Posted on 06/28/2006 3:07:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Airstrikes and sonic booms shook Gaza on Wednesday as thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks penetrated the impoverished coastal strip in a show of might designed to force Islamic militants to free a soldier whose fate has jolted Mideast politics.
In a bold warning to the country that shelters the political leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, Israeli warplanes buzzed the home of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Palestinians filled up on basic supplies after warplanes knocked out electricity, raising the specter of a humanitarian crisis. The Hamas-led government's information ministry warned of "epidemics and health disasters" because of damaged water pipes to central Gaza.
Witnesses reported heavy shelling around Gaza's long-closed airport, and Israeli missiles hit two empty Hamas training camps and a rocket-building factory. Warplanes flew low over the strip, rocking it with sonic booms and shattering windows. Troops in Israel backed up the assault with artillery fire.
No casualties were reported in the incursion, launched in southern Gaza. The area's normally bustling streets were eerily deserted, with people taking refuge inside their homes. Dozens of people living near the airport, which Israeli troops took over, fled to nearby Rafah.
There was no sign of ground troops moving into northern Gaza. But late Wednesday, the Israeli army dropped leaflets urging residents to avoid moving in the area because of impending military activity. Three gates in a border fence were open, in apparent preparation for the Israeli forces, and Israeli helicopters hovered at low altitudes.
Dozens of Palestinian militants — armed with automatic weapons and grenades — took up positions, bracing for attack.
Anxious Palestinians pondered whether the incursion, the first large-scale ground offensive since Israel withdrew from Gaza last year, was essentially a "shock and awe" display designed to intimidate militants, or the prelude to a full-scale invasion.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened harsher action, though he said there was no plan to reoccupy Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas deplored the incursion as a "crime against humanity."
Further complicating the situation were militant claims that they had kidnapped two more Israelis: an 18-year-old Jewish settler in the West Bank named Eliahu Asheri and a 62-year-old Israeli from the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion. Asheri's mother confirmed her son was missing, and police said they had a missing person's report that matched the older man.
The Israeli assault came as diplomatic efforts to free the 19-year-old Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, bogged down with Hamas demanding a prisoner swap and Israel refusing, demanding Shalit's unconditional release. Shalit was abducted by Hamas-linked militants on Sunday and is believed to be in southern Gaza.
"We won't hesitate to carry out extreme action to bring Gilad back to his family," Olmert declared.
Abbas and Egyptian dignitaries tried to persuade Assad, the Syrian president, to use his influence with Khaled Mashaal, the Hamas leader exiled in Syria, to free Shalit. Assad agreed, but without results, said a senior Abbas aide.
Israeli airplanes flew over a residence belonging to Assad near the Mediterranean port city of Latakia in northwestern Syria, military officials confirmed, citing the "direct link" between Syria and Hamas. Israeli television reports said four planes were involved in the low-altitude flight, and that Assad was there at the time.
Syria confirmed Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace, but said its air defenses forces the Israeli aircraft to flee.
As for Mashaal, Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said the hard-line Hamas leader, who appears to be increasingly at odds with more moderate Hamas politicians in Gaza, is in Israel's sights for assassination.
"Khaled Mashaal, as someone who is overseeing, actually commanding the terror acts, is definitely a target," Ramon told Army Radio.
Israel tried to kill Mashaal in a botched assassination attempt in Jordan in 1997. Two Mossad agents injected Mashaal with poison, but were caught. As Mashaal lay in a Jordanian hospital, King Hussein of Jordan forced Israel to provide the antidote in return for the release of the Mossad agents.
The European Union on Wednesday urged both Israel and the Palestinians to "step back from the brink" and, echoing a statement from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to give diplomacy a chance.
The White House kept up its pressure on Hamas, saying the Palestinian government must "stop all acts of violence and terror." But the U.S. also urged Israel to show restraint.
"In any actions the government of Israel may undertake, the United States urges that it ensures that innocent civilians are not harmed, and also that it avoid the unnecessary destruction of property and infrastructure," said White House press secretary Tony Snow.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged restraint in a phone call to Olmert, saying he had spoken with Assad and Abbas and asked them to do everything possible to release the soldier. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called on the U.S. to assume its role as "honest broker" and to make the Palestinian-Israeli conflict its top priority in the Middle East.
Israel's concern goes beyond the rescue of the soldier and the negative precedent abducting soldiers would set. Olmert's government is alarmed by the firing of homemade rockets on Israeli communities around Gaza and support for Hamas in the Arab world, especially from Syria, which hosts the exiled Hamas leaders.
Hamas' negotiators' tentative acceptance Tuesday of a document that Abbas allies claimed implicitly recognizes Israel appeared beside the point a day later, with Israel saying no political agreement can substitute for Shalit's freedom.
On Wednesday, Palestinian militants braced for a major strike, fanning out across neighborhoods, taking up positions behind sand embankments and firing several rockets into Israeli communities bordering Gaza. Civilians stockpiled food, water, batteries and candles after warplanes destroyed the coastal strip's only power plant, and main roads linking north to south.
Gaza's economy was already in the doldrums before the Israeli assault, a result of five years of Israeli-Palestinian violence and an international aid boycott that followed Hamas' parliamentary election victory in January. The Israeli assault threatened to turn a bad situation into a disaster — underscoring the extent to which hopes have been dashed following the optimism that accompanied Israel's pullout.
Palestinian plans for high-rise apartments, sports complexes and industrial parks in lands evacuated by Israel have given way to despair, with rising poverty, increasingly violent relations with Israel and a looming threat of civil war.
The strike on the power plant early Wednesday knocked out electricity for about 750,000 residents, two-thirds of Gaza's population, said Walid Sayel, executive director of the strip's power company. Sayel said power will be out in Gaza for between three and six months, and that the power cut will affect hospitals and medical centers as well as households.
Areas in northern Gaza that get electricity from Israel still had power, and some southern areas were able to get power from Egypt. Generators relieved darkness in other places.
Appreciate your tagline, BTW..............
#19 Correction:
.... after terrorists continued to REFUSE TO release the abducted soldier.
Hamas "politician" [sic] shown in an interview on Fox. Says Israel's actions will only further endanger the IDF soldier's situation. Sounds like Hamas knows that they won't be handing the soldier back to Israel intact... :-(
Ever try doing business with them? Its virtually impossible. In business your integrity and word is often your bond which is where the whole thing breaks down. Islam is truely civilizations boat anchor.
Nope, they want this to happen. They will take out Abbas over this. Remember, their leadership is no where near the fighting. Their leadership is in Syria and Iran.
much to the chagrin of the NYT
There should be a general roundup of Hamas leadership during this time, including those Hamas who have been elected to office.
No known Hamas member should be left at liberty by the time they finish.
Hamas has declared itself at war with Israel many times, and even yet has not disavowed war. And then there is the "missile attack" thing to consider. Missile attacks usually are shorthand for "act of war".
They should go through Gaza street by street engaging any and all who come out to play, while rounding up known members.
If the hostages are not returned alive, the fence should be moved forward a kilometer for each death, and the area left outside the new fence should be bulldozed clean and its former inhabitants pushed across the fence.
They will lose face.
I was thinking more along the lines of civilizations' chum bucket...
Dozens of Palestinian militants — armed with automatic weapons and grenades — took up positions, bracing for attack
Hmmm Dozens of Palestinians militants armed with AK 47s and Grenades against thousands of Israeli troops armed with tanks and artillery. Hmmmmm.
I think Israel is ready to really teach some Muslims a lesson. I think the Palestinians will kill the Soldier and the other hostages. If they do, I look for Israel to kill lots and lots of Palestinians in return.
They might just kill a lot of Syrians as well. This looks to me like a Major Israeli action.
Chances are he has already been tortured and hacked up.
Israeli left wing activists protest against the military operation in the Gaza Strip in front of Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv. Israel launched a ground and air assault on the Gaza Strip, vowing to used "extreme measures" to rescue a teenage soldier captured by Palestinian militants.(AFP/Gali Tibbon)
Not scary if you've read the end of the Book - but certainly exciting. "when these things begin to happen, look up, for your salvation draweth nigh)
An Israeli soldier holds his ears as an Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell at the Gaza Strip from a stretch of farmland located near the Israeli Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The United States offered support for Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, blamed Hamas for the incursion, and urged the Palestinian militant group to free a captured Israeli soldier.(AFP/David Furst)
You're right, there is no doing business with them. They're taught from the earliest ages of comprehension to lie, cheat, steal, rape, murder, etc...
Thanks for the reminder! Corrie ten Boom said "There are no 'Ifs' in God's Kingdom. His timing is perfect; His will is our hiding place."
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, right, meets with parliament member Mustafa Barghouti in Gaza City, Monday, June 19, 2006. Days after spiriting suitcases full of cash into the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-led Palestinian government distributed emergency payments of $300 USD (235 euros) on Monday to thousands of desperate civil servants who haven't received salaries in nearly four months. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
WTG Isreal!!! Sit down and shut up U.S. This is their fight, their person that was kidnapped....you could take some lessons and guts from Isreal....Pay Attention U.S.
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