Gaza truce shaken as four Qassams slam into west Negev

[oberliner]

Four Qassam rockets fired from Gaza struck Sderot and the surrounding area Tuesday afternoon, further imperiling a brittle truce declared six days ago.

One of the rockets struck a vacant house in Sderot and two others hit the city. A fourth rocket exploded in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.

Two people was lightly wounded in the barrage, and two others were treated for shock.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Qassam salvo. Gaza's Hamas rulers issued a statement saying that they were still committed to the cease-fire with Israel, despite the small militant group's obvious violation of its terms.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/995738.html

[sabbat hunter]

1. If Hamas

Wants to be taken seriously as a government, they need to go after Islamic Jihad and get those responsible for the attack.

[Vegasaurus]

3. Will they? Can they? nt

[Sezu]

4. About as much chance as Allah coming down

to earth and ordering a bacon cheeseburger.

[Scurrilous]

2. Islamic Jihad vows to retaliate upon Israel for killing of its commander

<snip>

"Armed wing of Islamic Jihad movement on Tuesday vowed to retaliate for the killing of one of its commanders by Israeli forces in the West Bank.

Abu Hamza, a spokesman for al-Quds Brigades, said the Gaza ceasefire "became in the windward" and that the Islamic Jihad militants will "respond immediately in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to the death of Tarek Abu Ghali."

Abu Ghali, 25, and a university student, were killed early Tuesday after the Israeli forces surrounded a house in Nablus city in a bid to arrest the commander.

The incident came on the sixth day of six-month ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire only applies in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and is designated to extend to the West Bank in advanced phases."

<snip>

"On Monday, a Palestinian farmer was seriously injured by Israeli gunfire as he worked in his land near security fence that separates Gaza and Israel in Beit Lahiya town in northern Gaza Strip.

The incident was the first serious breach of the lull in Gaza."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/24/content_8431378.htm

[Scurrilous]

5. Mideast Quartet Calls For Full Respect For Gaza Truce

<snip>

"The Middle East Quartet of U.S. Russia, E.U. and the U.N., Tuesday called on Israel and the Palestinian militant outfit Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to fully respect the Egyptian-brokered truce that came into effect Thursday.

In a statement issued after a meeting following the one-day donor conference of 41 Western nations in Berlin, the Quartet gave its unstinted support for Egyptian efforts to restore normalcy in Gaza and southern Israel and urged "the calm be respected in full and expressed the hope that it would endure."

It also called on both Israelis and Palestinians to fulfill all of their obligations under the "road map" plan for peace. Additionally, it urged Israel to freeze all settlement activities and asked the Palestinians to spare no effort to fight terrorism.

It also stressed on the need for "more visible progress on the ground" in the peace talks between the leaders of the two sides, to build forward confidence and push the ongoing negotiations towards creating the necessary conditions for a viable Palestinian state to become a reality.

The Quartet also expressed its support for guaranteeing uninterrupted fuel supply to Gaza and in resuming stalled U.N. and other donor projects there at the earliest."

more

[pelsar]

6. hamas wont stop kassams....

israeli radio today.... quoting hamas spokesman

[sabbat hunter]

7. What kind of truce is that

if Hamas won't stop the Kassams?

[Vegasaurus]

8. It's called a truce that benefits Hamas and the Palestinians

(they get food and fuel, and recognition that Hamas is an actual negotiating power), but don't have to hold up their end of the bargain,

Pretty good deal for them!!!!