Hamas Ends Truce

EXCERPT: Islamic militant group Hamas called off a 16-month-old truce with Israel on Friday after attacks blamed on Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children playing on a beach.

Here we go...

[There are 2 articles in this message. The second one deals with the Hamas truce.]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7EE8AA2D-A035-4F94-93C7-2944FEEA0F5A.htm

Israeli artillery fire kills Palestinians

Friday 09 June 2006

Israeli artillery shells have struck a group of Palestinian civilians

at a beach in Bait Lahiya in northern Gaza, killing seven people,

including three children, and wounding 36 others, Aljazeera reports.

The artillery shells were fired on Friday by Israeli gunboats

stationed just off the Mediterranean coast.

The dead and the wounded Palestinians were having a picnic on the

beach as it was the weekly holiday, Aljazeera's correspondent Wael

al-Dahduh said.

The barrage scattered body parts along the seaside. A tent was

destroyed, and bloody sheets were scattered about. A crowd quickly

flocked to the are, screaming and running around in confusion.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, called the attack "a bloody

massacre" and urged the international community, including the US,

Europe and the Security Council, to intervene.

Palestinian medical sources said five of those killed at the beach

were members of the Ghali family from Gaza. Children aged one, three

and 10 died alongside their parents, Ali and Raisa.

The wounded were transferred to three hospitals - al-Shifaa in Gaza

City, Kamal Adwan in Jabaliya refugee camp and al-Awda in Bait

Lahiya, al-Dahduh said.

Israeli response

The Israeli army said it determined aircraft and gunboats had not

fired the artillery that struck the picnic, but that ground forces

might have been the source.

It said military chief Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz ordered a halt

in artillery attacks in the area while an investigation continued.

"We regret any harm caused to innocent civilians," said Captain Jacob

Dallal, an army spokesman. He said Israel offered medical assistance,

including evacuation to hospitals in Israel, to the wounded.

The Israeli army initially said its ships had fired shells at

fighters who launched rockets after Israel's killing of Jamal Abu

Samhadana, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), on

Thursday.

Dallal said the army does not know "for certainty" if the shells were

fired by Israel, and he said the military "deeply regretted" any

civilian deaths.

Also on Friday, Aljazeera's correspondent al-Dahduh said, an Israeli

missile attack on Salaheddin Street in the centre of Gaza left

several Palestinians injured, after a series of Israeli strikes and

shellings killed nine people.

Palestinian officials said the street attack killed a man travelling

in a car, but there were no details on the identity of the man, and

the Israeli army said it was investigating the report.

Missile strikes

Three Palestinians were killed in an earlier air strike on a car in

the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said.

The killings raised the death toll in Israeli attacks on Friday to

13. At least nine civilians were among the dead, according to

Palestinian officials.

In the first of the day's missile strikes, a Palestinian from the PRC

who was preparing to fire rockets into southern Israel, was wounded,

Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

The committees said the rockets were being fired in retaliation for

Israel's killing overnight of Samhadana.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09714776.htm

Hamas calls off truce with Israel after 10 die

09 Jun 2006 21:01:19 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, June 9 (Reuters) - Islamic militant group Hamas called off a

16-month-old truce with Israel on Friday after attacks blamed on

Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children

playing on a beach.

Israel's army, which had been shelling northern Gaza to curb rocket

fire by militants, said it was investigating the deaths.

Hamas, in charge of the Palestinian government, threatened to renew

attacks on the Jewish state. The group, sworn to destroying Israel,

carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in an uprising before agreeing

to cease fire early in 2005.

Renewed violence could bury Western hopes of pressuring Hamas to

soften its stand. But a senior official from President Mahmoud

Abbas's Fatah said he still planned to go ahead with a referendum on

a statehood proposal implicitly recognising Israel. Hamas rejects it.

"The Israeli massacres represent a direct opening battle," Hamas's

armed wing said in a statement echoed by its political leaders.

"The earthquake in the Zionist cities will resume and the herds of

occupiers have no choice but to prepare the coffins or the departing

luggage."

There was no immediate comment on Hamas's announcement from Israel,

or from Abbas, locked in a power struggle with the Islamists.

Palestinian officials said Israeli air strikes and artillery fire

killed 10 Palestinians in Gaza, the highest Palestinian toll in a

single day since 2004. Seven people, including five from the same

family, were killed in what Palestinian officials said was Israeli

shellfire from boats on to a crowded beach.

Among the dead were three children, aged 1, 3 and 10. Their sister,

who had been swimming, survived. Twenty people were wounded. Covered

in blood, children screamed as adults carried the wounded and dead

from the sand.

Israel regularly shells parts of the northern Gaza Strip used by

militants to fire rockets over the border. The army said it had

suspended all shelling and begun an investigation. A commander said

he regretted any civilian deaths.

ARMY INVESTIGATING

"We did not fire into a place where there were innocents,"

Major-General Yoav Galant told reporters. "We are exploring two

possibilities, a wrongly aimed artillery shell or an independent

incident we were not involved in."

He did not say who else might have been behind the deaths.

In a separate incident, an Israeli air strike killed three men that

the army said it believed had just fired rockets into Israel.

Palestinians said the men were civilians.

Militants had stepped up rocket fire from Gaza on Friday following

Israel's killing on Thursday of senior militant Abu Samhadana, who

had also been appointed by Hamas as a top security commander.

Abbas called the deaths on the beach "a bloody massacre" and declared

three days of mourning.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, also a Hamas leader and a political

opponent of Abbas, called the deaths a "war crime" and urged Jordan

and Egypt, both mediators in past Israeli-Palestinian talks, to

intervene.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri confirmed the militant group would

renew its attacks.

"I believe that amid the continued bloodshed of our people and the

horrific images of massacres, there is no place for silence," Abu

Zuhri said.

The bloodshed on Friday added to tensions after Haniyeh made a

last-minute appeal to Abbas to abandon a referendum on a statehood

proposal that has been rejected by the Islamist group.

Abbas was expected to issue a decree on Saturday that would allow a

referendum by July 31, setting a date for a showdown with Hamas.

"Any more delay will only lead to increased Israeli-Palestinian and

Palestinian-Palestinian bloodshed," said the senior official from

Abbas's Fatah. Haniyeh said a referendum had "no legal and

constitutional basis".

The proposed manifesto implicitly recognises Israel by calling for a

Palestinian state on all of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West

Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel

withdrew from the Gaza Strip last year.

Jennifer Loewenstein
amadea311@earthlink.net
Stay up to date: Write to have your name added to the mailing list.

Have you asked yourself how is it possible that you, a well informed and educated citizen, can be ignorant of what is being done in your name, with your money? Why have you never read anything by these journalists and commentators in the newspapers and magazines you read? Why have you not heard about this on your radio or TV?

	Jennifer Loewenstein Archive
	EXCERPT: Islamic militant group Hamas called off a 16-month-old truce with Israel on Friday after attacks blamed on Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children playing on a beach. Here we go... [There are 2 articles in this message. The second one deals with the Hamas truce.] http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7EE8AA2D-A035-4F94-93C7-2944FEEA0F5A.htm Israeli artillery fire kills Palestinians Friday 09 June 2006 Israeli artillery shells have struck a group of Palestinian civilians at a beach in Bait Lahiya in northern Gaza, killing seven people, including three children, and wounding 36 others, Aljazeera reports. The artillery shells were fired on Friday by Israeli gunboats stationed just off the Mediterranean coast. The dead and the wounded Palestinians were having a picnic on the beach as it was the weekly holiday, Aljazeera's correspondent Wael al-Dahduh said. The barrage scattered body parts along the seaside. A tent was destroyed, and bloody sheets were scattered about. A crowd quickly flocked to the are, screaming and running around in confusion. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, called the attack "a bloody massacre" and urged the international community, including the US, Europe and the Security Council, to intervene. Palestinian medical sources said five of those killed at the beach were members of the Ghali family from Gaza. Children aged one, three and 10 died alongside their parents, Ali and Raisa. The wounded were transferred to three hospitals - al-Shifaa in Gaza City, Kamal Adwan in Jabaliya refugee camp and al-Awda in Bait Lahiya, al-Dahduh said. Israeli response The Israeli army said it determined aircraft and gunboats had not fired the artillery that struck the picnic, but that ground forces might have been the source. It said military chief Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz ordered a halt in artillery attacks in the area while an investigation continued. "We regret any harm caused to innocent civilians," said Captain Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman. He said Israel offered medical assistance, including evacuation to hospitals in Israel, to the wounded. The Israeli army initially said its ships had fired shells at fighters who launched rockets after Israel's killing of Jamal Abu Samhadana, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), on Thursday. Dallal said the army does not know "for certainty" if the shells were fired by Israel, and he said the military "deeply regretted" any civilian deaths. Also on Friday, Aljazeera's correspondent al-Dahduh said, an Israeli missile attack on Salaheddin Street in the centre of Gaza left several Palestinians injured, after a series of Israeli strikes and shellings killed nine people. Palestinian officials said the street attack killed a man travelling in a car, but there were no details on the identity of the man, and the Israeli army said it was investigating the report. Missile strikes Three Palestinians were killed in an earlier air strike on a car in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said. The killings raised the death toll in Israeli attacks on Friday to 13. At least nine civilians were among the dead, according to Palestinian officials. In the first of the day's missile strikes, a Palestinian from the PRC who was preparing to fire rockets into southern Israel, was wounded, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. The committees said the rockets were being fired in retaliation for Israel's killing overnight of Samhadana. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09714776.htm Hamas calls off truce with Israel after 10 die 09 Jun 2006 21:01:19 GMT Source: Reuters By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, June 9 (Reuters) - Islamic militant group Hamas called off a 16-month-old truce with Israel on Friday after attacks blamed on Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children playing on a beach. Israel's army, which had been shelling northern Gaza to curb rocket fire by militants, said it was investigating the deaths. Hamas, in charge of the Palestinian government, threatened to renew attacks on the Jewish state. The group, sworn to destroying Israel, carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in an uprising before agreeing to cease fire early in 2005. Renewed violence could bury Western hopes of pressuring Hamas to soften its stand. But a senior official from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah said he still planned to go ahead with a referendum on a statehood proposal implicitly recognising Israel. Hamas rejects it. "The Israeli massacres represent a direct opening battle," Hamas's armed wing said in a statement echoed by its political leaders. "The earthquake in the Zionist cities will resume and the herds of occupiers have no choice but to prepare the coffins or the departing luggage." There was no immediate comment on Hamas's announcement from Israel, or from Abbas, locked in a power struggle with the Islamists. Palestinian officials said Israeli air strikes and artillery fire killed 10 Palestinians in Gaza, the highest Palestinian toll in a single day since 2004. Seven people, including five from the same family, were killed in what Palestinian officials said was Israeli shellfire from boats on to a crowded beach. Among the dead were three children, aged 1, 3 and 10. Their sister, who had been swimming, survived. Twenty people were wounded. Covered in blood, children screamed as adults carried the wounded and dead from the sand. Israel regularly shells parts of the northern Gaza Strip used by militants to fire rockets over the border. The army said it had suspended all shelling and begun an investigation. A commander said he regretted any civilian deaths. ARMY INVESTIGATING "We did not fire into a place where there were innocents," Major-General Yoav Galant told reporters. "We are exploring two possibilities, a wrongly aimed artillery shell or an independent incident we were not involved in." He did not say who else might have been behind the deaths. In a separate incident, an Israeli air strike killed three men that the army said it believed had just fired rockets into Israel. Palestinians said the men were civilians. Militants had stepped up rocket fire from Gaza on Friday following Israel's killing on Thursday of senior militant Abu Samhadana, who had also been appointed by Hamas as a top security commander. Abbas called the deaths on the beach "a bloody massacre" and declared three days of mourning. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, also a Hamas leader and a political opponent of Abbas, called the deaths a "war crime" and urged Jordan and Egypt, both mediators in past Israeli-Palestinian talks, to intervene. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri confirmed the militant group would renew its attacks. "I believe that amid the continued bloodshed of our people and the horrific images of massacres, there is no place for silence," Abu Zuhri said. The bloodshed on Friday added to tensions after Haniyeh made a last-minute appeal to Abbas to abandon a referendum on a statehood proposal that has been rejected by the Islamist group. Abbas was expected to issue a decree on Saturday that would allow a referendum by July 31, setting a date for a showdown with Hamas. "Any more delay will only lead to increased Israeli-Palestinian and Palestinian-Palestinian bloodshed," said the senior official from Abbas's Fatah. Haniyeh said a referendum had "no legal and constitutional basis". The proposed manifesto implicitly recognises Israel by calling for a Palestinian state on all of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip last year. Jennifer Loewenstein amadea311@earthlink.net Stay up to date: Write to have your name added to the mailing list. Have you asked yourself how is it possible that you, a well informed and educated citizen, can be ignorant of what is being done in your name, with your money? Why have you never read anything by these journalists and commentators in the newspapers and magazines you read? Why have you not heard about this on your radio or TV?