Posted on 09/25/2005 5:57:29 PM PDT by Alouette
Only 24 hours after the last Kassam fell on their town, residents of Sderot and the western Negev were once again on full alert following the targeted assassination of Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza on Sunday night.
An IAF Apache helicopter flying over Gaza fired a missile and struck a vehicle traveling on the coastal road and carrying the Palestinian terrorists. According to witnesses, one of the victims was decapitated and one was wearing military fatigues.
Military sources said the targeted terrorist was Sheikh Muhammad Khalil, a senior commander of Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip who was responsible for planning a slew of attacks on Israelis including the murder of Tali Hatuel, who was pregnant, and her four young daughters on the Kissufim road in Gush Katif. He was also behind the attack on the Morag outpost that killed three soldiers and the detonation of an IDF armored vehicle that killed five.
Khalil's bodyguard was also killed in the attack.
Vowing to do anything short of striking Palestinian civilians, Israel's leaders gave the IDF a green light to install a new set of rules aimed at halting Kassam rocket attacks.
While 155mm self-propelled howitzers fired practice rounds into the Gaza Strip, the army has so far refrained from firing them at live targets, using them instead as a visual deterrent against more rocket attacks. Reports from Gaza said that residents scattered in panic as low-flying IAF fighter jets broke the sound barrier.
Security forces are expected to continue with their sweep of fugitives and suspected terrorists across the West Bank. Before dawn Sunday, security forces rounded up 207 wanted Palestinians. These included senior Hamas officials Sheikh Hassan Youssef, Sheikh Fathi al-Karawi and Muhammad Ghazal.
The arrests were widespread, including 70 in the Nablus area and 61 in the Hebron region. Weapons were confiscated, and during some of the arrests there were exchanges of gunfire. There were no IDF casualties.
The offensive, dubbed Operation First Rain, is focusing on cells that fired the Kassam rockets. As of press time, no further rockets had been fired on Sunday, though AP reported Palestinian terrorists fired a mortar shell from Gaza into Israeli territory.
Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar announced Sunday a halt to Kassam attacks, saying that the decision was in the interest of preserving "the atmosphere of celebrations at the defeat of the occupation." Islamic Jihad, in the meantime, declared after the death of Khalil that it would abandon adherence to the cease-fire in effect since February. "There is no talk of a truce, there is only room for talk of war," said Mohammed al-Hindi, head of Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank.
Speaking to the cabinet earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that the IDF would engage in sustained action and spare no means in redoubling its efforts to bring an end to the Kassam attacks on the western Negev.
"There are no restrictions on the use of any measures in order to strike at the terrorists, their equipment and where they find shelter," Sharon said at the opening of Sunday's cabinet meeting. "The instructions are unequivocal; we do not mean a one-time action here."
The rocket attacks on Sderot "must be stopped," said Sharon. "It cannot continue under any circumstances."
Sharon said that the IDF actions of the last 24 hours were not "a short-term action, but a policy that must lead to the cessation of the terrorist organizations' actions against Israeli communities. I am certain that it is within our ability to halt the terrorist organizations' actions against us. The activity will not only be in Gaza but will also be against terrorism in Judea and Samaria."
He said the only limitation on the IDF was its "regular objective" of "not hitting civilians."
Mofaz told cabinet ministers that he directed the IDF to implement a deterrence policy that "will extract a price tag for attacks on Israeli citizens." He warned that the IDF would carry out a series of continuous actions "in the air and on the ground" against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including targeted assassinations against all levels of the organizations. He said that messages were passed through American and Egyptian intermediaries warning Palestinian civilians not to enter fields from where Kassam rockets had been launched because those areas would come under Israeli attack.
The defense minister said he gave the IDF the green light to use all means at the IDF's disposal, including artillery fire, to create a buffer zone in areas such as the northern Gaza Strip from where the Kassam rockets were fired.
Meanwhile Sunday, police kept up their level of high alert across the country out of fear Palestinian terror groups would renew suicide bombings in Israeli cities following the violent events over the weekend.
Police Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi held consultations with the senior police brass on Saturday and ordered police to beef up their presence along the seam line with the West Bank and around Jerusalem to prevent Palestinian infiltrations.
The police chief further ordered district commanders to deploy extra forces to assist in securing major entertainment spots across the country.
With the security fence mostly complete around the West Bank, police noted Sunday that most of their work would be in the area surrounding the southern Hebron hills and around Jerusalem. Police set up roadblocks in the south and combed the nearby fields for Palestinians who had illegally entered Israel.
Southern District Police added more forces to carry out patrols throughout the Negev on Sunday and coordinated their work with Magen David Adom, the fire department and the IDF. While it is the IDF's job to prevent the firing of Kassam rockets, police are responsible for defusing them once they land and evacuating wounded to hospitals.
On Sunday morning, two Palestinian youths arrived at a checkpoint near the Hawara crossing. One of the youths was found to be carrying an improvised pistol with a matching ammunition clip and a pipe apparently meant to be used in the construction of an explosive device. The weaponry was detonated by Border Police sappers in a controlled manner. The two were taken in for questioning by security forces.
It was the fourth attempt since the beginning of September to smuggle weaponry through the checkpoint.
Maybe this is the reason why Israel let the Pals take over Gaza. Let them commit suicide-by-cop. Will the last terrorist left in Gaza please turn out the lights.
What, Killing terrorsist? That is a crime now. Oh, wait they are freedom fighters accoring to Cindy Jesse Jackson Sheehan.
Now that is what I call a helicopter!
lol
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