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| Week ending Saturday, October 1, 2005 |
27 Elul, 5765 |
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Israel Forced to Retaliate:
It was no surprise to hear that as soon as the Gaza Strip was given over to the "Palestinians" huge volumes of weapons crossed the border from Egypt without anyone to stop them. It is also therefore no surprise that the Shabbat was deeply marred by some forty rockets being launched by Hamas against Israeli communities near the Gaza border. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon immediately called an emergency Cabinet meeting. The defense establishment approved recommendations for a series of military operations in a bid to stop the rocket strikes. PM Sharon said attacks on Israeli communities cannot continue. He directed top security officials to "stop it." The operation will be extended in the coming days in an effort to press the Palestinian public into "disconnecting" itself from Hamas, said Yisrael Ziv, Israeli Defense Force Operations Branch Head. Ziv also attacked Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, saying "he must roll up his sleeves and not sit in Ramallah, but rather, come down to Gaza and start working."
Hours later, and in response to the rocket attacks, Israel launched a wave of air strikes in the Gaza Strip. Helicopters fired missiles at two vehicles carrying Hamas gunmen in Gaza City. The cars exploded in flames. Medical officials said that at least four Hamas militants were killed and nine others were wounded. Dr. Moawia Hassanein, a senior medical official in Gaza, said at least two of the dead were believed to be Hamas militants. Palestinian radio said all the dead were Hamas militants. Other air strikes targeted weapons factories, training bases and rocket launching sites. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said, "now that Israel has pulled out of Gaza and withdrawn to the international border, the army will respond to Palestinian aggression with a 'crushing blow.'"
More on Monday:
Early on Monday the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck several targets in the Gaza Strip. Earlier Hamas announced that it was halting its Gaza-based attacks on Israeli communities, including Qassam rocket attacks. The IAF proceeded with planned attacks, since Hamas has made such declarations many times before and never fulfilled them. Hamas was consistent with their past when they fired another Qussam rocket just after they announced that they would not do so. Israeli Defence Force officers said it will continue operation "First Rain" and targeted weapons warehouses in Gaza and an access road used by Qassam launchers. The army also fired on an access road near Khan Younis in a bid to hamper Qassam attacks. Official "Palestinian" sources said a missile landed near Gaza City's industrial zone, but no injuries or damage were reported.
Murderer Killed:
Also on Monday, the hand of justice was served on the Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Khalil (left), who was responsible for murdering the Hatuel family in May 2004. Talia Hatuel (right) and her four daughters were all killed in a single terror attack, leaving her husband, David bereft of his entire family. Talia was also pregnant with the couple's fifth child when she was murdered. Her surviving husband, David, was recently expelled from his home in Gaza. A pinpoint air strike by the IAF killed Khalil as the IDF pressed forward with their recent offensive. Khalil also directed an attack which killed five IDF soldiers in an Armored Personnel Carrier which exploded near the Philadephi corridor later that same month.
'Seal' from Solomon's Temple found:
In what could prove to be an historic find, a seal representative of the First-Temple period has been discovered in piles of rubble from Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The seal impression, or bulla, is actually less than one centimeter in size. It was discovered Tuesday by Bar-Ilan University archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay. It also is the first written artifact found from the Temple Mount dating back to the First Temple period. The bulla is dated to be 2,600 years old and contains three lines in ancient Hebrew. It was found in the midst of piles of rubble discarded by the Islamic Wakf, who had gutted everything under the Al Aqsa mosque six years ago in an effort to build a third mosque on (actually in) the Temple Mount and destroy all evidence of Jewish ownership. Thus far Barkay has not been able to determine what the writing is on the seal. Three Hebrew letters, however, which are thought to be the name of its owner, are visible on one of the three lines.
Barkay has also found scores of history-rich artifacts, including a substantial amount of pottery dating from the Bronze Ages through modern times, a large segment of a marble pillar's shaft, and over 100 ancient coins, among them several from the Hasmonean Dynasty. The ongoing sifting project, sponsored by Elad, has been called virtually unprecedented since archaeological excavations have never been permitted on the Temple Mount. At the same time, and in a separate major archaeological development in Jerusalem, a Jewish ritual bath dating back to the Second Temple period, and a First Temple Wall have been found.
complete article ...
Gaza Barrage Against Terrorist Sites:
In response to continued rocket attacks (in spite of promises from Hamas to stop them) Gaza City fell into darkness early Wednesday morning, continuing the offensive for the fifth day, as a series of Israeli Air Force missile strikes were launched against known terrorist locations in the city. The assault began as planes fired missiles at a building in the central Gaza Strip. An Israeli Defense Force representative said the building targeted was used for terror activity by the Popular Front. Of course "Palestinians" tried to say that the structure served as a charity and a school for neighborhood children. These kinds of responses most generally prove that the sites were exactly what the IDF said they were. It has been documented repeatedly that terrorists use schools and community centers as facades for bomb making labs and weapons storage.
Later in the day the army hit a building in Gaza City which it said was used for Fatah terror activity. Another building was hit in a northern Gaza community, which the IDF said was used by the Popular Resistance Committees terror group. The buildings that were fired upon were severely damaged. The IDF also raided Islamic Jihad and Hamas offices in Samaria.
Islamic 'Charities' Shut Down:
IDF troops continued to expand their raids in Judea and Samaria, closing down fifteen "charities" linked to local Islamic mosques. An army representative said the offices gave out money to the families of suicide bombers. Soldiers also detained twenty-four terrorists. This brings the total number of Palestinians arrested this week to more than 400.
IDF Kills Top Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade Terrorist:
Before dawn on Thursday, Israeli forces stormed into the town of Nablus (Biblical Shechem) in northern Samaria. Israeli Defense Force troops killed three wanted "Palestinian" terrorists (gunmen) of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. The thirty-year-old head of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin, Samar Sa'adi, was killed in a gun battle with IDF troops seeking to arrest him, an army representative said. Of course, immediately after the killings the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in northern Samaria, Zaqariya Zbeidi, was quoted to have said, "The agreed-upon 'calm' is dead and has gone to hell; we will respond." He announced that the seven-month-old truce is over. "The Israelis have not upheld their part of the cease-fire agreement," he said. "We will fight back hard and there will be no limits to our responses from now on."
Gaza Evacuees Still Need a Lot of Help:
Yes! I want to help families evicted from Gush Katif ...
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