Israel Arrests Hamas Ministers in Sweep for Soldier June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Israel arrested eight Hamas ministers and 21 lawmakers in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as it carried out raids in the Gaza Strip following the abduction of a soldier. ``The aim of this massive arrest against the government is a push for its collapse,'' Ahmed Baher, deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, told reporters in Gaza City. ``This is a dangerous step.'' Israel says it is up to the Palestinian Authority to ensure the health and safe return of Corporal Gilad Shalit, 19, who was abducted in a June 25 attack on Israeli soldiers that left two of them dead. Three groups took responsibility for the assault, including the armed wing of Hamas. Tanks and troops entered Gaza early yesterday, marking the most serious military escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January. The group refuses to renounce terrorism, recognize Israel or accept peace accords signed during rival Fatah's leadership. The Hamas win followed Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in September, a move intended to curb violence and pave the way to restart peace talks. Israel's pullout was met with increased attacks from Gaza, with more than 500 rockets hitting Israeli territory since troops and settlers were evacuated. U.S. President George W. Bush's spokesman, Tony Snow, yesterday blamed Palestinian extremists for creating the confrontation by kidnapping the soldier and staging attacks. While ``Israel has the right to defend itself,'' the U.S. is urging Israel to ensure that ``innocent civilians are not harmed,'' Snow said in Washington. `Symbols of Government' Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat today called on the U.S. and the European Union to put pressure on Israel to stop ``arresting symbols of government because this will lead to more violence.'' ``The operation against the Hamas government was planned weeks ago,'' Shlomo Aronson, a political scientist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said in a phone interview. ``As a result of the kidnapping and the rocket attacks against Sderot, they combined various goals into one package.'' Sderot, the southern Israeli town that's home to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, has been the main target of the Palestinians' homemade Qassam rockets. ``As long as the Hamas government didn't recognize Israel and tolerated or even supported attacks, playing a double game they thought would release them from responsibility, the idea was that something had to be done,'' Aronson added. Possible Negotiating Partner Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party promotes peace talks with Israel, is considered a possible negotiating partner by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Abbas has failed to cement a power base, though he remains in control of most of the Palestinian security forces. The struggle for power between Hamas and Fatah has spilled out onto Gaza's streets, where gun battles are a daily occurrence, taking lives on both sides. In a bid to prevent the soldier's abductors from moving him, Israeli warplanes bombed open fields today, hours after an arrest sweep in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in which 87 Palestinians were held, 64 of them Hamas members, the army said. Israel fired a missile at a car in the Gaza Strip it suspected was carrying Palestinian gunmen, the army said. Palestinian medics said one person was slightly wounded in the attack. Rockets Fired at Israel Since yesterday 11 Qassam rockets have been launched at Israel, an army spokesman said. There has been no sign that any of them carried a chemical warhead, the spokesman said, refering to a claim by Palestinian gunmen belonging to a group affiliated with Fatah said they launched a homemade rocket with a chemical warhead. Baher, who denied the Palestinian Authority has anything to do with the soldier's abduction, said that one minister and two lawmakers were arrested in east Jerusalem. The others were detained in the city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority's West Bank offices are located, he said. Those detained included Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razek and Planning Minister Amir Abu Aisha, Nasser Edein al-Sha'er, deputy prime minister, told reporters, calling the arrest ``a clear violation against the Palestinian people's representatives. The arrests are a further attempt by Israel to display Hamas to the Palestinian public as an unviable government, Aronson said. ``The idea is to show them that election of Hamas, which was based on the assumption that Hamas would do away with corruption and raise the standard of living, only brought disaster,'' he said. Palestinian Economy The Palestinian economy is spiraling deeper into bankruptcy as the government lacks the funds to even pay civil servants and municipal workers. Israel and the Western powers have cut off tax transfers and international financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, demanding that Hamas disavows violence and acknowledges Israel's right to exist. Hamas and Fatah had reached a formula for a common stance toward Israel and sharing power when the Israeli army went into Gaza two days ago in search of the kidnapped soldier. Israel has accused Khaled Mashaal, a Hamas leader based in Syria's capital, Damascus, of involvement in the kidnapping. Israeli Air Force jets flew over Syrian President Bashar al- Assad's palace near the city of Latakia early yesterday, Israeli's military said in an e-mailed statement today. `Provides Patronage' The flight was undertaken ``based on the understanding that Syria provides patronage and support for the leaders of terror organizations, for the most Hamas, responsible for the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit,'' the military said. Israeli troops and tanks yesterday breached Gaza's southeastern border in a pre-dawn operation as Olmert vowed to use ``extreme'' tactics to free Shalit. The army will stay in Gaza as long as it takes to find him, Olmert said. ``We do not intend to reoccupy Gaza,'' he said. In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers found the body of an 18- year-old Israeli settler who kidnapped June 25, the army said in an e-mailed statement today. The army said that the youth was kidnapped by the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of Palestinian militants. To contact the reporters on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net; David Rosenberg in Jerusalem at drosenberg1@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: June 29, 2006 09:09 EDT
Israel is clearly losing more and more moral legitimacy. Also the battle for public opinion. Tunneling into Israel and capturing an Israeli soldier is wrong. Starting a near full scale invasion in response is even more wrong. This is similar to a criminal kidnapping a young white girl and hiding in Sugarland. In response the alleged good guys immediately start an invasion/ search of Sugarland with several thousand troops and heavy weapons with the 99.9% probability folks will be killed. You just don't have the right to react against smaller evils with almost assuredly deadly force.
Huh? Your comparison is....well.......strange. Reaction to "smaller" evils with almost assuredly deadly force? Well, that happens every day in the inner cities and all over the world. I think when you deal with cowardly kidnappers (which normally ends up in the kidnapped dead, and the kidnappers stalked and killed - not any type of ransom or terms being met), you have to show that this type of act will be dealt with by severe and harsh consequences. In this case (I have read about it, but not all the details), I don't think Israel has killed said cabinet members and lawmakers, but rather arrested them as "responsible" parties.
It's nice to know that both sides are clearly making an effort to co-exist. The world is tired of this tit-for-tat crap that goes on...so much so that the muted world response is deafening.
I couldn't agree more. I honestly think that the world has collectively become almost 'immune' to the cycle of nonsensical violence in the Holy Land. To be honest, if this conflict didn't have wider repercussions for the region and the world at large, the vast majority of the world would have ignored it (see countless conflicts in Africa as an example here). However, that's not an option in this case. Too many things are at stake, the conflict forces itself on the rest of the world. This is not Rwanda or the Congo or some other isolated conflict in a largely isolated continent. It seems like we're almost at the point where the world's only interest in the conflict is to 'contain' it somewhat to its current 'on-again, off-again' status, and making sure that it remains somewhat of a limited conflict between the current warring parties. Otherwise, if neighboring states (Syria, Saudi, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan) get pulled into the conflict, it will have a huge negative impact on the rest of the world.
Israel is getting more and more respect...If they don't respond, there will be more and more of this tunnel rat crap against them... They have every right in the world baby...Don't pull this crap and you won't get the cheese...Enough is enough...The ownership is on the militant palestines and Hamas... If anything, I have seen great restraint...One man can make a differance...
Don't pull what crap? This is an Israeli soldier. In case you haven't heard, Palestinian territory is being illegally occupied by Israel.
The irony here is that in the midst of all this turmoil, the news of a potential landmark Hamas-Fatah political pact that would implicitly recognize Israel's right to exist has been pretty much pushed out of the headlines: Israeli Troops Move Into Gaza Captured Soldier Sought; Palestinians Reach Political Pact http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/27/AR2006062700413.html?nav=rss_world GAZA CITY, June 28 -- Israeli ground troops pushed into the Gaza Strip early Wednesday in a military operation aimed at freeing a captured soldier whose fate has transfixed much of the country. The incursion was the military's first major move into Gaza since the Israeli government withdrew all troops and settlers from the enclave nine months ago. An undisclosed number of troops reportedly entered the strip at its southern end, near the city of Rafah on the Egyptian border. Hours earlier, Israeli military officials said, military aircraft bombed two bridges in central Gaza to prevent the gunmen who abducted Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, during a Sunday attack on an army post at the strip's southeastern edge from moving him around Gaza or into Egypt. Another airstrike hit Gaza's power station, knocking out electricity throughout the strip and igniting a huge fire that lit the pre-dawn sky. A third bridge was also reported hit. The violence overshadowed an agreement earlier in the day by leaders of Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that controls the Palestinian government, on a unified political agenda advocated by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to ease the economic sanctions against the government. According to Palestinian negotiators here, Hamas agreed to establish a national-unity government as part of an accord signed by the largest Palestinian political factions. If formally signed Wednesday as scheduled, the agreement would signal a major shift by Hamas's political leaders, who for the first time would effectively endorse a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Washington, a senior U.S. official said that while he was not privy to many details about Israel's intentions, he expected the incursion would be "pretty significant." "This is in the category of a major operation," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This isn't just 20 commandos." The signs of conflict had mounted gradually throughout the day Tuesday. More than 3,000 Israeli soldiers, along with tanks and armored personnel carriers, waited along Gaza's perimeter for orders to move into the strip, which the military abandoned last September after evacuating Israel's settlements here. At the same time, Palestinian gunmen built berms near the borders and assembled sand-bag bunkers along routes into urban areas. The Palestinian accord comes as Hamas is confronting internal divisions and international economic sanctions. It would also be a significant political victory for Abbas, a member of the rival Fatah movement who had threatened to place the issue before Palestinian voters next month unless Hamas accepted its key conditions. "In our view, this is an important step toward a lasting peace," said Walid Awad, a spokesman for Abbas. "The Hamas government has recognized the state of Israel." As outlined by officials involved in the talks, the agreement calls for a future Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, territory Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Since its founding nearly two decades ago, Hamas has called for creation of an Islamic state across a far larger stretch of land that includes Israel. It was unclear, however, whether Hamas's armed wing, known as the Izzadeen al-Qassam Brigades, would abide by the terms of the agreement. Hamas gunmen were involved in the attack on the army post inside Israel on Sunday in which Shalit was captured. Two smaller armed factions also took part in the raid, which killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded four. The two-state pact, which was based on an 18-point document announced last month by Fatah and Hamas leaders being held in Israeli prisons, also runs counter to views held by Hamas's hard-line leadership in exile headed by Khaled Mashal, whom Israeli officials say was behind the Sunday attack. Some Hamas leaders in Gaza, along with Abbas and Egyptian interlocutors, have called for Shalit's release. "The political leadership of Hamas does not have the strength to control the military wing," Issa Ali Nashar, a senior Hamas political leader, said in an interview in the Gaza city of Khan Younis. "All they can say right now is to keep the soldier safe." In addition, Israeli officials said lifting economic sanctions against the Palestinian government was highly unlikely, since Hamas had not explicitly recognized Israel or renounced violence against the Jewish state. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday that while details of the Palestinians' final accord were not yet known, previous versions have fallen short of meeting conditions set by international donors -- that Hamas renounce violence, abide by previously signed agreements and recognize Israel -- in return for a resumption of aid. Regev said the agreement would likely have a "minimal effect" on Israel's position toward the Palestinian government, and he expressed frustration that Palestinian leaders were discussing the deal rather than focusing on Shalit's release. "There is an immediate crisis," Regev said. "That the Palestinian leadership was putting energy into this document that has no bearing on the most pressing issue is disappointing." Bush administration officials reacted cautiously, saying they needed more details about the reported accord before making a judgment. They noted conflicting initial reports about what the agreement entailed. "We're just going to wait to see exactly what the case is," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters. "What we want to see is something written so that we can understand what their position is." In addition to laying out the terms of a Palestinian state, the agreement calls for confining armed operations against Israel to the occupied territories under a unified command, the right of Palestinian refugees to return, and freedom for thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails. Nashar and other Hamas leaders said the agreement does not commit Hamas to recognizing the Jewish state, which they believe was created illegally on Arab land through a 1947 United Nations resolution. But it does endorse previously signed agreements that do so, as well as the 2002 Arab peace initiative that calls for Israel to withdraw from all territories occupied in the 1967 war in exchange for peace and recognition. Islamic Jihad, a smaller group responsible for all suicide bombings inside Israel over the past year, refused to sign the new agreement. Also Tuesday, Israeli soldiers searched parts of the West Bank for an 18-year-old Israeli settler missing since Sunday. The radical Popular Resistance Committees, an armed group involved in Sunday's kidnapping, claimed to be holding Eliyahu Asheri, who is from the northern West Bank settlement of Itamar. Settlement officials said he was last seen hitchhiking near the French Hill junction in Jerusalem. "We don't know what happened and we pray he is okay," Moshe Goldschmidt, a leader of the settlement, said in a telephone interview. On Wednesday, the militant group threatened to kill Asheri if Israel did not halt its incursion, news services reported. Throughout the day Tuesday, Israeli tanks and troops assembled along Gaza's periphery while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for Israel to allow more time for international diplomacy to secure the soldier's release. But a tour of several towns in southern Gaza suggested that the population here supports holding Shalit until Israel releases some of the 8,503 Palestinians being held in Israel. The groups behind the kidnapping have demanded the release of the 421 Palestinian women and minors in Israeli prisons in exchange for information about Shalit's welfare. Olmert rejected the demand on Monday, threatening instead a "broad and comprehensive" military operation unless Shalit is freed immediately. "What can they do that they haven't done before?" said Mohanned Abu Nada, a 33-year-old Fatah supporter in Khan Younis.
israel is now threatening to assassinate the palestinian prime minister, who is democratically elected http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3267935,00.html i dont know how anybody can say israel doesnt engage in terrorism
wait, it hasnt killed the cabinet members and lawmakers, but what about the millions of dollors of infrastructure damage, and the uprooting of so many peoples homes and lives? thats about as bad as war. and again, that was an israeli soldier, not a civilian... doesnt make it right, but its just like israel attacking "militants", palestinians attack soldiers.
O let's see the crap that led to the response...ho hum... progress was being made in one hand (Gaza strip - even though rockets were continuosly fired), and the right manner would have led to progress to the other...but they pull crap and they got the much deserved cheese..
Read the title of your article genius. Hamas leaders warned: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday during his meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that Israel will attempt to assassinate Haniyeh, Analysis. Israel didn't threaten Haniyeh. Abbas said that he COULD be a target.
Nothing silly about minimizing civilian deaths...Now the other side is all about the maximization baby...
Israel wants peace. Hamas' military wing wants to kill the peace process. Hamas got exactly what they wanted, and Israel ensures that the peace process is at best delayed, at worst in danger of collapsing. Congrats, Israel - you showed them!
Yea, and if they didn't "show" them, there would be no pressure on Hamas to stop the crap they keep pulling...The pressure towards Hamas works best when it's from their own palestinian kin folk who really want peace and tire of the kin folk's crap...Enough is enough. Eye for eye tooth for tooth...We all go for the throat...
If that is so, why has Israel killed so many more civilians in the conflict than the Palestinians have? That is true even if you count Israeli settlers as civilians.
Where are your facts on the numbers from an unbiased source?...Huh? Here is more evidence of restraint from the good people of Israel... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201854,00.html Seeking Militant, Israelis Raid Palestinian Hospital Sunday, July 02, 2006 NABLUS, West Bank — Israeli troops raided a Palestinian hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, apparently looking for a wanted man wounded in an earlier operation, Palestinian witnesses and doctors said. The soldiers shot stun grenades and tear gas as they stormed the hospital, and once inside, put the doctors and nurses on one floor, they said. Five people were injured, doctors said, including three hurt by grenades and tear gas, one hit by an army jeep, and a fifth hit by Palestinian gunmen who opened fired on the troops. Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Mideast center. CountryWatch: Israel The soldiers fired the grenades and tear gas at Palestinian youths who threw rocks at them, the witnesses said. The troops left the hospital after two hours without arresting anyone, the military said, without providing further details. The apparent target of the Israeli operation was a fugitive wounded in an Israeli raid on the nearby Balata refugee camp two weeks ago, the witnesses said. Members of his militant faction said he was spirited out of the hospital just before the troops arrived.
