Posted on 06/28/2008 8:53:49 PM PDT by F15Eagle
Shortly Israel decided to open all the crossings into Gaza Saturday night several mortar shells were fired by Palestinian terrorists at the Karni Crossing area.
It was unclear whether the shells landed in Israeli territory or fell short of the perimeter fence and there were no reports of wounded or damage.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i, in consultation with defense chiefs, decided to allow 80 truckloads of food to cross from Israel to Gaza on Sunday.
The crossings, including Karni, had been closed since Tuesday after Palestinians violated the Gaza cease-fire by shooting Kassams rockets at the western Negev.
A mortar attack on Israel Friday prompted Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip to issue new warnings to Palestinian armed groups there against violating the cease-fire with Israel and threatening to arrest anyone who does not abide by it.
This is the first time Hamas has threatened to arrest Gazans who fire rockets at Israel. The threat is seen as a sign of Hamas's keenness to preserve the cease-fire and show that it is capable of enforcing its will on all the factions in the Strip.
Terrorists fired two mortar shells at Israel from northern Gaza on Friday, marking the end of a week marred by cease-fire breaches.
One shell hit near Kibbutz Kfar Aza while the second slammed into an uninhabited area. No injuries or damages were reported.
Sources in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas's security forces arrested five Fatah militiamen Friday on suspicion of firing three rockets at Israel last week. The men were arrested in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the sources said, noting that Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, had claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas official, said his movement's position regarding the violations committed by Fatah and Islamic Jihad was "clear." He said representatives of Fatah and Islamic Jihad had been summoned to meetings with Hamas officials who warned them against breaching the agreement.
"Some elements were working secretly to foil the [cease-fire] agreement," Zahar told reporters. "They don't want this agreement to succeed because they are working against the national interests of our people."
Zahar also said some Palestinian "collaborators" and unruly factions were behind the attempts to foil the truce. He said that his movement had made it clear that anyone who violated the agreement would be arrested.
"We have reached an agreement with Islamic Jihad that anyone, even if he's from Hamas, would be arrested and disarmed if he violates the agreement," he said. "Those who violate the agreement will be accused of sabotaging the national program."
Asked if he is not concerned that Hamas would be accused of serving Israel by arresting rocket-launchers, Zahar said: "Whoever makes such an allegation does not understand anything and is himself a collaborator with Israel. This agreement was reached on the basis of national consensus."
Zahar revealed that Hamas has already arrested a number of Palestinians who fired mortars and rockets at the border crossings to the Gaza Strip or trucks supplying fuel. He also said some Gazan clans had handed over their sons who were accused of violating the truce and "harming the national interests of the Palestinians."
Hamas's Interior Minister, Said Siam, summoned representatives of Palestinian armed groups to an urgent meeting at his home on Friday night where he warned them against breaching the cease-fire.
"All those who accepted the agreement must now honor it," he said after the meeting. "Anyone who acts otherwise will be held responsible and will be seen as serving the interests of Israel."
Israel did not respond militarily to the mortars over the weekend, choosing instead to keep Gaza border crossings closed, as it had done throughout the previous week.
Kfar Aza has come under frequent mortar attacks in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said a 17-year-old boy was shot dead by IDF soldiers in Beit Omar, north of Hebron. The IDF said soldiers opened fire after identifying a group of youths throwing Molotov cocktails at motorists on Highway 60.
The latest incident came after IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) men shot dead a senior Islamic Jihad figure and a lower-ranking member of the organization on Tuesday.
Fatah trying to sabotage Israel’s truce with Hamas in order to hang on to their tenuous power. Without Israel’s foolish support, they’d be chased out to Jordan.
ping
Give these micro-cranial limp noddles a break and this is what you get.
Israel should close the crossings and cut off every thing that they supply to the murders and terrorists and let the arabs get their supplys from Egypt.
OR let them starve till they get some sense.(like that will happen)
OR let the other arab countries, who are so concerned for their arab brothers, assimilate them into their countries. That way the “palistinian problem” will be solved.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.