Wednesday, January 19, 2005
IDF prepares large operation in Gaza - get ready for a bloodbath
Ya'alon Commands the army top prepare large operation in Gaza
George Rishmawi-IMEMC & Agencies, January 18, 2005, 11:00
Chief of Staff of the Israeli army Moshe Ya'alon ordered the army on Monday to prepare for a wide scaled military operation in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
The radio also stated reported that this plan will be implemented if the new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did stop the Palestinian resistance.
The Israeli news website ArabYnet quoted Israeli security source as saying, "The operation will be executed only if terror attacks continued and the Palestinian security devices fails in controlling the militants and if Qassam and mortar shells."
These Israeli military preparations were declared hours following a senior Palestinian Official said that Abbas gave orders to the Palestinian security forces to stop all attacks against Israel.
Abbas will head on Wednesday to Gaza for series of meetings with the different Palestinian resistance faction.
The radio also reported that Ya'alon will join a meeting for what was described as a "secret committee" that is part of the Knesset foreign and security affairs committee to discuss ways of stopping the home made Qasssam shells fired by the Palestinian resistance groups at Israeli targets.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/week3/011805/yaalon.htm
Resistance Groups: Will Continue With Attacks
IMEMC & Agencies, January 18, 2005, 08:37
Spokespersons of few Gaza-based resistance groups criticized Monday the PA leadership decision to act against attacks on Israeli targets, affirming that attacks will continue until occupiers leave.
Representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah-affiliated armed groups confirmed their intentions to defy the PA National Security Council call for halting all attacks against Israeli targets.
Leader of the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Abu-Musab confirmed that his group will not stop attacks against Israeli targets.
Abu-Musab affirmed that resistance, including firing "Arafat" shells, at Sderot will continue as long as there is one Israeli soldier in the Gaza strip. The brigades named their locally made shells after late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Abu-Musab also said that his group is not against a cease-fire agreement, but would not accept the dictation of a unilateral halt of attacks. He also called the new Palestinian leadership to open dialogue with resistance groups prior to making such decisions.
Abu-Qusi, another leader of the same group, said that prior to even calling for a halt of resistance defensive attacks, Israel have to halt the daily killings of Palestinians.
Hamas's spokesperson Mushir Masri affirmed that his group will not abide to the PA new instructions, describing the continuity of resistance to occupation as a "red line no one is allowed to cross"
An Islamic Jihad spokesperson said that the PA latest decision adds more complications to Palestinian internal problems, assuring that resistance groups will do its utmost to avoid a clash with PA security forces. He also expressed hopes that the issue will be addressed through dialogue only.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) considered the latest call to halt all kinds of resistance as harmful to the Palestinian cause. The PFLP reiterated its call for the formation of a unified leadership and affirmed that Palestinian resistance is a legitimate one.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week3/011805/resitnce%20will%20continue%20attacks%20despite%20abbas%20call.htm
