Israel Resumes Targeted Assassinations, More On Ami Kronfeld, Avnery On Israeli Public Opinion

September 25, 2005

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Today's Contents

After Fiery Weekend, IDF Resumes Targeted Kills (Ha'aretz) Weekend of violence reminds us the occupation continues

[JPN Commentary: High-profile violence is once again on the rise between Israel and the Palestinians. It's important to keep in mind that while Israeli air strikes and Palestinian Qassam rocket fire grab attention, the daily violence of occupation (confrontations at checkpoints, arrests, attempts at suicide bombings, closures, harassment of civilians by soldiers and settlers, and the omnipresent disruption of Palestinian life by the ever-growing wall) continues virtually unabated. In this case, Islamic Jihad and Hamas has been firing missiles from Gaza into Egypt, and Israel has resumed its policy of targeted assassinations and is massing its forces on the Gaza border. Both sides, as usual, call their actions retaliation for actions of the other side. the rhetoric is really meaningless. Both sides are simply doing what they always do--look for reasons to engage in the violence they believe will further their goals. What is more important is the predictable hand-wringing over this escalation in the wake of the Gaza withdrawal. This is the next act in the play. After making sure the world was aware of the "great trauma" of the Gaza withdrawal, Israel will now move on to show that even if they withdraw from Gaza, nothing will satisfy the Palestinians except the destruction of Israel. This point depends on Israel's ability to convince people that Gaza is no longer under occupation, and Ariel Sharon has spared no effort to convince the world of that point. Reality is, of course, quite different. Two points need to be clear if we are to understand the continuing violence in the wake of Israel's pullback from the Gaza Strip. First, we must be clear that the occupation of Gaza has changed, it has not ended. Not only is Israel exercising the "right" it reserved to execute military operations in Gaza, but it maintains control over Gaza's airspace and coastline, as well as most of the border crossings. Under international pressure, Israel did relent and allow the Palestinians, in cooperation with Egypt, control of the Rafah crossing. Gazans have much more freedom of movement within the Strip, and can use the Rafah crossing. This last, however, is still under discussion and, as was seen this weekend when the Palestinians closed the border after Israeli insistence, is not totally free of Israeli involvement by any means. Of greater importance for the future is the flaw in the basic premise under which the hand-wringers are working. That is the notion that some reduction in the breadth and scope of the Israeli occupation will lead to a proportional reduction in Palestinian militant activity. The Palestinians of Gaza do not consider themselves as somehow separate from the Palestinians of the West Bank, nor vice versa. Particularly after the experience of the Oslo years (1993-2000) which saw an unprecedented explosion in the growth of settlements (the settler population increased in these years from 116,400 to 242,313, according to the Foundation for Middle East Peace), only visible progress toward an end of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and a clear signal from Israel that issues like Jerusalem and refugees will be settled by sincere negotiations can be expected to bring about such a result. Another point that needs to be made is that the explosion in Gaza that caused the closure of the Rafah crossing and which Hamas used as their excuse to launch rocket attacks into Israel was apparently, according to Palestinian sources, caused by the mishandling of explosives. That these explosives were even present at a rally where they put many civilians at risk and where they, in the event, killed some 15 people, including several children. It is events like these, which are all too common with military and para-military groups, that demonstrate the bankruptcy of violence. -- MP]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/628624.html The Israel Defense Forces carried out three air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, killing four members of Hamas and injuring nine other people. The attacks signaled Israel's return to a policy of assassinating Palestinian militants in Gaza and followed a barrage of Qassam rockets Hamas fired at Israel in the first attack since the disengagement. At a meeting with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, heads of the defense establishment also decided to amass forces along the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground operation. The IDF attacks followed a barrage of Qassam rockets into Israel, which Hamas said were in response to a blast at a Hamas rally in Jabalya refugee camp on Friday, in which 16 were killed, including eight civilians and four children, and 80 injured. Hamas initially blamed Israel for the explosion, but the Palestinian Authority and some Hamas officials later said the blast was caused by mishandling of explosives in a Hamas vehicle at the rally. At about 5 A.M. yesterday, the air force bombed munition warehouses in the Jabalya, Tel al-Hawa and Zeitun areas, lightly injuring three Palestinians. At about 11 A.M., the air force attacked Qassam launchers in the Beit Hanun area, but apparently missed. Close to 4 P.M. yesterday, IAF jets launched an air strike at two vehicles in Gaza's Zeitun quarter, killing four men. The IDF said one of the vehicles had been carrying weapons and the other was carrying Hamas members. An eye witness said a group of children had been playing nearby at the time of the strike on the vehicles and it appeared that some of them were wounded. Palestinian sources said those killed were Hamas activists who were delivering rockets to the launching teams. Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri promised retaliation for the air strikes. Intelligence sources told Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday the blast at Jabalya refugee camp was likely the result of a "work accident," the explosions may have been set off when two pickup trucks carrying masked militants and laden with weapons blew up. The PA said the explosion was caused by Hamas "mishandling explosives." However, Hamas held news conferences blaming Israel and said the rockets were dummies that did not contain explosives. Hamas reported that three of its militants were killed in the explosions, including As'ad Rian, the brother of Nizar Rian, a senior member of the group's political wing. The group said "thousands of eye witnesses saw" that an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle fired missiles into the rally and that Israeli helicopters were seen over Gaza during the march. Israeli sources said the helicopters were there following Islamic Jihad's Qassam firing a few hours earlier, and did not shoot any missiles at the rally participants. The IDF denied the army's involvement in firing into the rally. Three Qassam rockets fired at Sderot on Friday, landing in an open field and causing no injuries. Twenty-one of the Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev town of Sderot, wounding six Israelis, one moderately and the others lightly, the army said. Six others were treated for shock. Islamic Jihad took responsibility for Friday's attack, claiming it was in retaliation for the killing of three Islamic Jihad leaders in Tul Karm earlier in the day. Early Friday, police officers from an elite anti-terror unit entered a village near Tul Karm in search of Jihad activists suspected of being involved in the suicide bombings at Tel Aviv's Stage club and Hasharon shopping center. The wanted men fled into an open area outside the village, where the police shot two of them them dead. The third was found and killed nearby.

[JPN Commentary: In our tribute to our dear and departed editor, Amichai Kronfeld last week, the following personal reminiscence was accidentally omitted. If you missed the full piece, you can see it by clicking here. --MP]

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