Sharon says Israel ready to take "all necessary measures" against Islamic Jihad.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
Posted on 07/16/2005 9:44:40 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel could launch a ground offensive in the occupied Gaza Strip "within hours" unless the Palestinian Authority cracks down on Islamic militants there, a senior government official was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Israel Radio quoted Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim as saying tanks and troops that massed near Gaza over the weekend would begin a sweep of the coastal strip "within hours" if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas failed to meet the crackdown demand.
Abbas urged Hamas and kindred Islamic militants on Saturday to halt attacks on Israel and return to a ceasefire seen as key to securing an orderly Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as planned next month. He also blamed Israel for the truce's near collapse.
The Palestinian president's appeals came amid escalating violence and vows of revenge by Hamas over the killing of seven of its gunmen in Israeli strikes.
Calm in Gaza is seen as key to securing an orderly Israeli withdrawal from the territory next month as planned.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered military actions against militants stepped up after a Palestinian suicide bombing and a rocket attack killed six Israelis last week, has vowed not to withdraw from Gaza under fire.
Israeli officials have said the army might carry out wide-scale raids and reoccupy Palestinian areas near the 21 Jewish settlements to be evacuated.
That is precisely what Sharon knew and why he continued the building of the fence/wall, then announcing that all of the territories would be vacated with Israeli's forced to leave and move into ground that Israel is prepared to defend.
The U.N. and other terrorist organizations have always claimed that it was Israeli "Occupation" of the ground that they fought and died for in 1967, as the reason for the Intafada but the real reason is as it always has been - to wipe Israel off the face of the map, as the Palestinian maps used by the school children show no Israel there at all.
$50 million doesn't buy ya much peace or loyalty these days, or anytime in the Middle East.
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To Abbas, did you enjoy the Munich Games? putz.
Let the Gaza Olympics begin.
The Palestinians don't want peace. Israel needs to crush them.
Deputy DM Boim: IDF may move into Gaza 'within hours'
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1121482143612
Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said that a large-scale ground offensive would begin Sunday morning "within a few hours" unless there was a serious change within the Palestinian Authority towards quelling the recent violence emanating from the Gaza Strip.
Boim told Israel Radio that infantry and armored units, including tanks, were already prepared for the offensive operation into the Strip, and were waiting for the order from the government.
Earlier Sunday, Palestinians fired two Kassam rockets at the western Negev town of Sderot, causing no injuries or damage.
According to Army Radio, six mortar shells targeted Israeli settlements in Gaza, while five anti-tank missiles were fired at IDF positions in Gaza. In all incidents, no injuries or casualties were reported.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that the violence will have no affect on the evacuation from Gaza and that he had instructed the security forces to "act without limitations" to combat terror.
"Terror attacks will not prevent the execution of disengagement" as scheduled, Sharon said during an interview aired on Channel 2 Saturday night. "Israel's response to terrorism will be very strong and heavy."
A Sharon aide, speaking after the interview, said that serious moves could come in "a matter of days. We're giving the last opportunity to Abu Mazen [Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas] to take the steps" needed to end terror, the aide said.
Sharon said that Israel, in the face of Palestinian inaction, would take "all necessary measures" against Islamic Jihad, such as targeted assassinations and the retaking of Tulkarm. The cabinet is to review the situation at its meeting Sunday.
Sharon also said that there was no connection between disengagement and the upsurge in violence.
"There is no connection between the plan to evacuate Gaza, which is a crucial thing – crucial especially for Israel – and terror. Terrorism was there all the time," he said. "There was a decision of the terror organizations, according to their convenience, to stop for some periods of time."
Against the backdrop of spiraling violence in the region, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice decided on Friday to adjust her schedule and add a visit to the Middle East designed to nurture Israel's promised withdrawal from Gaza.
With the pullout a month away, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "All the parties need to make the maximum effort to see that this disengagement process is a success."
McCormack gave no precise date for Rice to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but her visit to the region was tacked on to her trip to Africa which is scheduled to begin Tuesday and last through July 24.
"It's a potentially historic moment, and the parties should seize the opportunity to realize all the potential from this disengagement," the spokesman said.
Rice spoke with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz by telephone, McCormack said. "We're closely engaged with both sides and we encourage them to take appropriate steps to restore order and calm," he said.
Rice has used telephone diplomacy in the last few days in an effort to keep Israel and the Palestinians on track for an orderly Israeli pullout and to encourage Palestinian leaders to go after terrorists.
She told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, during a phone call on Wednesday, that he must take immediate action to find and prosecute those responsible for the killing of four Israelis last week in Netanya.
Sharon says Israel ready to take "all necessary measures" against Islamic Jihad.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
It's enough...Israel offers to withdraw fromGaza...rockets rain down. Just flatten the place..the entire Gaza is not worth a single Israeli life.
Yes he does that occasionally and then he releases murderers and lets the savages control more area.
Palestinian maps used by the school children show no Israel there at all.
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Well many Israeli do not recognise Palestine either hence the ongoing conflict.
Israeli helicopters pounded targets in Gaza on July 15 after a deadly Palestinian rocket attack that sparked fierce internal fighting between militants and Palestinian police trying to stop further barrages.Sounds like the PA is trying to stop the attacks. Is Israel working with them, or still refusing to?
-Eric
It won't be really good news until they retake the Sinai and are marching in Damascus....
Thanks for the ping.
That's news to me.
There is NO palestine. Palestine is an invention that doesn't exist. No only that, Israel is not the reason for the "ongoing " conflict. The ongoing conflict is caused by the determination of the muslims to eradicate all jews from Israel.
Does anyone ever bother to explain the harsh reality to these idiots that the "Palestinian Authority" are terrorists themselves?
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Exactly. Does anyone remember that before we dug up Arafat and his thugs and set them up in the West Bank and started this ludicrous process of rewarding terrorists that Israel, the people in the West Bank and the world where better off.
Arafat was the father of modern terrorism and he showed the others how to make it pay and he was able to do it all because of our insane foreign policy in this area.
Terrorism works because in the case of the Palestinian Arabs the world leaders have legitimized it as a negotiating tool.
When you reward terrorists with land money ,power, fame and even their own puppet state don't be surprised when others take it up as means to accomplish their goals.
The western nations are reaping the results of a negotiating method they have helped and continue to help sow.
"Well many Israeli do not recognise Palestine either hence the ongoing conflict."
Moral equivalency taught by your Palistinian loving press and schools. Is this going to be the British answer to 7/7 terror -- false parallels and appeasement?
It appears so judging by invitations extended to Tariq Ramadan and al Qaradawi to talk in UK.
Is this what you really believe -- that Palestinain schools have the same curriculum as Israeli schools? That incitement is the same on both sides? That Oslo offering the Palestinians autonomous country never ocurred or wasn't brought to a halt by the Palstinian side? That Israelis terrorize Palestinians just like Palestinians do Israelis?
Shameful.
Israel warns of Gaza Defensive Actions 'within hours'
| 7/16/05 | JERUSALEM Israel could launch a ground defensive operation in the Gaza Strip "within hours" unless the Palestinian Authority makes good faith efforts against terrorists there, a senior government official was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Israel Radio quoted Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim as saying tanks and troops that massed near Gaza over the weekend would begin a sweep of the coastal strip "within hours" if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas failed to show some sign of living up to his "road map" promise to combat terrorism. Abbas claims he urged Hamas and allied Islamic terrorist groups on Saturday to halt attacks on Israel and return to a temporary tactical ceasefire, seen as key to securing Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as planned next month. He also blamed Israel for the truce's near collapse, characterizing its responses to Arab terror attacks as acts of aggression.
The Palestinian Authority's president's appeals came amid escalating terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, and vows of revenge by Hamas over the retaliatory killing by Israel of seven of its organizers of those attacks.
The Israeli government is expected to require that its citizens not be fired upon as they are departing the land unilaterally ceded to Arab groups earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered military actions against armed members of Arab terrorist groups stepped up after a Palestinian suicide bombing and a rocket attack killed six Israeli civilians last week, has vowed not to withdraw families from Gaza under fire.
Israeli officials have said the army might carry out wide-scale defensive raids and maintain military presence in Arab areas that are attacking the 21 Jewish settlements to be evacuated.
"Well many Israeli do not recognise Palestine either hence the ongoing conflict."
Moral equivalency taught by your Palistinian loving press and schools. Is this going to be the British answer to 7/7 terror -- false parallels and appeasement?
It appears so judging by invitations extended to Tariq Ramadan and al Qaradawi to talk in UK.
Is this what you really believe -- that Palestinain schools have the same curriculum as Israeli schools? That incitement is the same on both sides? That Oslo offering the Palestinians autonomous country never ocurred or wasn't brought to a halt by the Palstinian side? That Israelis terrorize Palestinians just like Palestinians do Israelis?
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I never mentioned Israeli schools. I am jsut pointing out that most people on this board and in Israel do not recognise "Palestine" for understandable reasons so why would Palestine recognise Israel?
I do not side with the Pally's because they are fractured idiots with no idea how to get a state when it is offered to them on a plate but I think it is slightly hypocritical to say they do not recognise Israel when many Israelis do not recognise them.
And in my schooling neither Israel or Palestine were mentioned, in fact the majority of our history lessons were spent studying the evils of Stalinism and Nazism without the context of the world around them.
And personally I think it is disgusting that US and EU money actaully funds these books.
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