Posted on 09/25/2005 1:19:10 PM PDT by Pharmboy
A senior Hamas leader said on Sunday his militant group would stop launching attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip, after Israel resumed its policy of targeting militant leaders in air strikes.
"The movement declares an end to its operations from the Gaza Strip against the Israeli occupation, which came ... in response to the assaults by the enemy," Hamas's most senior leader, Mahmoud al-Zahar, told reporters in Gaza.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.
Israel resumed its air strikes against militants last week after Gaza gunmen fired a barrage of rockets into south Israel. It halted the policy, widely condemned by many countries, in February after Israeli and Palestinian leaders declared a truce.
The violence was the worst since Israel completed its pullout from Gaza on September 12 after 38 years of occupation. Palestinian militants claimed the withdrawal, the first from settlements on land Palestinians want for a state, as a victory.
Zahar said Hamas, which is sworn to Israel' destruction, would continue to abide by a truce that militant groups declared in March and said they would honor until the end of the year by request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
He said the decision to end attacks from Gaza was due to "Hamas's interest to protect the Palestinian people from the oppression of the Zionists and to preserve the atmosphere of celebrations at the defeat of the occupation."
An Israeli missile strike killed two Islamic Jihad militants on Sunday, including a top commander. Last week, similar attacks killed two Hamas leaders in Gaza and destroyed several buildings Israel said the group had used to store and make weapons.
Hamas's power in Gaza has grown in wake of the pullout and a 4-1/2-year Palestinian uprising. The Islamic group plans to challenge Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group in legislative elections next year for the first time.
> That sounds like a prudent move.
No, it sounds like a panicky move.
Normally, the sand rats don't announce a stand-down, they
just cease making attacks. Hamas may in fact not even be
able to stop attacks, particularly by competing death
cults in the Strip, but even by their own thugs.
My guess is that the recent IDF action got their full
attention, and they are trying to forestall additional
Israeli counter-attacks (or at least give any upcoming
post-attack whines even more authority with Reuters,
as if that was really necessary).
In delivering some hellfire to that Mercedes, the IDF
may have revealed a level of intel very disturbing to
the top cutthroat cultists in Gaza.
It's way past time for this POS to meet Satan and his 72 Hillary clones.
Reporters may buy this crap, I don't.
For reasons all too obvious, the Leftists ignore this simple reality.
It's way past time for this POS to meet Satan and his 72 Hillary clones.
You can say that again. The guy is a seriously jacked-up jihadist who thinks Islam should dominate not just the world, but the entire universe.
I look forward to the day this asshat acquires room temperature.
In the case of more attacks, isn't his life expectancy on the order of 12 days?
Israel should start building another Wall around the Gaza Strip , a really high one , with deep ground sensors every 50 ft. to detect tunneling . Every thousand yards or so; a MLRS battery in a heavily fortified tower with counter battery radar to respond to any hostile rocket launches immediately.
Finish the job and turn these scumbags into dust. Israel has the patience of a Saint with these idiots who make truces and attacks daily.
A jihadi only listens when you speak to him with a stick in your hand.
FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Yep...and this guy knows that he leads the revised Hit Parade for the IDF.
FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
You can say that again! Some intelligence!
Also the fliers released by the IAF about what would happen to anyone who stood close to terrorists shooting rockets against Israel may also have had its desired effect. Hamas may have lost a lot of its street cred in Gaza over the last dozen hours.
However, I agree, I don't think they will be able to call off their shooters even if they want to. Islamic Jihad (it was their goons that got incinerated) has called an end to the truce with Israel (ha, ha). Hamas can't be seen to do less than their competitors.
And then I wonder how safe Mr Abbas and his ministers can feel? There were some pretty harsh words both from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. "Israeli stooges" don't usually last that long in the dog-eats-dog climate of the palestinian undergrowth. al-Fatah has already threatened PA several times and one former minister has been murdered and another one barely escaped an attempt on his life.
And the euroweenies and State claimed peace was around the corner, if only Israel withdrew from Gaza (and the West Bank, and Jerusalem, etc, etc). Goes to show how much they really understand about the Middle East.
I look forward to when he assumes about 7,500 degrees, as in fuel-air bomb.
"Turn out the Lights. The Party's Over.
They say that all good things must end".
What truce?
They have been continuing to fire rockets into Israel for months now.
Screw these cry wolf morons. Screw them with hellfire missiles.
When Israel is about to exact revenge on the Palestinian terrorists, they roll out the appeasement rhetoric. When Israel accepts their terms, they roll out the suicide bombers and rockets.
This little song and dance has been going on for decades, yet no one appears to want to notice.
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