Hamas Calls for New Terror Attacks on Israel

[Logan13]

Hamas Calls for New Terror Attacks on Israel
04/22/07
AP
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas militants called Sunday for a fresh wave of attacks against Israel after troops killed nine Palestinians in weekend fighting, straining a five-month-old cease-fire.

In response to the bloodshed, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' more moderate Fatah movement urged him to consider breaking off contacts with the Israeli government, despite his pledge to the United States to hold regular meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Hamas and Fatah are partners in a coalition government.

Among the nine Palestinians killed in the weekend upsurge of violence were two gunmen and a 17-year-old who died Sunday in the West Bank. The fighting also included a Palestinian rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Sderot that damaged a home.

Israeli officials defended the killings as part of operations that have drastically reduced the number of attacks against Israelis. Palestinian officials, however, said that the deaths jeopardized their efforts to expand the Gaza truce to the West Bank.
Hamas, which has killed scores of Israelis in homicide bombings, sought to rally other Palestinian militant groups in a new offensive that would shatter the truce in the Gaza Strip.

"The blood of our people is not cheap," a Hamas statement said, inviting Palestinians of every ideological stripe to unite and "use all possible means of resistance and to respond to the massacres."

Fatah also called for measures against Israel. "The Arab and the Palestinian leadership should evaluate the contacts with Olmert's government and reconsider these contacts and meetings," Fatah spokesman Abu Hakim Alwad said at a news conference. "Israel is sabotaging the efforts made by the president to maintain calm and to strengthen the cease-fire."

Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Olmert, said Israel "reaches out for peace, while at the same time we will always consistently fight against terror." Israel will continue its operations against Palestinian militants, she said, while "always doing our utmost to avoid any innocent casualties."

Troops killed the Palestinian teenager Sunday in a village near Ramallah. Palestinian officials said he was throwing stones at an Israeli patrol when he was shot. The army said soldiers opened fire as the youth was about to throw a firebomb at a military jeep.

Earlier, an army task force raided the militant stronghold of Nablus, killing two Palestinian gunmen, including Amin Lubadi, a top bombmaker who had been wanted by Israel for more than three years. The army said an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the battle.

In unrelated violence late Sunday, four Palestinians were killed in Gaza, two in a gunfight among family members and two others in apparently random shootings by criminals, security officials said. Also, shadowy Islamic groups sent warnings to cigarette dealers to destroy their wares and to barbers to close their shops.

Internal violence has plagued Gaza for most of the time since Israel pulled out in 2005. Some has pitted Hamas and Fatah forces against each other, while other incidents involve family disputes or crime.

After weeks of relative quiet, the latest surge in violence began on Saturday, when five people were killed during Israeli arrest raids in the northern West Bank.

Palestinian officials said one of the dead was a 17-year-old girl shot by troops as she stood at the window of her home. The army said its soldiers had returned fire from a gunman in a window, but said the incident was being investigated.

In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinians fired a rocket at the Israeli town of Sderot, hitting a house but causing no injuries. The army subsequently attacked a car it said was carrying the attackers, killing a 37-year-old man. Palestinian officials said he was a civilian.

The Gaza truce has largely held, though militants have frequently fired rockets into Israel and have attacked Israeli patrols along the border fence. Olmert's government has warned it will not tolerate continued rocket fire.

Israel is still in control of the West Bank, and unlike Gaza, that territory is dotted with Jewish settlements, making a cease-fire there a different issue. Israel has been reluctant to agree to a West Bank truce, concerned that militant groups would take advantage of it to hit settlers and prepare attacks in Israel.

Israel sealed the West Bank and Gaza Strip early Sunday ahead of the country's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, restricting the movement of Palestinians into Israel.

[RamyGras]

This is not a good move on Hamas' part. However, killing the nine Palestinians was not a good move on Israel's part. Things were starting to calm down, and then this happens.

Something I don't understand. There isn't one thread regarding the killings of the Palestinians, yet one starts about Hamas' call on attacks on Israel. How is it terror, when it's happening on both sides? Why is it terror when the Palestinians fight? And, not terror when the Israelis do it?

How do we know that the people that got killed were terrorists? Because the Israelis told us that. How do we know that the kid was throwing a bomb? Because the Israelis told us that. I am not a sympathizer of ANYBODY that tries to hurt anybody else. However, this is an example of the biases that are apparent, not only on these threads, but in all of the media.

[Logan13]

This is not a good move on Hamas' part. However, killing the nine Palestinians was not a good move on Israel's part. Things were starting to calm down, and then this happens.

Something I don't understand. There isn't one thread regarding the killings of the Palestinians, yet one starts about Hamas' call on attacks on Israel. How is it terror, when it's happening on both sides? Why is it terror when the Palestinians fight? And, not terror when the Israelis do it?

How do we know that the people that got killed were terrorists? Because the Israelis told us that. How do we know that the kid was throwing a bomb? Because the Israelis told us that. I am not a sympathizer of ANYBODY that tries to hurt anybody else. However, this is an example of the biases that are apparent, not only on these threads, but in all of the media.

Based on what the article states, those killed were aggressors. Bomb-makers, gunmen, and someone throwing "firebombs". The difference between killings in the battle zone and the killing of people drinking coffee is obvious. By definition terrorism is, in part, the killing of non-combatants.

[RamyGras]

Based on what the article states, those killed were aggressors. Bomb-makers, gunmen, and someone throwing "firebombs". The difference between killings in the battle zone and the killing of people drinking coffee is obvious. By definition terrorism is, in part, the killing of non-combatants.

Agreed. However, a 17 year old girl that wasn't involved was killed. And, let's be honest, if a Palestinian killed a couple Israelis, and then stated that they were aggressors, they wouldn't be taken seriously. We only get one side of the story. The Israelis claim that there was a "firebomb". And, I know you think I'm being naive, but we ALWAYS only hear the Israeli side of the story. And because of a bunch of idiot Palestinians that DO bomb innocent civilians, we believe the IDF reports because it fits the stereotype. First I hear the kid was throwing rocks, then I hear it was a firebomb.

I don't necessarily believe what is coming from a group with an agenda. I'll give you an example you can relate to. You don't believe everything, if anything, that comes out of Democrats' mouths. Especially when they are referring to Republicans. Your reason is simple. The Democrats have an agenda. I look at the Palestinian/Israeli situation similar as I do the Democrat/Republican, albeit the obvious differences. Of course, I don't believe everything that comes out of Palestinian camp, but I don't believe everything that comes out of Israeli camp.

[Logan13]

Agreed. However, a 17 year old girl that wasn't involved was killed. And, let's be honest, if a Palestinian killed a couple Israelis, and then stated that they were aggressors, they wouldn't be taken seriously. We only get one side of the story. The Israelis claim that there was a "firebomb". And, I know you think I'm being naive, but we ALWAYS only hear the Israeli side of the story. And because of a bunch of idiot Palestinians that DO bomb innocent civilians, we believe the IDF reports because it fits the stereotype. First I hear the kid was throwing rocks, then I hear it was a firebomb.

I don't necessarily believe what is coming from a group with an agenda. I'll give you an example you can relate to. You don't believe everything, if anything, that comes out of Democrats' mouths. Especially when they are referring to Republicans. Your reason is simple. The Democrats have an agenda. I look at the Palestinian/Israeli situation similar as I do the Democrat/Republican, albeit the obvious differences. Of course, I don't believe everything that comes out of Palestinian camp, but I don't believe everything that comes out of Israeli camp.

Palestinians, along with Muslims in general, have dug their own world-view grave. Since no one of significance in the Muslim community has publicly
chastized terrorism in the name of Allah, all Muslims have been put in the position of being painted with the same broad brush. We in the West have seen large groups over and over gathering to celebrate terrorist bombings(especially 9/11), seen the aftermath of school bus bombings, watched in horror as captive Westerners have had their heads cut/sawed off, and listened to the same rhetoric over and over from the leadership in the Mideast about how we are all infidels and should be converted or killed in the name of Allah. It may not be fair, but it is human nature to view a group in this manner. They have earned this label, IMO.

[celticd]

im not suprised that hamas has called for new attacks after the killing of 9 palestinians id have been more suprised if it hadnt,we all know that hamas are the more extreme voice of palestinians so its expected of them to do so there is a move by hamas into a more political way of thinking however slow hamas political prisoners are coming to realise that there will have to be some form of settlement with israel so its vital we have a period of realitive peace to keep them on board,hamas is the group that will finally make peace with israel not the more moderate fawtah movement,this will take time but with all of its complexities i hope it becomes a reality.its sad but true that people of the west think all muslims are nut jobs,iv had friends say it to me.to them wat they hear is always fact,they dont understand or care that the press we get maybe one sided,in a dirty war the media is your most important tool and i believe the puplic is mislead or duped on the info its peddeled.intelligent people have got to understand that fanatics on all sides believe there god supports there madness no religion anywere calls for bloodshed,religion and god of watever creed to me speaks of peace understanding&forgiveness

[RamyGras]

Still, it seems religion-based murder gets ALL the press. It goes back to the 17,000 murders (not crimes, just murders) that happen every year in the U.S., alone. Because there isn't one distinct group to place the blame on, we don't even comment on it. Yet, if there is a killing half way across the world, we have debates on it, b/c the killers are those nutty Muslims.