Palestinian gunmen took up battle positions on Wednesday against Israeli forces poised to pour into the Gaza Strip in a new offensive triggered by a suicide bombing that killed 10 Israelis.
| "Sergeant Mahmoud! Get your men ready for the car swarm!" |
"We prepared ourselves and said farewell to our families. If they come in it will be a battle to the death," one gunman said.
| "You'll never take us alive, coppers!" |
Firing the opening shots in what Israeli officials said would be a series of attacks against militant groups and their leaders, an Israeli helicopter punched three missiles into a house in Gaza City on Tuesday, killing two Palestinians.
Islamic Jihad identified one of the men killed in Gaza City as a member and the other as a passer-by. It said the target of the attack, Mohammed al-Kharoubi, a commander in its armed wing, survived. Fourteen people, including three children, were hurt.
| ... along with four kittens, three puppies, and eleven baby ducks. |
Israeli officials said the army must hit the militants hard to ensure they cannot claim victory should Prime Minister Ariel Sharon go ahead with a planned evacuation of settlements in Gaza, where 7,500 Israelis live amidst 1.3 million Palestinians. In the flashpoint Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, an Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a group of gunman, killing one militant and a bystander, witnesses said. Hospital officials said eight people were wounded.
| "All of them innocent! Each and every one! They wuz just out buying groceries for their sick grannies!" |
About 17 armored vehicles backed by two helicopters thrust several hundred meters into the area, where the army frequently conducts raids to uncover tunnels used to smuggle weapons across the border from Egypt.
| ...and occasionally flattens asshats... |
Israel launched the Gaza City air strike hours after its security cabinet decided on the new military campaign in response to Sunday's double suicide bombing in the strategic port of Ashdod. "We won't allow the Gaza Strip to be turned into 'Hamastan'," Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said on Israel Radio, referring to the fundamentalist Islamic group Hamas that enjoys wide support in the territory. But officials said the offensive was not aimed at permanently reoccupying parts of Gaza.
Israeli soldiers readied their Merkava tanks at Gaza's northern border while down the road at Jabalya refugee camp, masked Palestinians armed with rifles and anti-tank grenades waited in streets and alleyways. Palestinian trucks dumped piles of sand at the entrances to Jabalya, where more than 100,000 refugees live. "It is a poorly built camp and one tank shell can destroy two houses at once. I am afraid a lot of blood will be shed here," one refugee said.
| "I like blood. Huh huh! I can't wait for the car swarm! Last time I got an elbow!" |
Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat said new military strikes by Israel would achieve nothing.
| "Well, maybe a few dead guys. But nothing important." |
"We call on (Sharon) to return to negotiations, because only this will lead to an end to the cycle of violence," Erekat said.
| They always say that when they're about to get thumped. Matter of fact, it's usually Saeb that says it. |
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