Hamas threatened revenge today after Israel killed four of its members in a missile strike and declared anyone in the militant Palestinian resistance group a target for "liquidation."
good - now follow through
With Palestinian leaders locked in a power struggle over control of security forces, Palestinian officials warned that Sunday night’s air strike would undermine efforts to rein in militants, a key requirement in the fading U.S.-backed road map peace plan.
| Actually, they'll be easier to rein in when they're all dead. But we know the Paleos won't kill them all... |
The air strike was part of Israel’s continuing response to a suicide bombing last week that killed 21 people. The suicide bombing, in turn, was in response to Israeli attacks that killed a number of Hamas members in an ongoing cycle of tit-for-tat killings.
tit: Paleos kill 30 civilians on a bus, tat: Israel kills 3 or 4 armed militants....i.e.: moral equivalence AP style
"If the Israelis thought assassinations would destroy our determination to continue in our resistance, to continue defending ourselves, they are mistaken," Hamas spokesperson Ismail Haniyah said. "We will move ahead whatever the sacrifice."
| He still doesn't get it. We'll be able to tell when he realizes he's on the list when he heads out for France for "consultations." |
The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, promised revenge, saying in a statement "our response will be painful and quick."
| It'd better be quick, because... |
Israel’s army chief, Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon, declared Sunday that ``every member of Hamas is a potential target for liquidation."
| Prob'ly starting with the al-Qassam Brigades. |
Meanwhile, Yasser Arafat appointed Jibril Rajoub, a former West Bank security chief, to the vacant post of national security adviser, his latest move to outflank U.S.-backed Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in a struggle over control of security forces.
Arafat’s the turd in the punchbowl - flush him
| Jibril used to be head of "preventive security" in the West Bank. He never actually managed to prevent anything, but he did pull down a salary and he was one of Yasser's right hand men. You could tell Yasser loves him — His Excellency pulled a rod on Jibril as they called each other bad names about a year ago... |
Abbas and his security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, have said they need to control all security forces to confront the militants. But Arafat has refused to hand over key units. A meeting on the issue broke up late Sunday with no decision. Rajoub, who has taken part in security talks with Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew learned during years in an Israeli prison, said a national security council will be formed under Arafat’s leadership. "It will oversee the reform of the security forces," in co-operation with international mediators, Rajoub said. Rajoub was fired by Arafat as West Bank security chief in July 2002 after a falling out.
rejection/embrace? Paleo culture of lies and subterfuge
Abbas’ office declined comment, while Palestinian cabinet minister Ghassan Khatib said the appointment "does not have much significance" because the post of security adviser has no clearly defined authority.
| Nothing in Paleostine is clearly defined except for the blood on the floor... |
Israel, meanwhile, intensified its policy of hunting down and killing militant leaders, saying the Palestinians have failed to crack down on the armed resistance.
| They're talking about it though... Actually, they're talking about having a meeting to talk about it... Or maybe having a meeting to make plans to talk about it... Or fixin' to get ready to hold a meeting to make plans to talk about it ... Or... |
In Gaza City on Sunday night, Apache helicopters fired three missiles at armed men near a crowded beach front, killing four members of Hamas’ military wing and wounding more than a dozen bystanders. Some of the victims were decapitated by the assault, which took place just 100 metres from Dahlan’s office. "The first missile hit the car, four people fled the car and then three more missiles were fired at them. ... It was difficult to look at the scene," said Abdel Salam Abu Askar, a Palestinian journalist.
| Was the guy decapitated, or did his head just fall off? There's a difference... |
Israeli security officials said one of the dead, Ahmed Aishtawi, was a top operative who had planned and executed attacks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. A Hamas spokesman said Aishtawi led a unit that had pioneered the firing of homemade rockets into Israel and at Jewish settlements.
| Ain't that a coincidence? The IAF has pioneered the firing of professionally made rockets into parts of Paleostine to kill Hamas thugs... |
About 1,500 mourners marched through Gaza City on Monday in a funeral for Aishtawi and another Hamas member. One speaker warned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "to prepare coffins."
| That's why you're lugging one today, Mahmoud... |
"We are on the way, and we say to him that your assassinations will only bring death and destruction to your people in their own homes," the man said. Pointing a rifle toward the two bodies, he added: "All of us wish to be in their places."
The crowd carried green Hamas banners, but Hamas leaders stayed away.
hiding still?
Israel has stepped up army sweeps through West Banks towns following the Hamas suicide bombing last week. Troops have been searching house-to-house for fugitives and weapons, sparking clashes. Dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles also have gathered along the Gaza border, apparently ready for an order to raid the coastal strip. In the last three years of fighting, Israel has killed scores of wanted resistance fighters. The Israeli’s never formally joined the ceasefire declared by the Palestinians in support of the road map.
| But they didn't kill people at random, either... |
Meanwhile, police and soldiers removed some 50 Jewish settlers and a trailer from a site in the West Bank city of Hebron, police said. Five settlers who refused to go were arrested, police said. Since November, when an Islamic Jihad ambush in the area killed 12 security guards and soldiers, settlers repeatedly have tried to set up an outpost. Under intense U.S. pressure to keep commitments under the road map peace plan, Israel has dismantled several West Bank outposts but has failed to freeze construction at established settlements or remove dozens of other unapproved outposts. |