Posted on 11/08/2006 7:48:48 PM PST by blam
Israel faces all-out conflict with Palestinians
By Tim Butcher
Last Updated: 2:16am GMT 09/11/2006
All-out conflict with Palestinian armed groups loomed over Israel last night after its military killed 18 civilians, all but one of them from the same family, when it shelled a street in Gaza.
Palestinian leaders called for suicide bombers to attack Israeli civilians in retaliation for the artillery barrage on the northern Gazan town of Beit Hanoun. Seven women and seven children were among the dead.
A boy looks at a damaged house following Israeli shelling at Beit Hanoun
Jamal Abed, a senior Fatah leader, said: "I call on all the armed groups everywhere to avenge the blood of the dead with suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, as Israel murders Palestinians."
It was the first time in years that the party of the moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has voiced support for such attacks.
Khaled Meshaal, a leader of the Islamic movement Hamas who is exiled to Damascus, appeared to allude to suicide attacks when he promised to respond "not in words but in deeds".
"The armed struggle is free to resume and the resistance is dictated by local circumstances. There must be a roaring reaction so that we avenge all those victims."
With Ghazi Hamad, Hamas's chief spokesman, demanding that Israel "cease to exist", the Jewish state was bracing itself for a wave of revenge attacks.
A call from the White House for restraint by both sides fell on deaf ears as Palestinian militants fired a barrage of home-made rockets from Gaza into Israel. At least one person was killed in Gaza City when a car was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike.
The feared fall-out from the killings is expected to overshadow next week's meeting in Washington between President George W Bush and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister.
A renewal of multiple suicide attacks would plunge the region back to the dark days of the Second Intifada when thousands of civilians were killed on both sides.
The crisis was provoked when a dawn barrage of Israeli shells hit Beit Hanoun. What made the killings different was that no militants were believed to be anywhere near the house and the deaths appeared to be a horrific accident caused by sloppy artillery targeting.
The Israeli government was pushed on to the back foot by the large loss of life and subsequent chorus of international condemnation led by the European Union and United Nations.
Last night 200 Israeli peace activists demonstrated in Tel Aviv, accusing the government of having "blood on its hands".
Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, issued a statement in which she said it was "hard to see what this action [the artillery barrage] was meant to achieve and how it can be justified".
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's external affairs chief, called the attack "a profoundly shocking event". She added: "Israel has a right to defend itself, but not at the price of the lives of the innocent."
Mr Olmert expressed regret over the loss of civilian life, ordered a cessation of Israeli artillery fire into Gaza and convened an official Israeli military inquiry into what went wrong.
Israeli troops pulled out of Beit Hanoun less than 24 hours before the incident after occupying the town for six days in an attempt to neutralise militant groups.
Fatah publicly supporting suicide/homicide attacks? Not exactly surprising, considering their leader (Abbas) is a guy who financed the '72 Munich massacre.
I wonder if the Bush admin will continue to coddle him/them?
All out war between Israel and the Pals should have happened decades ago. Things would be alot different in the Middle East today if Arafat, et al, had been cleaned out then. It really is the ONLY solution to the problem. Time has proven that.
Gee if they do this as well as they did with their "all out conflict"with Hezbollah. NOTHING will change.
America to Israel: You're on your own against the horde; good luck.
That's one of the media's new favorite words, "loom." It's when something they want to happen isn't quite happening yet, as in "the looming civil war in Iraq."
Yes, Olmert, you must apologize. If not, the US and UN will be very irritated. Actually, you should kill an equal number of Israelis. Just to make it fair.
I like how the story makes the shelling just seem like it was done for the hell of it. Nevermind the fact it was in response to more rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory. I guess that's not important.
now that the dems have the house and senate the terrorists are going to beat a trail to Israel. Who will the dems through under the bus ?
THis is news?
Nothing like a vote of confidence from the mideast.
they are confident they can do what ever they like unimpeded by Bush
Remember whatever happens to Israel, happens to Europe, and then America.
Gotta love how they tell america they are wrong!
Let's have it with all-out war. It means no more Palestinians.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's external affairs chief, called the attack "a profoundly shocking event". She added: "Israel has a right to defend itself, but not at the price of the lives of the innocent."
I agree. Carpet bomb ths SOB's.
Don't worry, Speaker Pelosi will make the bad guys cower. /sarc
Guess the Palis are feeling their oats after the Hezbollah "victory."
Yup. They all feel emboldened.
"Israel Faces All-Out Conflict (War) With Palestinians"
Only if Olmert allows the IDF to fight it that way.
Yeah, guess the election debacle is a real victory for them as well. I know they see it that way, and I'm inclined to agree...regime change.
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