07/23/2002 - Updated 04:11 AM ET
"Israeli strike kills Hamas leader, at least 14 others
By Suhaib Salem, Reuters
Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh died after Israeli forces blew up a house on the Gaza Strip.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) An Israeli air force F-16 blew up a house in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing a leading Hamas militant and at least 14 other Palestinians, including several children. The missile strike came at a delicate time in Palestinian-Israeli relations with the sides trading ideas to relieve tensions in the West Bank. The attack appeared likely to derail the efforts as Hamas threatened revenge. The target of the attack, Salah Shehadeh, was the founder of the military wing of Hamas, known as Izzadine el-Qassam, the Israeli military said. He was killed along with his wife, their 14-year-old daughter, and a bodyguard, Hamas spokesman Ismail Haniyeh said.
"Hamas mourns the hero, the leader, Salah Shehadeh," Haniyeh said in a statement. "Anyone who dreams of so-called peace is mistaken. There is nothing called 'peace with Israel.'"
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City released a list of 11 others who were killed in addition to Shehadeh and his family and bodyguard. The hospital list included eight children, aged 2 months to 11 years, and three adults. More than 100 were injured, doctors said.
In its statement, the Israeli military said that Shehadeh was behind "hundreds of terror attacks in the last two years against Israeli soldiers and civilians."
Israeli foreign ministry official Gideon Meir called it a "strike against a known terrorist who is responsible for hundreds of attacks on Israeli civilians in recent years." He expressed regret for the loss of life.
Hamas threatened to strike back, vowing to "avenge the blood of the martyrs."
The Palestinian Authority accused the Israelis of trying to "sabotage the international efforts to pressure the Israeli government to withdraw troops ... and to get back to negotiations."
Jamal Halaby, a Palestinian police officer who lives nearby, said he saw the missile streaking across the sky, and then he heard a huge explosion. "I fell out of my bed and I found myself a minute later covered in dust and stones, and the sounds of my children screaming and crying."
The force of the blast reduced the building and three adjoining houses into rubble and blew out windows in buildings more than 500 yards away, scattering debris in all directions.
Firefighters searching frantically among the rubble for victims took a spotlight from a local camera crew to illuminate the area.
Outside the hospital, about 4,000 Palestinians chanted anti-Israel slogans and vowed revenge, some of them firing automatic rifles into the air.
The Hamas military wing has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against Israelis during nearly two years of fighting, including many suicide bomb attacks. Also, Hamas has been behind almost daily mortar attacks on Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
The air strike followed two Palestinian attacks last week that put an end to a monthlong respite in fatal Palestinian strikes against Israeli civilians, the longest such period since the current round of violence began in September 2000.
Nine Israelis were killed in a Palestinian ambush on a bus in the West Bank on July 16. The next day, two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up in Tel Aviv, killing three bystanders.
Earlier Monday, the two sides appeared to be moving toward easing months of tensions. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had said that the army was prepared to withdraw from two West Bank towns, Bethlehem and Hebron, as long as they remained quiet and if the Palestinians assumed control of security.
A top member of Hamas said the group was considering stopping suicide attacks if Israel withdraws; and an Israeli official said the government was looking into resuming security cooperation with the Palestinians after it pulls out.
However, more hawkish elements of Israel's government expressed deep skepticism about the possibility of reaching any deal that would hold. They suggested that Israel would remain in the Palestinian towns for a considerable time even until Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was no longer in power and suffice for now with efforts to aid the population there.
Also Monday, Peres confirmed Palestinian claims of an Israeli offer to pull troops out of certain towns, as long as Palestinian security took control. He did not say when it might take place. Israel occupies seven of the eight major Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
"We really want to get out of there as soon as (Palestinian) security is deployed," Peres told Israel Radio. Asked if he was confirming reports that the army would withdraw from towns, Peres said, "Yes, there are towns that are more quiet than others; Hebron, Bethlehem and Jericho."
Palestinian officials have demanded Israel withdraw, saying they can't prevent attacks against Israelis as long as the army is in place, enforcing curfews and hunting down militants."
I'm not exactly condoning this bombing, although if it came down to brass tacks, I'd side with Israel, simply because to me they're the 'lesser of two evils.' But it cracked me up when the PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY accused ISRAEL of trying to sabotage the peace process (and also the effort to withdraw troops). I'm not saying it's right to bomb....but this goes for both sides, and if you keep getting the sh!t bombed out of your civilians it IS sort of hard to just sit there and say "Maybe eventually we'll have a TRUE peace. Israel and the Jews are the sworn enemy of the Arabs...somehow I do NOT think a true peace will ever come.
"Israeli strike kills Hamas leader, at least 14 others
By Suhaib Salem, Reuters
Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh died after Israeli forces blew up a house on the Gaza Strip.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) An Israeli air force F-16 blew up a house in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing a leading Hamas militant and at least 14 other Palestinians, including several children. The missile strike came at a delicate time in Palestinian-Israeli relations with the sides trading ideas to relieve tensions in the West Bank. The attack appeared likely to derail the efforts as Hamas threatened revenge. The target of the attack, Salah Shehadeh, was the founder of the military wing of Hamas, known as Izzadine el-Qassam, the Israeli military said. He was killed along with his wife, their 14-year-old daughter, and a bodyguard, Hamas spokesman Ismail Haniyeh said.
"Hamas mourns the hero, the leader, Salah Shehadeh," Haniyeh said in a statement. "Anyone who dreams of so-called peace is mistaken. There is nothing called 'peace with Israel.'"
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City released a list of 11 others who were killed in addition to Shehadeh and his family and bodyguard. The hospital list included eight children, aged 2 months to 11 years, and three adults. More than 100 were injured, doctors said.
In its statement, the Israeli military said that Shehadeh was behind "hundreds of terror attacks in the last two years against Israeli soldiers and civilians."
Israeli foreign ministry official Gideon Meir called it a "strike against a known terrorist who is responsible for hundreds of attacks on Israeli civilians in recent years." He expressed regret for the loss of life.
Hamas threatened to strike back, vowing to "avenge the blood of the martyrs."
The Palestinian Authority accused the Israelis of trying to "sabotage the international efforts to pressure the Israeli government to withdraw troops ... and to get back to negotiations."
Jamal Halaby, a Palestinian police officer who lives nearby, said he saw the missile streaking across the sky, and then he heard a huge explosion. "I fell out of my bed and I found myself a minute later covered in dust and stones, and the sounds of my children screaming and crying."
The force of the blast reduced the building and three adjoining houses into rubble and blew out windows in buildings more than 500 yards away, scattering debris in all directions.
Firefighters searching frantically among the rubble for victims took a spotlight from a local camera crew to illuminate the area.
Outside the hospital, about 4,000 Palestinians chanted anti-Israel slogans and vowed revenge, some of them firing automatic rifles into the air.
The Hamas military wing has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against Israelis during nearly two years of fighting, including many suicide bomb attacks. Also, Hamas has been behind almost daily mortar attacks on Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
The air strike followed two Palestinian attacks last week that put an end to a monthlong respite in fatal Palestinian strikes against Israeli civilians, the longest such period since the current round of violence began in September 2000.
Nine Israelis were killed in a Palestinian ambush on a bus in the West Bank on July 16. The next day, two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up in Tel Aviv, killing three bystanders.
Earlier Monday, the two sides appeared to be moving toward easing months of tensions. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had said that the army was prepared to withdraw from two West Bank towns, Bethlehem and Hebron, as long as they remained quiet and if the Palestinians assumed control of security.
A top member of Hamas said the group was considering stopping suicide attacks if Israel withdraws; and an Israeli official said the government was looking into resuming security cooperation with the Palestinians after it pulls out.
However, more hawkish elements of Israel's government expressed deep skepticism about the possibility of reaching any deal that would hold. They suggested that Israel would remain in the Palestinian towns for a considerable time even until Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was no longer in power and suffice for now with efforts to aid the population there.
Also Monday, Peres confirmed Palestinian claims of an Israeli offer to pull troops out of certain towns, as long as Palestinian security took control. He did not say when it might take place. Israel occupies seven of the eight major Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
"We really want to get out of there as soon as (Palestinian) security is deployed," Peres told Israel Radio. Asked if he was confirming reports that the army would withdraw from towns, Peres said, "Yes, there are towns that are more quiet than others; Hebron, Bethlehem and Jericho."
Palestinian officials have demanded Israel withdraw, saying they can't prevent attacks against Israelis as long as the army is in place, enforcing curfews and hunting down militants."
I'm not exactly condoning this bombing, although if it came down to brass tacks, I'd side with Israel, simply because to me they're the 'lesser of two evils.' But it cracked me up when the PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY accused ISRAEL of trying to sabotage the peace process (and also the effort to withdraw troops). I'm not saying it's right to bomb....but this goes for both sides, and if you keep getting the sh!t bombed out of your civilians it IS sort of hard to just sit there and say "Maybe eventually we'll have a TRUE peace. Israel and the Jews are the sworn enemy of the Arabs...somehow I do NOT think a true peace will ever come.
After all, terrorists are "animals," entirely different from Israeli soldiers and fighter pilots as in the above incident.
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