Israel Matzav

Fatah, Hamas threaten suicide bombings, hide behind women

At a 'press conference' today, representatives of 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's Fatah's Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Brigades and 'moderate Palestinian Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh's Hamas' Popular Resistance Committees managed to agree on something: that they are going to 'resume' suicide bombings. I didn't know they had ever stopped trying....

The threats came because the IDF continued to operate in Gaza Saturday, killing at least five armed terrorists in various actions.

Two Hamas members were killed in an airstrike in the northern Jebalya neighborhood Saturday afternoon, Army Radio reported.

Abu Mazen asked the United Nations Saturday to address what he called "Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip."

In a statement, Abu Mazen's spokesman said, "Israel talks about a cease-fire, but in fact it is harming Palestinian efforts to impose order and bring an end to the political crisis in the PA." What 'Palestinian' efforts might those be?

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul-Gheit expressed dismay Saturday at the military operation in Gaza, saying Israel was acting without regard to human life. Abul-Gheit also called on Palestinians to halt their Kassam rocket attacks. At least someone realizes there's a reason for all this shooting.

But the big incident was this one on Friday:

A separate 19-hour standoff in northern Gaza between IDF troops and Palestinian gunmen who had barricaded themselves inside a mosque ended in the deaths of eight Palestinians.

On Friday morning, Al Aqsa Radio, the local Hamas station, broadcast appeals to women to come to the rescue of the trapped gunmen. Hundreds responded, many of them Hamas supporters dressed in long robes and headscarves. The women marched toward the mosque, coming under Israeli fire at times, and approached armored personnel carriers and bulldozers stationed near the mosque.

Two women, both age 40, were shot dead, and at least 10 others were wounded, hospital officials said.

The IDF said that it suspected that some Palestinian gunmen had dressed up as women in order to foil the army's attempts to enter the mosque. [Imagine that - the 'Palestinians' used a 'holy mosque' as a battle ground. CiJ]

During the battle, the roof of one of the structure's rooms reportedly collapsed, and there were dead and wounded inside.Witnesses reported that IDF bulldozers tore down one of the mosque's walls and that soldiers then used tear gas and fired stun grenades in an effort to force the gunmen out.

Maj. Avital Leibovich said Hamas was exploiting women. "They were using those poor women as human shields," she said. "This is a clear example of use of innocent population for terror."

The army said the gunmen inside the mosque were able to take advantage of the demonstration to escape because there weren't enough infantrymen to block the protesters from approaching the building, and troops didn't want to shoot into the crowd.

The army said troops spotted two militants hiding in the crowd of women and opened fire, hitting the two.

As the women rushed away from the scene, at least two men disguised in women's clothes were seen in the crowd. Jubilant bystanders embraced them, celebrating their escape.

At the New York Sun's blog, Shine for All, Daniel Friedman got this one right:

Those women were not innocent bystanders nor human shields caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Human shields implies that they were reluctanly dragged in. They were willing terrorist helpers. They ran to protect terrorists in order that these terrorists could commit more killings. Those women are no different to those who help transport terrorists or those who hide terrorists in their home. They're responsible for any death and destruction the terrorists cause.

That the terrorists were willing to disguise themselves as women to escape, knowing full well if Israeli troops spotted them all the women would be endagered, shows just how much the terrorists care about their "civilians."

This evening 'Palestinian Foreign Minister' Mahmoud Zahar warned that the IDF operations in the Gaza Strip are liable to endanger the life of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, as the military is likely to strike the building in which he is being held.

In an interview with Egyptian news agency "the Middle East," Zahar said, "They are bombing certain places and will likely harm the soldier."

He said that if IDF troops try to break into the building where Shalit is located, "they are liable to lose the soldier, to absorb losses and lose more captives."

There's another headline buried in that Haaretz story, but it deserves a separate post.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:37 PM