Spoetnik
07-09-04, 14:10
Qureia: Retaliation for IDF strike in Gaza 'will be justified'
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia warned Israel on Tuesday that that its deadly air strike in Gaza overnight will invite a response from Hamas and that any retaliation for the killings of 14 members of the militant group will be justified.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad pledged revenge Tuesday for the strike that hit a training camp of the Hamas armed wing in Gaza City, killing 14 militants and wounding 30 people.
In the deadliest attack in Gaza for nearly four months, Israeli tanks, helicopters and warplanes pounded the Hamas site, as Israel struck back after a double suicide bombing.
"This crime cannot be accepted ... No crime goes unpunished," Qureia said at a meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet. "For sure there will be retaliation, and the retaliation will be justified if it happens."
A barrage of tank shells and missiles hit the outskirts of the Gaza neighborhood of Seja'ia, a stronghold of Hamas, which launched nearly simultaneous blasts that killed 16 people on two Israeli buses in Be'er Sheva last Tuesday.
Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri told Reuters that "this ugly Israeli crime... will not pass unpunished. It is an open war between the Zionists and us." The group said all of the 14 dead were Hamas militants.
"The enemy will pay for its crimes with a heavy price of blood and bodies of Zionists in the streets of Al-Quds [Jerusalem], Bet Lid, Dizengoff and Hadera," Islamic Jihad said in a statement, referring to the targets of past suicide bombings.
Some 50,000 mourners attended the 14 funerals, held in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Early Tuesday, Palestinian gunners fired six Qassam rockets and four mortar shells at Gaza Strip settlements and the Western Negev town of Sderot, Israel radio reported. One of the Qassams slammed into an area near the entrance of Sderot, lightly injuring a man in his 60s.
Palestinian Foreign Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath issued a statement branding the Israeli attack in Gaza as a "terrorist attack by Israeli occupation forces" and accusing Israel of trying to thwart efforts to restore calm.
Gaza's main hospital was overwhelmed by the flood of casualties. More than 20 people, including militants and bystanders, were injured, medical officials said.
The first 11 bodies identified all belonged to Hamas members in their 20s, none of them senior figures, Palestinians said.
The strike targeted a Hamas community center complex, including a building and an outdoor lot that the army says is used by the Hamas military wing for training.
An Israel Defense Forces statement listed events that it said took place at the lot in recent days, including assembly of a large bomb and a suicide bomber's vest, practice in hijacking vehicles and training in preparing and firing mortars and rockets.
Dozens of members of the Hamas military wing, Iz a-Din al-Qassam, were meeting at the building during the time of the attack, Palestinian sources said. The building, which includes offices, is named after Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in April.
A statement by the Hamas military wing said the IDF struck a "scouts camp where a group of fighters was training," and pledged to hit back at Israel.
Al-Masri called the operation "a new wave of aggression committed against our people and against our sons."
"It's an ongoing war," said al-Masri. "One day for us and one day for them."
Angry militants gathered at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, some with blood on their clothes from helping victims, shouting, "Revenge, revenge."
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the security establishment decided last week to increase assassinations of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, in the wake of last week's double bus bombing in Be'er Sheva, for which Hamas claimed responsibility. Sixteen Israelis were killed in last Tuesday's attack.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/474588.html
Israel maakt handig gebruik van het feit dat de VS nu ook bezig zijn met collective punishment in Fallujjah.
De aanslagplegers van Be'ersheva kwamen trouwens van Hebron, dus de reden die het Israelische leger aangeeft is nogal vreemd.
Overigens heet Qureia zich nog nooit zo sterk uitgelaten na een aanslag van de Israeliers. Het is dus mogelijk dat Fatah na maanden van relatieve wapenstilstand, nu weer zal overgaan op aanslagen.
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia warned Israel on Tuesday that that its deadly air strike in Gaza overnight will invite a response from Hamas and that any retaliation for the killings of 14 members of the militant group will be justified.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad pledged revenge Tuesday for the strike that hit a training camp of the Hamas armed wing in Gaza City, killing 14 militants and wounding 30 people.
In the deadliest attack in Gaza for nearly four months, Israeli tanks, helicopters and warplanes pounded the Hamas site, as Israel struck back after a double suicide bombing.
"This crime cannot be accepted ... No crime goes unpunished," Qureia said at a meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet. "For sure there will be retaliation, and the retaliation will be justified if it happens."
A barrage of tank shells and missiles hit the outskirts of the Gaza neighborhood of Seja'ia, a stronghold of Hamas, which launched nearly simultaneous blasts that killed 16 people on two Israeli buses in Be'er Sheva last Tuesday.
Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri told Reuters that "this ugly Israeli crime... will not pass unpunished. It is an open war between the Zionists and us." The group said all of the 14 dead were Hamas militants.
"The enemy will pay for its crimes with a heavy price of blood and bodies of Zionists in the streets of Al-Quds [Jerusalem], Bet Lid, Dizengoff and Hadera," Islamic Jihad said in a statement, referring to the targets of past suicide bombings.
Some 50,000 mourners attended the 14 funerals, held in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Early Tuesday, Palestinian gunners fired six Qassam rockets and four mortar shells at Gaza Strip settlements and the Western Negev town of Sderot, Israel radio reported. One of the Qassams slammed into an area near the entrance of Sderot, lightly injuring a man in his 60s.
Palestinian Foreign Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath issued a statement branding the Israeli attack in Gaza as a "terrorist attack by Israeli occupation forces" and accusing Israel of trying to thwart efforts to restore calm.
Gaza's main hospital was overwhelmed by the flood of casualties. More than 20 people, including militants and bystanders, were injured, medical officials said.
The first 11 bodies identified all belonged to Hamas members in their 20s, none of them senior figures, Palestinians said.
The strike targeted a Hamas community center complex, including a building and an outdoor lot that the army says is used by the Hamas military wing for training.
An Israel Defense Forces statement listed events that it said took place at the lot in recent days, including assembly of a large bomb and a suicide bomber's vest, practice in hijacking vehicles and training in preparing and firing mortars and rockets.
Dozens of members of the Hamas military wing, Iz a-Din al-Qassam, were meeting at the building during the time of the attack, Palestinian sources said. The building, which includes offices, is named after Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in April.
A statement by the Hamas military wing said the IDF struck a "scouts camp where a group of fighters was training," and pledged to hit back at Israel.
Al-Masri called the operation "a new wave of aggression committed against our people and against our sons."
"It's an ongoing war," said al-Masri. "One day for us and one day for them."
Angry militants gathered at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, some with blood on their clothes from helping victims, shouting, "Revenge, revenge."
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the security establishment decided last week to increase assassinations of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, in the wake of last week's double bus bombing in Be'er Sheva, for which Hamas claimed responsibility. Sixteen Israelis were killed in last Tuesday's attack.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/474588.html
Israel maakt handig gebruik van het feit dat de VS nu ook bezig zijn met collective punishment in Fallujjah.
De aanslagplegers van Be'ersheva kwamen trouwens van Hebron, dus de reden die het Israelische leger aangeeft is nogal vreemd.
Overigens heet Qureia zich nog nooit zo sterk uitgelaten na een aanslag van de Israeliers. Het is dus mogelijk dat Fatah na maanden van relatieve wapenstilstand, nu weer zal overgaan op aanslagen.