Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., November 10, 2007 Cheshvan 29, 5768 | | Israel Time: 23:59 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Print Edition
Diplomacy
Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising
Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel
Israeli tanks maneuvering in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. (AP)
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 22:52 07/07/2007
Hamas: Qassams were warning to aggressive Israeli 'enemy'
By Amos Harel, Avi Isaacharoff, and Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondents

Hamas claimed responsibility Friday for firing two Qassam rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip earlier in the day, for the first time since the militant group seized power in Gaza from Mahmoud Abbas' rival Fatah movement.

Israel Radio on Saturday quoted the group as saying that the attacks were in response to Israel's "occupation in Gaza and the [West] Bank," and were also a warning "to the enemy" over its "aggression."

One of the rockets hit an intersection and a second fell in an empty field, but no one was hurt, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Advertisement

Following the Gaza takeover, rocket attacks had largely been carried out by Islamic Jihad and other small armed groups.

Earlier Friday, IDF troops concluded operations against Qassam rocket launching crews that operate in open fields near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun.

During their operations in the Beit Hanun area, troops from the Givati Infantry Brigade's elite reconnaissance unit carried out extensive searches of orchards and fields that had been used as launching areas for Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot and other Israeli communities in the western Negev. The soldiers seized seven Qassam launching platforms, one of which had a Qassam attached to it fitted with a timer.

Givati soldiers began operations in the area on Tuesday as part of an IDF campaign against Qassam launching sites that included combined operations by infantry and armored units in the area of the al-Muazi and al-Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza.

An IDF source on Friday clarified that the operations in the Beit Hanun area and in central Gaza are of a defensive nature and are meant to stop terror organizations from attacking IDF troops in the area and from launching terror attacks against Israelis.

Thousands attend Gaza funerals of 11 militants killed in IDF raid

Thousands of Palestinians marched in Gaza on Friday for the funerals of 11 people, including nine militants from the ruling Hamas, who were killed in an Israel Defense Forces raid into the central Gaza Strip a day earlier.

Participants marched in the streets of Bureij refugee camp and gunmen fired rifles into the air, vowing revenge.

"This blood will only increase our determination to chase the enemy and to strike it and resist by all our might until the last drop of our blood," Hamas' armed wing said in a statement

Palestinians said at least 20 were wounded in IDF operations in Gaza on Thursday. In addition, two IDF soldiers were lightly hurt as gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at an army vehicle.

The IDF operation, which took place primarily in and around the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, pushed the rival Hamas and Fatah factions together in condemning the operation. Hamas leader and deposed Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh urged the Palestinians to fight back.

"We assert that our people have the full right to defend themselves and to confront these aggressions," Haniyeh said Thursday.

Israel sent infantry, tanks and bulldozers into Gaza on Thursday while militants laid mines and fired mortars at soldiers at the Erez passenger crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Nine militants were killed in clashes in and around the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, hospital officials said. Hamas identified six as its fighters, while three remained unidentified. Among the dead was Mohammed Siam, 37, the Hamas field commander in central Gaza, Hamas TV said.

Later in the day, missiles launched by Israeli aircraft killed two more Hamas men, the group said.

A Palestinian cameraman was seriously wounded while documenting the clashes, and though the origin of the gunfire cannot be confirmed, it was apparently IDF soldiers who fired repeatedly at him while Al-Jazeera cameras documented the incident.

The Al-Jazeera satellite channel aired footage of Imad Ranem, a cameraman for Hamas Al-Aqsa television network, lying on the ground after being hit, with his camera thrown beside him. He could then be seen getting shot twice more while lying on the ground. Medical sources in Gaza reported that both his legs had later been amputated and he is in critical condition.

An IDF source said Thursday that Ranem had been in the first line of fire and was not wearing a vest indicating he was a member of the press. The source added that the man was probably not a card-carrying reporter, because his footage would probably be used for Hamas propaganda, not news.

IDF troops had probed about 1 kilometer inside Gaza on a routine operation against rocket squads when Israel Air Force troops covering their advance spotted a group of armed Palestinians approaching, the military said. Aircraft fired at the gunmen and a ground battle developed between the patrol and the militants, the army said.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said the group's fighters opened the clash by firing at an Israeli undercover unit.

The first clash erupted close to the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, a site of frequent clashes between gunmen and the Israeli army.

Witnesses reported a heavy exchange of fire as IDF tanks and bulldozers moved in and soldiers took positions on rooftops. Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants hit back with small arms fire, laid mines against the soldiers and fired mortars at the Erez passenger crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Two of the mortars landed on the Israeli side of the passage, which has been closed to most traffic since Hamas wrested control of Gaza last month, the army said. No one was injured, but the mortar shells ignited a fire in a road at the crossing, the army said.


Bookmark to del.icio.us
Remembering Yasser
PA Chair Mahmoud Abbas unveils a $1.75 million mausoleum for Yasser Arafat.
Spiritual spat
U.S. synagogue ties with 'women priests' draws ire of Catholic church.
  1.   7 rocket launchers 19:16  |  Michael 06/07/07
  2.   IDF you did a good job. Keep Up The Good Work 20:13  |  Shepherd 06/07/07
  3.   WOW! Seven launch platforms seized!! 20:30  |  Clickfool 06/07/07
  4.   Well Done, Lads. And Please Do Not Apologise. 20:40  |  Indra 06/07/07
  5.   Clickfool - It`s More than Accounting 21:36  |  Mark of Lewiston 06/07/07
  6.   #1 Clikcool 21:47  |  Moshe 06/07/07
  7.   For clickstool 21:53  |  Max 06/07/07
  8.   WELL DONE ISRAEL 21:56  |  Barry Bonds 06/07/07
  9.   Celebration of Death...Live from Gaza 22:05  |  Will 06/07/07
  10.   why are these orchards still there? 22:05  |  peter 06/07/07
  11.   Re: Clickfool`s response 22:11  |  Michael 06/07/07
  12.   Cickfool - what is your point? 22:15  |  Peter 06/07/07
  13.   Clickfool, Guy and fireworks 22:28  |  Scoon 06/07/07
  14.   8Will,if you do not want to celebrate death,there is a solution, 22:42  |  lakshmi 06/07/07
  15.   Click #1 is Correct: Bomb the Funeral Party 22:44  |  Indra 06/07/07
  16.   11Peter,the shoe is on the other foot,and while on the subject of 22:48  |  lakshmi 06/07/07
  17.   Clickfool - total failure? 22:50  |  Peter 06/07/07
  18.   For Mark of Lewiston # 6 22:52  |  Clickfool 06/07/07
  19.   For Max # 7 22:54  |  Clickfool 06/07/07
  20.   For Peter in Toronto # 12 22:59  |  Clickfool 06/07/07
  21.   For Scoon # 13 23:03  |  Clickfool 06/07/07
  22.   DESTROY Orchards and fields that are used for QASSAMS 23:04  |  Vittorio 06/07/07
  23.   Lakshmi - Reasons are not Justifications 23:08  |  Mark of Lewiston 06/07/07
  24.   how interesting 23:14  |  Inigo Montoya 06/07/07
  25.   #14 lakshmi 23:23  |  * BEN JABO 06/07/07
  26.   Maybe its time? 23:33  |  Murray of Montreal 06/07/07
  27.   #6 and "indiscriminate targeting" 23:43  |  NEUTRAL 06/07/07
  28.   #3 Clickfool 00:53  |  Rolandus 07/07/07
  29.   #16 Ben Jabo, Your reasoning... 01:13  |  Dutch 07/07/07
  30.   Haaretz Headline should read -Murderers Return Home 01:39  |  Dutch 07/07/07
  31.   IDF vs Hamas Thugs 01:40  |  Brod 07/07/07
  32.   #3 Right on Clickfool! 01:51  |  Dutch 07/07/07
  33.   muslim moderates 02:05  |  real vision 07/07/07
  34.   `The Palestinians are one people` ha ha ha 02:11  |  Kjj 07/07/07
  35.   Clickfool & Dutch 02:16  |  RM 07/07/07
  36.   Clickfool and Indra 02:33  |  Edifice 07/07/07
  37.   Dutch 32 02:54  |  TWogunz 07/07/07
  38.   #31 Keep on dreaming 03:05  |  NEUTRAL 07/07/07
  39.   Poor Dutch - no winners loser 03:10  |  Gil 07/07/07
  40.   18 Clickfool - It`s not StarWars 03:30  |  Mark of Lewiston 07/07/07
  41.   clickfool: what`s the cause and effect 03:33  |  Jonathan 07/07/07
  42.   "Israeli tanks maneuvering in the Northern Gaza Strip on Friday." 03:38  |  Maureen Ann 07/07/07
  43.   @ clickfool 04:19  |  Adrian de Klerk 07/07/07
  44.   Two? Such waste! 04:20  |  Mark Lincoln 07/07/07
  45.   Myopic Neutral 04:22  |  Stephen 07/07/07
  46.   #39 Gil 04:41  |  Joel Weltman 07/07/07
  47.   Qassams - Israel`s Great Pretext For Invading Gaza - The Fallacy 04:42  |  chet 07/07/07
  48.   Clickfool`s religous heritage 04:46  |  Abe 07/07/07
  49.   Complete Failure Indeed 04:59  |  Eli 07/07/07
  50.   #35`s question 05:43  |  Murray of Montreal 07/07/07
  51.   Chet # 47 06:13  |  Stephen 07/07/07
  52.   Hey Clickfool and Dutch, a revolutionary suggestion 07:07  |  George 07/07/07
  53.   For # 51 Stephen - The Armchair Computer Warrior From Noo Yawk 07:28  |  chet 07/07/07
  54.   A lesson from Mussolini... 08:43  |  Paul Henzen 07/07/07
  55.   Oh? Canada. 10:01  |  Joel Weltman 07/07/07
  56.   For Mark of Lewiston # 40 10:24  |  Clickfool 07/07/07
  57.   For Adrian de Klerk # 43 10:29  |  Clickfool 07/07/07
  58.   Dutch: Who is paying you? How much? Israel Bashing is your full.. 10:32  |  Vittorio 07/07/07
  59.   For George # 52 10:32  |  Clickfool 07/07/07
  60.   #57 clickfool re talks 11:44  |  Adrian de Klerk 07/07/07
  61.   warning to agressive enemy??? 12:24  |  thinking clearly 07/07/07
  62.   there is a reality gap between Hamas and most others 12:38  |  redmike 07/07/07
  63.   CFOOL you crowed&said IDF wouldn`t dare eneter Gaza. Well Hamas 12:40  |  PETER SM 07/07/07
  64.   LALSHIMI.Your terrorist doctors are being watched 12:46  |  PETER SM 07/07/07
  65.   to neutral 12:54  |  scanadu 07/07/07
  66.   CFOOL Wow Lots of white coat wearing Moslem terrorists seized. 12:56  |  PETER SM 07/07/07
  67.   to chet 12:59  |  scanadu 07/07/07
  68.   Clickfool 13:22  |  Avi 07/07/07
  69.   Dutch 13:30  |  Avi 07/07/07
  70.   THE PROBLEM IS THAT HAMAS “WARNINGS” HAVE ALWAYS PRECEEDED THE… 13:54  |  MOSHEH 07/07/07
  71.   # 57 Clickfool 14:08  |  ChanahS 07/07/07
  72.   CHET#47. THAT’S NOT BECAUSE TERRORISTS ARE INOPERATIVE THEY HAVE… 15:33  |  MOSHEH 07/07/07
  73.   For Peter SM # 60 15:45  |  Clickfool 07/07/07
  74.   For Peter SM # 63 15:49  |  Clickfool 07/07/07
  75.   For Avi # 65 15:52  |  Clickfool 07/07/07
  76.   full right 15:55  |  ephraim 07/07/07
  77.   Your God and mine. 16:21  |  Paul Leo 07/07/07
  78.   Who is warning whom? 16:30  |  Murray of Montreal 07/07/07
  79.   # 20 Clickfool 16:35