Wizdom
29-02-08, 16:46
Israel Mulls Major Gaza Action amid Int’l Silence
29/02/2008 Over the past few days the Israeli occupation army has positioned an artillery battery near Kibbutz Beeri, located about three kilometers from the Gaza border, and dozens of tanks have made their way to an assembling area just north of the Strip. Amid this escalation, none of the Arab governments nor even the whole international community has taken any real step or even denounced such crimes.
The last time an artillery battery was stationed in the area was in May 2007. The mobile artillery units, which were used to target areas from which Qassam rockets are launched toward the occupied territories, have been all but deactivated due to a number of incidents in the past, including the November 2006 attack in which an errant artillery shell martyred 21 Palestinians in Beit Hanoun.
On Friday, four people, including two children aged five and six, were wounded in the latest Israeli raid on the northern town of Jabaliya. Israeli forces from the Givati Brigade, the Armored Corps' 9th Battalion and the Engineering Corps have already entered the Strip ahead of a possible large-scale ground incursion. The reinforcements, while limited, appear to indicate increased readiness on the part of the Israeli army.
Meanwhile, during his flight back from Japan Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was updated on Thursday's Grad and Qassam rocket attacks on Ashkelon and the western Negev. The political-security cabinet is scheduled to convene Wednesday to discuss the escalation in the south. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Thursday that "a large-scale ground operation is being considered."
Israeli aircraft have waged dozens of strikes on numerous targets over the past 24 hours, killing 31 Palestinians, among them at least eight children. And on Friday, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai warned that Israel would keep up its deadly raids in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. "We will not shy away from any action" to force the Islamic movement running the territory for more than eight months from halting the rocket fire, Vilnai told army radio.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Egyptian intelligence chief Omer Suleiman cancelled his visit to the occupied territories next week due to the escalation in the south. He was scheduled to meet with Olmert, Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. It is not yet clear whether he will arrive at a later date. Suleiman was expected to bring with him information about potential negotiations with the Palestinians.
Israel has decided to escalate and continue its crimes against the Palestinians, mostly children, and the international community is just turning a blind eye applying the saying, “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.”
29/02/2008 Over the past few days the Israeli occupation army has positioned an artillery battery near Kibbutz Beeri, located about three kilometers from the Gaza border, and dozens of tanks have made their way to an assembling area just north of the Strip. Amid this escalation, none of the Arab governments nor even the whole international community has taken any real step or even denounced such crimes.
The last time an artillery battery was stationed in the area was in May 2007. The mobile artillery units, which were used to target areas from which Qassam rockets are launched toward the occupied territories, have been all but deactivated due to a number of incidents in the past, including the November 2006 attack in which an errant artillery shell martyred 21 Palestinians in Beit Hanoun.
On Friday, four people, including two children aged five and six, were wounded in the latest Israeli raid on the northern town of Jabaliya. Israeli forces from the Givati Brigade, the Armored Corps' 9th Battalion and the Engineering Corps have already entered the Strip ahead of a possible large-scale ground incursion. The reinforcements, while limited, appear to indicate increased readiness on the part of the Israeli army.
Meanwhile, during his flight back from Japan Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was updated on Thursday's Grad and Qassam rocket attacks on Ashkelon and the western Negev. The political-security cabinet is scheduled to convene Wednesday to discuss the escalation in the south. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Thursday that "a large-scale ground operation is being considered."
Israeli aircraft have waged dozens of strikes on numerous targets over the past 24 hours, killing 31 Palestinians, among them at least eight children. And on Friday, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai warned that Israel would keep up its deadly raids in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. "We will not shy away from any action" to force the Islamic movement running the territory for more than eight months from halting the rocket fire, Vilnai told army radio.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Egyptian intelligence chief Omer Suleiman cancelled his visit to the occupied territories next week due to the escalation in the south. He was scheduled to meet with Olmert, Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. It is not yet clear whether he will arrive at a later date. Suleiman was expected to bring with him information about potential negotiations with the Palestinians.
Israel has decided to escalate and continue its crimes against the Palestinians, mostly children, and the international community is just turning a blind eye applying the saying, “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.”