Yishai: Destroy 100 Houses for Each Rocket Fired

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Hanan Awarekeh Readers Number : 294



02/02/2009 Shas Chairman Eli Yishai demands a harsh response against the rockets fired at the occupied territories from Gaza: Yishai said Monday that Israel should set a price tag for any rocket launched by Hamas. "Even if they fire at an open area or into the sea, we must damage their infrastructures and destroy 100 houses. That's when it will end," he said.

Speaking at the 9th Annual Herzliya Conference, Yishai referred to the situation in the Gaza vicinity: "We are witnessing and aware of the harsh and complex security reality. There's no doubt that years of restraint have heavily damaged our deterrence ability.

"Operation Cast Lead restored Israel's deterrence ability. It's very important, but we are now facing a big test – whether we harm the achievement to the limits of our deterrence or strengthen it. We're not looking for a military action. The people of Israel seek peace, act sensitively while taking chances."

The Shas chairman said the Zionist entity "must set a price tag for every rocket fired at Israel, every tunnel dug and every act of smuggling. We will respond immediately to every act of terror using the price tag. Believe me, not much will happen before it stops – as they also want to live after all."

As for the response as he views it, Yishai said, "If for every small action, even a mortar shell fired at an open area or into the sea, we damage infrastructures which have yet to be damaged or hit dozens of hundreds of terrorists' homes while informing them in advance – so as not to hurt the family members – these hours will be destroyed once and the rocket fire will end."

Yishai added that the Palestinians don’t want peace and that Israel should stop being eager. "This raises the price and moves peace away."

Israeli warplanes violate ceasefire, raid Gaza anew

[ 02/02/2009 - 12:43 PM ]




GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces violated the unilateral ceasefire they had declared after their defeat in the Gaza Strip last month, and shelled a police headquarters in Al-Mughraqa area in central Gaza Strip, and the borders with Egypt.

Police major Islam Shahwan, the spokesman of the PA police in Gaza Strip, asserted that F-16 Israeli warplanes raided the police office at a late hour on Sunday night but no casualties were reported "because we had evacuated the premises prior to the raid as a precautionary measure".

More Israeli air strikes were carried out against suspected tunnels used by the Palestinians to bring food and basic supplies to the devastated Strip from Egypt.

According to Palestinian security sources, Israeli warplanes unleashed at least six missiles near the Salahuddin Gate and Al-Salam suburb in Rafah region, but no casualties were reported in the attack.

The area was badly hit with Israeli missiles and tank shells during the war on Gaza last month, leading to the destruction of more than 150 Palestinian homes near the borders.

Shahwan, however, made it clear that the Israeli aggression on the Strip wouldn’t succeed in jeopardizing the work of the PA police in keeping security and order in the heavily populated Strip.

For their part, Israeli political and military analysts opined that the Israeli occupation government failed to achieve any tangible goals of the war on Gaza, adding that signing a truce with Hamas Movement would lead to breaking the economic siege and continuing smuggling of weapons through the borders with Egypt.

According to Israeli political writer Yakoub Amidour, Hamas Movement has succeeded in achieving big objectives out of the war on Gaza, including the international recognition of the Movement's legitimacy.

He blamed the Israeli occupation government for halting the attacks on Gaza, saying that Israel had wasted a golden chance to finish off Hamas. "The war ended with no clear results", said Amidour in an article in the Hebrew Israel Today newspaper.

The writer also warned that the call of Toni Blair, the representative of the Quartet Committee, to involve Hamas in the peace process would enhance Hamas's position as a strong player in the region.

On Monday, Palestinian medical sources announced the martyrdom of Palestinian citizen Mohammed Fayez Al-Sawafiri after he succumbed to wounds he sustained in an Israeli air strike at Al-Zaitun suburb, south of Gaza city, last month.

The Israeli occupation army used internationally-banned bombs in its war on Gaza that started on December, 27, 2008, leading to the killing of more than 1340 Palestinians, the bulk of them were children and women. More than 5500 Palestinians were also wounded in that monstrous war.

Palestinian Martyred, 4 Injured in Israeli Strike on Gaza
Hanan Awarekeh




02/02/2009 Israel carried out a deadly air raid in Gaza on Monday after warning of a harsh response to renewed fire from the enclave, where the Hamas rulers spoke out in favor of a conditional one-year truce.

One Palestinian was martyred and four others were wounded in the strike on a vehicle carrying members of the Popular Resistance Committee in the southern town of Rafah, medical sources and witnesses said.

An Israeli occupation army spokesman confirmed carrying out a new air raid in the territory, where the occupation army launched air strikes across Gaza late on Sunday in response to renewed rocket fire that shook the January 18 ceasefire that ended Israel's 22-day war on the coastal strip.

There were no reports of casualties in Sunday's strikes which hit a Hamas police station and tunnels used for smuggling weapons and goods from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, which is reeling under a punishing Israel blockade.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday vowed to deal "a severe and disproportionate Israeli response" to the new rocket fire.More than 15 rockets have been fired from Gaza since the end of “Operation Cast Lead”, wounding one settler and two occupation soldiers, Israel said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that although most of the rockets were not fired by Hamas, the Islamist movement which has controlled Gaza since June 2007 bore responsibility for the attacks.

The fresh violence comes two weeks after Israel ended unilaterally a devastating 22-day offensive in Gaza where more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed, including 420 children. Israel claimed it has achieved its goal (which mainly was to stop the Gaza rockets), however it failed to stop these rockets and the resistance fighters kept firing their missiles till the last day of the aggression.

ISRAELI ARMY KILLS PALESTINIAN IN W. BANK
In a separate incident, a Palestinian man was martyred Monday morning near the occupied West Bank religious village of Beit Yatir in South Mount Al-Khalil. The Israeli occupation army claimed the man was attempting to hurt soldiers, while Palestinian residents said that he was part of a group attempting to infiltrate the occupied territories to look for work.

According to the army, an Israeli occupation force was fired on from a moving car at around 9 am. The occupation troops fired back at the vehicle and killed the gunman. A series of shooting attacks have been recorded in the occupied West Bank in the past few weeks. The last incident took place on Saturday evening, when gunmen opened fire at an Israeli bus north of the settlement of Ofra.