Posted on 11/18/2006 3:30:08 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Hundreds of Palestinians formed a human shield around the home of a terrorist in the northern Gaza Strip late Saturday to prevent an IAF airstrike on the building, residents said.
People flocked to the home of Mohammedweil Baroud after he received a warning from the army late Saturday giving him 30 minutes to leave the house.
Barhoud is a commander in the Popular Resistance Committees in the northern town of Beit Lahiya who is charge of firing homemade rockets at Israel.
The incident was the first time Palestinians have tried to prevent an airstrike.
The crowd chanted anti-Israel and anti-American slogans, and people said they were prepared to give their lives to protect the home. "Yes to martyrdom, no to surrender," the crowd chanted.
"We came here to protect this fighter, to protect his house and to prove that we are capable of defeating this Zionist policy," said Nizar Rayan, a local Hamas leader who joined the protest.
The IDF had no immediate comment.
Meanwhile, at least five Palestinians were killed over the weekend during IDF operations in the northern Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Kalkilya.
Two Palestinians were killed and three soldiers from an IDF undercover unit were wounded during clashes in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya Saturday.
In Kalkilya, troops laid siege to the home of a senior Hamas member on Friday, killing three gunmen, and wounding more than 30 people, including two in critical condition, according to Palestinian hospital officials.
Approximately 200 rioters attacked soldiers with rocks and firebombs shortly after they surrounded the home late Friday, the army said.
The soldiers responded with warning shots and then live fire. A firefight with gunmen ensued, the army said.
Overnight Friday, IAF aircraft destroyed the Gaza City home of a Hamas member - a neighbor of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. No one was wounded but several nearby buildings were damaged, Palestinian officials and witnesses said.
Two other air strikes destroyed a weapons storehouses in the area a short time later. Secondary explosions indicated that the building contained large amounts of weapons and explosives, the IDF said.
Hamas officials said the army had ordered the home's owner, a local Hamas commander, to evacuate the structure ahead of the air strike. The IDF usually issues such warnings, to avoid casualties, before destroying suspected weapons-storage facilities.
Haniyeh was reportedly at home at the time.
Late Thursday night, soldiers from the Duvdevan unit arrested senior Fatah-Tanzim leader Muhammad Zeitawi in Tulkarm. According to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Zeitawi is responsible for the murder of eight Israelis, including restaurateurs Motti Dayan and Etgar Zeituni. Zeituni and Dayan, who owned the Yuppies Cafe on Rehov Sheinkin in Tel Aviv, were killed when they went to the West Bank town to buy plants together with an Israeli Arab friend in January 2001.
The troops imposed a siege on Zeitawi's home on Thursday afternoon. When he refused to come out, IDF bulldozers started to destroy the structure, leading Zeitawi to surrender.
He MAY be a fighter, but he CERTAINLY is a war criminal>
To paraphrase Tom Lehr:
I only send the up;
Where they come down,
Isn't my Department,
Says Mohammedweil von Braun!
What am I missing here?
The only question should be, "Do we now need a bigger bomb?"
(If you're not for us, you're against us.)
This almost sounds like what UNIFIL is doing
for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
It seems like the whole world is trying to make Isreal
a criminal state.
Go Isreal Go!!!
IDF cancels Gaza air strike over human shield surrounding militant`s house (Reuters)
Sounds like a target rich environment.
My thoughts exactly. Those people sheildig it are probably terrorists anyway. Wouldn't I love to see the looks on their faces as the notice the incoming.
I have to admit one thing, these people do have balls.
As my defensive back coach used to say when we bunched together too closely in coverage, "One hand grenade would get you all!!!" He was a Marine who served in Vietnam.
I thought they celebrated death? Give a 5 minute warning and send a hellfire in.
Beat me to it.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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IDF holds their fire, the bad guys get away.
IDF doesn't hold their fire, the Palis get a "massacre," world condemnation, MSM photo-ops.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
good idea!
MAN take them out pleaseee IDF
They want to get to a certain "heaven."
It requires a "martyr ticket."
We can provide them with that ticket.
Why is the IDF warning terrorists? That's crazy!
I vote for the IDF to bomb them from above. Heck with going through the front door.
Aren't those that defend an enemy, a target?
No, they just throw a mean tantrum. They know mommy Israel will not spank them. At a certain point it is not having balls, but no brains. This was a no brainer.
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