Middle East News
Israeli airstrike kills top Hamas militant in Gaza (1st Lead)
Jan 3, 2009, 10:56 GMT
A Israeli father and his son look the smoke rising following an Israeli Air Force strike in Gaza, at the Gaza- Israel border, 03 January 2009. Israel killed a top Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip, early 03 January morning as aircraft continued to pound the salient on the eight day of attacks against the Islamist movement. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
Tel Aviv/Gaza - Israel killed a top Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip early Saturday morning as aircraft continued to pound the salient on the eighth day of attacks against the Islamist movement.
Zakaria al-Jamal, the third senior Hamas leader to be killed in the Israeli assault, was hit when planes attacked the vehicle in which he was driving.
The Israeli military said in a statement that Jamal was a battalion commander in the Hamas military wing, and the head of the movement's rocket-launching squads in Gaza City.
The Israeli military said that the air force had carried out over 25 attacks overnight and Saturday morning.
Targets hit included a college, which the military statement said had been used as a rocket-launching base, and the homes of two Hamas militants. One home had been used as a weapons depot and the other as a meeting place to plan attacks, the statement said.
Four Palestinians - three militants and a civilian - were killed in the attacks.
Reports from the Gaza Strip also said Israeli aircraft attacked two bridges in the centre of the salient, making movement between the south of the enclave and Gaza City, in the north, harder.
Gaza militants, for their part, continued to launch rockets and mortar shells at Israel, with around 10 attacks reported by midday Saturday.
One long-range Grad missile hit a building in the port city of Ashdod, lightly injuring two people and causing damage to the building.
Another rocket fired earlier Saturday morning struck a house in the coastal city of Ashkelon, sparking a fire in the building's yard. No injuries were reported.
Israel launched its 'Operation Cast Lead' one week ago, in response to a week of heavy rocket barrages on the Jewish state out of the Gaza Strip following the end of a nervous six-month truce between Israel and Hamas leaders in the salient.
Some 437 Palestinians, the majority militants, have been killed in the hundreds of Israeli strikes, and around 2,300 wounded.
The approximately 450 Palestinian rockets and mortars launched since the start of the operation have resulted in four Israelis killed, three of them civilians, and dozens more wounded.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
There are no more 'innocent civilians' anyhere in the world since the
end of WWII. EVERYONE IS A TARGET AMD EQUALLY GUILTY. The only
'winners' from this orgy of destruction ate the RUSSIANS and IRANIS
through the rise of OIL prices!!! BOMBS-ROCKETS-ISRAELIS-PALESTINIANS-FIGHTING=MORE PROFIT FOR RUSSIA/IRAN AND THEIR ECONOMIES THAT PRODUCE NOTHING BUT FASCISM!!!
Islam is on a fast track to be outlawed and condemned World wide as one big terrorist organization. Islam has to lay down its weapons to stop the spilling of blood. Peace or pieces its Islams choice, choose wisely. Of the 1200 religions world wide Islam is the only one aquiring weapons of mass destruction.
'Of the 1200 religions world wide Islam is the only one aquiring weapons of mass destruction.'
Religions do not acquire WMDs, people do.
And the people that have the most WMDs are the christians in the United States.
To state otherwise is sheer folly.
No one really gives a rats ass whether hamas and assoc. are taken out. They are the guilty party this time. They are the ones that started sending rockets into israel first.
lance again you speak volumes of shit.
'They are the ones that started sending rockets into israel first.'
The United States bombed the shit out of Iraq without any provocation on the part of Iraq. The U.S. not only made first strike, they actually bombed and killed PREEMPTIVELY, as a matter of explicit policy. And what did Iraq do? Nothing. Not a single bomb from Iraq was ever launched to the U.S. let alone hit the U.S.
So, should the U.S. be 'taken out'?
'lance again you speak volumes of shit.'
Yes, yes. I know: The U.S. is a christian nation found on christian values with christians in the majority and a christian as president and command in chief of its military.
Until someone mentions the stockpiles of WMDs that the U.S. has and then the U.S. is a secular nation and only devil worshipers are violent.
Right. (wink, wink).
The devil made me do it!!
The Gaza strip of land where 1.5 million Palestinians leave has been blockaded for the last 18 months, the situation was at a critical level of humanitarian disaster, there was no food, no water, no electricity, no medicine, nothing.
The Palestinians had obeyed the cease fire agreement and THERE WERE NO ROCKETS COMING OUT OF GAZA.
But after the last six months in which Israel did not lift its total embargo of Gaza 90% of the population ended up living below the absolute poverty line, the Palestinians started firing rockets again and managed to kill 4 Israelis.
The rest is there for everyone to see.
Even President Bush here and now knows the truth and tells it this Saturday morning............Even the American media knows the truth and cannot refute it. The Palestinian people erred profusely in allowing the Hamas party to even field any candidates to run for leadership positions in Palestine. Now, they are stuck with them. They are lunatics and should have concentrated on building up Palestine's infrastructure and human needs programs LONG before accepting rocket shipments from Syria. Now thay have lots and lots of terrific Qassam rockets (that none of them can aim properly) and an angry Israeli population muscled up and ready to pounce on the remaining Hamas. They'll probably get 'real close' to Hamas' political gang-leader by I'd say around Wednesday of next week and finish off the centerpiece of this conflict. Abbas should rise up this very week and call for his deportation to Syria. I think this would probably save hundreds more lives and if Abbas does not do this by then, the Israeli D.F. will root him out, kill (Hamas' ring leader) him and then, unfortunately, there will be innocent people killed in that process.
Up to now though, why hasn't the media (CNN and NBC and MSNBC) told the truth about the current casualties being mostly Hamas militants and NOT innocent Palestinian citizens????????????? Since when is Yellow Journalism any good for the public??????????????
...I might be optimistic here gut given the targets hit, and Lance no WMD's have been used, I suspect Israel has been building a target list for a very long time. They seem to be cherry-picking these terrorists pretty well.
One reason is because these Hamas guys were under the misguided notion that they were legitimate leaders and moved into legitimate quarters, allowing for this targeting over a protracted period of time. Intel, slowly gathered and vetted, and just put on the magic map, for the day they need it.
By the way, Lance, technically, by your twisted, useless measurement, the orthodox Russians have the most WMD's of any nation on earth. You'd know this if you were not one of this generation with more IT than any previous generation, but who actually reads less.
Now, run along and for gods sakes, finish that dissertation on how Bush broke the bank of England.
lance, stick a lance up your ass.
The great nation of Israel is fighting with a giant army of barbarians armed to the teeth with WMDS.
The battle is historic and epic, the vast armies of the barbarians with their overwhelming firepower that blocks the sun on the sky is hell bend to invade the historic land of Israel and destroy all those people who have been living there for thousands of years.
But do not worry, the heroic army of Israel managed to surround 1.5 millions of this army into a small strip of land, they are now hiding with in buildings and streets, but it won’t help them, they will be destroyed, all foreign invaders to this historic land will be exterminated to the last one. Even if they have WMDS and are armed with the most powerful and latest weapons in the world, the heroes of Israel with self sacrifice will destroy them all.
A historic victory against all odds is approaching, the epic struggle of the Israel army and people against their almighty enemies will go down in history as the most heroic and brave battle of all time, fortunately with the help of the USA and the blind eye of the UN and the EU, the brave and heroes of Israel will prevail against all odds, and throw out in the middle of the night all these invaders and barbarians to rot and eventually die in the desert!
I think you forgot to read the article. It says the Israelis are kicking their asses, capping the leadership, one by one. Better go have another look and inform yourself.
'the orthodox Russians have the most WMD's of any nation on earth'
Actually, the orthodox Russians, who are christians, have the SECOND most WMDs of any nation on earth.
Add the christian nations of Russia and the U.S. together and they both have about all of the WMDs every manufactured on Earth in the entire history of the human race.
And, of course, historically speaking: the U.S. and Germany (both christian nations) are the nations that actually USED WMDs the most.
Muslim nations pale in comparison to the WMD might of the christian nations.
Ah, here we go, a nice reference:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I
88,498 killed by WMDs
1,240,853 wounded by WMDs
All christian nations, christian on christian. No muslims involved. This was the first great WMD war and WMD wars were invented by christians.
Landce,
And your point is? So what if they are powerful. That just means they can kick their enemies asses quicker.
page: 1
Civilian casualtiesJan 3rd, 2009 - 11:34:40
The civilian casualties in Gaza, like those in Israel, are entirely a direct consequence of Hamas terrorism. If there was no Hamas terrorism, there would be no nead for Israeli military operations. Israel would not waste soldiers' lives, or citizens' finance and resources if they were not under constant threat. So long as Islam wants to destroy all non-Muslims, this situation will continue.
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