Israeli Raid into West Bank and Violence in Gaza

July 16th 2005

Shooting between the Palestinian Authority (PA) security services and the Hamas military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades left two Palestinians dead and more than 30 wounded. 

This stems from an incident on Thursday evening when Palestinian Policemen fired at a group of Hamas operatives returning from attacks against Israel.  The operatives fired rockets into Israel from the Northern portion of the Gaza Strip according to Harretz reporters.

Before dawn on Friday operatives from Hamas mounted an assault with light arms, grenades and RPG’s (Rocket Propelled Grenades) on the 2^nd Brigade National Security headquarters.  The operatives then scattered among hundreds of civilians making it difficult for the police to fire back.   

The clashes continued through Saturday in the Southern part of Gaza City.  Militants deployed at intersections and on rooftops managed to hit three armored police vehicles with antitank rockets and Molotov cocktails. 

Many of the police wore masks to hide their identity.  This is because of previous vendettas against police.  In one incident a police officer has been executed. 

The PA has said they will continue to use force to prevent future attacks. Israel may be preparing to send tanks across the border, according to reports from the UK, as the civil war descended into violence.  Condoleezza Rice will make an emergency visit to the Middle East this week to lend support. 

Aljazeera reports that the PA President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israeli policies for the tensions.  In a televised address on Saturday, Abbas said "we hold the Israeli government fully responsible for the consequences of its policy, which reflects a step backward from what we had achieved ... and sabotaged any chance to maintain the truce".

He went on to say Israel is trying to incite the Palestinians.  "This is what Israel wants to achieve to allow it to renege on its agreements and to use this as an excuse to destroy what we have achieved recently in Cairo through political diplomacy."

The Arab News Organization said that the Israelis and Palestinians are blaming each other, and this has led to violence killing 11 Palestinians and 6 Israelis in four days.  This has put a “huge stress” on the informal ceasefire initiated five months ago.

The Deccan Herald (India) reported that Israel launched a ground raid into the West Bank today arresting 26 Palestinians. 

By Dan Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer

Keywords and misspellings: Palistinian Authority athority mohamad abas