Gaza: Mahmoud al-Zahar's son, 16 others killed by IDF

YNet ^ | Jan. 15, 2008

[Alouette]

Hamas leader's son killed during aerial strike in northern Strip's Zeitoun neighborhood; total of 17 Palestinians killed during IDF activity Tuesday. 20-year-old Ecuadorian kibbutz volunteer killed by Palestinian sniper fire

Associated Press Latest Update: 01.15.08, 14:13 / Israel News

tanks, bulldozers and helicopters raided the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing the militant son of the territory's most powerful Hamas leader and 16 other Palestinians in one of the bloodiest days of fighting since the Islamic group took over the area in June.

Palestinian sniper fire across the border killed 20-year-old Carlos Andres Chavez, a volunteer from Quito, Ecuador, at the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz.

The killing of Hussam Zahar, 24, the son of hardline Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, and the civilian death in Israel threatened to fuel the violence even further at a time when Israel and moderate Palestinians in the West Bank are trying to move peacemaking into high gear.

At the morgue at Shifa Hospital, Mahmoud al-Zahar held his lifeless son's head in his hands and closed his eyes, then kissed him three times on the forehead and recited solemn verses from the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

Al-Zahar accused the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement, of complicity in his son's death.

"This is the hope of Abu Mazen and his colleagues, the collaborators with Israel and the spies of America," Zahar said, referring to Abbas by his nickname. Hamas, he vowed, will respond to Tuesday's raid "in the appropriate way. We will defend ourselves by all means."

Another al-Zahar son was killed in a botched Israeli assassination attempt against the elder al-Zahar in his home three years ago.

The killing of Hussam Zahar threatened to heat up Hamas' involvement in the daily barrage of rocket and mortar fire on southern Israel. While allowing other militant factions to attack southern Israeli communities with impunity, the Islamic militant group hasn't taken the lead on the assaults.

The operation Tuesday began when undercover Israeli troops moved several hundred yards into the territory to strike an abandoned house east of Gaza City that militants used for rocket-launching operations, Hamas said.

When Palestinian militants discovered the force, an exchange of fire erupted, the militants said. In the ensuing clashes, Israeli tanks fired at least three shells and aircraft struck twice in the area, Hamas said.

In all, 12 fighters and three civilians were killed by late morning, and more than 40 Palestinians were wounded, militants and doctors said. Shifa Hospital put out a radio call for blood donations because of the large number of wounded.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio that "a large force of infantry and engineering corps troops, backed by tanks and the air force, is operating in the northern Gaza Strip."

The military spokesman's office said the clash was set off when militants approached the border fence, and troops opened fire.

Sniper attack on kibbutz volunteer

In the course of the fighting, a Palestinian sniper fired from the border area into Israel, killing 20-year-old Carlos Andres Chavez, a volunteer from Ecuador who was working in a potato field at the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz, Israeli officials said.

Hamas' military wing claimed responsibility.

"The shooting of the Ecuadorian youth demonstrates the necessity of the defensive measures the military is carrying out with pinpoint operations," Israeli military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said.

Israel has been cracking down on Gaza militants who bombard southern Israel with rockets and mortars and attack troops along the border, even as it seeks peace with Abbas' West Bank-based government.

Broad Gaza offensive?

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert suggested Israel would not launch a broad operation in Gaza, despite Defense Minister Ehud Barak's repeated assertions that a large-scale strike was inevitable, Abbas, who has controlled only the West Bank since Hamas overran Gaza, condemned the Israeli raid.

"We say to the world and Israel, that it is impossible to stay quiet about these crimes," He said. "It is impossible to bring peace under these circumstances."

Hamas' senior political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, denounced Abbas for trying to make peace with Israel.

"Shame, shame, for those who shake hands with the leaders of the occupation, those who sit with the occupation leaders, and those who give compromises to the occupation," Haniyeh told Hamas TV.

Threat to government coalition

While violence was swelling in Gaza, Olmert was struggling Tuesday to keep his coalition intact and broad enough to comfortably work toward reaching a peace deal with the moderate Palestinian government in the West Bank.

Hardline lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman is threatening to pull his 11-member Yisrael Beiteinu faction out of Olmert's government now that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks moved on Monday to the key issues in the conflict - final borders, disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Lieberman and the party will decide how to act after he meets with Olmert on Tuesday, Lieberman spokeswoman Irena Etinger said.

Ali Waked contributed to this report

[Alouette]

FReepMail to be added or removed from this pro-Israel/Judaic/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[Congressman Billybob]

Consider what "deNazification" would mean, if applied to the Palestinian territories. Just about everyone over the age of six would have to be jailed. You HAVE seen the garbage that Palestinians pour into the minds of their children, starting in the first grade, haven't you?

Congressman Billybob

Latest article, "License? We Don't Need No Steenkin' License!"

A Freeper in Congress? Please act now.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

11-member Yisrael Beiteinu

Can someone fill me in on this faction and what it would do to Olmert if they left his coalition?

Thanks in advance.

[iopscusa]

Must be time to send in Condi Rice the great Piecemaker!

[vaudine]

",,,moderate Palestinians",,,

I am shocked to see they have enough to use the plural.

vaudine

[goldstategop]

The constant incitement against Jews ensure there will be no peace for generations. From the Arab point of view, they can afford to be resolute in patience. Crusader rule in Eretz Israel lasted 250 years and the Jews have only had a state for 60 years even though they returned to their country well long before that. The core issue is Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State and "occupation" is a merely a cover used to make Arab irredentism acceptable in the West. And Mahmoud Abbas is so weak he does not have authority that extends beyond his offices in Ramallah. On such a weak reed a Middle East peace agreement is supposed to be built. Yeah, right!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[goldstategop]

There are no "moderate" Palestinians and its questionable they really want a state. If they were in pursuit of both, this conflict would have been over decades ago. Which ought to tell people their real goal is a state on the ruins of Israel as opposed to one co-existing alongside it.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[goldstategop]

Well if they and Shas left the Olmert Coalition, Olmert would still remain in power but be propped up by the Left. Not a large base on which to pursue surrender talks with the PA - considering only eight percent of Israelis support Olmert's government.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[vaudine]

My point exactly. Was being sarcastic about there being even two moderate Palestinians.

vaudine

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

thanks for that.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel, WOT

..................

[Cinnamon Girl]

Paramedics at the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz, near the Israeli-Gaza border, carry the body of a volunteer from Ecuador,killed by a sniper from inside Gaza, Tuesday Jan. 15, 2008. Israeli tanks and helicopters raided Gaza Tuesday, killing at least 17 Palestinians in the bloodiest day of fighting since Hamas seized the coastal strip in June. In the course of the fighting, a Palestinian sniper fired from the border area into Israel, killing the volunteer who was working in a field at the communal farm, Israeli rescue officials said. Hamas' military wing claimed responsibility. (AP Photo / Tsafrir Abayov)

[Cinnamon Girl]

Residents of the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz, near the Israeli-Gaza border, burst into tears as paramedics, unseen, carry the body of a volunteer from Ecuador who was killed by a sniper from inside Gaza, Tuesday Jan. 15, 2008. Israeli tanks and helicopters raided Gaza Tuesday, killing at least 17 Palestinians in the bloodiest day of fighting since Hamas seized the coastal strip in June. In the course of the fighting, a Palestinian sniper fired from the border area into Israel, killing the volunteer who was working in a field at the communal farm, Israeli rescue officials said. Hamas' military wing claimed responsibility. (AP Photo / Tsafrir Abayov)

[Cinnamon Girl]

An Israeli soldiers at the Israel-Gaza border lead blindfolded Palestinian men, detained after an operation inside the Gaza Strip, Tuesday Jan. 15, 2008. Israeli tanks, bulldozers and helicopters raided the Gaza Strip Tuesday, killing the militant son of a hardline Hamas leader and 10 other Palestinians in one of the bloodiest days of fighting since Hamas took over the coastal territory in June. Palestinian sniper fire across the border killed a volunteer from Ecuador at an Israeli communal farm. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

[Cinnamon Girl]

A friend of a 19-year-old volunteer from Ecuador, killed by a sniper from inside Gaza, touches his body at the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz, near the Israeli-Gaza border, Tuesday Jan. 15, 2008. Israeli tanks and helicopters raided Gaza Tuesday, killing at least 17 Palestinians in the bloodiest day of fighting since Hamas seized the coastal strip in June. In the course of the fighting, a Palestinian sniper fired from the border area into Israel, killing the volunteer who was working in a field at the communal farm, Israeli rescue officials said. Hamas' military wing claimed responsibility. (AP Photo / Tsafrir Abayov)

The name of Carlos Andres Chavez should be in the title of this story, not any of the vermin who happened to be killed in Gaza.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Meanwhile the vermin are parading around bodies for the press and will probably do so for the next week.

[rmlew]

"Hardline lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman is threatening to pull his 11-member Yisrael Beiteinu faction out of Olmert's government now that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks moved on Monday to the key issues in the conflict - final borders, disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees."

LOL. Try tough talking wuss. He never should have joined the government.
Let Olmert Fall now or depend on Hadash to destroy Israel and fall the next day.