Maybe his boss should stay home too...Al
==================================================
Israeli Gunships Hit Gaza City 3rd Time
5 minutes ago
By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) swore on
Thursday to hunt Palestinian militants "to the bitter end" in response to
violence that has killed 28 Israelis and Palestinians in less than a day. The
Islamic militant group Hamas issued a new threat, saying it has ordered "all
military cells" to take immediate action and carry out more attacks on
Israelis.
Also on Thursday, Israeli helicopters fired
missiles at a car in Gaza City, killing three
people and wounding 13 in the third air strike in
24 hours, doctors said.
Initial reports said the car carried Hamas
activists, but witnesses later said the identity of
the three passengers was not immediately clear.
The car was driving in the Sheik Radwan
neighborhood of Gaza City, a Hamas stronghold,
when it was hit by three missiles, witnesses
said. The car was engulfed by flames. As
bystanders rushed to the rescue, a fourth missile
hit, said Mussallam Amaireh, 52, a guard at a
nearby mosque.
Three people were killed and 13 wounded, said
Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, the director of Shifa
Hospital in Gaza City.
Hamas, meanwhile, urged foreigners to leave
Israel and the Palestinian areas for their own
safety. More than 100 people have been hurt in
the violence.
In a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Sharon
dismissed Palestinian leaders as "crybabies" for
saying they can't use force against the militias,
according to a Cabinet official briefing reporters.
Israel said it will not stand by until Palestinian
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas — described by
Sharon as a "chick that hasn't grown its feathers
yet" — persuades the armed groups to halt
attacks.
The spike in violence — a Hamas bus bombing in Jerusalem and two Israeli
air strikes — came just a week after President Bush (news - web sites)
launched a Middle East peace plan at a festive summit. Difficulties in
implementing the so-called "road map" plan had been expected, but many
were surprised by such a rapid return to bloodshed.
There have been deadlier days in 32 months of fighting, but despair was
perhaps more keenly felt than after previous setbacks because there had
been hope of a new beginning and personal involvement by Bush after last
week's summit.
"Bush, too, cannot compel Hamas to stop terror," Israeli commentator Sever
Plotzker wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily. "And the all-powerful Bush
cannot compel Sharon to stop the assassinations (of Palestinian militants).
The cause and effect, the effect and cause, it's all jumbled. Who remembers
who started?"
Bush angrily condemned the bus bombing and urged all nations to cut off
financial assistance to terrorists and "isolate those who hate so much that
they are willing to kill." Earlier, Bush had rebuked Sharon for the attempted
killing of a Hamas founder, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, which led to threats of
revenge by the group.
Hamas said in its statement Thursday that more attacks would follow.
The bus bombing "is the beginning of a new series of attacks and part of a
bill the Zionists must pay," the Hamas statement said. "We call on 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 first retaliation for the botched attack on Rantisi came Wednesday
afternoon, during evening rush hour on Jaffa Street, Jerusalem's main
thoroughfare. An 18-year-old high school student from Hebron, Abdel Madi
Shabneh, disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, boarded city bus No. 14 just
after it left the nearby central bus station.
Shabneh detonated the explosives strapped to his body just as the bus
reached Mahane Yehuda, the city's large outdoor market. The blast lifted
the bus off the pavement and tore up the roof and sides. Several passengers
were hurled outside.
The bomber killed 16 people, including Alan Beer, 47, who immigrated to
Israel from Cleveland several years ago. More than 100 people were hurt.
Less than an hour later, Israeli helicopters targeted two members of the
Hamas military wing as they drove in the crowded market area of a Gaza
City neighborhood. The two were killed in a ball of fire, and witnesses
said more missiles were fired as hundreds of bystanders ringed the
burning vehicle. Seven more people were killed and 35 wounded by the
second volley. Early Thursday, an Israeli rocket attack killed two
low-level Hamas activists in Gaza City.
Sharon declared that though he remains committed to negotiating a peace
deal, he will go after violent Palestinian groups without letup. "The state
of Israel will continue to pursue the Palestinian terror organizations and
their leaders to the bitter end," he said late Wednesday.
Abbas has said he will not order a crackdown for fear of sparking a civil
war, and that the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) does not have
the ability to carry out mass arrests.
In nearly three years of fighting, the Israeli military mainly attacked
Palestinian security forces, even though Hamas was responsible for a
majority of the bombings and shootings.
In responding to U.S. criticism to the attempt on Rantisi's life, Sharon has
said that despite his commitment to the peace plan, he never promised
Washington to halt his campaign against militants.
However, the Israeli strikes make it increasingly difficult for Abbas to
negotiate a cease-fire with Hamas and other militant groups.
Abbas' position has been shaky from the start and has been further
undermined by Israel's renewed campaign against militants. At the same
time, Hamas rebuffed Abbas' initial truce proposal even before the attack
on Rantisi.
Palestinian officials have said Bush had backed the Palestinians' proposal
to try to persuade Hamas to lay down arms, instead of using force
against the group.
The road map asks Israel to refrain from all actions that could undermine
trust, but does not specifically veto targeted killings of suspected militants
and Israeli incursions into Palestinian areas.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), shunted aside in
recent weeks in a U.S. peace effort, moved back to center stage,
summoning reporters and reading a tough statement calling on all
Palestinian factions to cease fire.
Abbas also appealed for "a full commitment from all parties to a
cease-fire, to stop violence and to immediately move into a serious
implementation of road map."
The bus bombing in Jerusalem went off sometime after 5 p.m., outside
the Mahane Yehuda market. Many of the wounded were pedestrians hit
by flying debris.
Among those hurt was Sarri Singer, 30, a daughter of New Jersey State
Sen. Robert Singer, who said she had just taken a seat on the packed
bus when the explosion ripped through it.
The driver of the bus, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, was slightly
injured.
"Bombs don't distinguish between Arabs or Jews," he told Haaretz
newspaper. "When a bullet is fired or a bomb explodes, people are hurt
and it doesn't matter if they are Arabs or Jews."
Less than an hour after the bus bombing, Israeli helicopters fired missiles
at a car in Gaza City, killing two senior Hamas operatives, Tito Massoud,
35, and Soheil Abu Nahel, 29.
Seven civilians were killed and 35 wounded, including eight children 14
and under.
The missile strike early Thursday killed two low-level Hamas activists,
ages 22 and 24, from a unit that guards city streets. The Israeli military
said the target was a cell of Palestinians who were about to fire a mortar
shell at the nearby Netzarim settlement. |
