http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

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Defiant Hamas hits Israel with dozens of rockets


By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writers Ibrahim Barzak And Jason Keyser, Associated Press Writers – Mon Dec 29, 10:24 pm ET
Rocket kills Israeli Play Video Reuters  – Rocket kills Israeli

    * Israel launches air strikes on Gaza Slideshow: Israel launches air strikes on Gaza
    * Gaza's hospitals "overwhelmed" Play Video Video: Gaza's hospitals "overwhelmed" Reuters
    * Israel says Gaza assault 'war to the bitter end' Play Video Video: Israel says Gaza assault 'war to the bitter end' AP

Palestinians carry a wounded man after an Israeli missile strike hit the home of AP – Palestinians carry a wounded man after an Israeli missile strike hit the home of a Hamas member in Beit …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian militants sent a deadly barrage of missiles flying deep into Israel on Monday, demonstrating that Hamas still had firepower three days into Israel's punishing air offensive in Gaza.

Four Israelis, including a soldier, were killed and eight wounded. Palestinian health officials put the three-day death toll in Gaza at 364; the U.N. said the total included at least 62 civilians.

In Monday's attacks, Israel focused its bombing on the houses of Hamas field operatives in a campaign meant to tear at the roots of the extremist group ruling Gaza. Israel's defense minister promised a "war to the bitter end against Hamas" and allied militants.

Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft dropped at least 16 bombs on five Hamas government buildings in a Gaza City complex, destroying them, setting fires and sending rubble flying for hundreds of yards, witnesses said. Rescue workers said 40 people were injured.

Intensified rocket strikes by Gaza militants, which triggered the Israeli offensive, have revealed the expanding range of missiles that are making larger cities farther inside Israel vulnerable.

In a barrage Monday night, a missile crashed into a bus stop in Ashdod, 23 miles from the Gaza Strip. A woman died and two others were wounded, one seriously — the first casualties in the city of 190,000 residents.

The military said an Israeli soldier was killed later in a mortar strike, the first soldier to be killed in the conflict. Five others were wounded, one seriously, according to a military statement.

Earlier Monday, an Israeli was killed and one seriously wounded by a rocket strike in the Negev desert community of Nahal Oz, closer to the Gaza border. A rocket also killed an Israeli construction worker in the city of Ashkelon. In all, five Israelis have been killed since the Gaza offensive began Saturday, bringing to 19 the number killed in rocket attacks from Gaza this year.

Early Tuesday, Hamas released a statement saying its squads had fired 43 homemade rockets, 17 longer-range Grads and six mortar shells at Israel. Other militant groups also fired rockets at Israel.

The targets chosen by Israel on Monday pointed to an intention to chip away at Hamas' foundation. Israeli aircraft staged five separate strikes on the houses of field operatives, though there was no confirmation that any of them were killed.

A grainy video taken by an Israeli drone airplane showed several men loading a pickup truck with what the Israeli military said were medium-range Grad rockets. Moments later, a big explosion from an Israeli missile strike envelops the image.

One Israeli attack targeted a house in the Jebaliya refugee camp, killing seven people, but the Hamas activist was not there, Hamas security and relatives said. Another hit the Jebaliya home of Abdel-Karim Jaber, a Hamas political figure who is a senior administrator at Gaza's Islamic University. He was not at home and it wasn't immediately clear if anyone was hurt in the strike.

In another air assault, an Islamic Jihad commander was killed as he was walking near his house, said Abu Hamza, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad's military wing.

Israel's airstrikes on more than 325 sites since midday Saturday reduced dozens of buildings to rubble, overwhelmed hospitals with wounded and filled Gaza's deserted streets with smoke and fire. The military said Israeli naval vessels had also bombarded targets from the sea.

On Monday, aircraft pulverized a house next to the home of Hamas Premier Ismail Haniyeh, a security compound and a five-story building at a university closely linked to the Islamic group — all symbols of Hamas strength in the coastal territory it has ruled since June 2007.

Israel's offensive has rattled the Middle East and capitals around the world, triggering street protests and fiery speeches by adversaries of Israel like the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the day's biggest outpouring of anger, tens of thousands of Hezbollah's supporters stood in a pouring rain in a Beirut square to condemn Israel.

Stone-throwing clashes broke out in about a half-dozen spots in the Palestinians' West Bank territory as well as in several Arab-populated areas inside Israel. Israeli police and soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas at rioting youths, but it did not appear anyone was injured.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel's offensive as excessive and demanded an immediate cease-fire. He said key international and regional players — including foreign ministers of the Arab League nations holding an emergency meeting Wednesday — must "act swiftly and decisively to bring an early end to this impasse."

The U.S. government said it was "vigorously engaged" in trying to restore a cease-fire.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe defended the Israeli response, but added that the Bush administration was urging Israel to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.

With Israeli troops and tanks massing on the Gaza border, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament he wanted to strike a devastating blow against Hamas. However, later he indicated a ground assault was not inevitable, issuing a warning that he was giving Hamas a last chance to halt its rocket fire.

Speaking in Hebrew, Barak told the lawmakers: "We have a war to the bitter end against Hamas, and the home front, which has turned into a battlefront, will continue to be a source of strength for the Israeli military." Some news organizations translated the start of the quote as saying "an all-out war on Hamas."

Short of reoccupying Gaza, however, it was unlikely any amount of Israeli firepower could completely snuff out militant rocket attacks. Past operations all failed to do so.

The Cabinet's decision over the weekend to call up 6,500 reserve soldiers could be a pressure tactic. Military experts noted no full combat units had been mobilized and said Israel would need at least 10,000 soldiers for a full-scale invasion.

For the first time, Israel also hit one of a series of tunnels prepared by Hamas along the border with Israel for use in attacks on invading ground troops, several Israeli TV networks said. One tunnel was packed with explosives and several militants inside were killed, Channel 1 said.

Most of those killed in three days of airstrikes were Hamas members. A Hamas police spokesman, Ehab Ghussen, said 180 members of Hamas security forces were among the dead.

But the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees expressed concern about civilian casualties. A rise in civilian casualties could intensify international pressure on Israel to end the offensive.

In New York, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said his agency had not been able to determine a precise number of civilian casualties, but knew of at least 62 women and children killed. He said 1,400 people had been injured.

Eight children under the age of 17 were killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes Sunday night, Palestinian medics said.

Holmes said he was very worried about a shortage of humanitarian supplies in Gaza.

"Because of the effective blockade that's been in place for many months now, and because of the increasing tightening of this blockade in recent weeks around Gaza, stocks of vital items are either very low or nonexistent, and that's particularly the case, for example, with wheat flour," he said.

Israel opened one of Gaza's border crossings Monday to allow several ambulances and 62 trucks carrying medical supplies and food to cross.

"Obviously these supplies are better than nothing, but they remain wholly inadequate," Holmes said, saying that his agency needed 100 truckloads of flour every day to meet needs.

In Gaza, some families left their apartments next to institutions linked to Hamas, fearing they could be targeted. Suad Abu Wadi, 42, kept her six children close to her on mattresses in her Gaza City living room. Her husband sat with them, chain-smoking. Abu Wadi said he had not said a word since seeing their neighbor carrying the body of his child, killed in an airstrike Saturday.

Gaza's nine hospitals were overwhelmed. Dr. Moaiya Hassanain, who keeps a record for the Gaza Health Ministry, said 364 Palestinians had died and more than 1,400 wounded. Some of the injured were being taken to private clinics and even homes, he said.

Egyptian officials said ambulances were ferrying wounded Gazans to hospitals in Egypt from Gaza's Rafah border crossing. Tariq al-Mahlawi, Egypt's deputy health minister, said 32 patients had been brought in by nightfall and that 500 beds were ready to treat Palestinians.

Around mid-afternoon, ambulances ferried the wounded from Gaza toward the crossing in the border town of Rafah, where over a dozen Egyptian ambulances waited to take over the casualties.

Despite Israel's battering attacks, sirens warning of incoming rockets sent Israelis scrambling for cover throughout the day as more than 40 rockets and mortar rounds rained down.

Israeli security officials warned that the militants' rockets are powerful enough now to reach Beersheba, a major city 30 miles from Gaza.

Mazal Ivgi, a 62-year-old resident of Beersheba, said she had prepared a bomb shelter. "In the meantime we don't really believe it's going to happen, but when the first boom comes people will be worried," she said.

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Associated Press writers Aron Heller in Ashkelon, Jason Keyser in Jerusalem, Edith M. Lederer in New York, Deb Riechmann in Crawford, Texas, and Omar Sinan in Rafah, Egypt, contributed to this report.
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The content in bold is interesting. UN condemns the offensive as excessive while the US defends the same excessive bombing.

@Afam,

This has always been my point. hamas launching rockets intends to kill people and they actually do. What does Israel do in such situation?

Let both sides go to a full scale war with a media blackout and check the results in 2 weeks.
The same Israel that is bringing in supplies into Gaza.

Peace will only prevail in this world, only if all the PUNK ASS JIHADISTS are wiped out.

dayokanu:

@Afam,

This has always been my point. hamas launching rockets intends to kill people and they actually do. What does Israel do in such situation?

Let both sides go to a full scale war with a media blackout and check the results in 2 weeks.
The same Israel that is bringing in supplies into Gaza.

The content in bold refers, both sides going into a full scale war will amount to a scenario where a full army with all the benefits of having a country that can negotiate arms deals with other countries will be waging war against a resistance that is not a full army, does not have the power to negotiate arms deals like other countries and so will only rely on smuggled arms which will never be enough.

So my friend, it seems you do not understand the politics behind preventing the people of Palestine from achieving statehood. Once Palestine becomes a nation then things will change. Israel would not roll tanks into Palestine anytime home made rockets are sent into Israel.

As to your question on what Israel should do it is very simple, return all the lands that were seized. You cannot hold on to my property and still dictate the terms of settlement.

And for every single innocent person killed in this latest offensive more and more people will have sympathy for Hamas and this will make things worse for Israel.

Already neighboring countries are condemning the attacks including the UN but it seems that the clueless Bush who by the way loves shedding innocent blood is ok with the bloodshed.

Afam:

The content in bold refers, both sides going into a full scale war will amount to a scenario where a full army with all the benefits of having a country that can negotiate arms deals with other countries will be waging war against a resistance that is not a full army, does not have the power to negotiate arms deals like other countries and so will only rely on smuggled arms which will never be enough.

So my friend, it seems you do not understand the politics behind preventing the people of Palestine from achieving statehood. Once Palestine becomes a nation then things will change. Israel would not roll tanks into Palestine anytime home made rockets are sent into Israel.

As to your question on what Israel should do it is very simple, return all the lands that were seized. You cannot hold on to my property and still dictate the terms of settlement.

And for every single innocent person killed in this latest offensive more and more people will have sympathy for Hamas and this will make things worse for Israel.

Already neighboring countries are condemning the attacks including the UN but it seems that the clueless Bush who by the way loves shedding innocent blood is ok with the bloodshed.

Wish you blessings for your response.

The foolish Gordon Brown and Miliband even said both sides should ceasefire as if Hamas was a state that had tanks , F16 or WMD. This is not a balanced war at all. IDF killing civilans with US made F16s and Bush keeps mum. 320 killed so far thousands injured many of the women and children and the world leaders are watching. What a biased world we live in.

Terrorist attack Mumbai the world leaders start to shout and condemn. An hypocritical world indeed

Once Palestine becomes a nation then things will change. Israel would not roll tanks into Palestine anytime home made rockets are sent into Israel.

LOL. No you dipshit. Instead of making precision strikes, Israel would literally flatten Gaza to neutralise any threat. They would also be able to legally declare war and totally sidetrack the UN.
To say the Palestinians would be militarily stronger if they were a nation is the delusional ravings of a cretin.

Bastage:

LOL. No you dipshit. Instead of making precision strikes, Israel would literally flatten Gaza to neutralise any threat. They would also be able to legally declare war and totally sidetrack the UN.
To say the Palestinians would be militarily stronger if they were a nation is the delusional ravings of a cretin.

Ignorance is a disease. When cursed people don't understand anything they foolishly expose themselves.

Facts

1. I never stated that Palestine would be militarily stronger. Israel cannot attack Iran even with all the calls for wiping Israel off the map by the Iranian president. US cannot attack Russia and the reason is not primarily due to population. There are benefits of people becoming countries. A full army is not the same as any militancy or insurgency.

2. Israel or any country for that matter cannot just flatten another country when that country can negotiate arms deals with other nations. When it comes to wars technology, arms, intelligence etc all come into play and today even countries that do not have theirs easily leverage on what their allies and friends have.

Cameroun was able to get Bakassi primarily because it had the support of France with Britain indifferent, not because Cameroun would defeat Nigeria in any war assuming Nigeria chose to fight for the Peninsula. (Are you kidding me? Do I really expect this clown to understand what I just put down?)

While I understand that the basic tactic of any confused person is to divert attention to non existent claims and lies I would certainly not allow this dog get away with such.

Stick to facts, logic and common sense if you must get involved in any topic.

@Bastage

You always prove me right when i say you talk like an hypocrite. Now just one question for you

Do you support Israeli action in Gaza?

the title of the thread is a sham at best.

It portrays a LIE that HAMAS is only "hitting back" when actually it is Israel deciding to retaliate for YEARS of unprovoked rocket attacks.

David can i ask you one question as well?

Is Palestine under occupation?

Lagosboy:

David can i ask you one question as well?

Is Palestine under occupation?

Can i also ask u a question?

What is palestine?

@Dayokanu:

« #3 on: Today at 12:15:53 PM »
Quote from: dayokanu on Today at 08:40:54 AM
@Afam,

This has always been my point. hamas launching rockets intends to kill people and they actually do. What does Israel do in such situation?

Let both sides go to a full scale war with a media blackout and check the results in 2 weeks.
The same Israel that is bringing in supplies into Gaza.

Let the US and the West not supply anything, like ammonitions and my tax Dollars in support of Israel. Then let see the outcome after 2 weeks.

Under Musa (AS), the Israelites did not fight. For certain, under any present day leader they may have, they will not fair better. Th palestinians, mainly Muslims and the minority Christians will defeat the state of Israel at the end of the day.

Dayo, you forgot there are Christians from the palestinians. And Chritianity is a dead brand with the Jews of Israel.

typical Nigerian- answering question with question.

Palestine name has been used since the Roman empire days.

Let me rephrase my questions

Are the Palestinian terrortories occupied? Dont be cheeky and answer the question sincerely

Lagosboy:

typical Nigerian- answering question with question.

Palestine name has been used since the Roman empire days.

Let me rephrase my questions

Are the Palestinian terrortories occupied? don't be cheeky and answer the question sincerely

That is the problem . . . a lot of you parade around crying "palestine" and have NO idea what you are talking about. Before we determine whether "Palestine" is under "occupation" it is important to determine exactly what we mean when we use the name.

Things to note: Palestine refers to the name the Roman Emperor Hadrian used to rename Israel after the jewish rebellion in AD 70 - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with arabs who now try to lay claim to a name that is not arabic by any stretch of the imagination.

So my question stands again - what do you understand by palestine?

Davidylan stop being cheeky and answer the question. We are not talking of a name here we are talking of Land.

The whole land on which Israel sits on was called Palestine before 1948. The British even had what we call "British Mandate of Palestine" 1920-1948. It was after the mandate some land was given to the jews by the British and the US aided them to get it statehood at the UN and tdid not give the surrounding area which is Palestine a state. (A simple Wiki search would show you this)

Now my question is the Palestinian land pre 1967 borders occupied? Is the West Bank Occupied? Is East Jeruasalem occupied? These are my questions to you

Lagosboy:

Davidylan stop being cheeky and answer the question. We are not talking of a name here we are talking of Land.

don't worry, be patient . . . i like to take my time to school hypocritical, knee-jerk, moronic islamists like you in some FACTUAL history.

Lagosboy:

The whole land on which Israel sits on was called Palestine before 1948.

ACTUALLY:

1. Palestine pre-1922 = Jordan + Gaza + Judea/Samaria (westbank) + Israel

Lagosboy:

The British even had what we call "British Mandate of Palestine" 1920-1948.

See above.

Lagosboy:

It was after the mandate some land was given to the jews by the British

ACTUALLY:

1. The British gave no land to the jews and actively sought to limit jewish migration to Israel while encouraging massive arab immigration. See Winston churchill's 1939 statement - Far from being persecuted, the Arabs have crowded into the country and multiplied until their population has increased more than even all world Jewry could lift up (increase) the Jewish population.

Ruth Gruber notes in her book (Exodus 1947) - While in Jerusalem, [Gruber] learned that a former American pleasure boat, renamed the Exodus 1947, had attempted to deliver 4,500 Jewish refugees — including 600 children, mostly orphans — but was attacked by five British destroyers and a cruiser. Gruber left immediately for Haifa and witnessed the Exodus entering the harbor, looking, as Gruber wrote, "like a matchbox splintered by a nutcracker."

During the "battle," the British rammed the Exodus and stormed it with guns, tear gas and truncheons. Gruber noted that the crew, mostly Jews from America and Palestine, fought back with potatoes, sticks and cans of kosher meat. The Exodus’s second officer, Bill Bernstein of San Francisco, was clubbed to death trying to prevent a British soldier from entering the wheelhouse. Two orphans were killed, one shot in the face point blank after he tossed an orange at a soldier.

2. The British in 1922 gave 85% of the mandate of Palestine to the Hashemite prince Abdullah from Mecca as a gift = Jordan today.

3. Following violent anti-semitic clashes, the league of nations opted in 1947 to divide what was left of the British mandate of Palestine into 2 (UN partition plan), one for the jews and for the arabs . . . with the arabs getting the lionshare of the land including Jerusalem. The arabs rejected this plan and proceeded (with the help of at least 6 arab nations including Syria, Jordan, Iraq) to invade Israel and sieze all the land for themselves . . . well the arabs lost!

Lagosboy:

and the US aided them to get it statehood at the UN

ACTUALLY:

1. US, Britain and France in 1949 signed a tripartite agreement to ban the sales of weapons to Israel.

2. millions of dollars of weapons were sold by the US to arab countries during the period the embargo remained on Israel

3. Britain trained and armed the arab armies that invaded Israel in 1948.

Lagosboy:

and did not give the surrounding area which is Palestine a state. (A simple Wiki search would show you this)

ACTUALLY:

1. the arabs were given a separate state . . . please look up the UN partition plan of 1947.

2. The arabs REJECTED this state and instead chose to invade Israel.

Lagosboy:

Now my question is the Palestinian land pre 1967 borders occupied?

1. there was never any arab palestinian land pre-1967.

2. Gaza was under Egyptian control pre-1967 while the West Bank/East Jerusalem remained under Jordanian control.

3. When the PLO was founded in 1964, it made NO mention of any "occupied" palestinian lands. Infact there was nothing like "palestinian" lands until 1988.

Lagosboy:

Is the West Bank Occupied?

1. No since it was siezed from Jordan which has since refused to take it back.

Lagosboy:

Is East Jeruasalem occupied? These are my questions to you

See above.

Lagosboy come and answer me o.

let's keep this issue simple
are u guys suggesting israel should just keep silent and recieve the bombs?

Someone suggest that the US should not supply weapon to Israel and I would add that No Arab country should give any supply to Hamas and lets see the result. Israel has nuclear technology they are restraining from using in a full scale war I am not sure they would be so considerate and let Hamas bring its Qassam rockets.

Has anyone heard of Chechnya eber since the Russians took the situation into their hands? Regardless of what the UN has to say. Right now, Chechen are envying Chernobyl

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, under popular pressure to open the crossing fully, said that could not happen while Hamas, rather than the Palestinian Authority, led by its rival Fatah, controlled the border.

Why are fellow Arabs Egypt not allowing Hamas? And people want Israel.

Your brother doesnt want you in his house yet you are complaing about a neighbour that said the same thing

dayokanu:

Someone suggest that the US should not supply weapon to Israel and I would add that No Arab country should give any supply to Hamas and lets see the result. Israel has nuclear technology they are restraining from using in a full scale war I am not sure they would be so considerate and let Hamas bring its Qassam rockets.

when the jihadists cry about US aiding Israel its not because they want peace. Its simply because they think that without US weapons, Israel would have been an easy target for Egypt, Syria, Iran and Jordan to surround and defeat easily. Do they forget that those arab nations also depend on Russia and the US for weapons?

where's that deluded coward Lagosboy?

dayokanu:

Why are fellow Arabs Egypt not allowing Hamas? And people want Israel.

Your brother doesnt want you in his house yet you are complaing about a neighbour that said the same thing

Mmm!! so you steal someone's land and you say to them "go live with your brother".
With this kind of reasoning the world needs you dayokanu. I think you're a genius.

@Davidylan i would answer you when i am less busy chill out

Lagosboy:

@Davidylan i would answer you when i am less busy chill out

dont bother blockhead. I just layed out factual history for you . . . the best you can do is lie, insult my person and bleat about that farce popularly known as "international law".