Sarge Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Go ahead Israel. You've had war declared on you, so you can now legitimately wipe out the rat nest. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-04-10T164703Z_01_L10465704_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml&rpc=22 By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Israel suspended formal security ties to the Palestinian government on Monday in what Hamas said amounted to "a declaration of war". European Union foreign ministers added to U.S. and Israeli pressure on the Islamic militant group by approving a temporary halt in direct EU aid to the new government. Thousands of Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza, protesting Western aid cuts and a spike in Israeli military strikes since election victor Hamas took control of the Palestinian Authority in late March. An Israeli shell killed a young Palestinian girl and injured 12 others, including five children, when it hit a house in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said. Israel says the shelling in Gaza is meant to combat rocket attacks by militants. Avi Dichter, a top adviser to interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told Israel radio that a ground assault of Gaza could not be ruled out. "We have done it in the past and can do so in the present," said Dichter, who may be appointed to a senior security post in Olmert's new cabinet. In statements issued in quick succession on Monday, President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas denounced Israel for branding the Palestinian Authority a "hostile entity". Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement in Gaza that Israel's decision to sever contacts with the Palestinian Authority constituted "a declaration of war and a failed attempt to cause internal divisions among Palestinians". In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas said Israel's position "completely violates the agreements we have signed with them and violates international law". "We demand from this Israeli government to stop such measures", said Abbas, whose Fatah faction was crushed by Hamas in an election in January. Having ruled out contacts with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, the Israeli army moved on Monday to suspend remaining security coordination. At a joint coordination office near the West Bank city of Jericho, Palestinian Colonel Khaled Ziyar and his men piled their belongings on to a pick-up truck and turned keys to the facility over to the Israelis. Before they drove away, the Palestinian officers took down posters of Abbas and a Palestinian flag. The Jericho district coordination office, located on the outskirts of Jericho, was the last security facility to be manned by both Israelis and Palestinians. In other parts of the West Bank, cooperation was done by telephone. As part of its new policy, Israel blocked Brigadier General Ala Hosni, who heads the Gaza police, and several other officials from moving between Gaza and the West Bank. Many Palestinians who lined up to get travel permits at civil administration offices in the West Bank were turned away, witnesses said. Hamas officials said Israel's decision -- and newly announced cuts in direct Western aid to the Palestinian Authority -- amounted to collective punishment of the Palestinian people. "This is an injustice, and we call on the European countries to reconsider their decision," Ahmed Bahar, deputy speaker of the Hamas-led Palestinian parliament, told a rally in Gaza. At an earlier protest, Palestinian children threw eggs at U.N. offices in Gaza. Hamas is sworn to destroy Israel but has largely abided by a year-old ceasefire that other militant groups have ignored. Israel and the United States have vowed not to deal with Hamas unless it recognizes the Jewish state's right to exist, renounces violence and accepts interim peace deals. Hamas says talks with Israel would be futile. Israel has halted the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, but it said it would allow the funds to be used to pay the authority's debts to Israeli utilities. (Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah; Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Adam Entous in Jerusalem) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenaa Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 "Hamas officials said Israel's decision -- and newly announced cuts in direct Western aid to the Palestinian Authority -- amounted to collective punishment of the Palestinian people." They need to be punished for electing this joke of a government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Hint to Palestenians: Don't like the world treating you like terrorists? Stop electing them to be your officially designated spokesmen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Follow-up note to Hamas: A) Are you folks actually whining to the press about a nation that you've declared war on is virtually declaring war on you? Israel can't be declaring war on you, because Israel isn't a country (according to you). (Never mind that according to the rest of the world, Israel is a country, and you aren't.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Follow-up note to Hamas: A) Are you folks actually whining to the press about a nation that you've declared war on is virtually declaring war on you? Israel can't be declaring war on you, because Israel isn't a country (according to you). (Never mind that according to the rest of the world, Israel is a country, and you aren't.) wow.. thats a tough argument there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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