Israeli troops snatch Palestinian gunmen from hospital beds in early dawn raid

AP | 8/26/03 | MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH

[kattracks]

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- Israeli undercover troops snatched two wounded Palestinian gunmen from their West Bank hospital beds in a pre-dawn raid Tuesday, the latest Israeli military operation in the wake of a deadly bus bombing a week ago.

The troops knocked on the door of the intensive care unit, imposed a curfew on the patients and doctors and carried the two men -- members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction -- out of the ward and into military ambulances, a doctor, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said.

The men -- Othman Younis, 27, and Fahid Bani-Odeh, 25 -- are in Israel's Beilinson Hospital and being treated for moderate injuries, military sources said.

Israel accuses Younis of helping to plan several attacks in which at least 10 people were killed, including an Aug. 12 suicide bombing that came in the middle of a ceasefire declared by the militant groups on June 29.

The truce collapsed last Thursday after Israel killed a top-ranking Hamas political leader in retaliation for a Jerusalem bus bombing a week ago in which 21 people were killed.

Since the bombing, Israel has killed two senior Hamas members -- and another five activists in the group -- in pinpoint missile strikes which marked the renewal of Israel's policy to hunt down and kill militants. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon has made clear that all members of the militant group are targets for "liquidation."

The latest missile strike, on a Gaza beach front late Sunday, forced senior Hamas members to go into hiding, while the group's spokesmen turned off their phones. Hamas leaders were conspicuously absent from funerals Monday for the four men killed in Sunday's missile strike.

Hamas leaflets hung in mosques throughout the Gaza Strip instructed members to take precautions -- such as not traveling in groups, avoiding use of their telephones, using makeup to disguise themselves and staying off main streets -- so as not to be easy targets for Israeli "assassination."

Meanwhile, U.S.-backed Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas -- who is trying to implement the so-called "road map" to Palestinian statehood -- is also fighting off a campaign by Yasser Arafat to undermine him and reassert his authority over Palestinian security forces.

Most recently, Arafat appointed his former rival, Brig. Gen. Jibril Rajoub, to the vacant post of national security adviser. It was not clear that Arafat planned to use Rajoub to rein in militants and unify his security forces, two central demands in the U.S.-backed road map.

Although Arafat fired Rajoub from his job as West Bank security chief after a reportedly violent argument between the two in July 2002, Rajoub is also an adversary of Abbas and his security chief Mohammed Dahlan.

Secretary of State Colin Powell last week appealed in vain to Arafat to give Abbas full authority over security. But it appears Arafat hopes to undermine Abbas -- who he appointed to the post of prime minister in April after intense U.S. pressure -- through Rajoub, who is also popular with Israel and the United States and has participated in past peace talks.

Abbas has also been reluctant to crack down on militants, fearing it could spark civil war. He has appealed to Arafat to give him control of the key security branches, something he says is necessary to confront the militant groups.

Meanwhile, Israel and the Palestinians braced for more violence as Hamas vowed to avenge the latest Israeli missile strikes.

"Our response will be painful and quick," the Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, promised in a statement.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants fired Qassam rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli towns along the border and Jewish settlements in the coastal strip, the army said.

[zarf]

Secretary of State Colin Powell last week appealed in vain to Arafat to give Abbas full authority over security.

So we no linger recognize Arafarts legitimacy?

What a joke.

[11B3]

Stop using missiles, and start using MOABs. That'll change the Palis tune.

[Diogenesis]

"Abbas has also been reluctant to crack down on militants"
.... It is because he is a murderer supported by the usual suspects who are chronic terrorist supporters.

[jaykay]

"The truce collapsed last Thursday after Israel killed a top-ranking Hamas political leader in retaliation for a Jerusalem bus bombing a week ago in which 21 people were killed."

The truce collapsed after Israel retaliated for Hamas' bus bombing? In other words, if Hamas is allowed to bomb innocent civilians and Israel never reacts, the "truce" could go on forever.


"Hamas leaflets hung in mosques throughout the Gaza Strip instructed members to take precautions -- such as not traveling in groups, avoiding use of their telephones, using makeup to disguise themselves and staying off main streets -- so as not to be easy targets for Israeli 'assassination.'"

I guess "martyrdom" isn't for everyone. Do the leaflets instruct them on how to disguise themselves as women like Arafat did to escape the IDF? How about instructions on removing those pesky yellow and brown stains from one's panties?

[germanicus]

Hamas leaders were conspicuously absent from funerals Monday for the four men killed in Sunday's missile strike.

Finally, it appears Hamas is being spoken to in a language it can understand. Cowards.

[appalachian_dweller]

Israel needs to realize it's in a WAR for it's very existence. It always has been and always will be until the end of time. In WAR, there is no substitute for victory. What is victory? Killing your enemies. Who are Israel's enemies? The Palestinians and the Arabs.

If Israel wants to live in peace, it's going to have to kill ALL the Palestinians, invade Syria and Lebanon, and nuke Tehran. It won't happen.

I am sick and tired of listening to the Palestinians claiming to be victims and oppressed people and then killing innocent civilians in bus bombings. These people are scum and the lowest form on life on the planet an they make me SICK. I really, really, really wish that Israel would take the fight to the Palestinians and give them a taste of their own medicine. All these pinpoint strikes are going to do is make the vermin angrier and in turn cause more homicide bombings.

I’m also fed up with the UN, EU, and our own State Dept. taking up for these vermin.

Scripture says that Israel will know peace for a brief time (3 1/2 years) during the first half of the Tribulation. After this, all countries on the planet, the USA included, will turn on Israel and make war on her.

Then comes Armageddon.

[swheats]

That's interesting to read. Israel may be doing questionable things that could bring more suicide bombers, but I have to commend them on doing it.

How many times will we allow the media to broadcast from the hospital beds these killers' promises that they will bring more terrorism?

[adam_az]

Ha, ha, ha.

[debaryfl]

>>The troops knocked on the door of the intensive care unit, imposed a curfew on the patients and doctors and carried the two men -- members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction -- out of the ward and into military ambulances, a doctor, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said.

"Knock, Knock"
"Who's There?"
He he.

[myrabach]

"Knock, Knock"
"Who's There?"
He he.


Candygram...

[ARCADIA]

What about this?

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction ..

Hello! This terrorist group is directly under Arafat's command and has been since its inception.

[ARCADIA]

I really, really, really wish that Israel would take the fight to the Palestinians and give them a taste of their own medicine.

Don't we all. But the US needs Arab oil so it's always looking for a peaceful solution and pretending that terrorist attacks on children are somehow equivalent to IDF targeted killings of the perpetrators. And, preventing Israel going after the terrorists with full force.

I feel very uncomfortable with the pressure our government puts on Israel, because, in essence, we are trading Israeli blood for Arab oil. But then again, whenever we pretend Saudi Arabia wasn't the root cause of 9/11, aren't we trading American blood for Saudi oil?

[1Old Pro]

-- is also fighting off a campaign by Yasser Arafat to undermine him and reassert his authority over Palestinian security forces.

Does anyone else think that Arafat is the first problem here on the road to peace?

[appalachian_dweller]

>> aren't we trading American blood for Saudi oil? <<

Yes. Our government is. The people are complacent. We just want our cheap gas to fill up our SUVs. Now that I think about it, it makes me sick. What makes me sick? I see all these soccer mom's out here riding around in $50,000 SUVs that they DON'T need. These things will never even see a mud puddle. As far as snow is concerned, that's why we have snow plows.

According to the link below, we do get most of our oil from Saudi Arabia.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/cli.html

We need to get off Saudi Oil. We have the ability to get off ME oil altogether, but the big-wig oil companies combine with these worthless environmentalists won't let us. It’s a crime that going to get more of us killed.

[monkeyshine]

If Israel commands such ground supremecy that they can walk in and snatch people from hospitals, I have to wonder why they don't step up and destroy the infrastructure that supports the terrorists.

[Rebelbase]

"What makes me sick? I see all these soccer mom's out here riding around in $50,000 SUVs that they DON'T need. "

But a crappy, 20 year old SUV that burns more fuel than a new one would'nt bother you would it?

[appalachian_dweller]

Read my post again. I said that they DON’T need one.

Anyone that drives around in a 5,000 lb gas guzzling SUV just to go to and from the store is contributing to the problem. I care not whether it 1 year or 20 years old. Unless you have a legitimate reason for owning one, it's wasteful.

Did I hit a nerve? Good.

[appalachian_dweller]

I'm not against SUVs. I'm against arrogant, wasteful, selfish people who won’t take responsibility for their own actions.