Hamas Orders an All-Out Assault on Israel

[Guest MrRant]

By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer

 

JERUSALEM - After four airborne attacks by the Israeli military in three days, the Hamas militant group ordered an all-out assault on Israel and urged foreigners to leave. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) pressed a "war on terror" while ridiculing the new Palestinian government.

 

The United States on Thursday called a meeting of its fellow Mideast mediators to try to salvage their "road map" peace plan, which is in danger of disintegrating.

 

 

Israeli helicopters on Thursday killed a Hamas commander and six others, including his wife and 2-year-old daughter in Gaza. Later, Israeli soldiers went to the West Bank town of Jenin and killed two Islamic Jihad activists.

 

 

Between those two operations, Palestinians shot and killed an Israeli motorist in the West Bank. Early Friday, Israeli tanks entered the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank, residents said, blocking roads.

 

 

Israelis spent Thursday burying victims of a Hamas suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem the day before. Seventeen passengers and bystanders were killed.

 

 

With the "road map" plan leading nowhere because of the surging violence, the U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) would meet in Jordan next week with leaders of U.S. partners in the "Quartet" of mediators sponsoring the peace plan — The European Union (news - web sites), United Nations (news - web sites) and Russia.

 

 

Powell called on Abbas to work harder to rein in militants. "We want him to use that limited capability as effectively as he can," Powell told The Associated Press in an interview after talking to Sharon and Abbas on the telephone.

 

 

Responding to four Israeli air strikes in Gaza that killed 20 Palestinians, including several senior Hamas commanders, Hamas issued one of its darkest threats yet, ordering "all military cells to act immediately and act like an earthquake (news - web sites) to blow up the Zionist entity and tear it to pieces."

 

 

The group said foreigners should leave for their safety. Hamas has generally acted on its threats.

 

 

Sharon, in turn, said he would fight militants "to the bitter end," regardless of the road map.

 

 

Addressing his own Cabinet, he ridiculed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' ministers, calling them "crybabies" for saying that they can't crack down on Hamas. "If I need to choose between the war on terror and supporting Abu Mazen, I will chose the first option," Sharon said, referring to Abbas by his nickname.

 

 

Abbas, noting that Israeli strikes have decimated his security services, prefers to persuade the Islamic militants to stop attacks against Israel, but Hamas pulled out of truce talks last Friday.

 

 

The Israeli air strikes against Hamas leaders infuriated the militant group and pushed away any thoughts of a cease-fire, weakening Abbas' already shaky political position.

 

 

In Cairo, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said U.S. observers must be sent soon. "We all have to stop the violence and the bloodshed or at least freeze the situation for sometime until things are cooled off ," Moussa told reporters after meeting PLO official Farouk Kaddoumi.

 

 

Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf is to arrive in the coming days with a team of American observers, part of the road map plan.

 

 

In Thursday's strike, Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles at a car carrying Yasser Taha and Ibrahim Abu Srour, two Hamas fugitives from the group's military wing.

 

 

In all, seven people were killed, including Taha's wife, Fatima, 25, and their 2-year-old daughter, Asnan, doctors said. A baby bottle and baby shoes were pulled from the burning car. Twenty-nine people were hurt in the strike.

 

 

Israel army spokeswoman Maj. Sharon Feingold expressed regret at the civilian casualties and pledged an investigation. "A result of a mistake, family members were also killed," she said. "They were not targets."

 

The car was targeted in Gaza City's Sheik Radwan neighborhood, just as mourners were leaving a nearby cemetery, where 11 dead from two previous air strikes were buried. Witnesses said one missile struck as bystanders surrounded Taha's car.

 

Thursday's funeral procession was attended by about 35,000, who chanted: "Abu Mazen, listen closely. There is nothing except jihad (holy war)."

 

After nightfall Thursday, Israeli forces killed two Islamic Jihad activists who drew guns on soldiers who came to arrest them in the West Bank town of Jenin, the military said. Witnesses said special forces entered the town and opened fire on the two.

 

In the same area, Palestinian gunmen shot and killed an Israeli motorist as he left the village of Yabed after shopping. The Israeli was violating an Israeli ban on its civilians from entering Palestinian areas.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

I think this is a good sign actually, because it just shows that Hamas and co. are at the acts of desperation stage. They can see that Abbas is not Arafat and is willing to work with Sharon and Bush to get the job done, and are worried that he is going to come down hard on them as a concession towards Israel.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

The problem is Arafat still has the power behind the scenes. Abbas is nothing more than a figure head. Arafat and Arafat alone can crack down on groups like Hamas, but he has no intention of doing so.

[Guest DrTom]

Good, let them launch an all-out assault. Then Israel can squash them like the worthless little bugs they are and we can be done with this whole thing. I hope Israel leaves nothing at all left of Hamas.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"Hamas militant group ordered an all-out assault on Israel and urged foreigners to leave."

 

And this is different from what they were doing before?...

[Guest TheMikeSC]

Good, let them launch an all-out assault. Then Israel can squash them like the worthless little bugs they are and we can be done with this whole thing. I hope Israel leaves nothing at all left of Hamas.

But...but...but Arafat won a Nobel Peace Prize.

 

He CAN'T support terrorism, can he?

 

Remember when people said that Sharon was the problem here? The U.N all but blamed him for all of this.

 

Remember how some of here said that the subhuman monkeys who inhabit these organizations are the problem and Israel should do whatever is necesary to curtail them?

 

Remember how we said that no matter what Israel conceded, they'd STILL attack?

 

It does feel nice to be right.

-=Mike --- And people wonder why Americans scoff at int'l opinion

[Guest Anglesault]

But..But...Mike, they don't have good lives!

 

They MUST blow up innocent people to get their point across, because, well, Lord knows I can't think of ONE instance where a nonviolence got something accomplished!

 

Or something.