Posted on 11/25/2001 7:48:37 PM PST by College Repub
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/11/26/News/News.38748.html
JERUSALEM (November 26) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday promised members of a delegation from Kfar Darom and the Gaza Coast Regional Council the IDF would act harshly in response to further mortar attacks on Jewish communities in the region, even if it means operating in areas under Palestinian control, council head Aharaleh Tsur told The Jerusalem Post.
Tsur said the prime minister also ordered a halt to construction of the elevated bridge that is to link the Kissufim crossing to Gush Katif communities, and promised on his return from the US he would visit the region and examine the residents' alternatives to the bridge currently being built by the army.
The residents have protested the bridge is not only unsafe but traveling on it several meters above ground would make them targets for Palestinian gunmen operating in the area. An alternative plan they submitted to the government calls for an underground tunnel road to be built that will be used by Palestinian traffic, while residents would continue to travel on the existing road.
The meeting with Sharon followed a demonstration attended by scores of residents from Kfar Darom and other communities in Gush Katif outside the Prime Minister's Office yesterday to protest the constant barrage of mortar attacks by Palestinians on their communities.
Kfar Darom residents closed the schools and declared a strike to protest Saturday night's mortar attack and the death of an IDF soldier. They declared that since the outbreak of violence last year, over 500 mortar shells have been fired at their communities and scores have landed in Kfar Darom.
Yossi Hadad, a Kfar Darom resident, told residents yesterday they expect the prime minister to act immediately to halt the mortar fire.
Among those who met with the protesters and expressed support in restoring security to the region were MKs Uri Ariel, Yuri Stern, and Tourism Minister Benny Elon. Elon told the demonstrators after attending the cabinet meeting, he believed Sharon understood he could not allow the Palestinian Authority to dictate the situation on the ground.
Meanwhile, yesterday morning residents of Tekoa, Nokdim, and Eldad in Gush Etzion protested at the roadblock leading to Nokdim over the mortar shell fired at their communities on Saturday night.
The residents demonstrated against a recent decision to reopen the roads between Efrat and Tekoa to Palestinian traffic which had been closed following the shooting death of resident Sarit Amrani on September 20.
"The Palestinians constructed bypass roads themselves," said Tekoa resident Haim Finkelstein. "Now the army has blocked off their bypass roads and is directing their vehicles on the road leading to our community."
The residents declared that up until the decision to reopen the road, the Palestinians drove on alternative routes that added only a few minutes to their usual driving time.
I was gratified to Tiny Tom Daschle on Fox yesterday, defending Sharon's taking out of the Hamas leader. As he stated, Hamas is on the US terrorist list, so Israel is by proxy, helping the USA.
Support for Israel extends to both sides of the aisle in Congress.
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