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Seven Hamas Militants Killed in Israeli Air Strikes
Sunday, April 20, 2008
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel killed seven Hamas militants in a series of
air strikes after the group detonated two jeeps packed with hundreds of
kilograms of explosives at an Israeli crossing on the Gaza border.
Two of the militants were killed early Sunday.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the area of Saturday's twin
suicide attacks, which wounded 13 soldiers, and warned Hamas would "bear the
consequences."
However, an immediate Israeli offensive appears unlikely - Israelis are
currently marking the Jewish Passover holiday, and in May will celebrate
their country's 60th birthday, with U.S. President George W. Bush attending.
The Islamic militant Hamas said Saturday's attack on the Kerem Shalom
crossing was part of a campaign to break the nearly yearlong blockade of the
Gaza, by force if necessary. Israel and Egypt virtually sealed Gaza after
Hamas seized control of the territory by force.
In Damascus, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met with senior Hamas
leaders on Friday and Saturday, defying U.S. and Israeli warnings that doing
so would grant the group legitimacy. Hamas officials said Gaza's closure and
a possible Israel-Hamas prisoner swap were discussed. They said the group
did not respond to Carter's request that it halt rocket fire on Israeli
border towns or that it agree to talk to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Eli
Yishak about a prisoner exchange.
Following the crossing attack, Israel targeted Hamas militants in a series
of missile strikes, killing seven. Of those, five were killed Saturday and
two early Sunday. Four Hamas gunmen were wounded in Sunday's strikes in
northern Gaza and east of Gaza City, medics said.
A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, warned the crossings would be
targeted again. Saturday's attacks "are the beginning of the explosions that
Hamas has warned of," he said. "If the parties don't intervene quickly to
save Gaza and break the siege, what is coming will be greater."
The attack on Kerem Shalom started at about 6 a.m. Saturday, said Maj. Gen.
Yoav Galant, the top army commander in the area. Hamas militants drove an
armored personnel carrier and two jeeps made to look like Israeli army
vehicles toward the crossing under the cover of morning fog as Hamas pounded
the border area with heavy mortar fire.
The armored personnel carrier broke through the perimeter fence, enabling
the two jeeps to enter the crossing. One jeep was detonated near an army
watchtower and the second near a patrol. Thirteen soldiers were wounded in
the second blast, including eight who were hospitalized. Four Hamas
attackers, were killed, the army said.
Galant said Hamas apparently tried to cause a large number of casualties and
to kidnap soldiers.
"This is an attack the likes of which we have not seen since disengagement,"
Galant said, referring to Israel's pullout from Gaza in September 2005.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Hamas is showing disregard for
the welfare of Gaza's residents by attacking the crossings.
Seven Hamas Militants Killed in Israeli Air Strikes
Sunday, April 20, 2008
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel killed seven Hamas militants in a series of
air strikes after the group detonated two jeeps packed with hundreds of
kilograms of explosives at an Israeli crossing on the Gaza border.
Two of the militants were killed early Sunday.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the area of Saturday's twin
suicide attacks, which wounded 13 soldiers, and warned Hamas would "bear the
consequences."
However, an immediate Israeli offensive appears unlikely - Israelis are
currently marking the Jewish Passover holiday, and in May will celebrate
their country's 60th birthday, with U.S. President George W. Bush attending.
The Islamic militant Hamas said Saturday's attack on the Kerem Shalom
crossing was part of a campaign to break the nearly yearlong blockade of the
Gaza, by force if necessary. Israel and Egypt virtually sealed Gaza after
Hamas seized control of the territory by force.
In Damascus, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met with senior Hamas
leaders on Friday and Saturday, defying U.S. and Israeli warnings that doing
so would grant the group legitimacy. Hamas officials said Gaza's closure and
a possible Israel-Hamas prisoner swap were discussed. They said the group
did not respond to Carter's request that it halt rocket fire on Israeli
border towns or that it agree to talk to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Eli
Yishak about a prisoner exchange.
Following the crossing attack, Israel targeted Hamas militants in a series
of missile strikes, killing seven. Of those, five were killed Saturday and
two early Sunday. Four Hamas gunmen were wounded in Sunday's strikes in
northern Gaza and east of Gaza City, medics said.
A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, warned the crossings would be
targeted again. Saturday's attacks "are the beginning of the explosions that
Hamas has warned of," he said. "If the parties don't intervene quickly to
save Gaza and break the siege, what is coming will be greater."
The attack on Kerem Shalom started at about 6 a.m. Saturday, said Maj. Gen.
Yoav Galant, the top army commander in the area. Hamas militants drove an
armored personnel carrier and two jeeps made to look like Israeli army
vehicles toward the crossing under the cover of morning fog as Hamas pounded
the border area with heavy mortar fire.
The armored personnel carrier broke through the perimeter fence, enabling
the two jeeps to enter the crossing. One jeep was detonated near an army
watchtower and the second near a patrol. Thirteen soldiers were wounded in
the second blast, including eight who were hospitalized. Four Hamas
attackers, were killed, the army said.
Galant said Hamas apparently tried to cause a large number of casualties and
to kidnap soldiers.
"This is an attack the likes of which we have not seen since disengagement,"
Galant said, referring to Israel's pullout from Gaza in September 2005.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Hamas is showing disregard for
the welfare of Gaza's residents by attacking the crossings.
