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September 7 - 10
- SECURITY
- Fourteen Terrorists Killed in IAF Strike on Gaza
- Troops Foil Suicide Attack after Finding Bomb Belt
- Car Bomb Explodes Near Green Line Checkpoint - IDF Raids Terror Infrastructure in Gaza
- Soldier, Arab-Israeli Worker Lightly Wounded Near Gadid
- 4 Qassams Hit the Negev as IDF Raid on Qassam Infrastructure Continues
- COUNTER-TERRORISM FENCE
- New Fence Route to Be Presented to U.S. and Cabinet
- Ariel, Ma'ale Edumim and Gush Etzion to Remain Inside Security Fence
- DIPLOMACY
- U.S. Envoy Travels to Israel to Discuss Iran's Nuclear Program
- RUSSIAN SCHOOL TERROR ATTACK
- Beslan Siege Victims to Be Flown to Israel for Treatment
- DISENGAGEMENT PLAN
- Minister of Justice Warns Against Incitement to Civil War
- KIDNAPPED SOLDIERS
- Families of Soldiers Kidnapped by Hezbollah to Sue UN
- ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN COOPERATION
- Israeli Lions Find New Home in Palestinian Zoo
SECURITY Fourteen Terrorists Killed in IAF Strike on Gaza
Tuesday, September 7, 2004Fourteen Hamas members were killed today following an Israel Air Force strike on their training facility near the Jebalya refugee camp, MA'ARIV reported. The Israel Defense Forces said the terrorists were being trained in setting off explosive devices, launching rockets, and infiltrating into Israeli communities and military posts. The IDF added senior Hamas members involved in deadly terror attacks against Israel had been carrying out the training.
The targeted terrorists were doing terror exercises on a soccer field named after former Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin when the IAF attack took place. The attack comes a week after Hamas claimed responsibility for the double suicide bombing in Be'er Sheva in which 16 people were killed.
Troops Foil Suicide Attack after Finding Bomb Belt
Tuesday, September 7, 2004A suicide bombing apparently intended for central Israel was prevented today when a bomb belt was discovered in a house near the West Bank town of Nablus, HA'ARETZ reported. The 20-pound belt was discovered in a village north of Nablus, close to the Jewish town of Homesh. After receiving intelligence information, IDF troops managed to locate the belt, and sappers safely detonated it.
Early today, Palestinian gunmen fired several Qassam rockets and four mortar shells at Jewish towns in the Gaza Strip and the Western Negev town of Sderot. One of the Qassams slammed into an area near the entrance of Sderot, lightly injuring a man in his 60s. Another Qassam landed near a school in the southern town.
Meanwhile, the Haifa District Court sentenced today an Umm al-Fahm resident to 20 years in prison for conspiring with terror organizations to carry out attacks in Israel. Ziad Jabarin, 37, was convicted of aiding Bilal Walid Ali, who plotted to carry out a suicide bombing. Jabarin drove Ali, who was wearing an explosive belt, to a restaurant in the northern town of Karkur, two and a half years ago.
Car Bomb Explodes Near Green Line Checkpoint - IDF Raids Terror Infrastructure in Gaza
Wednesday, September 8, 2004A booby-trapped car exploded this afternoon at the Baka al-Sharkiyeh checkpoint, near the Green Line border with the West Bank, HA'ARETZ reported. The Palestinian driver of the car was killed in the blast, but no Israeli security forces stationed in the vicinity were wounded. Defense officials believe that the Tanzim is responsible for the aborted attack. The checkpoint is located some 100 meters from where the West Bank counter-terrorism fence currently under construction.
In other news, large numbers of Israel Defense Forces troops entered the Gaza Strip in a two-pronged counter-terror operation this morning. The IDF took up positions in two areas of the Strip, close to Khan Yunis in the south, and near Beit Hanun and the Jabalya refugee camp in the north. Infantry and armored forces, backed up by cover fire provided by Israel Air Force helicopter, poured into the region overnight, advancing to their deepest position in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the operation, two rockets were fired from Gaza at around noon today, landing in a community in the Western Negev. Earlier in the day, three Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev, hitting an open field. There were no injuries in either incident.
Soldier, Arab-Israeli Worker Lightly Wounded Near Gadid
Thursday, September 9, 2004An Israel Defense Forces soldier and an Arab-Israeli man were lightly wounded this morning in two attacks on Gadid, a Jewish community located in Gaza's Gush Katif block, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The soldier was lightly wounded when shots were fired at an IDF post near the community. The Arab-Israeli man was working near a storeroom in Gadid when a mortar shell landed nearby. The man was lightly wounded from shrapnel and the storeroom was damaged.
On Wednesday, several mortars were fired at Israeli communities in Gush Katif, one hitting a house directly. A woman was treated for shock and the house was damaged. Also this morning, a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in an open area outside the west Negev town of Sderot.
IDF troops continued their operations in the northern Gaza Strip today in a concentrated attempt to put a stop to Qassam rocket and mortar shell attacks on Israeli communities. Five Palestinian gunmen were reportedly hit in gun battles with IDF soldiers in the Jabaliya refugee camp, in north Gaza.
4 Qassams Hit the Negev as IDF Raid on Qassam Infrastructure Continues
Friday, September 10, 2004Four Qassam rockets fell in the western Negev today as Israel Defense Forces' operations in the northern Gaza Strip aimed at ending the rocket strikes on southern Israel entered their third day, HA'ARETZ reported. Three Israelis were treated for shock following the rocket strikes. A Hamas member was killed and four others wounded today during the raid in the Jabalya refugee camp, near Gaza City, when IDF troops returned fire at terrorists shooting at them.
An IDF soldier was moderately wounded by a Palestinian sniper in the camp. The soldier was hit in the shoulder and taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
Early today, soldiers found a bag containing 10 kilograms of explosives in the village of Tubas, north of the West Bank city of Nablus. IDF troops arrested a Palestinian man identified as Ibrahim Abu Zabu, who carried the bomb in a taxi. Soldiers began chasing the taxi after it tried to evade a roadblock.
COUNTER-TERRORISM FENCE New Fence Route to Be Presented to U.S. and Cabinet
Tuesday, September 7, 2004Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to bring the corrected route of the security fence to the government after it is presented to the U.S. administration, HA'ARETZ reported. The new route of the counter-terrorists fence runs much closer to the Green Line and leaves most Jewish towns of the West Bank outside of its limits. The route of the fence was changed in the wake of the June 30th decision by Israel's High Court of Justice rejecting a lengthy part of the fence project northwest of Jerusalem because of the way it infringed on Palestinian rights.
The defense establishment decided to redraft the entire fence, from Elkana in the center of the country all the way to the Judean desert in the south, according to the court's ruling. That new route will be presented Wednesday to the defense minister and prime minister. After they approve it, Dov Weisglass, the prime minister's advisor, will take the new route to the White House to seek approval from National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. The project is expected to be completed by mid-2005.
Ariel, Ma'ale Edumim and Gush Etzion to Remain Inside Security Fence
Wednesday, September 8, 2004Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced this afternoon that the cities of Ariel and Ma'ale Edumim, and the large Jewish towns bloc of Gush Etzion were to remain within the security fence's route, MA'ARIV reported. In a meeting held with top defense officials including Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz, the prime minister said he wanted the above three areas to remain in Israeli territory. Sharon agreed to changes in the fence's route south of Hebron. The new route will be moved closer to the Green Line, while the settlements that remains outside the fence's limits - Carmel, Maon and Susia - will receive additional security measures. The prime minister noted that the new fence route would to be brought before the Cabinet for approval soon, after all relevant preparations were completed.ity Council as quickly as possible."
DIPLOMACY U.S. Envoy Travels to Israel to Discuss Iran's Nuclear Program
Friday, September 10, 2004Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, the senior U.S. official dealing with Iran's nuclear program, will arrive in Israel this weekend, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. He will hold talks with Israeli official on Sunday to discuss a crucial meeting next week of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
At next week's meeting in Vienna, the IAEA will determine whether Iran is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons and whether the issue should be referred to the UN Security Council - a path of action the U.S. administration favors.
Iran has recently renewed its pledge to suspend activities like uranium enrichment in an attempt to influence the outcome of the IAEA meeting. "Clearly what they're doing is trying to confuse the situation in the run-up to the IAEA meeting," a senior U.S. administration official said. Secretary of State Colin Powell said this week, "Time is passing and this is a matter that should go to the Security Council as quickly as possible."
RUSSIAN SCHOOL TERROR ATTACK Beslan Siege Victims to Be Flown to Israel for Treatment
Wednesday, September 8, 2004Child survivors of last week's terror attack on a Russian school are to be airlifted to Israel for treatment at facilities specializing in such care, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The children and their mothers will be flown to Israel by the Michael Cherney Fund, which was created after the Dolphinarium suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv, which killed 20 teenagers and wounded over 100 in 2001. The Fund also helped the victims of a May 2002 bombing in south Russia, where 10 children were killed and many more wounded.
The official death toll of the three-day siege, which ended in deadly explosions and gunfire, stood at 335 - 156 of whom children - plus 30 attackers.
DISENGAGEMENT PLAN Minister of Justice Warns Against Incitement to Civil War
Friday, September 10, 2004Recent statements by right wing rabbis and settler leaders calling for the use of force to resist the evacuation of settlements are "a threat to Israel's democracy, the well-being of the state and the rule of law," Minister of Justice Yosef (Tommy) Lapid said today, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. "It is unacceptable for people, using the excuses of love for the homeland and religious edicts, to incite to civil war," Lapid said. He warned that the legal establishment would not sit quietly while members of the Right call on soldiers to resist orders to evacuate settlements. Dozens of prominent right-wing hardliners published a petition Thursday calling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza Strip disengagement plan a "crime against humanity" and urged security forces to refuse settlement evacuation orders.
KIDNAPPED SOLDIERS Families of Soldiers Kidnapped by Hezbollah to Sue UN
Thursday, September 9, 2004The families of the three Israel Defense Forces soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah in October 2000 have announced their intention to file a suit against the United Nations and the Hezbollah organization, MA'ARIV reported. Iran, Syria and Lebanon will also be sued in view of their support of the Lebanese terror group. The suit will be filed in a U.S. court by relatives of Beni Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaed, eight months after their bodies were returned to Israel for burial as part of the prisoner swap deal with Hezbollah. "On Sunday, we will hold a press conference at Sokolov House in Tel Aviv, during which we will say all that we have to say". Ya'akov Avitan, father of Adi, said. Since the October 2000 abductions, Israel and the families have expressed outrage over the UN's inability to prevent the kidnappings and respond properly to the event.
ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN COOPERATION Israeli Lions Find New Home in Palestinian Zoo
Tuesday, September 7, 2004Three lions born in Israel were transported Sunday through a separation barrier to a Palestinian zoo in the West Bank, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Animal lovers hope the gift from Israel's safari park to a West Bank zoo will help nurture friendship in troubled times. The male lions - Nabuko, Grass and Gvir - traveled along a 30-kilometer (18-mile) route that few Israelis and Palestinians are allowed to use. Qalqiliya is on the old cease-fire line between Israel and the West Bank, and a high concrete wall separates the town from Israel, protecting a main highway from Palestinian snipers.
The lions came to the zoo in Qalqiliya with an ibex desert goat and two zebras to replace animals that died of tear gas inhalation during a violent demonstration near the zoo years ago. Only two days before the hostilities broke out in September 2000, veterinarians from the two sides completed a deal including the transfer of animals. On Sunday, four years later, they were finally able to carry it out.
