Friday 2 January 2009

On the 7th Day…Resistance in Gaza Increasingly Active

Batoul Wehbe
Readers Number : 118



02/01/2009

As the Israeli aggression against Gaza enters its seventh day, Palestinian resistance rockets continued to pound occupied territories. More than 10 rockets have been fired early Friday on the eastern occupied territories. In the meantime, the city of Tel Aviv started to take precautionary measures against possible rocket attacks.

Three settlers were injured in Friday’s attacks, two of them in a Grad rockets attack on Ashkelon and another in Sderot as two Qassam rockets hit the western Negev settlement. Another Qassam rocket hit the Netivot area.

Palestinian resistance fighters on Thursdays rained Israeli settlements and major cities with a barrage of more than 50 rockets reaching as far as Ashdod and Beersheba, 40 Kilometers away from the Gaza border, including two military bases. The Israeli military confirmed the northern Negev city of Ashkelon and Sdot Hanegev regional council were hit with seven consecutive rockets by Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip within few minutes, three of which exploded in residential areas of Ashkelon.
Rockets continued exploding over the course of Thursday afternoon in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheba, cities previously considered out of the range of Gaza rockets.

Despite air raids, drones and bad weather conditions, the Palestinian resistance has been able to launch an average of 70 rockets at Israeli settlements on daily basis. The retaliatory attacks have so far killed four Israelis including one soldier and injuring three dozen Israelis more, some seriously. The Israeli media is adopting a blackout policy, as it did during the 2006 war in Lebanon, to hide the real impact of Palestinian rockets on settlements.

HAMAS DENIES IT CONDITIONALLY ACCEPTED EU TRUCE PROPOSAL

In the meantime, a top Hamas official denied the resistance movement had conditionally accepted an EU truce proposal, saying a bogus statement had been fabricated.
"It is a false statement devoid of any truth," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said. "It was disseminated by hostile parties in order to raise doubt as to Hamas’ positions. I have not made any statements on this topic."
A statement by the European Union released after a foreign ministers' meeting in Paris on Tuesday began with a demand for an "unconditional" stop to Hamas rocket attacks.



Abbas orders PA forces to prevent possible intifada in W. Bank

[ 01/01/2009 - 09:22 PM ]



RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- PA chief Mahmoud Abbas has ordered his security forces to prevent any attempt by Palestinian citizens in the West Bank to spark a third intifada against the Israeli occupation despite the increasing death toll in Gaza Strip, well-informed PA security sources in Ramallah confirmed.

According to the sources, that did not want to be identified, directives and orders from Abbas's office were conveyed to all PA security departments across the West Bank calling on them not to allow enraged Palestinian citizens confront Israeli occupation soldiers positioned at the outskirts of the Palestinian cities.

In press conference he held last Tuesday, Reyadh Al-Maliki, the foreign minister in the unconstitutional PA government in Ramallah city, explained that the PA security forces would allow Palestinians in the West Bank to hold "peaceful" rallies to "express their sympathy with Gaza", but it will stop them if they confront the Israeli occupation soldiers.

The sources also added that Abbas fears possible eruption of a third Palestinian intifada in the West Bank that could lead to the collapse of Abbas's authority and finish his political ambitions in occupied Palestine in the event of confrontation.

In this regard, the sources added, Abbas ordered the PA security forces to chase and arrest Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists in the West Bank to prevent them from carrying out retaliatory attacks on Israeli targets in the West Bank or in the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands.

The directives were immediately carried out as more than 80 Hamas cadres were arrested at the hands of Abbas's forces since the Israeli aggression on Gaza started Saturday.

Moreover, the sources revealed that Abbas and the PA leadership in the West Bank were worried that Hamas could restore its popular and military strength in the West Bank that was weakened in the aftermath of the frenzied PA arrest campaigns against its cadres and political leaders over the pat 18 months.

Hundreds of Hamas's cadres and political leaders in the West Bank were arrested, and tens of local charities affiliated with it were sealed off at the hands of Abbas's security forces since the unconstitutional government of Salam Fayyadh was installed by Abbas.

Tension had run high in the West Bank with the start of the massive IOF troops' aggression against the densely populated Gaza Strip bordering the biggest Arab country, Egypt.


Hamas calls on West Bank to revolt against occupation
[ 01/01/2009 - 09:30 PM ]



RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Hamas Movement in the West Bank has affirmed Thursday that the battle in Gaza was the battle of Palestine and the battle of the Arab and Muslim Ummah and the free people of the world against the occupation.

In a statement it issued, and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, the Movement called on the Palestinian people in the West Bank to hold massive demonstrations in solidarity with "our brothers in Gaza".

"Let all the days in the West Bank be devoted to the steadfast Gaza, let it be days for the souls of the pure martyrs in Gaza, and days for solidarity with our people in the steadfast Strip", the statement added.

The Movement also urged the "mujahideen" and the rest of the Palestinian people to confront the Israeli occupation army and the Israeli settles in every Palestinian city, village, and refugee camp.

In this concern, the Movement called on the PA security forces to desist from aborting Palestinian enthusiasm and activities against the occupation, underlining that the demonstrations weren’t directed against them.

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