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Jay.
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Topic: Israel army launches Gaza assault Posted: 27-Jun-2006 at 21:17 |
The Israeli army has begun a ground offensive in southern Gaza to try to gain the release of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.
Israeli aircraft earlier bombed bridges and a power plant in the Gaza Strip.
Cpl Gilad Shalit was abducted by Palestinian militants during a raid on an Israeli post near Gaza on Sunday.
Israel had warned of a massive military assault if he was not freed and its tanks have been massing along the border with Gaza for several days.
It is unclear how many troops are being used in the incursion, launched from the Kerem Shalom crossing near southern Gaza.
The assault on Gaza marks Israel's first major incursion into the territory since it withdrew its soldiers and settlers last year, ending almost 40 years of occupation.
'Limited operation'
The Israeli forces are reported to have taken up positions near the town of Rafah, shortly after passing Gaza's disused international airport.
The Associated Press news agency quotes Palestinian witnesses as saying the soldiers were moving under the cover of tank shells.
Palestinian militants anticipating an Israeli assault have been erecting barricades and preparing hideouts and ambush positions.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli armed forces said they had not encountered any resistance from the Palestinians.
Israeli military officials have been quoted as saying Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had backed a "limited operation" targeting the "terrorist infrastructure".
Militants' demands
Hours before the ground assault, the Israeli jets attacked three bridges and a power plant in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military confirmed that the first strike on the bridge was aimed at stopping Palestinian militants from moving Cpl Shalit.
The strike on the plant plunged much of Gaza into darkness. It is not yet clear if there were any casualties.
The soldier was captured when Palestinian militants burrowed under the Gaza border and attacked an Israeli army position, killing two soldiers.
Israel has rejected the militants' demands for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails to be freed in exchange for information about the soldier.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5123262.stm
Edited by Jay. - 27-Jun-2006 at 21:17
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Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava
Only Unity Can Save the Serb
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Illuminati
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Posted: 27-Jun-2006 at 23:17 |
Hamas and fatah were on the verge of recognizing Israel's to exist, which would help lead to a possible two-state solution. I'm curious to see fi this ends that progress or not.
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Mila
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Posted: 27-Jun-2006 at 23:19 |
I think Israel should recognize Palestine's right to exist as well, you know... as part of the peace process.
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Illuminati
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Posted: 27-Jun-2006 at 23:44 |
Olmert has said he is in support of a two-state solution, I think that shows he recognizes that the Palestinians have a right to exist. Hamas are the ones who have refused to go forward into negotiating a two state solution, which I think si the only solution since neither side is ever going to give in and let the others have 100% control over the area.
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azimuth
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 03:52 |
well Israelis don't want peace, peace to them means they would have to take off their illegal settlements, and means their access to fresh water will be less,
if Palestinians kept compromising their rights and their lands for the sake of peace , Israel will find ways to take more lands and insure more Illegal Israelis are planted in the future Palestinian state.
still we did not see what is the "Palestinian state that Olmert recognizes", their wall already ate huge parts of the west bank, the Jordan river is next i guess.
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Ponce de Leon
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 11:09 |
Good luck to both sides this will be an excellent world cup match!
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pikeshot1600
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 12:45 |
Originally posted by azimuth
well Israelis don't want peace, peace to them means they would have to take off their illegal settlements, and means their access to fresh water will be less,
if Palestinians kept compromising their rights and their lands for the sake of peace , Israel will find ways to take more lands and insure more Illegal Israelis are planted in the future Palestinian state.
still we did not see what is the "Palestinian state that Olmert recognizes", their wall already ate huge parts of the west bank, the Jordan river is next i guess.
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Israel evacuated Gaza a year ago and for it's reward has had rocket attacks, bombings and now this recent incident.
It is Hamas that does not want peace. Peace would deny that august organization its justification to be. Hamas "refuses to recognize Israel's existence." Ah yes. The Palestinian fantasy dimension where Israel can be wished away, as that population lives off handouts from people who they would like to kill. The whole concept of a "Palestinian State" is a cruel joke perpetrated by Arab governments for decades to serve their own purposes.
The IDF not having planned for this contingency seems most unlikely. As far as the Hamas leadership in Syria, I wonder if they watched "Munich."
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malizai_
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 13:27 |
I think the sooner Israel comes to an end the better, it 'may' lead to a more harmonious middle-east. It is an illegal colony established by one superpower and kept in place by another.
There is no possibility of a two state 'solution'. It is an urban myth. I would like to see a coherent person draw out state boundaries for the two states.(agreeable to both sides).
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cattus
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 13:52 |
Agreeable to both sides.. have you read the charter of Hamas?
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malizai_
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 13:58 |
Firstly, I am not talking about Hamas but the Palestenians. BTW, have u 'seen' the charter of the Israelis.
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Kalevipoeg
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 14:03 |
Just for the record, is this again one of those attacks where the
casualty costs will be: "7 children and 1 grown Palestinian male, perhaps a mean guy"
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There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge...
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cattus
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 14:33 |
Originally posted by malizai_
Firstly, I am not talking about Hamas but thePalestenians. BTW, have u'seen' the charter of the Israelis. |
lol ..tell us about the charter of the Israelis.
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Illuminati
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 16:54 |
Originally posted by malizai_
Firstly, I am not talking about Hamas but the Palestenians. BTW, have u 'seen' the charter of the Israelis. |
that doesn't matter. The Palestinians elected Hamas. Their charter is now one in the same.
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 16:58 |
but the situation seems to be getting mroe intense. Israelie jets jsut staged an incursion into Syrian Ari Space and were fired on by Syrian air defenses. Obviously, it's in reponse to the fact taht Syria has been a long-time supporter of Hamas
Israeli warplanes make "warning" flight over SyriaJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes flew low over one of
President Bashar al-Assad's palaces on Wednesday to warn Syria against
supporting Palestinian militants who abducted an Israeli soldier, the
Israeli army said. Israeli media reports said four planes carried
out the overflights near the city of Latakia at low altitude, early in
the morning, causing several sonic booms. They said Assad was at the palace at the time.
Syrian state media confirmed the overflights by Israeli planes.
"The Air Defense Force then fired at them, dispersing them and making
them leave the area," state television quoted a government source as
saying. The Israeli army said it appeared the aircraft had not been fired upon. A
spokeswoman said the planes flew over Assad's palace "because the
Syrian leadership supports and harbors terrorist leaders, among them
Hamas, the kidnappers of the soldier". The armed wing of the
ruling Hamas movement was among three factions which took part in a
cross-border raid into Israel from Gaza in which the soldier was seized
on Sunday, but it has not said it is holding him.
Israeli leaders have accused Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal of being responsible for the kidnapping. Exiled
Hamas leaders say they were not involved in the operation to capture
the soldier, but are taking seriously Israeli threats to kill them. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed for restraint. "It
is very important that we all take very careful steps to de-escalate
and not take any action or initiative that would expand or escalate the
situation," he said in New York.
Annan said he had been in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well as Assad, before
the overflights, to try to calm the crisis sparked by the
hostage-taking. A senior Syrian official told Reuters the overflight was a "provocative action". Syrian
political commentator Thabet Salem said in Damascus: "The Israelis are
trying to make their problems into a regional one because the capture
of the solider and settler is embarrassing for their military
establishment." Syria and Israel have been arch-foes for decades.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East
war and later annexed the territory in a move not recognized
internationally. Tensions have risen during a nearly six-year
Palestinian uprising with Israel repeatedly accusing Syria of harboring
militants who attack the Jewish state.
In 2003 Israel bombed a militant training base in Syria, wounding
several people, after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 19 in an
Israeli restaurant. (Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Damascus and Irwin Arieff at the United Nations) |
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-06-28T202358Z_01_L28502390_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-ISRAEL-SYRIA.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2
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flyingzone
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 18:07 |
Hundreds of Palestian children and women are imprisoned by Israel and nobody talks about that. Now this Israeli SOLDIER, not a civilian, was captured and the whole world is paying attention to him.
I am not saying that I don't feel sorry for this soldier but Israel is involved in a military conflict with the Palestinians, so there will always be captives. It is a warlike situation there.
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malizai_
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 18:24 |
Originally posted by cattus
Originally posted by malizai_
Firstly, I am not talking about Hamas but the Palestenians. BTW, have u 'seen' the charter of the Israelis. | lol ..tell us about the charter of the Israelis. |
No!, my Dear Cattus, don't LOL and kindly tell us what you know of the Israeli charter. BTW, i know nothing of the Hamas charter, y, because it is a secondary issue and not the root cause of the problem.
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Mila
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 18:39 |
All I'm willing to do is to continue to support those working for peace.
There is a group of retired Israeli women known as the Checkpoint
Watchers; I watched a documentary about them not a week ago and one
scene has stayed with me.
At one checkpoint in the West Bank, away from the border, an Israeli
woman is talking to the camera while they walk towards the Israeli
soldiers. She's explaining that the army claims checkpoints within
Palestinian territory are designed to stop the movement of militants
within the region but she believes they're just designed to create
hardship. When they get to the checkpoint, there's a woman with two
small children locked up in a portable-toilet-sized "interrogation
center" (cage). She asks them how long they've been there in Arabic and
the mother's face just lights up. They translate "Two hours" but don't
translate anything else, even though they keep talking for a few more
sentences. The Israeli woman goes over to the soldiers and makes a
fuss, why are they still being held, etc. The soldier lets them out,
the Palestinian woman hugs the Israeli woman, takes her business-style
"Checkpoint Watch" card, and then leaves.
Then in a scene later in the documentary, it's a dark room and the
Israeli woman is filming herself and she explains she just got a letter
from the Palestinian woman and she translates a little bit, and then
she says, "And I have to read you this part, she writes: There are more
among the Jews than just Zionists and Settlers. I cannot support any
retalliation against Israel's illegal cities knowing it could affect
someone as you."
That's the kind of people I choose to support.
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flyingzone
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 18:49 |
Originally posted by Mila
There is a group of retired Israeli women known as the Checkpoint Watchers; I watched a documentary about them not a week ago and one scene has stayed with me.
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I also saw a different documentary with a similar theme produced by a Montreal filmmaker. The title of that documentary is "The Other Zionists" and I think they talk about the same group of retired Israeli women.
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malizai_
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 19:28 |
Originally posted by Mila
That's the kind of people I choose to support.
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Sadly, they have neglegibile political weight in Israeli politics. The profane reality is in your face Zionism.
I was watching the news( Sky News) and it was said in the typical pro-israeli bias that the "Israeli airforce was bombing the bridges in case the hostage was sneaked out". I guess the Israelis bombed the power stations because they didnt want the hostage to be tortured by electricution. The water pumping station because they thought someone may fill up a bath in attempt to drown the soldier.
Sky News, in the extreme stupidity of its correspondent showed the millitary hardware massing outside Gazza waiting, in the form of some 40 bulldozers. The idiot could not tell the difference between a bulldozer and a millitary vehicle. It completely mocked the intelligence of the audience as to the intent and purpose of that amassment.
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docyabut
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Posted: 28-Jun-2006 at 23:40 |
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a brief news conference Wednesday he had approved new operations in northern Gaza to stop the firing of those rockets into Israel.
Rockets burn in Rafah after an Israeli airstrike.
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