Posted on 05/23/2007 7:23:24 PM PDT by SJackson
IAF bombs money-changing offices that funded Hamas
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1178708667507
The IAF bombed a money-changing office in Gaza late Wednesday night, as well as other businesses in the Gaza Strip responsible for transferring money to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
According to the IDF, the money-changers have transferred millions of dollars from Syria and Iran to the two groups in recent years. The money was used to finance anti-Israel terror activity, including the manufacture of Kassam rockets - 200 of which were fired over the past week-and-a-half.
Another airstrike in the city shortly after midnight hit a car that the army said contained Hamas operatives. The passengers managed to escape the attack, but Palestinian sources reported two bystanders lightly wounded.
Meanwhile, senior government officials said Wednesday night that Israel will target the Hamas terrorist infrastructure in Gaza as it has been targeting the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank for years, thus rejecting the notion that a unilateral Hamas cease-fire could prevent stepped-up IDF activity in the Gaza Strip.
In a new tactic and a rare foray into the Gaza Strip overnight Tuesday, IDF troops approached the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis and briefly detained seven Palestinians. The army said that the troops did not enter Khan Yunis itself and that the Palestinians were questioned and then released.
One reason for the substantial reduction in attacks from the West Bank over the years has been the "freedom of action" the IDF has there to conduct raids and arrests on a daily basis. Tuesday night's operation appears to be an attempt to implement that strategy in Gaza as well.
Government officials completely rejected an idea raised by Hamas of a renewed cease-fire that would include the West Bank, and not only Gaza. The previous cease-fire, which began in November but was continually violated by Kassam rocket attacks, applied only to Gaza, with Israel refusing to halt military action in the West Bank.
A senior government official said there was "no way" that Israel would extend the cease-fire to the West Bank as a "prize" for Hamas escalating the violence from Gaza. "They won't get a prize for stopping the fire that they escalated," the official said.
The official added that Israel had no intention of stopping its military operations inside Gaza, even if the attacks on Sderot tapered off, and that the level of IDF activity would depend on the intelligence information in its hands and the circumstances on the ground.
The IDF, meanwhile, continued its air strikes against Hamas terror targets over the Shavuot holiday, wounding seven Palestinians in bombing ammunition depots in Gaza City and the Jabalya refugee camp. The IDF said that secondary explosions were spotted following the air strikes, proving that weapons and ammunition were stored there.
On Wednesday night, two Givati Brigade infantrymen were lightly wounded in clashes with Palestinian gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip.
Eleven Kassams were fired at the western Negev on Wednesday, without causing any injuries. On Tuesday, nine rockets struck the Negev, including two that hit southern Ashkelon.
Palestinians said IDF troops searched several homes during the Khan Yunis raid and left handwritten notes warning that houses could be demolished if rockets were fired from them.
Also Tuesday, IAF strikes on Hamas training camps in Gaza wounded at least six people, Palestinian security officials said. Hamas officials said that one of the air strikes destroyed a building used by its private militia, known as the Executive Force.
The army confirmed the strikes and said the building served as a command and control center for Hamas terrorist activity.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz met with European Union Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday and said Israel was "clenching its teeth" so as not to have to launch a widespread ground operation inside Gaza. Peretz urged Solana to renew the EU boycott of the Palestinian Authority and to suspend all money transfers.
"For the time being we are clenching our teeth and trying not to arrive at a situation where we are forced into a ground operation," Peretz told Solana. "Now is the time when European diplomacy is put to the test."
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Hamas ready to halt rockets
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1178708667838
Israel's threat to target senior Hamas leaders in response to the Kassam rocket attacks from Gaza has prompted the group to agree to a unilateral cease-fire with Israel, Palestinian Authority officials said Wednesday.
"Hamas wants to stop the Kassam rockets. They are especially worried about reports that Israel may assassinate [PA Prime Minister] Ismail Haniyeh and [Hamas chief] Khaled Mashaal," the officials told The Jerusalem Post.
The officials were speaking shortly after PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Haniyeh met in Gaza City to discuss the possibility of declaring a unilateral truce with Israel. Journalists were not allowed to cover the meeting, which was held under tight security.
"At first, Haniyeh did not want to attend the meeting because of Israeli threats to kill him," said one PA official. "The venue and time of the meeting were only agreed upon at the last minute for security reasons. Hamas is taking the Israeli threats very seriously."
Muhammad Nazzal, a senior Hamas official in Syria, said his movement was taking the Israeli threats "in a very serious manner," adding, "These are real and dangerous threats. The Zionist entity has long been practicing state terror. This is a bloody and murderous entity that wants to assassinate an elected prime minister."
Hamas legislator Salah Bardaweel also expressed concern over the Israeli threats against Haniyeh and Mashaal. He confirmed that Haniyeh had postponed his meeting with Abbas several times because of the threats.
"We don't have Arab or Western assurances that Israel won't try to assassinate the prime minister," he said, warning that the Palestinians' response would be "very painful."
According to another PA official, Haniyeh made it clear during Wednesday's meeting that Hamas was prepared to halt the firing of Kassam rockets "if Israel stops its aggression on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."
Abbas, for his part, urged Haniyeh to do his utmost to avoid providing Israel with an excuse to launch a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas and Haniyeh agreed to form a joint Fatah-Hamas force in the Strip to implement a cease-fire with Israel and to enforce law and order.
Fatah and Hamas representatives are scheduled to meet in Cairo soon to discuss ways of ending their disputes and preventing another round of violence between the two parties.
The meeting has been called by Egyptian General Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been mediating between Fatah and Hamas for two years.
Abbas later met with leaders of several Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and urged them to agree to a cease-fire with Israel.
The PA official said all the faction leaders expressed readiness to stop the rocket attacks if Israel halted military operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"The threats to kill the leaders have not fallen on deaf ears," he said. "They know that Israel is capable of reaching each one of them."
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Hit their money, then threaten their lives, that's not fair at all
Good shooting IAF
Is it better to be loved or feared?
I think feared but if I know Arabs they blame mean ole Jews on this attack
200 rockets in one week...
Why is Gaza not a crater at this point?
Would we endure 200 rockets on Miami—20 even?
"As you have put your trust in hope, the gods, and the Spartans, three things the least reliable on earth, so you will be entirely deceived." - Thucydides (loosely)
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