lead. At 11:30 a. m. , more than 50 fighter jets and attack helicopters swept into Gazan airspace and dropped more than 100 bombs on 50 targets. The planes reported "alpha hits," IAF lingo for direct hits on the targets, which included Hamas bases, training camps, headquarters and offices. Thirty minutes later, a second wave of 60 jets and helicopters struck at 60 targets, including underground Kassam launchers - placed inside bunkers and missile silos - that had been fitted with timers. Their locations were discovered in an intensive intelligence operation. The goal: to strike at Hamas’s ability to fire rockets into Israel. More than 170 targets were hit by IAF aircraft throughout the day. At least 230 Gazans were killed and over 780 were wounded, according to Palestinian sources. Officials said at least 15 civilians were among the dead. more.. e-mail
’Hamas chief of staff may be dead’
Yaakov Katz And Khaled Abu Toameh, Jerusalem Post 12/29/2008
Conflicting reports emerged Sunday regarding the fate of top Hamas military commander Ahmed Ja’abri, who may have been killed in one of the hundreds of Israeli air strikes against Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday, the air force has flown over 300 sorties over the Strip, bombing close to 280 different targets. Palestinian and Israeli sources said that Ja’abri, the overall commander of Hamas’s armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, may have been killed in an air strike on a mosque which he frequented. Sources close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip said they could neither confirm nor deny the report. They said that the bodies of many of the victims had yet to be identified and that several bodies were still under the rubbles of demolished buildings. Defense officials said that at least 50 percent of Hamas’s underground rocket launchers had. . . more.. e-mail
Six months of secret planning - then Israel moves against Hamas
Ian Black, middle east editor, The Guardian 12/29/2008
Even as Israel’s F16s were aiming their first deadly salvoes at Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, questions were being asked at home and abroad, about what this "shock and awe" campaign was intended to achieve - and what Israel’s exit strategy would be. Preparations - Unlike the confused and improvised Israeli response as the war against Hizbullah in Lebanon unfolded in 2006, Operation Cast Lead appears to have been carefully prepared over a long period. Israeli media reports, by usually well-informed correspondents and analysts, alluded yesterday to six months of intelligence-gathering to pinpoint Hamas targets including bases, weapon silos, training camps and the homes of senior officials. The cabinet spent five hours discussing the plan in detail on December 19 and left the timing up to Ehud Olmert, the caretaker prime minister, and his defence minister Ehud Barak. more.. e-mail
MIDEAST: Israeli Attacks Shatter Gaza
Mel Frykberg, Inter Press Service 12/29/2008
RAMALLAH, Dec 28(IPS) - At least 300 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 wounded as Israel continues to carry out its severest military attack on Gaza since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Late Saturday morning 80 Israeli fighter planes and Apache helicopters launched the first wave of several air attacks over the Gaza strip. Dozens of sorties dropped over a hundred bombs on 150 Hamas targets, destroying 40, including police stations and military installations in a matter of minutes. Early Sunday morning a second wave of Israeli military strikes bombed a mosque and the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV station. Simultaneously, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) amassed hundreds of infantry and armoured corps troops on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground invasion. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak rejected calls by the UN and the EU for a ceasefire, and told. . . more.. e-mail
Israel prepares to invade Gaza
The Independent 12/29/2008
As Israel’s unprecedentedly fierce bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip continued into a second day, the UN called yesterday for an independent investigation into how eight young Palestinian students at its main vocational training centre in Gaza City were killed by an air strike as they waited to take the bus home from classes. With Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warning that the offensive was "liable to take longer than we can foresee", ministers authorised the call-up of 6,500 army reservists, and tanks and armoured vehicles took positions along the border, poised for a possible ground invasion, which defence chief Ehud Barak has warned will take place if rocket fire from Gaza is not halted. The Palestinian death toll rose to 296 as the Israeli attack widened to include more than 40 tunnels used by Hamas to circumvent an Israeli blockade and smuggle vital supplies across the border from Egypt. more.. e-mail
Cost of calling up 6,700 reservists for Gaza op is NIS 3 million a day
Moti Bassok Zvi Zrahiya and Ora Coren, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008
"The cost of calling up 6,700 reservists approved Sunday by the cabinet is over NIS 3 million a day," a senior official in the Finance Ministry said. "The IDF will need to cover any operations of up to a week from its own sources. The funding for an operation lasting longer than a week will be provided based on a cabinet decision. " In a meeting Sunday on Operation Cast Lead, treasury officials held their first, preliminary talks with their counterparts from the Defense Ministry over the budgetary impact of the fighting in Gaza and the rocket attacks in the south. The treasury’s frontline troops in this war are its appraisers and officials who handle compensation for citizens whose property has been damaged by Qassams and other rockets. The 30-strong teams have been ready since last week. The Tax Authority has set up its own center in Sderot to deal with compensation issues, and the Defense Ministry notifies it of all damage. more.. e-mail
Reaction: Raids take toll on Gaza
Al Jazeera 12/29/2008
Speaking to Al Jazeera, commentators and political figures share their thoughts on the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. - Gary Grant, international law expert: "Any country’s first duty is to protect its citizens, it’s called self-defence. The question is, is that self-defence proportionate. Under international law, two things need to be satisfied for Israel’s actions to be considered lawful. One is that they are aiming at legitimate military objects. Israel would say that they are striking at legitimate infrastructure. And of course Hamas is an organisation intent on the destruction of Israel and the Jews in Israel as part of its covenant. . . "/ Mohamed Al-Kashaf, director-general for Gaza’s hospitals: "It is a desperate situation. More than 210 cases arrived within 15 minutes of the bombardment and it was very, very big chaos. more.. e-mail
One Civilian Killed, Four Others Injured and One Kidnapped by Israeli Army Near Ramallah
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/28/2008
Palestinian sources reported that a Palestinian youth was killed, and at least four others were injured during Israeli Army attacks on Palestinian protests organized in several villages near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, to protest Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza. So far, 286 Palestinians have been killed, and at least 900 others have been injured during the Israel’s continued air raids on Gaza that started on Saturday morning. Arafat Al Khawaja, age 22, was reported dead after an Israeli soldier shot him in the head with a live round. Eyewitnesses told IMEMC that Al Khawaja was taking part in a nonviolent protest in the village of Nil’in near Ramallah, when troops attacked the unarmed civilians that lead to clashes with local youth. Medical sources said that another two young men from Nil’in where critically injured in the clashes. more.. e-mail
Hizbullah-type rockets fired
Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post 12/28/2008
Two Katyusha rockets that Hamas fired deep into Israel on Sunday are the same type launched by Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War, an Israel Police source told The Jerusalem Post. The two rockets were Hamas’s deepest attacks into Israeli territory to date. The first Katyusha hit in Gan Yavne, 35 km. north of the Strip, and the second struck 20 minutes later in an undisclosed location near Ashdod, 40 km. from Gaza. Police sappers who analyzed the projectiles said they carried six to seven kilograms of explosives each, and identified them as 122-millimeter PIPE type-81 Katyusha rockets, which have a range of 40 km. The rockets contained metal balls designed to act as shrapnel, and the intended effects were visible at a home situated just a few meters from where one of the rockets hit, which looked as if it had been sprayed with a machine gun. more.. e-mail
Israelis step up airspace violations over South
Daily Star 12/29/2008
BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes conducted mock air raids over South Lebanon on Sunday as analysts warned that Palestinian groups based there might launch an attack across the border in protest at the intensifying assault on the Gaza Strip. At least five fighter-bombers flew low over the regions of Nabatiyeh, Marjayoun, Khiam, Iqlim al-Tuffah, and Arqoub on Sunday morning after a night of intensive unmanned drone activity over the South, the National News Agency said. The overflights represent a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the devastating Israeli military assault on Lebanon in the summer of 2006. They also come as Israel’s air force continues to bombard the densely populated Gaza Strip in what the Jewish state has advertised as an effort to end Palestinian rocket attacks. Analysts say that given the ongoing attack on Gaza, it is no surprise that Israel has. . . more.. e-mail
Tunnel airstrike kills two as hundreds race for Egypt’s border
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Shells hit Gaza tunnels Sunday evening, killing two and injuring 22. The blasts also prompted hundreds to race for new gaps in Egypt’s border wall. Refugees were met with Egyptian security forces, who used force to repel the crowds. Airstrikes damaged the border wall between Egypt and Gaza and at least 40 smuggling tunnels, which bring food and fuel into the coastal area. Much of the fuel caught fire during the attacks and large fires broke out along the border. The chaos provided cover for hundreds of tunnel workers and Rafah residents to attempt an escape from the bombarded strip. But early reports indicated that no Palestinians actually made it over the border wall. The strikes marked the 36-hour point in Israel’s "Operation Cast Lead," which has seen nearly 300 killed and over 1,000 injured. more.. e-mail
Israeli air strikes kill 200 and leave 700 injured
Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Independent 12/28/2008
A massive wave of Israeli air strikes, launched yesterday against Hamas in Gaza, killed at least 205 people, according to Palestinian medical staff -- the highest death toll in a single day in the territory since the end of the 1967 Six Day War. Warplanes and combat helicopters launched their ferocious assault on the Islamic faction’s security compounds and rocket launching pads in what Israel said was a response to about 470 Qassam missiles and mortars, launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza since a five-month ceasefire began to break down in November. The sudden and unexpected strikes, the start of an operation which the Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, warned "won’t be easy and won’t be short", sent thick plumes of black smoke rising above Gaza City and triggered panic in some districts as parents frantically searched for children rushing home from school. more.. e-mail
Gaza City hospital a gruesome scene; shocked families pick through body parts to identify loved ones
Ma’an News Agency 12/27/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Death shrouds the hallways of Gaza City’s Ash-Shifa medical compound Saturday, its smell creeping in from all corners. Amputated bodies are strewn throughout hallways because morgues in the city can no longer accommodate the deadIn one corner a man stands with his seven year old son in a cardboard box because the hospital ran out of sheets to cover the dead with. This is how he will carry him home and bury him. Another man stands dazed, in shock after watching his son Mohammed killed during his graduation ceremony at the de facto police headquarters. The father of one of Mohammed’s classmates stood next to his son as he was decapitated. The man is still screaming. In the packed hospital waiting room a mother sits silently staring into the distance; her son was pronounced dead shortly after she brought him in. more.. e-mail
Most Hamas bases destroyed in 4 minutes
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Preparations nearly two years in the making were put into action yesterday as a two-wave offensive of 88 Israel Air Force fighter jets and helicopters delivered over 100 tons of explosives to approximately 100 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Planning for the operation began in early 2007, but the operation was suspended amid tensions with Syria that lasted several months until the strike on September 6 destroyed its North Korean-built nuclear reactor. The Israel Defense Forces then raised its state of readiness last March, but after the Givati Brigade’s Operation Warm Winter in the Strip, the government decided to again postpone the air force operation. Still, planning continued even as a ceasefire was declared in June and the operation itself was temporarily shelved. Since then, in light of lessons learned during the Second Lebanon War, a "target bank" was compiled by. . . more.. e-mail
IDF mobilizing tanks in event of Gaza ground incursion
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 12/28/2008
IDF prepares to intensify operation against Hamas infrastructure in Gaza, sending tanks and infantry reinforcements southward in preparation for possible ground incursion. Throughout day IAF carried out strikes on nearly 100 Hamas targets; Palestinian health officials putting death toll at 230 people -The Israeli Air Force struck a total of 100 Hamas targets in Gaza on Saturday with the launching of the operation dubbed ’Cast Lead. ’ Palestinian medical officials have reported at least 230 people killed in the Israeli strikes. The IDF has also begun mobilizing tanks and reinforcement infantry troops to the Gaza region in the event a ground incursion is ordered. In an interview with the British SKY network, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that ground forces would indeed enter the Strip if the move was deemed necessary by Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
Air strikes in Gaza kill 225 as Israel targets Hamas
Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem, Hazem Balousha in Gaza and Toby, The Guardian 12/28/2008
Israel stood defiant last night in the face of mounting international condemnation, as it vowed to continue a massive bombing offensive against key targets in the Gaza Strip that left 205 dead and 700 others injured. As world leaders called for an immediate end to the biggest air assault on Gaza since 1967, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, refused to rule out a ground invasion in the next few days saying that the retaliation against rocket attacks by Hamas had only just begun. "It won’t be easy and it won’t be short," said Barak. "There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight. " Asked if a ground invasion would be the next move, as bomb attacks continued into the night, Barak said: "I do not exclude anything as long as the result has not been achieved. " A flight of Israeli F-16 fighters fired at least 30 missiles during air strikes against Hamas positions in Gaza. more.. e-mail
IAF strike followed months of planning
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Gathering intelligence, disinformation played key role in strike at Hamas in Gaza - Long-term planning, meticulous intelligence-gathering, secret discussions, visual deception tactics and disinformation preceded operation "Cast Lead" which the Israel Air Force launched yesterday in Gaza to take out Hamas targets in the Strip. The disinformation effort, according to defense officials, took Hamas by surprise and served to significantly increase the number of its casualties in the strike. Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well. more.. e-mail
IDF surprises Hamas with largest Gaza operation since 1967; at least 225 killed
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Israel launched a massive aerial offensive yesterday morning against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. At least 225 Palestinians were killed, most of them Hamas operatives, and 750 wounded. A 58-year-old Israeli, Bebert Vaknin of Netivot, was killed in a direct strike by a Grad Katyusha-type rocket on his home, and six others were wounded. Israel is preparing for an operation expected to last several weeks, during which up to 200 Qassam rockets each day are expected to be fired from the Strip onto the communities of the western Negev. "Operation Cast Lead" began around 11:30 A. M as 64 aircraft delivered over 100 tons of explosives on 50 to 100 Hamas targets in the Strip. The first wave lasted 3 minutes and 40 seconds with Palestinians reporting 205 killed and hundreds wounded. Shortly thereafter, 24 additional aircraft struck launch sites and other targets in the northern Strip. more.. e-mail
Rocket kills Netivot man, six wounded
Yanir Yagna and Noah Kosharek, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Palestinian militants yesterday fired over 64 rockets at Israel, killing one civilian and wounding six others, following Israel’s launching a large-scale aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier in the day. Bebert Vaknin, 58, was killed and four others wounded - including two seriously - when two Grad missiles scored direct hits on houses in the town of Netivot. In the Kiryat Gat area an 80-year-old man was lightly wounded on his way to synagogue when he was hit by shrapnel from a Grad missile landing nearby. Power outages in the area were reported after another missile hit the power grid. Be’er Sheva braced for the possibility of being targeted for the first time by Palestinian militants armed with rockets with an improved range. Mayor Rubik Danilovitch oversaw the opening of an emergency operations room and the preparation of the city’s bomb shelters. more.. e-mail
Man killed in rocket strike
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/27/2008
58-year-old Beber Vaaknin killed when Gaza rocket hits apartment building in Netivot. Residents in south ordered to remain in bomb shelters as IDF op continues - Terror groups fire at Israeli communities: 58-year-old Beber Vaaknin was killed and five other Israelis sustained light to serious wounds after rockets hit a synagogue in Eshkol Regional Council as well as an apartment building in Netivot, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. The direct hit on the synagogue seriously wounded a man who had been inside, and rescue services had to drag him from the rubble. Another man was lightly injured in the attack. Another rocket fired from Gaza landed on a power line, causing a power failure in three Israeli towns. Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in Netivot. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Kassam shrapnel kills Netivot man
Abe Selig, Jerusalem Post 12/27/2008
In response to Saturday’s IAF air strikes on Hamas in Gaza, Palestinians fired over 80 rockets and mortar shells at areas throughout the western Negev. In Netivot, 58-year-old Beber Vaknin was killed and five people were wounded - one seriously - when their house was hit by a rocket. All the wounded were evacuated to Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital. "After the first rocket landed, people wanted to see what had happened," one of Vaknin’s neighbors told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night. "He went outside to look around when the rocket hit, and he was killed by the shrapnel. The medics said the shrapnel pierced his heart. " Vaknin was unmarried and held a clerical position in the southern town. - VIDEO - Dozens of Kassam rockets fired at Israel in wake of IAF attack more.. e-mail
Hundreds die in Israel raid on Gaza
Al Jazeera 12/27/2008
At least 220 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed in an Israeli aerial bombardment on Hamas security installations. Israel launched air attacks across the besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday, threatening that further operations would be carried out. Emergency services said that at least 700 people had been wounded. Witnesses reported heavy damage as at least 30 missiles were fired. Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said that the operation would not be short. "The operation will go on and be intensified as long as necessary," he said on Saturday. An Israeli military spokesman added that any "Hamas target is a target". As dusk fell, Israel continued to bomb the strip, firing on a metal foundry in the south. more.. e-mail
Israel launches massive air raid on Gaza
Middle East Online 12/27/2008
GAZA CITY - Israel launched a massive wave of air strikes on Gaza on Saturday, killing at least 205 Palestinians, officials said. It was not immediately clear how many of those killed were civilians, with medics saying that over a third of the victims appeared to be Palestinian civilians. At least 205 Palestinians were killed and some 300 others wounded, 120 of them seriously in the attacks, said Dr Moawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services. "The toll has gone up because of new Israeli raids and the discovery of several martyrs under the rubble," he explained. The mid-morning wave of attacks saw some 60 aircraft bomb the impoverished, overcrowded territory. There was no space left in the morgue and bodies were piled up in the emergency room and in the corridors, as many of the wounded screamed in pain. more.. e-mail
Gaza-based foreigners witness catastrophic violence
Ma’an News Agency 12/27/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Human rights workers stationed in the Gaza Strip documented Palestinian and international reactions to the aftermath of afternoon Israeli airstrikes that left over 200 Palestinians dead on Saturday. Due to Israel’s policy of denying access to international media, human rights workers and aid agencies to the Gaza Strip, many international representatives arrived with the Free Gaza Movement’s boats, which have broken the Israeli siege five times in the past. "The morgue at the Ash-Shifa Hospital has no more room for dead bodies, so bodies and body parts are strewn all over the hospital. "- Dr. Haidar Eid, professor, Al-Aqsa University - "This is incredibly sad. This massacre is not going to bring security for the state of Israel or allow it to be part of the Middle East. Now calls of revenge are everywhere. " more.. e-mail
Ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza; 225 killed over 700 wounded, Israel prepares for further attacks
Saed Bannoura Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/27/2008
As instructed by its political leadership, the Israeli army continued its military offensive against the Gaza Strip and shelled further targets raising the number of deaths among the residents to 225, and at least 700 residents were wounded, dozens seriously. The Qatar-based Al Jazeera News Satellite news Agency said that the simultaneous and ongoing Israeli strikes also targeted a mosque, the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, and dozens of civilian homes and facilities. At least 40 security centers were simultaneously hit; some centers were repeatedly hit which increased the number of casualties as the residents and medics rushed to evacuate the wounded and the casualties before the Israeli force struck the same targets again AL Shifa hospital in Gaza, the main hospital in central Gaza, is overloaded with killed and wounded residents. more.. e-mail
A Bloody Day in Gaza
Sameh A. Habeeb, Palestine Think Tank 12/27/2008
Gaza Strip, 27 Dec, 2008- Saturday morning started as usual but dramatically changed by 11AM. Sixty Israeli F16s bombarded around 100 police stations, civil and governmental offices across Gaza Strip. The bombardment which simultaneously took place left (at the time of writing)160 people killed and around 3 hundred wounded. A number of wounded is expected to die while many corpses still lie under the rubble of buildings. Palestinian victims were an amalgamation of policemen and civilians who were visiting some police stations for civic affairs. Al Jawazat police station witnessed the bloodiest Israeli attack in which around 70 were killed, mostlypolicemen. The victims of police of Al Jawzat were holding a graduation ceremony for new young police groups. A family of 9 members, 15 young children, and some women were killed but not recognized. more.. e-mail
Israeli airstrikes kill 205 Palestinians in Gaza
IMEMC Source, International Middle East Media Center News 12/27/2008
Palestinian medical sources reported that the number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli airstrike against the Gaza Strip Saturday afternoon stands at 205, including policemen, women and children. Over 400 were reportedly wounded in the airstrike. Earlier reports said that 140 were killed as 60 Israeli jet fighters launched a simultaneous attack hitting around 50 locations in different parts of the Gaza Strip. The deadly airstrike came during rush hour, as school children were going home from schools and Palestinian Police officers were celebrating their graduation, which explains the high number of casualties. As of the time of writing, Israeli war plans were reportedly hovering over the Gaza Strip. Palestinian hospitals in the Gaza Strip declared high alert and are calling upon people to donate blood in order to be able to aid the high number of injuries. more.. e-mail
Hundreds killed in a series of bloody IOF air raids on Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli warplanes on Saturday launched a series of bloody air raids on the Gaza Strip that left at least 120 people killed and 200 others wounded. Witnesses described the intensified raids as a "real war" where they targeted almost all security headquarters in the Strip killing scores of Palestinians. They said that IOF F-16s raided residential neighborhoods in north, central and south of the Gaza Strip, noting that the raids coincided with the students’ return to their homes from school. Medical sources said that a preliminary estimate indicates that 120 people were killed and hundreds injured including women and children. Locals said that the raids did not cease and devastation was immense, noting that the series of air raids were not witnessed before on the Strip. The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, declared full alert, vowing never to surrender. more.. e-mail
230 killed as Israel rains fire on Hamas in the Gaza Strip
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/27/2008
In the heaviest military strike against the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Six Day War, the Israel Air Force bombed over 170 targets on Saturday, killing more than 230 Palestinians, as Israel launched "Operation Cast Lead," aimed at putting a stop to Hamas rocket attacks against the South. In two waves, over 100 fighter jets and attack helicopters dropped dozens of smart bombs and hundreds of tons of explosives on Hamas training camps, headquarters, weapons storehouses, underground missile silos and command-and-control centers scattered throughout the Gaza Strip. In response, 80 Kassam rockets, Grad-model Katyushas and mortar shells pounded southern Israel throughout the day. One rocket scored a direct hit on an apartment building in Netivot, killing 58-year-old Beber Vaknin and wounding several others. - VIDEO - Barak says ’now is the time to fight’; Livni explains Israel’s stance to Int’l community more.. e-mail
Israeli airstrikes continue on Gaza; 228 Palestinians dead, 700 injured
Ma’an News Agency 12/27/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli airstrikes continue to bombard Gaza and Palestinian military factions launch homemade projectiles at Israeli targets. The toll for Saturday’s violence is 228 Palestinians dead and around 700 injured. Medical sources say most victims are arriving to Gaza City hospitals in “pieces,” while Israeli sources reported one dead, five injured. Two massive waves of airstrikes dropped 100 bombs on Gaza at 11:30 and a second at approximately 2pm. Smaller strikes hit northern Gaza at 5:30 and 8pm. Israeli strikes targeted de facto government buildings; one Hamas source told Ma’an “every de facto security building was targeted. ”Confirmed casualties include Commander of the de facto Government Police Tawfiq Jabir, Governor of the Al-Wusta (central) Districts Ahmad Abu Aashur and Commander of Security and Protection Services in the de facto government police Ismail Al-Ja’bari. more.. e-mail
Gaza body count includes 3 senior Hamas officers
Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
The 200-plus Palestinians killed in the Israeli air raid on Gaza yesterday included three senior officers: Tawfik Jabber, the commander of Hamas’ police force in Gaza; his adjutant, Ismail al-Ja’abri, commander of the defense and security directorate; and Abu-Ahmad Ashur, Hamas’ Gaza central district governor. Twelve hours after the strike was launched yesterday morning, 225 people had been killed and 750 wounded, bringing hospital services to the brink of collapse. Hamas has vowed harsh retaliation. "The Israeli occupation needs to know that it has cast itself into the fire," said Abu Ubeida, spokesman for the organization’s military wing, the Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The first three hours of the raid, which began in the late morning, were the most intensive, as waves of bombers swooped down over the coastal strip. more.. e-mail
Palestinians: 4 killed in IDF attack on mosque
News agencies, YNetNews 12/28/2008
At least 230 Palestinian killed in first day of ’Operation Cast Lead’ in Gaza. Hamas sources report that IDF sorties continue throughout night, say fighter jets strike mosque killing four people - "Operation Cast Lead" in Gaza has entered its second day as IDF fighter jets struck several targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Hamas sources reported that Israeli jets bombarded a mosque in Gaza City and the al-Jazeera television network said that for people were killed in the strike. The IDF has not confirmed the report. The Israeli Air Force struck a total of 100 Hamas targets in Gaza on Saturday. Palestinian medical officials have reported at least 230 people killed in the Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, the rocket fire towards Israel continued throughout the day, and by 9 pm 64 rockets had been fired, of them 44 were fired towards Eshkol and Sdot Negev Regional Council and the rest towards Sderot and Ashkelon. more.. e-mail
Israel resumes Gaza bombardment
Al Jazeera 12/28/2008
Israeli warplanes have resumed their air strikes on Gaza, blasting targets all over the Strip, including a mosque and a TV station. In the first attack early on Sunday, Palestinians said Israeli aircraft bombed a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, destroying it. Two bodies were retrieved from the rubble. The blast, just after midnight, blew out windows at the hospital, hospital officials said. Another target early on Sunday was the Al Aqsa TV station used by Hamas. Its studio building was destroyed, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit. Palestinians counted about 20 airstrikes in the first hours of Sunday. Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on Saturday and threatened that the operation would widen if necessary. Ehud Olmert, the outgoing Israeli prime minister, described the assault as a war on Hamas, the Palestinian faction which took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. more.. e-mail
’There is a time for calm ... now is the time to fight’
Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem, Hazem Balousha in Gaza, The Observer, The Guardian 12/28/2008
Mayhem, death and deafening destruction came to Gaza at 11. 30am yesterday when Israel dropped a first wave of bombs on the Hamas security compounds it had determined to wipe off the face of the map. By the end of "Operation Solid Lead", about 60 aircraft had launched about 100strikes and at least 205 people were reported to have been killed. It was the most devastating attack on Gaza since 1967. Black smoke billowed over the tiny strip of land as shoppers, schoolchildren, shopkeepers, workers and pedestrians ran to find shelter, emptying the streets. Around the tightly packed city area, where several members of Hamas’s security force compounds were tucked between residential buildings, sirens wailed as ambulances sped through the streets to find piles of dead bodies. Most of the dead were police officers. About 700 people had been injured, according to Hamas. more.. e-mail
After day of strikes: Panic and confusion in Gaza
Roee Nahmias and agencies, YNetNews 12/28/2008
Saturday’s attacks spread fear in Strip: Residents report morale is low and believe worst is yet to come. ’May Israel burn,’ says man who lost nine-year-old son in Israeli strike - Israeli aircraft dropped over 100 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip throughout Saturday as part of operation "Cast Lead" launched in response to the ongoing rocket attacks on Israel, but Gaza’s inhabitants worry that the worst is yet to come. The strikes caused widespread panic and confusion in Gaza, as black clouds of smoke rose above the territory, ruled by Hamas for the past 18 months. Some of the Israeli missiles struck in densely populated areas as children were leaving school, and women rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children. Most of those killed were security men, but civilians were among the dead. more.. e-mail
Three Al-Qassam Brigades fighters killed by latest Israeli airstrike east of Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Three more Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip late on Saturday night. An Israeli airstrike targeted the men east of Gaza City, where they were apparently launching an operation against an Israeli target. The three dead were reportedly fighters for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the militant wing of Islamic Hamas. [end]
Palestinians fire 5 Kassams at western Negev, no casualties or damage
Jerusalem Post 12/28/2008
Palestinians fired Saturday night five Kassam rockets at Israel. The rockets struck an open field in the Eshkol regions. No casualties or damage were reported. [end]
IN PICTURES / The Gaza Strip under attack
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Photos [end]
Photos of the day
Haitham Sabbah, Palestine Think Tank 12/27/2008
I selected the following photos to sum up all that can be said to describe the Israeli massacre in Gaza today and what we expect to see very soon. - First, peace? What peace? - The Israeli terrorist war machines used 60 jet fighters to attack Gaza and drop 100 ton of explosives there. The operation was concluded in two minutes: A new world record in massacring people in one day. Congratulations to Israel (I mean it, congratulations for winning the bloody record): Israeli citizens watching with JOY and taking memorial photos of their terrorist attack on Gaza: The casualties: 225 killed (including ten of children and toddlers, and still counting) and more than 700 injured, hundreds of them in critical condition. The Israeli terrorist state chose the peak hour in Gaza - while kids are returning home from school - to cause maximum death: Palestinians. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian groups respond to the Israeli attacks killing one
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/27/2008
Israeli sources reported that Palestinian fighters launched several home-made shells at southern Israeli areas near the Gaza strip, killing one Israeli person and injuring several others on Saturday afternoon. The attack is a response to the Israeli latest attacks on Gaza. At least 140 Palestinians were killed when Israeli jetfighters shelled several parts of the Gaza Strip on Saturday before noon. Israeli medics said that a home-made shell directly landed at a home located in the Netivot town on the borders with Gaza, causing damage. The sources added that one person was killed and four suffered moderate to serious injuries. [end]
DFLP: Activists escape death as Israeli shells fall near group in eastern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 12/27/2008
Gaza- Ma’an – Members of the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), were targeted by Israeli warplanes in eastern Gaza Saturday night. The group was east of Gaza City on a mission to launch shells at Israeli targets when they were spotted by Israeli aircraft flying low over the area. The Israeli plane released shells on the area but all activists escaped the attack unharmed. The NRB affirmed that they will continue their resistance activities. [end]
Rafah police station hit by Israeli missile
Ma’an News Agency 12/27/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli warplanes targeted the police station in Rafah, leading to the collapse of several tunnels. Residents saw witnesses running from the tunnels as they collapsed behind them. Among the police officers killed in the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip was de facto Police Chief Imad Al-Amsi. [end]
Three Palestinian fighters injured in Israeli attack
Ma’an News Agency 12/27/2008
Gaza/Bethlehem – Ma’an – Three Palestinian fighters were injured on Saturday by an Israeli attack targeting a projectile launch site in the northern Gaza Strip, medical sources said. Dr Mu’awiyah Hassanein, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, told Ma’an that the fighters arrived “lightly injured” and that they had arrived from the Al-Shayma area, west of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Hamas, announced an attack on an Israeli site at 9:00 am on Saturday, according to a statement. [end]
Eleven projectiles fired at Israeli targets after day of airstrikes
Ma’an News Agency 12/27/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Armed groups in Gaza claimed 11 projectile launches at Israeli targets Saturday, after the area was pounded by Israeli airstrikes that killed hundreds. The following Brigades claimed projectile launches:The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said they fired three projectiles at Sderot and two at Ashkelon. The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, said they fired two homemade projectiles at the Israeli military post of Sufa in eastern Rafah and two homemade shells on Ashkelon. Another armed wing affiliated with Fatah claimed responsibility for firing two additional shells on Sderot. All of the brigades said that the attacks came in retaliation for Saturday’s airstrikes. more.. e-mail
Barak: It won’t be easy, it won’t be short
Attila Somfalvi, YNetNews 12/27/2008
Defense minister says operation against Hamas in Gaza ’will be expanded as is needed. I don’t want to mislead anyone, it won’t be easy and it won’t be short. ’ Meanwhile Palestinians up reported deaths to 205, rockets on Israel increase -Defense Minister Ehud Barak convened a press conference on Saturday afternoon to formally announce the beginning of the IDF’s operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The offensive was lauched at around 11:30 am, with the IDF carrying out two separate waves of attacks. Some 80 warplanes and helicopters took part in the assault, and over 100 bombs were dropped on dozens of targets. Palestinian health officials reported 205 people killed in the strikes, which targeted numerous Hamas compounds, bases and weaponry storage facilities. more.. e-mail
ANALYSIS / IAF strike on Gaza is Israel’s version of ’shock and awe’
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 12/27/2008
The events along the southern front which commenced at 11:30 on Saturday morning are the closest thing there is to a war between Israel and Hamas. It is difficult to ascertain (geographically) where and for how long the violence will reach before international intervention forces a halt to the hostilities. However, Israel’s opening salvo is not merely another "surgical" operation or pinpoint strike. This is the harshest IDF assault on Gaza since the territory was captured during the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinian sources in Gaza report that 40 targets were destroyed in a span of three to five minutes. This was a massive attack much along the lines of what the Americans termed "shock and awe" during their invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Simultaneous, heavy bombardment of a number of targets on which Israel spent months gathering intelligence. more.. e-mail
Analysis: Israel’s Gaza assault
Al Jazeera 12/27/2008
Speaking to Al Jazeera, commentators and political figures share their thoughts on the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. Osama Hamdan, Hamas representative in Lebanon - "I believe what happened today is a continuity of the Israeli collective crime against the Palestinians. What happened in the last three years, the Palestinians were suffering under the siege. The Israelis expected that the people will react against the resistance and against Hamas which didn’t happen in the past three years. That means they have to start very tough actions against Hamas. They attack 32 positions in Gaza, we expect the casualties will. . . reach 200 killings. There is a clear reaction of the Palestinians in Gaza. They are calling for revenge. They are asking for the Palestinian resistance to react against the occupation. I believe Israel is not learning the lesson. . . " more.. e-mail
Police declare high terror alert
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 12/27/2008
Police chief decides to call in reinforcements after receiving warnings of dozens of possible terror attacks that may be attempted in retaliation for Gaza op -Police say they are preparing for terror attacks that may be attempted in retaliation for the IDF strike in Gaza Saturday by placing the force on high alert and calling in reinforcements. Intelligence reports warn of 10 specific terror alerts and dozens of general alerts. Security forces are primarily concerned about possible suicide attacks as well as kidnapping attempts. The high alert will focus on preventing terror attacks and clashes in known areas of conflict. "I call on the citizens of Israel to continue their lives as usual and the residents of the south to follow the orders of the Homefront Command and to be cautious," said Commander Yuval Kimhi, head of the police’s emergency planning department. more.. e-mail
Hamas: resistance factions will respond to the Israeli attacks on Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/27/2008
Dr. Khalil Abu Lilah, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, told IMEMC that the Palestinian resistance groups will respond to the Israeli attacks that killed 140 Palestinians on Saturday around noon. At least 140 Palestinians were killed when Israeli jetfighters shelled several parts of the Gaza Strip on Saturday before noon. The Israeli air strike targeted the Palestinian Police headquarters in the central Gaza Strip and a small police outpost nearby. Abu Lilah said that "as the Israeli Army has attacked Palestinians in this way, the Palestinian Resistance groups will attack the Israeli areas in response. " In response to the Israeli government announcement that the goal of operation, still in its initial stages, is to force Hamas into an unconditional truce, the Hamas leader told IMEMC that "these Israeli attacks will fail to accomplish their goals, and Hamas will stay strong in representing the Palestinians. more.. e-mail
Hamas urges military wing to fire long-range rockets
Ali Waked, YNetNews 12/27/2008
Hamas spokesman calls on movement’s military wing to fire rockets deep into Israel - Hamas prepares to respond:The Hamas movement called on its military wing Saturday to fire long-range rockets at Israeli communities in response to the IDF’s assault on Gaza. Hamas spokesman Fauzi Barhoum characterized the aerial strikes as a crime against all the Palestinian people. "We are calling on the al-Qassam Brigades to fire as far as possible,"ť he said. Barhoum said that Palestinian groups will not surrender despite the Israeli strike, which according to Palestinian reports claimed the lives of more than 100 people. The dead include senior members of the Palestinian police and of Hamas’ military wing. Some students were also reportedly hurt in the attacks. The various Palestinian factions in the Strip characterized the Israeli assault as an "open war"ť and made it clear that they are preparing for what’s to come. more.. e-mail
Analysis: The Hamas army
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/27/2008
Hamas, once known for its suicide attacks inside Israeli cities, is no longer a small-time terrorist group but today is a large guerilla army which has well-trained forces deployed throughout the entire Gaza Strip. Since Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, Hamas has created a military with a clear hierarchy, led by the Hamas "chief of staff" - Ahmed Ja’abri. Ja’abri is in his late forties and has been in Israel’s sights for a number of years. In 2004, Israeli Air Force jets fired several missiles at Ja’abri’s home in the Sajiya neighborhood of Gaza City. Ja’abri escaped the assassination attempt with moderate wounds. Five others were killed. Since then, he has slowly climbed the Hamas ranks and today is believed to be the terror group’s so-called "chief of staff," replacing arch-terrorist Mohammed Deff who was seriously wounded in an Israeli air strike in July 2006. more.. e-mail
Op tests home front for first time since Lebanon War
Nir Hasson, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Yesterday was the first time that the National Emergency Authority was tested in real time. The authority was formed as part of the efforts to improve services to the home front, which had proved a weak spot during the Second Lebanon War. The authority, headed by Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, informed civilians that the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command recommended people near Gaza stay close to air-raid shelters. The authority, known locally by its initials Rachel, declared a "special situation" in those towns and cities. The Home Front Command broke the towns within 30 kilometers of Gaza into three groups, based on proximity. Residents of towns within 10 kilometers of the border were instructed to remain within shelters, or no more than 15 seconds away. They were instructed to refrain from convening in large groups. more.. e-mail
Disinformation, secrecy and lies: How the Gaza offensive came about
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Long-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public - all these stood behind the Israel Defense Forces "Cast Lead" operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, which began Saturday morning. The disinformation effort, according to defense officials, took Hamas by surprise and served to significantly increase the number of its casualties in the strike. Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well. more.. e-mail
Analysis: Shock, awe... and deception
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 12/28/2008
"Shock and Awe," also known as "rapid dominance" is a doctrine formulated by the US military in the 1990s that calls for use of overwhelming power, dominating maneuvers and spectacular displays of force to paralyze an adversary. On Saturday, that was the IDF’s goal: to shock and awe Hamas with a blow the likes of which has not been seen in Gaza since the territory was conquered by Israel in 1967. The air strikes that began at 11:30 a. m. , with more than 110 IAF aircraft dropping over 100 tons of explosives on more than 100 targets, killed over 230 Palestinians. The bank of targets had been prepared months in advance by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Military Intelligence and included all of the main Hamas military headquarters, outposts, training camps and weapons stockpiles. The operation - called Cast Lead - started off similar to the way the IDF entered. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli Arabs react with violence to IDF operations in Gaza
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 12/27/2008
Israeli Arabs on Saturday protested Israel Defense Forces attacks in the Gaza Strip, with demonstrations and clashes with police breaking out in communities throughout Israel. In East Jerusalem, a police officer was lightly hurt by an Israeli Arab who hit him with his car. The driver, who has a criminal record, was arrested by police shortly thereafter. On Salah-a-Din Street in East Jerusalem, dozens of youths lit dumpsters and hurled stones at police. One assailant was arrested by police at the scene. In the Shuafat refugee camp, hundreds of Palestinian protestors threw rocks at security forces. In the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, a three-year-old boy was lightly hurt after he was hit in the eye by a rock thrower. In the Bedouin village of Rahat in the Negev, around 400 residents protested the attacks, while mosques throughout the town broadcast prayers of mourning. more.. e-mail
Images from Gaza solidarity protest in Nablus
Imemc in Nablus, International Middle East Media Center News 12/27/2008
Around 500 people gathered in the centre of Nablus in solidarity with Gaza following the Israeli shelling which has so far killed 150 people and injured 200 others on the 27th of December. The demonstration marched through the old city of Nablus, people were emotional and expressed their anguish at the deaths in Gaza calling out,"God is great!"The people of Nablus also called for an end to the internal splits, saying that " To Israelis we are all the same whether Fatah or Hamas the Israelis still want us dead!" More images below. . . more.. e-mail
Foreign press caught off guard
Gili Izikovich, Ha’aretz 12/28/2008
Operation found many foreign reporters home for holidays -Yesterday’s military operation in the Gaza Strip has caught off guard foreign media correspondents covering the area. A significant portion of them are still in their home countries enjoying the traditional one-week vacation between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Tonight, many will make their way back to Israel. A small Foreign Ministry delegation remains in Sderot. Last night it was bolstered by four additional spokespeople, translators and representatives from the IDF Spokesman’s Office. These preparations are part of the Foreign Ministry’s attempts to deal with the arrival of several hundred members of the media expected to arrive in the area in the coming days. A media center with wireless Internet has been set up next to the war room at the Sderot city hall. more.. e-mail
Olmert: Patience needed on Gaza op
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 12/27/2008
For the second time during his term in office, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declared war – this time on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “For seven years now, civilians have been attacked by missiles. Life in the South has become unbearable,” Olmert said, with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to his right and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to his left. “It could take time, and we require a great measure of patience in order to complete the mission. ” Olmert noted that Israel did everything in order to enable the lull in the south to go on. “The desire for calm was met with terror,” he said. “No country would reconcile itself to such reality. In recent days it turned out that Hamas was interested in a confrontation. Under such circumstances, we had no choice but to respond. ” “We are not rushing into battle with joy, yet we are not deterred either,” he said. more.. e-mail
Israel launches deadly Gaza attacks
Jenny Percival, The Guardian 12/27/2008
Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured after the Israeli air force launched dozens of air raids on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Palestinian health officials said at least 195 people were killed and more than 250 wounded in one of the bloodiest days for decades in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many were members of the security forces of the Islamic group Hamas, but civilians were also killed. In an indication of how the operation may yet expand, the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, said Israel’s air offensive against militant sites in Gaza "will widen as necessary". He told a news conference: "There is a time for calm and there is a time for fighting, and now is the time for fighting. The operation will expand as necessary. "It was unclear if this would include a ground offensive. more.. e-mail
Israel’s hammer blow in Gaza
Ian Black, The Guardian 12/27/2008
Israel’s hammer blow against Hamas in the Gaza Strip bears all the hallmarks of its doctrine of overwhelming force. But it was immediately met with calls of defiance from Hamas and warnings that the onslaught would lead to all-out war. Observers and analysts described it as the largest and most intensive air attack on Gaza since the second intifada erupted in 2000. Israel insisted it was a defensive response to an escalation of militant rocket attacks into its territory. The bomb and missile strikes by F16 warplanes this morning hit Hamas compounds and positions from Gaza City to Khan Yunis in the south of the coastal strip. Civilian casualties, on a normal school and working day, must have been inevitable in the densely populated area. Israel’s decision to hit what it called "terrorist infrastructure" reflects a deep reluctance to mount large-scale ground operations in the narrow coastal strip, home to 1. more.. e-mail
How Israel led Hamas into false sense of security
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 12/27/2008
Carefully calculated maneuvers utilized by cabinet lulled Islamist group into arrogant calm ahead of airstrike offensive in bid to maintain element of surprise. Primary aim of operation is to stop rocket attacks on Israel’s south, rebuild deterrence - Maneuvering the enemy: The Israel government reportedly employed several measures in order to lead Hamas into a false sense of security and ensure the operation against the Islamist group would take the organization by complete surprise. The tactic called for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the Gaza, despite the ongoing rocket fire on the western Negev. Last Sunday afternoon saw Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Barak reportedly agree on launching a wide-scale military offensive in Gaza. Then on Wednesday the National Security Cabinet approved the proposed operation, with the 11 ministers comprising the forum lodging a unanimous yea vote. more.. e-mail
Hamas source: IDF strike unexpected
Ali Waked, YNetNews 12/27/2008
Organization admits Air Force offensive in Gaza caught its people off guard since no one thought Israel would strike on Shabbat - A Hamas source in Gaza confirmed Saturday that the Israeli Air Force attack on the Gaza Strip, caught the organization completely off guard. Hamas, said the source, did not believe the IDF would launch a strike on Shabbat. Earlier in the week, many Hamas operative went underground, fearing an Israeli assault, but despite the precautions taken by Hamas, many of its police stations across the Strip were operating as usual, again - believing an Israeli attack will not begin over the weekend. Hamas spokesman Fauzi Barhum told the media that the organization learned on Friday that Israel was not going to launch any military operation in Gaza. Egypt had recommended Hamas cease all rocket fire immediately, in order to allow Israel to postpone its planned offensive in the Strip. more.. e-mail
Gaza braces for invasion as Barak threatens children
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 12/27/2008
GAZA CITY: The specter of a military invasion on Friday hung over Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where two children were killed as Palestinian militants fired more rockets despite Israeli threats of harsh retaliation. Two girls, one aged five and the other 12, were killed when their house in northern Gaza was hit by a rocket which witnesses said was apparently fired by Palestinian militants targeting southern Israel. Four other family members were wounded. The casualties came amid mounting speculation that the Israeli military would soon launch an operation in the Gaza Strip, which most media said would probably be limited in scope and not a full-scale invasion. "Army preparing for combined ground, air operation in Gaza," declared the front-page headline in Israel’s Haaretz. Violence in and around the Palestinian enclave has flared since a six-month cease-fire ended on December. . . more.. e-mail
Olmert orders the completion of the apartheid wall around Jerusalem
Palestinian Information Center 12/26/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The outgoing Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has ordered the completion of the apartheid wall around occupied Jerusalem by the end of 2009, according to Israeli sources. After a tour of the apartheid wall’s path around Jerusalem, that the Israeli occupation calls the "Jerusalem envelope", Olmert claimed that the apartheid wall was a necessity for Israel’s security. Olmert added that he was involved in plenty of talks about the wall and saw maps and aerial pictures, but all that was not equal in value to examining progress on the ground. The apartheid wall around Jerusalem excludes many Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, divides others and isolates many neighbourhoods from one another and from services. Olmert also claimed that in areas where the apartheid wall was completed it has prevented "terrorist attacks" against Israeli citizens, adding. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian cameraman dies of wounds sustained in an Israeli shelling two weeks ago
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/26/2008
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Friday that a Palestinian cameraman died of wounds sustained two weeks ago when the Israeli army targeted resistance fighters in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The reporter was identified as Hamza Shahin, 21. He was working with the Shihab Media Agency in the Gaza Strip. Shahin remained in a serious condition at the Intensive Care Unit in Al Shifa Medical Center until he died of his wounds on Friday. Suheib Shihada, head of the Shihab Media Agency, slammed the Israeli attack and said that the Israeli occupation is ongoing with its assaults against Palestinian reporters and media agencies in order to silence them. more.. e-mail
Dozens of mortar shells fired at Negev
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/26/2008
Palestinian gunmen fire dozens of mortar shells at Eshkol Regional Council overnight. No injuries reported, vacant building damaged - Dozens of mortar shells were fired from the northern Gaza Strip in a number of barrages Thursday night. One shell hit a vacant building in Eshkol Regional Council. No one was injured, but damage was caused to the building. The windows of two other houses were shattered from the powerful blast. Eshkol Regional Council Deputy Security Officer Niki Levi said over 20 mortar shells were fired at communities in the council. Most of the shells landed in open fields in the council. Secretary of one of the Council’s communities Iris Lavi told Ynet, "We had a rough night. One of the mortar shells fell on one of the neighbor’s lawns, between two buildings, but luckily, only the windows were damaged and no one was hurt. more.. e-mail
Al-Qassam figher dies of wounds sustained in Israeli strike
Ma’an News Agency 12/26/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian fighter affiliated with the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, was pronounced dead on Friday after sustaining wounds in an Israeli artillery strike in the northern Gaza Strip earlier in December. Medical sources said that Hamza Shaheen of Jabaliyah was so seriously wounded that doctors were forced to amputate both of his legs. He died of complications on Friday. Shaheen was reportedly injured in an Israeli airstrike, in which two missiles targeted a group of fighters in the Tal Az-Za’ater area of Jabaliyah Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip. He was apparently firing a homemade projectile toward Sderot, his southern Israeli target, when the Apache helicopter fired toward him and others. more.. e-mail
Troops invade village near Jenin
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/26/2008
The Palestine News Network reported on Friday evening that Israeli soldiers invaded Arraba town, south west of Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank, and clashed with dozens of youth who hurled stones at them. One youth was treated by field medics after inhaling gas fired by the army. Soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition in several directions while invading the town, and broke into a number of homes. Eyewitnesses reported that soldiers detained several youths in Abu Ali Mustafa Street. Dozens of youths closed the street with rocks and hurled stones and empty bottles at the invading forces. The army fired gas bombs and rubber coated bullets; one youth was wounded. Furthermore, soldiers closed the Al Hamra roadblock, near Jenin, for two hours and searched dozens of vehicles attempting to cross. Later on, soldiers kidnapped one youth and took him to an unknown destination. more.. e-mail
Gaza bracing for Israeli military strike
Middle East Online 12/26/2008
JERUSALEM - The spectre of an Israeli military invasion hung over the Gaza Strip on Friday. Gaza resistance fighters fired another volley of rockets at southern Israel on Friday, the Israeli army said. The attack comes in response to continuous Israeli attacks and the blockade of Gaza. Five rockets and two mortar rounds were fired before dawn, but caused no casualties, an Israeli military spokesman said. One mortar round landed on a house which was unoccupied at the time, near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, causing damage to the property, local residents said. Violence in and around Gaza flared up after a six-month ceasefire ended on December 19, and escalated dramatically on Wednesday. The latest violence came amid widespread speculation Israeli forces were gearing up for military action in Gaza, which some media said was likely to be a limited operation rather than a full-scale invasion. more.. e-mail
Projectiles land in Negev as Israeli forces plan Gaza invasion
Ma’an News Agency 12/26/2008
Gaza/Bethlehem - Ma’an – Israeli sources reported the launch of 22 mortar shells from Gaza at Israeli targets overnight Thursday and Friday morning, and say the military is preparing for a “limited operation” in Gaza in the coming days. Ten projectiles were claimed by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) Salah Ad-Din Brigades, after spokesman Abu A’beer announced the beginning of a campaign titled “Death Rope. ” The campaign, he said, will see a continuous barrage of home-made projectiles launched at Israeli targets. On Wednesday Israeli airstrikes and ground invasions killed three fighters in Beit Lahia, and two in southern Gaza. On Saturday one fighter was killed and three injured at a projectile launch pad in northern Gaza, and two children were injured in a separate Israeli attack. Hundreds of home-made projectiles and mortar shells have been launched. . . more.. e-mail
2 Palestinian girls killed in Kassam hit
Jerusalem Post 12/26/2008
Two Palestinian girls were killed on Friday when a rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists landed short of its Israeli target. According to witnesses, the girls were immediately killed after sustaining a direct hit. Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moiaya Hassanain identified the two victims as 5-year-old Hanin Abu Khoussa and her 12-year-old cousin, Sabah Abu Khoussa. Three other young people were wounded, Hassanain said. Hamas announced that it planned to investigate the incident which occurred in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. Earlier, Israel agreed to treat a 35-year-old Palestinian who was also wounded by a rocket fired from Gaza towards Israel. The man was evacuated to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital in serious condition after being transferred from a Palestinian ambulance to a Magen David Adom ambulance at the Erez Crossing. more.. e-mail
Palestinian rocket kills 2 Gaza girls
Reuters and Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/26/2008
Palestinians misfire rocket, two Gaza girls killed after Qassam hits home in northern Strip; earlier Friday, Palestinian man wounded by misfired rocket taken for treatment in Israeli hospital - A rocket apparently fired by Palestinians on Friday struck a house in the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinian sisters aged five and 13, Palestinian medics said. Hamas police said they were investigating the cause of the blast in Beit Lahiya village in northern Gaza, which medics said seemed to be due to a rocket aimed at Israel that had misfired. Earlier in the day, a seriously wounded 35-year-old Palestinian man, hurt by a misfired rocket on Tuesday, was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment. Two children were also reportedly wounded in the Tuesday attack, but it is unclear whether they were the man’s children. more.. e-mail
Two children killed, one seriously wounded in an explosion in Beit Lahia
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/26/2008
Palestinian sources reported on Friday that two sisters, aged 12 and 5, were killed and another child was seriously wounded, when a mortar shell hit their home in Al Atatra area, in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The two sisters were identified as Sabah, 12, and Haneen Abu Khousa, 5. The seriously wounded child was identified as Ola Hassouna. Sources in Gaza reported that a mortar shell apparently fired by Palestinian gunmen apparently missed its target and hit the Palestinian home killing the two children. The Israeli army denied any involvement in the incident, Israeli sources reported. The sources added that it seems that fighters fired a shell at an Israeli target but the shell missed its target and hit the Palestinian home. more.. e-mail
Mysterious Gaza explosion result of gaffed projectile attack, says Ad-Dremeli family
Ma’an News Agency 12/26/2008
Gaza - Ma’an – The family of Iyad Ad-Dremeli, injured in a mysterious explosion in his brother’s home Wednesday, say the explosion was not from inside the building but rather the result of a projectile attack. The home, which belongs to Gaza journalist Imad Ad-Dremeli, was damaged by the explosion. The family says investigations are ongoing and no attackers have yet been identified. During a phone interview Imad demanded those involved in the investigations announce the names of those responsible for the attack and bring them to justice. He hinted that a group of armed men using fields near the home as a launch pad for projectiles aimed at Israeli towns misfired their weapons. more.. e-mail
Ready to fire
Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 12/25/2008
Abdel-Hadi Al-Muqadma is a hero to thousands of Palestinians living in the central Gaza Strip. He died last Thursday when his gun accidentally went off as he was cleaning it before setting off to guard a forward position of the Qassam brigade, Hamas’s military wing. He was among the first elderly Gazans to join the Palestinian resistance when Israel threatened a massive military incursion into Gaza following the end of the ceasefire. After the news of his death dozens of other senior citizens signed up with resistance support units. A climate of impending war looms over Gaza in the wake of Israeli news reports of the Israeli government’s plans for a major military offensive in Gaza. Resistance factions have set up more posts around towns, villages and refugee camps, especially those close to the border with Israel. Fighters have been seen taking up positions in nearby fields in order to more.. e-mail
Rockets in Beersheba? Don’t be ridiculous
Abe Selig, Jerusalem Post 12/25/2008
When Saddam Hussein’s Scud missiles pounded the country during the 1991 Gulf War - the last time an air raid siren was heard in Beersheba for non-ceremonial purposes - Yitzhak Agron didn’t go into his building’s bomb shelter. Instead, the 63 year-old shopkeeper went to the shuk, and opened up his vegetable stand. "What am I, a freier (sucker)? " Agron chuckled on Thursday afternoon as he sat inside a small lotto stand on the city’s west side, recalling the scene from 17 years ago. "I didn’t go into the shelter then, and I won’t go now. When everyone was running scared in ’91, nothing happened in the end, and nothing’s going to happen this time either. " Indeed, the Scud missile that sent Beersheba into a panic in 1991 was actually on course for the Soreq nuclear reactor near Dimona, and missed that target as well - landing in the open desert near Arad. more.. e-mail
Lebanese Army defuses rockets pointed at Israel
Daily Star 12/27/2008
BEIRUT: UN and Lebanese military patrols along the Israeli border have been stepped up following the discovery of eight rockets connected to timers that were just hours from firing into Israel on Thursday. Lebanese soldiers on a routine patrol discovered the Katyusha and Grad rockets after being alerted by a farmer who had found them armed and pointing toward Israel in Hammoul, northeast of Naqoura, military officials told The Daily Star on Friday. If the rockets had been successfully fired, the attack could have represented a serious breach of the cease-fire agreement that ended the 2006 war. Israeli officials have reportedly warned that if the attack had not been thwarted, it would have caused "friction and fighting" on the Lebanese border. The UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, UNIFIL, dispatched a team to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in defusing the rockets,. . . more.. e-mail
IDF gets green light to strike Hamas after rocket barrage
Yaakov Katz And Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post 12/24/2008
The IDF received the green light Wednesday for a series of operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after more than 60 mortar shells and Katyusha and Kassam rockets pounded the Negev. Gaza terrorists fire over 60 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel The barrage hit communities throughout the South, reaching as far north as Ashkelon and as far south as Kerem Shalom. At least two Grad-model Katyusha rockets were fired into Ashkelon on Wednesday, and a Kassam with extended range hit Netivot. No one was wounded, even though terrorists hit close to educational facilities and homes; however, nearly 60 people, almost half of them children or teenagers, were treated for emotional trauma and anxiety. "It was a Hanukka miracle," Magen David Adom spokesman Yerucham Mandola said. more.. e-mail
Five Qassam fighters killed within the past few hours
Palestinian Information Center 12/24/2008
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Five members of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were killed over the past few hours three in Israeli occupation forces’ shooting and two while on "Jihad mission", the armed wing announced in a communiquĂ© on Wednesday. The communiquĂ© said that Islam Jadallah, 23, and Mohammed Al-Halabi, 21, were killed at dawn Wednesday while on a "Jihad mission" east of Khan Younis, to the south of the Gaza Strip. The armed wing also announced that three Palestinian resistance fighters that the IOF soldiers had shot and killed at a late hour on Tuesday were members of its special unit and held the IOF fully responsible for consequences of their assassination. The Qassam Brigades in retaliation to the IOF crimes fired 17 mortar shells at five Israeli army positions and settlements to the north and south of the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Israeli Military Detains Palestinian Residents from the West Bank
IMEMC Staff & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/24/2008
The Israeli Army detained on Wednesday several Palestinian residents from different West Bank areas. Palestinian security sources reported that at least seven Palestinian residents were rounded up by Israeli troops in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Nablus, Hebron and Qalqilia. The sources said that a large number of Israeli soldiers cordoned off residents’ houses in the said areas and began ransacking them before detaining seven residents. Despite repeated calls on Israel to release 11,500 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, Israel continues to arrest more Palestinians, on daily basis. [end]
Israeli forces seize five West Bankers
Ma’an News Agency 12/24/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces arrested on Wednesday morning five Palestinian youths from the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia and the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar north of Hebron, after ransacking their homes. Israeli forces said all “wanted” five youths were taken to interrogation centers. [end]
IDF preparing for Gaza op
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 12/25/2008
Massive rocket and mortar fire on Negev deems military action against terrorists almost ’inevitable’. IDF: Our goal is to make Hamas come to a decision that the attacks must cease -After more than 40 rockets and 20 mortar shells hit Israel Wednesday, causing dozens of people to suffer from shock as well asextensive damage to homes and places of business, the IDF has begun to prepare for a military operation. The operation will go forth according to all stipulations unless Hamas ceases its fire. Military officials said the IDF would enter Gaza when the weather and other factors allowed for the operation to go forth. It will be conducted mostly through air strikes. The officials said Israel did not intend to recapture Gaza, but merely to put pressure on the terror organizations. An IDF official said Wednesday that "our goal is to make Hamas come. . . more.. e-mail
70 rocket strikes in southern Israel; Cabinet approves military response
Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 12/25/2008
The defense establishment is currently preparing for a military move against Hamas targets in Gaza, after the Islamist group launched more than 70 rockets into Israel yesterday. As an initial retaliatory measure, an Israel Air Force strike killed a Hamas gunman in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Israel’s response will go beyond the air raid, an Israeli official told Haaretz. "Our response will be substantial and painful to Hamas," the official said. By late morning yesterday, the Magen David Adom rescue service declared its highest level of alert. One of the rockets exploded next to a children’s playground in the southern town of Netivot and a mortar shell scored a direct hit on a house in Kibbutz Sha’ar Hanegev, causing extensive damage. A house in the community of Sdot Negev was also severely damaged after it absorbed a direct rocket hit. more.. e-mail
IOF declares 3 Palestinian fighters killed in northern Gaza clash
Palestinian Information Center 12/24/2008
BEIT HANUN, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces said that three Palestinian resistance fighters were killed near the security fence in northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday night in a clash with those forces. The website of the Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot reported that an IOF unit spotted three resistance elements near Netiv Ha`asara settlement adjacent to the Strip while trying to plant an explosive device. A paratroopers unit was dispatched to the Palestinian area and engaged the fighters who responded by firing at the attackers, the Hebrew report said. It claimed that none of the IOF soldiers was hurt while the three fighters were killed on the spot. Local sources said they heard sound of clashes but no Palestinian affirmation on the death of the three Palestinians was made so far. more.. e-mail
Color Red activated in additional cities
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/25/2008
Large cities such as Ashdod, Rahat deemed by Homefront Command to be exposed to rocket threat after Wednesday’s incessant barrage; residents in Gaza vicinity spend night in shelters, expressing little hope for reprieve in near future -The barrage of artillery fired at Israel from Gaza throughout Wednesday caused defense officials to order the activation of the Color Red alert system in all cities within a 30 km radius of the Strip, including Ashdod and Rahat. "I never thought we’d come to this," Yechiel Lasry, the mayor of Ashdod, told Ynet. "I thought the state would do something to stop the fire but that hasn’t been done. I don’t like the idea of activating the alert system in the city, but we need to be prepared. " He said the city’s residents had already received pamphlets from the Homefront Command indicating what was to be done in the case of a rocket attack. more.. e-mail
In Ashkelon, officials must decide: emergency or business as usual?
Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post 12/25/2008
The underground command and control room at Ashkelon City Hall was full on Wednesday afternoon, hours after dozens of locals were sent into shock by Kassam and Katyusha rocket fire. The local leaders crammed into the room had to decide whether to place the city on a full-fledged war-preparation footing, or to continue with business as usual. For now, they were choosing the middle ground. Those present included Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin, the city’s police chief, Cmdr. Haim Blumenfeld, the municipality’s head of security, Yossi Greenfeld, and representatives from the IDF Home Front Command, the Fire and Rescue Service and Magen David Adom. A satellite map of the city was projected on a large white board as city officials marked the areas that had been hit. Nearby, a projected table of data showed each of the day’s attacks so far. more.. e-mail
Israel hit by rocket fire from Gaza
Al Jazeera 12/25/2008
Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip have opened up heavy rocket and mortar fire on Israel, Israeli and Palestinian officials say. Israel’s retaliation was swift, with an air raid killing one Hamas fighter late on Wednesday near the town of Rafah, according to Palestinian sources. An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the incident, saying: "It targeted terrorists which fired rockets against Israel. "Palestinian medical workers said one Hamas fighter was killed in the raid and two other Palestinians were wounded, including a cameraman from Hamas’s television station. Rocket salvoes No injuries were reported as a result of the Palestinian projectiles, at least 60 of which fell on Israeli towns and cities by nightfall on Wednesday. more.. e-mail
Violence escalates around besieged Gaza
Middle East Online 12/24/2008
GAZA CITY - Violence escalated around the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday after a two-day lull, denting the chances of Israel and the Palestinian resistance group renewing a ceasefire. Gaza resistance fired off a barrage of several dozen rockets and mortar shells into Israel early on Wednesday in retaliation to the Israeli army’s killing of three Hamas members, raising tensions around the besieged Palestinian enclave. The military wing of Hamas said in a statement that the firing was "to avenge the killing" of three of its members by the Israeli army late on Tuesday. Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilani said on army radio that the renewed rocket and mortar volleys were "intolerable and we will take all necessary measures to stop them. " Since the expiry of an Egyptian-mediated six-month truce on Friday, Israel has threatened to launch a major offensive on Gaza and Hamas warned it would retaliate. more.. e-mail
Qassam, mortar barrages hit south
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/24/2008
At least 38 rockets, 18 mortar shells fired from Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, Wednesday. About 30 people suffer shock; houses, factory and building in military base sustain damage. Rocket fire follows killing of three terrorists by IDF on Tuesday - Palestinians fired at least 38 rockets and more than 18 mortar shells from the northern Gaza Strip towards southern Israel on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. One rocket hit a house in the Sdot Negev Regional Council and another hit a factory in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing heavy damage. In total, some 31 people suffered shock. The same factory was hit by several mortar shells in the early afternoon hours. A number of people were treated for shock. Holiday NightmareRocket fire leads to close calls / Ilana Curiel Intense Qassam barrage on south gives way to small miracles in western Negev. . . more.. e-mail
Qassam damages Sderot factory; 3 suffer from shock
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/24/2008
Rocket hits southern city’s industrial zone just hours after President Peres tours area; factory employees were present at time of attack -A Qassam rocket fired from Gaza Wednesday night landed near a factory in Sderot’s industrial zone, just hours after President Shimon Peres toured the area. Damage was done to the building, and three people suffered from shock. Nightshift factory employees were present during the attack. More than 60 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel Wednesday; some 60 Israelis suffered from shock and extensive damage was caused to a number of structures. During a tour of the Osem food factory in Sderot Peres said, "We must act prudently and not say when and where we will retaliate. The IDF can face any threat. " Due to the escalation, Israel’s security establishment has decided to activate an alert system that. . . more.. e-mail
Hamas goes into hiding in Gaza
Ali Waked, YNetNews 12/24/2008
Fearing harsh Israeli response to massive rocket, mortar fire on Negev, gunmen abandon exposed structures. ’Our artillery unit fulfilling its obligation to defend Palestinian people and face the Zionist enemy’s arrogance,’ Islamist group says -Most Hamas gunmen in Gaza have gone into hiding on Wednesday for fear of a harsh Israeli response to the heavy rocket and mortar barrages emanating from the Strip, Ynet has learned. All exposed Hamas structures, including police stations and government buildings, have been abandoned. On Wednesday evening the Israeli Air Force targeted a terror cell that was apparently preparing to launch mortar shells from northern Gaza. The attack, which came after dozens of Qassams and mortars were fired toward Ashkelon and the Gaza-vicinity communities, left a Hamas gunmen dead and four other Palestinians wounded. more.. e-mail
Sunday evening: Rocket fire resumes; alert system to be activated in Ashdod
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/24/2008
Four Qassams, six mortars fired toward Negev, bringing Wednesday’s total to more than 60. Rocket alert system to be activated in Ashdod, city official says ’only a matter of time before we’re attacked’ -Following an hour and a half-long lull, the rocket attacks on Israel resumed Wednesday evening, as at least two Qassams fired from northern Gaza landed in the western Negev. One rocket landed in an open area within the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council’s limits at around 17:30, but resulted in no injuries or damage. Another Qassam fired a short while later a second Qassam landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage. At around 7 pm six mortar shells landed in open spaces in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported. More than 60 rockets and mortars were more.. e-mail
Israeli air strike kills Gaza terrorist, medics say
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 12/24/2008
Hamas gunman killed, two other Palestinians wounded in Air Force attack on group of terrorists preparing to fire mortars from northern Strip toward Negev region; Qassam lands near factory in south Israel; no injuries -Medical officials in Gaza said Wednesday evening that an Israeli air strike killed a Hamas gunman and wounded four other Palestinians, this after dozens of rockets and mortars were fired towards the Jewish state throughout the day. An Israeli military spokesman said the air strike targeted a group of terrorists who were preparing to fire mortar shells towards Israel. The man killed in the attack was apparently a member of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Meanwhile, a Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza at around 7:30 pm exploded near a factory located in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council’s industrial zone. more.. e-mail
Peres in Sderot: IDF can quell rocket fire
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/24/2008
President tours south despite massive Qassam, mortar fire, tells residents ’we mustn’t say when and where we will retaliate’ -President Shimon Peres toured an Osem food factory in Sderot, in which a new line was established to provide the struggling city with additional income. " In Gaza rockets are being lit, while in Sderot candles are being lit. Gaza is being darkened while Sderot is being lit up," he said during a Hanukah candle-lighting ceremony at the factory Wednesday evening. " I don’t know of any other place in the world that would hold such a beautiful celebration under a barrage of dozens of rockets. " Nearly 60 rockets and mortars were fired toward Israel from Gaza since Tuesday night; more than 40 Israelis suffered from shock andextensive damage was caused to a number of structures. more.. e-mail
Rockets hit Ashkelon
Globes Online 12/24/2008
A barrage of at least 15 rockets was fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip last night and this morning. A barrage of at least 15 rockets was fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip last night and this morning. There were reports of 30-40 people treated for shock. Two Grad missiles landed in Ashkelon, one near a factory and one near a parking lot. Several cars were damaged. Earlier, a Kassam rocket landed on a house in a kibbutz, Shaar Hanegev, and destroyed the ceiling. Minister of Defense Ehud Barak halted a shipment of humanitarian aid that he had previously authorized, and ordered that crossings into Gaza remain closed. [end]
DFLP fires homemade projectiles at Sderot Tuesday evening
Ma’an News Agency 12/24/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – An armed group affiliated with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) launched a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday evening. The group claimed the launch in a statement, which said the shelling came in retaliation to “Israeli daily aggression against the Palestinian people. ”[end]
Gazan man injured in ambiguous explosion at home
Ma’an News Agency 12/24/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian man from the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City was injured on Wednesday morning in ambiguous explosion in his own home. Palestinian medical sources identified the victim as 37-year-old Iyad Dreimly asserting that he was transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. [end]
Gaza gunmen fire at soldiers near Sufa
Jerusalem Post 12/22/2008
Gaza gunmen fired at IDF soldiers patrolling the security fence near the Sufa crossing late Monday afternoon, seemingly refuting reports of a 24-hour ceasefire. Hamas: We have ceased launching rockets into Israel at Egypt’s request The troops returned fire. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. In addition, soldiers arrested two Palestinians near Kissufim who had crossed the Gaza fence. They were transferred for interrogation. Also Monday afternoon, three Kassam rockets fired by Gaza terrorists hit southern Israel. One struck the Eshkol region, while two hit the Sha’ar Hanegev area. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. RELATED Video:Mideast expert Dan Schuefton: Hamas must be hurt badly Meanwhile, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry flatly denied reports it had asked Hamas to temporarily hold its. . . more.. e-mail
UN: Settler violence toward Palestinians on rise
Jerusalem Post 12/23/2008
The number of incidents of violence by settlers was higher during the first 10 months of 2008 than during the entire years of either 2007 or 2006, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated in a report issued Monday. According to the report, there were 290 "settler-related incidents" between January and October 2008, compared with 243 in 2007 and 182 in 2006. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) defines "incidents" as casualties (killed or wounded,) property damage, preventing access, trespassing and intimidation. OCHA found that more Israelis than Palestinians have been killed over the past three years - 10 Israelis versus four Palestinians. However, during the same period, 293 Palestinians were hurt in incidents involving settlers, compared with 116 Israelis. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops detain three men from Ni’lin, destroy property in village
Ma’an News Agency 12/22/2008
Ramallah – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained three men from the village of Ni’lin west of Ramallah and broke into several homes destroying property in the area. Local sources said Israeli troops invaded the village Monday before dawn and saw dozens of military vehicles along with a bulldozer. The jeeps fired rubber bullets and tear gas as they toured the village. Eyewitnesses reported that troops broke into the house of Ibrahim Mustafa Amira and his brothers Sami and Ahmad. Soldiers broke several windows in the home and opened fire at the water tanks above the home. Before leaving troops detained Ibrahim Amira, a university student, as well as Mahmoud Dahoud and Muhammad Zarul Amira. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize seven Palestinians from Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 12/22/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – The Israeli military says it arrested seven Palestinian men during overnight raids in the West Bank city of Nablus. Local sources identified four of those men later on Monday. They are:Iyad Abu Salhieh, 20, from the Krum Ashur areaFadi Shaqqo, 24 from the Old CityMajed Khalil Abu Thera, 23, from Balata Refugee CampLocal sources said that during the raid, Israeli troops broke into the Marahil house in the Balata Refugee Camp and destroyed the interior of the house. [end]
Israeli Army Kidnaps 10 Palestinians From the West Bank
Justin Theriault, International Middle East Media Center News 12/22/2008
Israeli forces confirmed that they seized 10 Palestinians this morning during raids in the West Bank, Maan news agency reported. Three Palestinians were arrested in the city of Jenin, and seven more were arrested in the city of Nablus. All were stated by Israeli Military sources as "wanted". Palestinian security forces said in a statement that three others, not mentioned in the Israel’s account, were taken from their homes near the Israeli annexation wall in the town of Zeita, just north of Tulkarem. Those arrested in the town of Zeita were identified as Kifah Abu Al-Izz, age 18, Nasr Abu Al-Izz, Age 22, and Muhammad Abu Al-’Izz, age 30. In recent weeks, Israel has stepped-up its campaign of abducting Palestinians from all over the West Bank, while continuing its strangulation of the citizens of Gaza through its ongoing siege. more.. e-mail
PFLP fighters fire two homemade projectiles at Kfar Azza
Ma’an News Agency 12/22/2008
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 evening for firing two homemade projectiles from Gaza at the Israeli border town of Kfar Azza. The group said in a statement that even if Israel begins a policy of targeted assassinations, it would not be stopped from shelling Israeli targets. [end]
Resistance Fighters Open Fire Toward Israeli Warplanes in Northern Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/22/2008
The Israeli Army reported that its warplanes were exposed to Palestinian gunfire in northern Gaza last night, no causalities were reported. According to the Israeli Army, a group of Palestinian resistance fighters responded with heavy gun fire to an Israeli air strike on the northern parts of the Gaza Strip, and that the warplanes reacted to the source of fire. Palestinian medics reported late Sunday night that at least four people, including a child, were wounded by Israeli fire in northeastern Gaza. The armed wing of the ruling Hamas party, known as Ezzildin Alqassam, said in a statement that its fighters were able to force Israeli warplanes to turn back after the resistance fired a volley of bullets toward the aircraft. more.. e-mail
2 more Qassams land in western Negev
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/22/2008
None injured as rocket tally for Monday rises to three, FM Livni concerned situation deteriorating. At Egypt’s request Hamas discussing possibility of 24-hour ceasefire, but attacks from Gaza continue - Palestinian groups fired two Qassam rockets from northern Gaza on Monday afternoon towards Israel, no injuries were reported and no damage was caused. The first rocket was fired shortly after 4:00 pm, and landed near a road opposite a kibbutz belonging to the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. The second Qassam was fired an hour and a half later, and landed in an open area. The latter raised the tally of rockets to land in Israeli territory on Monday to three. Earlier a Qassam landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council - causing no injuries or damage. No terror group has claimed responsibility for the attacks thus far. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 122208
IMEMC News - Aduio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 12/22/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Monday December 22 2008 Israeli military kidnaps 10 Palestinian civilians from the West Bank, Tzipi Livni call for Hamas to be toppled. These stories, and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast The Free Gaza Movement reported on Sunday that the Qatari ship, the first Arab solidarity boat to break the Israeli siege, sailed out of Gaza after activists onboard spent 48 hours delivering humanitarian supplies, and observing the negative and devastating effects of the unjust Israeli siege. The activists visited relief organizations and educational facilities in the coastal region. Fifteen Qatari nationals and international peace activists were onboard the ship. more.. e-mail
Be’er Sheva mayor: We are installing Qassam warning system
Yanir Yagna, Ha’aretz 12/22/2008
Be’er Sheva Mayor Rubik Danilovich on Sunday said that his city plans to improve conditions in its bomb shelters and is preparing to install a Color Red alarm system. Danilovich’s comments came in the wake of Sunday’s announcement by Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin that Hamas is capable of firing rockets capable of striking targets on the outskirts Be’er Sheva, as well as Kiryat Gat and Ashdod. "We expect that the government will not allow us to get to the point where Be’er Sheva will absorb rocket fire," said Danilovich. "The government must take measures to prevent this from happening. " Danilovich added that Be’er Sheva has begun preparatory exercises in coordination with the Home Front Command to raise the city’s level of alertness. Be’er Sheva has 250 public bomb shelters intended for use by its 200,000 residents. more.. e-mail
’At least in J’lem we were safe at home’
Jerusalem Post 12/22/2008
The situation in Gaza-belt communities, according to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, is "terrible, just terrible. " In an interview with Israel Radio on Monday afternoon, Itzik spoke of her experiences living in Jerusalem during periods of frequent terror attacks, saying "the one place we were safe was at home. We were scared to send our children on buses and in taxis, but at home we knew we were protected. " In the South, however, she said there was no respite. "24 hours a day, it’s enough to make you crazy," she said, calling for action from the government to rectify the situation. "I feel that Israel, at the moment, and I’m a part of it, isn’t doing anything," she said. Itzik went on to say that the international community accepts the constant rocket barrage on Israel because "Israel itself accepts the situation. more.. e-mail
Israel says Apache helicopter came under fire before airstrike
Ma’an News Agency 12/22/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli apache helicopter came under fire from Palestinian fighters while before it fired on the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday night, the Israeli military said. The military said the helicopter fired back at the fighters, who were also preparing to launch homemade projectiles. Mua’waiyah Hassanein, the Ministry of Health’s director of Ambulance and Emergency Services said that four Palestinians were injured in a strike on the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza city. One of the injured was a child. The airstrike was one event in a day of continued violence in Gaza. A shaky-six month old truce between armed Palestinian groups and Israel expired on Friday. Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades held training exercises in central Gaza involving the use of machine guns to attack Israeli helicopters. more.. e-mail
Gunning for a good time
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 12/23/2008
From Givat Ahiyah, 857 meters above sea level, one can see thousands of olive trees in the Shilo Valley below. When Yossi and Ronit Shoker planted them here 12 years ago, their action had a lot of romance in it and mostly ideology. The hundreds of dunams on which the trees were planted were leased to the Ahiyah Farm by the World Zionist Organization’s settlement department. There was a dual purpose: redeeming as much state land as possible to prevent Palestinians from taking them over, and creating a foundation for Hebrew labor. Today, Yossi Shoker is gone. He was seriously injured in a work accident in the olive press he built and died six and half years later. But his homemade olive press has become a major operation that handles 1,500 tons of olives per season and has annual sales of NIS 10 million. It and the adjacent olive groves have become a tourist attraction, especially around. . . more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Brigades fire projectiles from Gaza in response to killing of fighter
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility on Sunday for firing five homemade projectiles from Gaza at the Israeli towns of Ashkelon, Sderot and Sa’d Kibutz. The group said in a statement that two projectiles were launched at Sderot, two at Askelon and one landed in the main square at Israeli Kibutz of Sa’d. In a statement the organization said the homemade rockets were “natural retaliation” for Israel’s killing on Saturday of Ali Hijazi, a local leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades in northern Gaza. The statement asserted that the shelling was natural retaliation for Israeli atrocities in the Gaza strip, which culminated with assassination of the group’s leader Ali Hijazi. Twenty-five-year-old Hijazi was killed by an Israeli artillery shell. more.. e-mail
IAF air strike destroys two rocket launchers in northern Gaza Strip
Haaretz Service and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 12/22/2008
The Israel Air Force on Sunday carried out an air strike on two Qassam rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip. The two launchers were loaded and ready to fire when they were eliminated. Palestinians said four people were injured in the strike, including children. Palestinian militants on Sunday morning fired 19 Qassam rockets and three mortar rounds into Israel, lightly injuring one person and damaging a private home. Rescue services said one rocket scored a direct hit on a house in the town of Sderot, causing damage to the building. Maya Iber - who was on the lower level of her house while the rocket hit its top floor - was treated for shock. "Everyone is traumatized," Iber told AP Television News. A Thai migrant worker from moshav Nativ Ha’asara sustained light shrapnel wounds from mortar fire. more.. e-mail
Shin Bet chief: Hamas rockets can hit outskirts of Be’er Sheva
Barak Ravid Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/22/2008
Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin said Sunday that Hamas is capable of firing rockets that can strike targets as distant from Gaza as the outskirts of the Negev capital of Be’er Sheva. He told a meeting of the cabinet that rockets could also hit Kiryat Gat and Ashdod, cities which thus far were seen as beyond range. Hamas’ armed wing used the last six months of relative calm to improve its medium and long-range rockets and mortars, he said. "We believe that if we strike at significant assets, they will respond with longer-range fire," Diskin said. Hamas officials, meanwhile, are not ruling out a renewal of suicide bombings in Israel. Ayman Taha, a Hamas representative in Gaza, told Haaretz that under the current conditions, no cease-fire is in effect whatsoever. more.. e-mail
Gaza rockets hit southern Israel
Al Jazeera 12/21/2008
Eight rockets and mortars fired from Gaza have hit towns in southern Israel, with one house being severely damaged in Sderot, Israeli rescue service workers have said. No one was injured in the attack, which began at about 7am (0500GMT) on Sunday, two days after the official end of a truce between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. A migrant worker was wounded by shrapnel in a separate rocket attack on a Kibbutz, an Israeli farming co-operative. The Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for the attacks. Air raid launched Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip, said that the Israeli military launched an air raid into Gaza, targeting a rocket firing squad. There were no immediate reports of casualties. more.. e-mail
Israeli strike on eastern Gaza City wounds four, including child
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - Four Palestinians were injured late on Sunday night after an Israeli Apache helicopter fired missiles on eastern Gaza City. One of the injured is reportedly a child. Dr Mua’waiyah Hassanein, the Ministry of Health’s director of Ambulance and Emergency Services, confirmed the injuries. He added that the four Palestinians were moderately injured in the assault. A spokesperson for the Israeli military confirmed the attack, according to Al-Jazeera. [end]
Palestinians: Civilians wounded in IAF Gaza strike
Jerusalem Post 12/21/2008
Palestinian sources on Sunday night said that several civilians were lightly wounded in an IAF air strike against rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip. Earlier, the army confirmed an attack in the area. [end]
IOF troops storm Ramallah, Tulkarem
Palestinian Information Center 12/21/2008
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces stormed the cities of Ramallah and Tulkarem in the West Bank on Sunday and freely moved in the cities while PA security elements were noticeably off the streets of both cities. Media reporting of the storming, which was covered live, showed the soldiers riding in their jeeps and in front of them and moving slowly and freely in the streets with no presence of PA security apparatuses which claimed they were responsible for defending the country. Abu Abir, the spokesman of the Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees, in Gaza said that the PA security war on resistance and its elements allowed such a scene to happen. He said that the scene is a scandal for both PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and his entourage, noting that the situation is totally different in the Gaza Strip where the IOF soldiers find big difficulty in advancing 200 meters even in open areas. more.. e-mail
IAF targets Kassam launchers in Gaza
Yaakov Katz And AP, Jerusalem Post 12/21/2008
Several people were in shock and buildings were damaged when Palestinian terrorists on Sunday night fired a Kassam rocket at the Sha’ar Hanegev region and two more at the Sdot Negev region. No one suffered bodily harm in the attack. Rocket fire rains down on western Negev Shortly afterwards, An IAF aircraft on Sunday night targeted two Kassam rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip. The army confirmed a hit and said that the launchers were loaded and ready to launch. Earlier Sunday several rockets were fired from the area. Earlier, Palestinian sources reported that a woman was moderately wounded in an IAF strike on Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip. RELATEDWoman whose house was hit by Kassam: ’Nothing changes’ slideshow:Gaza flare-up The Warped Mirror: Worried about Gaza’s dignity The Palestinians. . . more.. e-mail
Exchange of fire starts early; Gaza parents advised to keep children indoors
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Thirteen homemade projectiles and several mortar shells were fired by Palestinian armed factions on Sunday, two days after a six-month old truce between Israel and Palestinian factions expired. After an initial salvo of projectiles, an Israeli aerial drone fired two missiles at a projectile launch site near Qlebo Dome in the northern Gaza Strip. In Israel a Thai man was injured, several greenhouses and a home were slightly damaged by Palestinian projectiles in the border town of Sderot, while no injuries have been reported in Gaza. On Saturday Israeli fire killed one Gazan fighter and injured five including two children playing in an open field in the north of the Strip. The same day reports of between ten and fifteen projectile launches resulted in no Israeli injuries. Director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry Muawiya. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli minister advises Hamas leaders to remain indoors during daylight hours
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud Zahhar should avoid moving freely during the day, Israeli Minister of Transportation Shaul Mofaz told Israeli Army Radio Sunday afternoon. Mofaz’s comments seem to affirm the new Israeli position on military retaliations for Palestinian projectile launches from the Gaza Strip. To date Israeli fire has targeted Gazan resistance fighters usually at projectile launch areas, or the launch pads themselves. Mofaz expressed disapproval over the way Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has been responding to the projectile launches from Gaza, wondering what more Barak wanted before he escalated the Israeli response. He described the current response as one of ‘merely opening and closing crossings. ’“There is only one way to respond to the escalation by Hamas,” Mofaz added. more.. e-mail
IOF choppers fire missiles at northern Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 12/21/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli army choppers fired two missiles at a target north of the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning but no casualties were reported, according to local sources. The Israeli occupation forces have been escalating aerial attacks on the Strip ever since the calm agreement with Palestinian resistance factions expired last Friday. The agreement, which stipulated reciprocal ceasefire, also included lifting the siege on Gaza and opening crossings gradually but Israel did not live up to its promises and retained the siege and kept the crossings working at minimal capacity. Meanwhile, the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, on Sunday fired five locally made Quds missiles at Israeli targets adjacent to Gaza. The armed wing said that the firing was in retaliation to IOF crimes in the West Bank and the besieged Strip. more.. e-mail
Woman injured by shrapnel from Israeli shell in northern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian woman was moderately injured by shrapnel from an Israeli artillery shell in the town of Beit Hanoun, in the northern the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening. Witnesses said Israeli artillery shelled a house in the eastern section of Beit Hanoun, near the border with Israel. The Director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, Muawiya Hassanain, said the woman was treated for “moderate” injuries at a local hospital in Beit Hanoun. Separately, a group of Palestinian fighters say they were unharmed after an unmanned Israeli drone aircraft fired a rocket at them near the Industrial Zone, east of the Ash-Shuja’iyyah neighborhood of Gaza city. The fighters were affiliated with the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the PFLP, and the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah. more.. e-mail
Man lightly hurt in rocket, mortar barrage
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/21/2008
Sixteen rockets fired from Gaza Strip into Israel on Sunday; foreign worker lightly injured in his arm by mortar shell. Four rockets land in Sderot; one hits house, man suffers from shock. Two additional rockets land in Ashkelon’s industrial zone. IDF strikes rocket launcher in Gaza - Palestinian gunmen fired 16 Qassam rockets and several mortar shells into Israel on Sunday. One of the rockets fired in the first barrage at around 7 am landed within the Eshkol Regional Council, another hit the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, and the third landed within the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council Hanegev without exploding. A mortar shell was fired at a community within the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council. A foreign worker was lightly injured by shrapnel while working in a hothouse in the area. He was evacuated to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. more.. e-mail
Vilnai: Expedite fortification in South
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 12/21/2008
Deputy defense minister orders his office to speed up construction of public shelters and installation of defense systems in Gaza-vicinity towns amid incessant rocket fire - Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai (Labor) has instructed his office on Sunday to expedite the construction of public shelters and the installation of defense systems in the Gaza-vicinity communities in light of the incessant rocket and mortar Hamas-controlled territory. At least 16 Qassam rockets and a number of mortars were fired toward southern Israel on Sunday. Some 40 Qassams and dozens of mortars have been fired towards the western Negev region since the ceasefire between Israel and the armed Palestinian groups expired on Friday. Vilnai decreed that any community within a 7-kilometer range of the border with Gaza must have five or six renovated shelters. more.. e-mail
Sunday evening: Qassam fire continues, IDF strikes in Gaza
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 12/21/2008
Two Qassams hit Negev; no injuries reported. Israeli forces attack rocket launchers in northern Strip. Mofaz: Israel must reestablish its deterrence -A Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza Sunday evening landed near a kibbutz located in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries, but a number of structures were damaged. A short while later IDF forces struck two rocket launchers in northern Gaza. Palestinians reported a massive explosion in Gaza City, and added that a large blaze could be seen. At around 10 pm another rocket landed within the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council’s limits. There were no reports of injuries or damage. At least 17 Qassams and a number of mortars were launched toward the western Negev region throughout the day. A foreign worker sustained light shrapnel injuries during one of the attacks. more.. e-mail
Legal report: IOF killed 50 Palestinians during calm
Palestinian Information Center 12/21/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly violated the calm agreement forged with Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip since 19th June 2008 killing 50 Palestinians in the process, a legal report said on Sunday. The international Tadamun (solidarity) institute for human rights said in its report that the lull was brittle ever since it went into effect. It noted that the IOF soldiers violated the calm many times through different methods such as incursion, assassination, detention, demolition of homes, closure of Palestinian societies, escalation of settlement activity and the siege. The report underlined that the IOF troops killed 50 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip including 25 in the latter including 21 in shelling operations. It noted that IOF troops demolished 60 houses, installations and sit-in tents mostly in the West Bank in. . . more.. e-mail
View from Sderot / Quick, before the next Qassam
Avirama Golan, Ha’aretz 12/22/2008
Yesterday the children of Sderot boarded buses to school and daycare between 7:30 and 8 A. M. as they always do. The route had not changed, but what had changed was the presence of a police escort. The Qassam rockets fell one after another until8 A. M. , and then a temporary quiet prevailed. The press likes to use the term "ghost town" in describing Sderot, but the city is far from that. It is a cautious city - since a rocket fell in the central commercial area last week no one spends more than the time absolutely necessary to shop. They do their business and go home. The children, who have grown accustomed in the recent months of the cease-fire to caper around the city’s public parks, have now been reduced to stare at television and computer screens or to pile into stairwells. In the seniors’ room at Kibbutz Nir Am in the Gaza envelope this weekend, members in their 80s and 90s drank tea and discussed current events. more.. e-mail
Police probe vandalism of Jaffa mosque
Haviv Rettig Gur And Brenda Gazzar, Jerusalem Post 12/21/2008
The Tel Aviv police opened an investigation Sunday into virulent anti-Arab and anti-Muslim slogans painted overnight on the front entrance of the Al-Bahar Mosque in the Jaffa port. The mosque’s doors were covered in red and black spray-painted slogans, including "Muhammad is a pig," "death to Arabs" and "a real Arab man is a dead Arab man. " Locals and Islamic Movement officials say the act was likely committed by extremist segments of the Jewish settler movement, a view apparently confirmed by one of the painted slogans: "No peace without the House of Peace," a reference to the disputed Hebron building evacuated of Jewish tenants earlier this month. Those who defaced the mosque’s front doors "are people who hate peace, extremists," believes local resident and mosque member Amgad Kassam. "I don’t want them to drag us into a situation like what happened in Acre," where local Jews and Arabs clashed in the streets in October. more.. e-mail
'Muhammad is a pig,' 'Death to the Arabs' spray-painted on Jaffa Mosque
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli extremists on Saturday evening spray-painted slogans insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Arabs in general on the walls of the Sea Mosque in the city of Jaffa, on the Israeli Mediterranean coast. When Muslim worshippers arrived at the mosque for the dawn prayer, they found “Muhammad is a pig” and “Death to the Arabs,” said Muhammad Ashqar, a member of the Al-Aqsa Foundation, and organization dedicated to preserving Muslim heritage. The Head of the Islamic movement in Jaffa, Sheikh Ahmad Abu Ajwah and head of Al-Aqsa Foundation in Jaffa, Zaki Ighbariyya called the vandalism a “criminal act. ”“We don’t rule out that Israeli extremist settlers were involved in writing these slogans, especially that similar acts have taken place in the West Bank recently. We say that what happened today in the Sea Mosque was a natural outcome of the incitement campaign. . . more.. e-mail
Diskin: Hamas missiles can hit outskirts of Be’er Sheva
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 12/22/2008
Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin said yesterday that Hamas is capable of firing rockets that can strike as far from Gaza as the outskirts of Be’er Sheva and other targets in the Negev. Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Diskin said Hamas had given free reign to the other factions and had also renewed firing. He said Hamas wanted to continue the cease-fire but wanted to improve its conditions. "It wants us to lift the economic siege and stop attacking, and expand the cease-fire to Judea and Samaria," Diskin told the ministers. The Shin Bet chief also said that Hamas’ military wing had used the six-month lull to improve its firing capabilities of mid- and long-range rockets and mortars. "They are ready for a confrontation. They can reach Kiryat Gat, Ashdod, and even the outskirts of Be’er Sheva," he said. more.. e-mail
Hamas: Israel can invade, by all means
Jerusalem Post 12/21/2008
Despite increasing calls among Israeli ministers of a need to launch a military operation to tackle the escalating threat of rocket attacks on the southern border, Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip seemed unperturbed, with one senior member even daring Israel to take the action. "For three years we’ve been hearing comments about an Israeli invasion into the Gaza Strip. Israel is like a teenager who begins to smoke, chokes, then stops," Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, said during an interview with a Nazareth radio station. "If they want to [invade] - by all means," "Even in the days of the ceasefire, Israel didn’t allow vital supplies into the Gaza Strip, and this is a callous violation," he continued. "Israel promised to open the crossing but that never happened on the ground. . . " more.. e-mail
Choosing between bad options
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/22/2008
The rocket barrages on communities near the Gaza Strip, particularly since the official end of the cease-fire on Friday, have led Israel to officially change its line from "quiet in exchange for quiet" to open threats. The Olmert-Barak-Livni trio has decided to respond, and the timing will depend on operational conditions; in other words, the Israel Air Force will go into action. The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service assume that increased operations from the air will be met with heavier rocket fire from Hamas on targets farther from Gaza. The IDF might then launch a ground operation. Ground troops have not received operational orders, but on the home front, warning systems have been upgraded in communities 30 to 40 kilometers from the border, in rocket range. That’s the distance Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin discussed with the cabinet when he warned that Hamas rockets can reach the outskirts of Be’er Sheva. more.. e-mail
Diskin: Hamas could reach Beersheba
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 12/21/2008
Shin Bet chief tells cabinet ministers Palestinian organization has improved its rocket launching capabilities, capable of firing rockets into additional southern cities. He stresses, however, that Hamas’ political echelon seeks improved lull -Hamas’ military wing is ready to continue its military conflict withIsrael and its improved rockets are now capable of reaching Kiryat Gat, Ashdod and even the Beersheba vicinity, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin told government ministers on Sunday morning. He stressed, however, that in spite of its declarations, Hamas is interested in maintaining its truce with Israel. Ongoing FireMan lightly hurt in rocket, mortar barrage/ Shmulik Hadad Fourteen rockets fired from Gaza Strip into Israel on Sunday; foreign worker lightly injured in his arm by mortar shell. more.. e-mail
Israeli artillary kills one and injures five including two children; Brigades fire 10 projectiles
Ma’an News Agency 12/20/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – One Palestinian was killed and five injured including two children Saturday as Israeli artillery bombarded the northern Gaza Strip towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. Palestinian factions responded by firing several projectiles at Israeli targets. Sunday started with two ground-to-ground missiles fired by the Israeli army at a group of Palestinian fighters killing 25-year-old Ali Hijazi and injuring two others who have not been identified. Initial reports said Hijazi was with a group of civilians, though later information confirmed the three were fighters affiliated with Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades. A third Israeli missile was fired at the same area, causing no casualties. Responding to the Israeli attacks Brigades affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Al-Qassam and Al-Quds, fired projectiles on a number of Israeli towns Saturday afternoon. more.. e-mail
Gaza militants fire 15 Qassams, 23 mortar shells into Israel Sat.
Avi Issacharoff and Yanir Yagna, and Agencies, Ha’aretz 12/21/2008
Palestinian militants in Gaza on Saturday pelted southern Israel with a total of 15 Qassam rockets and 23 mortar shells, one of which slammed into the clubhouse of a kibbutz near the Hamas-ruled territory. The mortar attack on the kibbutz, which caused no casualties, came only hours after an Israel Air Force strike against a Qassam rocket squad killed a militant in the Hamas-ruled territory. The mortar shell hit the roof of the clubhouse, which was vacant at the time, and caused substantial damage to the building. The Gaza militant’s death was the first due to border violence since Hamas formally declared an end to a six-month truce with Israel. Hamas declared in a statement Friday that they would not continue a truce in Gaza that had taken effect in June. Gaza militants Saturday fired at least 13 Qassam rockets and dozens of mortar shells into Israel, continuing the barrage of the past several days. The rocket attacks caused neither damage nor casualties, the Israel Defense Forces said. more.. e-mail
Defense officials: IDF to operate in Gaza soon
Ron Ben-Yishai, YNetNews 12/21/2008
Security establishment says Palestinian groups in Gaza have left Israel no choice but to launch broad military operation in Strip to quell incessant rocket fire. ’We will definitely pay a price, but we cannot allow the current situation to continue,’ one of them says -The security establishment estimates that Israel will soon have to launch an extensive military operation in Gaza in an effort to quell the incessantrocket and mortar fire on the country’s southern region, Ynet has learned. Senior defense officials said that the time for hesitation has passed, as the armed terror groups have left Israel no other choice but to act inside the Hamas-controlled enclave. However, it is estimated that the results from such an operation will not be evident immediately and the rocket fire will continue and even increase during the first days of the operation - before it begins to subside. more.. e-mail
11 Qassams hit Israel, IDF strikes in Gaza
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/20/2008
Residents of Negev communities awoken by renewed rocket fire this morning; at least 11 Qassams fired from northern Gaza towards Israel. No injuries or damage reported. Gaza sources report several casualties in IDF strike short time later - Residents of Israel’s Gaza-vicinity communities awoke to the sound of rockets landing near their homes on Saturday morning. At least 11 Qassam rockets and 16 mortars were fired by Palestinian groups towards the western Negev throughout the day. The first four rockets were fired at around 8:50 am, while many local residents were attending synagogue. Deputy security officer for the Eshkol Council, Nicky Levi, told Ynet that the Color Red rocket alert system sounded throughout several communities in the morning hours. Two of the rockets landed in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council, one landed in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council and the fourth landed just north of Gaza. more.. e-mail
Fighter Killed, Two Wounded in an Israeli Airstrike in Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/20/2008
Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Saturday morning that a Palestinian fighter was killed and two others were wounded when the Israeli army fired two surface-to-surface missiles at a group of fighters in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Another resident died of wounds suffered five years ago. Medical sources at Kamal Adwan Hospital identified the slain fighter as Ali Oleyyan Hijazi, age 25. His body was severely mutilated. The two wounded residents suffered mild-to-moderate wounds, the Maan News Agency reported. The slain fighter is a member of the al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement. The Israeli Army also fired a third missile at the same area; no injuries were reported. A spokesperson of the Brigades, member of Ayman Jouda group, said that Oleyyan was planning on getting married on Monday morning. more.. e-mail
Israeli Air Strike on Gaza Kills One, Injures Three
Justin Theriault, International Middle East Media Center News 12/20/2008
Israeli Air Force strike on Gaza kills one Palestinian man and injuries three. Militants returned homemade rocket fire into southern Israel, "severely" damaging a Kibbutz clubhouse, no injuries or fatalities were reported. Israeli online, Haaretz, reported on Saturday that Gaza militants fired at least ten homemade rockets and dozens of mortar shells into Israel. Haaretz claimed that the homemade rockets caused massive amounts of damage to a Kibbutz clubhouse in Southern Israel, although the Israeli Army stated "the rocket attacks caused neither damage nor casualties. "The Israeli air strike hit Izbet Fad’ous village, north of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip. Three were injured and another Palestinian, age 26, was killed in the air raid. The Al Aqsa martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, identified the man as one of their fighters. more.. e-mail
DFLP wing fires two more shells at Israeli military post
Ma’an News Agency 12/20/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The militant wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) claimed responsibility on Saturday morning for firing two mortar shells at an Israeli military post east of Juhr Ad-Deik in the central Gaza Strip. The shells were the fourth and fifth fired at an Israeli military post on Saturday morning. The group said in a statement that the shelling came “in retaliation for Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people” and to affirm that they will continue with resistance operations. Earlier on Saturday, their fighters fired three mortar shells at the Israeli military post of Sufa, the group said in a statement. [end]
Islamic Jihad militants fire projectile toward Israeli kibbutz
Ma’an News Agency 12/20/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The militant wing affiliated to Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Friday evening for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli kibbutzof Eshkol. They said in a statement that a group of their fighters fired at Eshkol east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. They affirmed they would “continue with resistance. ”[end]
DFLP militant wing fires three mortar shells at Sufa military post
Ma’an News Agency 12/20/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The militant wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said on Friday evening that their fighters fired three mortar shells at the Israeli military post of Sufa. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for the “ongoing, daily Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. ”[end]
Israeli forces claim bombs discovered near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 12/20/2008
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces claimed on Saturday morning to have discovered homemade explosive devices in a deserted house in the northern West Bank town of Qabatia, west of Jenin. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an’s reporter that Israeli patrols raided Qabatia at 1:30 am and ransacked a deserted house, claiming they found homemade bombs. The sources added that Israeli forces set fire to the devices, detonating them, which resulted in material damage to the area before they withdrew through Jenin to the Al-Jalama Checkpoint. No arrests were reported. [end]
Palestinian fighter killed, two citizens wounded in IOF missile shelling
Palestinian Information Center 12/20/2008
BEIT LAHIA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces fired a land-to-land missile on Saturday morning at a group of Palestinians in Beit Lahia north of the Gaza Strip killing Ali Hijazi, a member of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades the armed wing of Fatah faction, and wounding two others. Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, told PIC in a telephone contact that the IOF troops fired one missile that turned Hijazi’s body into mutilated remains and injured two others. He said that the shelling reflected the IOF savagery, pointing to the remains of Hijazi’s body. Witnesses said that the IOF troops fired another missile later on to inflict more victims among the citizens who rushed to evacuate the casualties. Meanwhile, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, held the IOF responsible for the consequences of any aggression on the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Gazans fire dozens of rockets at Negev towns as ’truce’ ends
Yaakov Katz and Khaled Abu Toameh, Jerusalem Post 12/20/2008
Violence flared on the Gaza front over the weekend as the informal cease-fire with Hamas expired and dozens of rockets and mortars pounded the western Negev. One Palestinian was killed by an Israel Air Force strike in the northern Strip on Saturday. Another man was wounded, according to Palestinian sources. Between the cease-fire’s expiration on Friday morning and Saturday evening, 17 Kassam rockets and 24 mortar shells were fired into Israel. On Friday, gunmen opened fire at farmers near Kibbutz Nir Oz, in the Eshkol region. Nobody was wounded, but a number of vehicles were damaged. On Saturday, one of the shells scored a direct hit on a kibbutz youth clubhouse in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. No one was injured but the structure was seriously damaged. Military sources said the IDF was preparing for a wide-range of scenarios, pending government instructions. more.. e-mail
5 Qassams fired towards Negev Saturday evening
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 12/20/2008
One rocket hits Sderot factory’s courtyard but causes no damage; earlier mortar barrage hits kibbutz, causing damage to cosmetician’s office, private home. Residents say atmosphere tense, expect escalation in violence following termination of ceasefire -Four Qassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza Saturday evening towards the city of Sderot in south Israel. There were no reports of injuries or damage. One of the rockets landed in the courtyard of a local factory, but caused no damage to the site. Another rocket landed near a kibbutz in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, while the third landed near the security fence separating Israel from the Hamas-controlled territory. The landing site of the fourth Qassam has yet to be located. The attack on Sderot took place at around 19:30 pm; loud explosions were heard in the city. more.. e-mail
Six Months of 'Truce'ť; 23 Palestinians Killed, 62 Injured and 38 Kidnapped
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/20/2008
Israeli violations did not cease during the six-month "truce" which was mediated by Egypt on June 19 with the hope that, six months later, the truce would be extended to include the West Bank. Yet, during this period, the Israeli army killed 22 Palestinians, wounded 62, and kidnapped 38 residents in the Gaza Strip. The truce deal stated that Palestinian factions would halt the firing of homemade shells into adjacent Israeli areas and that the Israeli Army would halt its military offensives, and lift the siege on Gaza. Although the truce was met with skepticism, resistance factions in Gaza accepted it, but the situation in Gaza did not improve as the siege was only intensified, and the assaults and military incursions reoccurring. During six months of declared truce, Israel carried out 193 violations until December 18, 2008. more.. e-mail
Guards, detainees clash at Ofer Prison
Ap And Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 12/20/2008
Clashes broke out between Palestinian inmates and Israeli guards at the Ofer Prison near Ramallah on Saturday. Palestinian Authority deputy minister of prisoner affairs, Ziad Abu Ein, said guards were carrying out an inspection when the clashes erupted. He said the guards used sound grenades, tear gas and clubs adding that eight prisoners were injured. The Israeli Prison Service confirmed seven inmates suffered minor smoke inhalation and three guards were injured during the clashes. The difference in numbers couldn’t be immediately rectified. According to reports, the guards had tried to search the tents in which the inmates sleep. The prisoners refused, and immediately began to throw objects at the guards. During the violence which ensued, two tents were burnt down. The Prison Service says about 150 prisoners took part in the fighting. more.. e-mail
Eight Palestinian prisoners, two Israeli wardens injured in Ofer prison clashes
Ma’an News Agency 12/20/2008
Ramallah - Ma’an - Eight prisoners and two wardens were injured during clashes in Israel’s Ofer Prison in the West Bank on Saturday. The Palestinian prisoners were protesting an earlier search of prisoner property which damaged the living quarters of the prisoners. In response to the protest Israeli soldiers fired rounds of rubber coated bullets and gas canisters on the prisoners, igniting some of the tents. Several prisoners were able to make calls from the prison during the clashes and reported that several prisoners with heart or lung conditions were suffocating on the dozens of gas canisters fired at the group. Others reported having been harshly beaten by Israeli soldiers, saying many were forced out of their living areas and taken to solitary confinement cells. According to some estimates about 400 prisoners participated in the clash. more.. e-mail
Hamas considers renewing suicide bombings in Israel
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 12/21/2008
The Israel Defense Forces is preparing to escalate its activities at the Gaza Strip border in response to continuing Qassam rocket and mortar fire into the western Negev. Yesterday alone 13 rockets and 20 mortar rounds were fired into Israel. No one was injured, but one rocket damaged a kibbutz building. The violence came after Hamas’ official announcement that it would not extend its six-month cease-fire with Israel. The Israel Air Force staged a number of operations over the Strip in the past two days in an effort to weaken the rocket launchers. Yesterday an air force strike in Beit Lahia killed Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades militant Ali Hijazi, 25, while he was trying to launch rockets. Two others were wounded. Though affiliated with Fatah, the organization’s branch in Gaza does not operate under the instruction of the movement’s leadership in the West Bank. more.. e-mail
’Israel has given up its sovereignty over territory near Gaza’
Yanir Yagna and Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 12/21/2008
Residents of a Gaza-area community on Saturday accused the government of having abandoned them in the face of ongoing cross-border attacks by Palestinian militants. "The state of Israel ceded its sovereignty over Gaza-area communities because of electoral considers dictate to the Israel Defense Forces what to do," fumed a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza. He made the comments at a ceremony to mark the birthday of kibbutz member Jimmy Kedoshim, who was killed in May in a mortar attack launched by Hamas militants. The Kfar Aza resident added: "We entered the truce from a position of weakness, they told us that this is because of Gilad Shalit. 180 days have passed and Gilad Shalit is still in captivity and the mortar shells are still hitting the kibbutz. " Earlier Saturday, Vice Premier Haim Ramon blasted Defense Minister Ehud. . . more.. e-mail
Israel releases two Lebanese brothers arrested near border
Ma’an News Agency 12/20/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli military force arrested on Friday evening two Lebanese citizens near the village of Bleida on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Lebanese sources said. According to the sources, the two arrestees were brothers in their fifties. The sources added that contacts are ongoing between the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Israel to release the arrestees. A UNIFIL spokesperson confirmed the claims. They were later released to UNIFIL forces at the Israel-Lebanon border. ***Updated 12:09 Bethlehem time[end]
Israeli Troops Kidnap Two Lebanese Men Near the Border
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/20/2008
Senior Lebanese security sources reported on Friday evening that an Israeli military force kidnapped two Lebanese brothers, in their fifties, near Blida Lebanese village, adjacent to the Israel-Lebanon border. The security sources added that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is holding talks with Israel in order to ensure the release of the two Lebanese brothers. The AFP reported that the two brothers were identified as Tarraf Tarraf and Hasan Tarraf, and added that both were kidnapped near Blida border village. Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Israeli army claimed that the two Lebanese nationals were kidnapped because they crossed the border into Israel. The Israeli army officially notified the UNIFIL that they have the two brothers in custody, UNIFIL spokesperson, Yasmina Bouziane, said. more.. e-mail
Eight Wounded in Israeli Air Strikes on Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/19/2008
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported Thursday night that eight Palestinians were wounded in two separate Israeli airstrikes that targeted the northern and eastern parts of the Gaza Strip. Dr. Moawiya Hassanen, head of the Emergency Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, reported that three residents were moved to Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, suffering moderate injuries. The three were wounded after the Israeli air force shelled Al Tuffah area, east of Gaza city. Also, five more Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli airstrike that targeted Jabalia, in the Zamo area, northern part of the Gaza Strip. Dr. Hassanen said that the five residents suffered mild-to-moderate wounds, and are currently receiving treatment in Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoun hospitals. more.. e-mail
Awkaf ministry denounces IOA establishment of garbage dump in OJ
Palestinian Information Center 12/18/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Awkaf (endowments) ministry in the PA caretaker government has denounced the Israeli occupation authority’s establishment of a garbage dump in occupied Jerusalem over tens of dunums of Abu Dis lands. Taleb Abu Shaer, the Awkaf minister, said in a statement on Wednesday that IOA bulldozers expanded the garbage dump, which would only entail big damage to the nearby villages and towns. He said that the damage would affect health of residents topped by spread of epidemics and diseases while the environment would also suffer badly. The minister condemned such "racist measures" that target forcing Palestinian Jerusalemites to leave their homes and lands. He appealed to the Arab League, OIC and other concerned agencies to immediately and urgently intervene to save the occupied holy city and the Aqsa Mosque in face of repeated IOA assaults. more.. e-mail
Soldiers kidnap several residents in Nablus
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/20/2008
Israeli soldiers invaded on Thursday the northern West Bank city of Nablus and kidnapped several members and leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Soldiers also violently searched a number of homes causing damage to their properties. The media office of the PFLP reported that soldiers broke into the house of Jad Hmeidan, one of the leaders of Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the PLFP, and violently attacked his family. The office added that soldiers kidnapped Hasan Shalbana, 45, Roba Khalid, 45, and a third PFLP member who was not identified until the time of this report. Khalid is the father of Mohammad who was killed by the Israeli forces during to an invasion to Al Ein refugee camp in Nablus; one Israeli soldier was also killed in the invasion. Furthermore, soldiers installed a roadblock near the Za’tara roadblock and kidnapped Fawzi Qawareeq, a resident of Awarta village. more.. e-mail
Israel Invades Jenin and a Surrounding Village, Detains Young Man
Justin Theriault, International Middle East Media Center News 12/19/2008
Early Friday morning, Israeli soldiers invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin and the village of Araba that lies just southwest of Jenin and detained a young man, according to Palestinian Authority security sources, Ma’an news agency reported. Israeli soldiers abducted the young man from the village of Araba and they also invaded the city of Jenin. Palestinian Authority security sources told Ma’an news agency that troops invaded the village in a dawn raid, before detaining Farouq Muhammad Mousa, age 22, after breaking into his house. Palestinian sources said that he was taken to an undisclosed location. According to witnesses, Israeli forces surrounded Mousa’s home, and fired percussion grenades through the windows while telling residents to evacuate the home. In Jenin, forces shot their assault rifles in the air before withdrawing from the city. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces invade Jenin, detain man at nearby village
Ma’an News Agency 12/19/2008
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers overran the northern West Bank city of Jenin and a nearby village, where forces detained a young man on Friday morning, according to Palestinian Authority (PA) security sources. Soldiers seized a young Palestinian man from the village of Araba, southwest of Jenin, and invaded Jenin proper, as well. PA security sources told Ma’an that troops overran the village in a dawn raid, before detaining 22-year-old Farouq Muhammad Mousa and breaking into his home. He was then taken to an undisclosed location, PA sources said. In Jenin, forces only opened fire in the air before withdrawing. No one was detained or injured in that raid, witnesses said. more.. e-mail
Soldier injured in Al-Aqsa attack on Israeli jeep near Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 12/19/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli soldier was injured in an attack by the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, according to a statement. The armed group said it fired on a passing Israeli military jeep while passing on the main road in the town of Ash-Shuyukh, near Hebron, injuring one soldier. The armed group claimed in a statement that the attack “comes in response to the Israeli violations being carried out against Palestinians and arrests targeting Brigades leaders. ”[end]
Rockets fired as Gaza truce ends
Associated Press, The Guardian 12/20/2008
Hamas yesterday announced the end of an often-breached truce with Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by firing two rockets into Israel. The Israeli military also said troops in fields adjoining Gaza came under sniper fire from across the border. There were no injuries reported in any of the incidents. In a statement on its website, Hamas said Israel had breached agreements by imposing a blockade on Gaza and staging military strikes into the densely populated coastal strip. "Since the enemy did not abide with the conditions. . . we hold the enemy fully responsible for ending the truce and we confirm that the Palestinian resistance factions headed by Hamas will act," the statement said. Israel says the six-month-old truce, brokered by Egypt, never had an official expiry date, but it is interested in prolonging what it calls "understandings" with Hamas. more.. e-mail
Palestinians fire two Kassams at western Negev; none wounded, no damage
Jerusalem Post 12/20/2008
Palestinians fired two Kassam rockets from the Gaza Strip towards the western Negev in Israel’s south on Friday evening, Israel radio reported. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. [end]
Israeli settlers flee Sderot by end of truce
Palestinian Information Center 12/19/2008
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- A state of fear engulfed residents of the settlement of Sderot as the truce between the Israeli occupation and Palestinian factions came to an end Friday morning according to a report in the Hebrew Haaretz newspaper. According to the report, the streets are deserted, shops are closed and many residents of the settlement which is in the range of Palestinian factions fire decided to leave the settlement north to safer places. One of the residents of the settlement was quoted as saying he is fleeing along with his wife an four children north away from the Palestinian rocket fire adding that before the truce about 20 home made missiles would fall on the settlement and that he fears that by the end of the truce those missiles are going to start falling. Another settler said that she was sending her children to schools as they are safer places and said she was aware that many settlers were leaving the settlement to safer places. more.. e-mail
Violence along Gaza border marks official end of Hamas-Israel truce
Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem and Matthew Weaver, The Guardian 12/19/2008
An Israeli soldier directs a tank near Kibbutz Kissufim, just outside the central Gaza Strip, Photograph: Amir Cohen/ReutersSporadic violence along the Gaza-Israel border today marked the official end of a six-month truce between Hamas and Israel. The Israeli military said Gaza militants fired two rockets into Israel this morning, following heavy rocket fire in recent days, and troops guarding Israeli farmers in fields along the border came under sniper fire from inside Gaza. Hamas officials declared the agreement dead yesterday, 24 hours before it was due to officially expire. This came after another day of escalating violence, beginning with an Israeli air raid on Gaza, which Hamas has controlled for the past 18 months. Hamas responded to Israel’s attack, which destroyed a weapons store and a rocket factory, by firing eight rockets and five mortars at Israel’s southern towns. more.. e-mail
Israel occupation troops around the Gaza Strip put on high alert
Palestinian Information Center 12/19/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces around the Gaza Strip were put on high alert and cancelled all leave for its troops, according to Israeli military sources which said that the step was taken because Palestinian factions decided to end the truce. The Israeli radio said that the Israeli side sent a message to the