co-written by: Ahmad Jaradat
An Israeli SWAT team killed two
Palestinians in a village near the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday. Israel
claims the two were members of the Islamic Jihad, butWest Bank sources and
local residents have said the men belonged tothe Al-Aksa Martyr Brigades. This
killing was part of an ongoing Israeli operation to arrest and assassinate
members of Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which has intensified this week. One of the
conditions of the ceasefire agreement negotiated between Israeli and
Palestinian officials in February was that Israel stops its offensive attacks
against members of resistance groups. Islamic Jihad and Hamas have returned to
violent resistance in recent weeks in what they say is a response to Israeli
violations of that agreement. Israeli officials contend that inaction by the
Palestinian Authority to rein in the groups leave them with no choice but to
crackdown on the Palestinian militant groups themselves.
Despite great efforts by an Egyptian
delegation to reconcile tensions between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,
the two returned to fighting Monday night in northern Gaza. The PA warned Hamas
and Islamic Jihad that it will retaliate against any action that would hamper
Israel’s plans to withdraw from Gaza, including suicide attacks and Kassam
rockets. Monday night’s fighting began when Hamas gunmen returned from firing
anti-tank missiles at Israeli forces stationed outside Gaza and Palestinian
security forces came to arrest them. Tensions have always existed between Hamas
and the PA, but hostilities between them turned into violence last Thursday.
The fighting resulted in the deaths of two Palestinian bystanders and the
wounding of dozens of both Hamas gunmen and PA security forces.
Beginning last Thursday, Israeli
troops enacted closures at Gaza checkpoints, preventing many Palestinians from
returning to their homes in Gaza or moving about their daily activities for
hours. A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli fire on Monday at
the Gush Katif checkpoint in Gaza while he was trying to cross the checkpoint by
foot. An Israeli army spokesperson insisted that Israeli soldiers fired
‘warning shots’ when cars and people began to move through the checkpoint.
The curfew in Tulkarm was lifted today, although Israeli
officials have stated that the city will remain a closed military area. The
return of the city to the hands of the Palestinian security forces remains
unlikely.
co-written by: Ahmad Jaradat<\/b><\/p>
An Israeli SWAT team killed two\nPalestinians in a village near the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday. Israel\nclaims the two were members of the Islamic Jihad, butWest Bank sources and\nlocal residents have said the men belonged tothe Al-Aksa Martyr Brigades. This\nkilling was part of an ongoing Israeli operation to arrest and assassinate\nmembers of Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which has intensified this week. One of the\nconditions of the ceasefire agreement negotiated between Israeli and\nPalestinian officials in February was that Israel stops its offensive attacks\nagainst members of resistance groups. Islamic Jihad and Hamas have returned to\nviolent resistance in recent weeks in what they say is a response to Israeli\nviolations of that agreement. Israeli officials contend that inaction by the\nPalestinian Authority to rein in the groups leave them with no choice but to\ncrackdown on the Palestinian militant groups themselves.<\/p>
Despite great efforts by an Egyptian\ndelegation to reconcile tensions between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,\nthe two returned to fighting Monday night in northern Gaza. The PA warned Hamas\nand Islamic Jihad that it will retaliate against any action that would hamper\nIsrael\u2019s plans to withdraw from Gaza, including suicide attacks and Kassam\nrockets. Monday night\u2019s fighting began when Hamas gunmen returned from firing\nanti-tank missiles at Israeli forces stationed outside Gaza and Palestinian\nsecurity forces came to arrest them. Tensions have always existed between Hamas\nand the PA, but hostilities between them turned into violence last Thursday.\nThe fighting resulted in the deaths of two Palestinian bystanders and the\nwounding of dozens of both Hamas gunmen and PA security forces.<\/p>
Beginning last Thursday, Israeli\ntroops enacted closures at Gaza checkpoints, preventing many Palestinians from\nreturning to their homes in Gaza or moving about their daily activities for\nhours. A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli fire on Monday at\nthe Gush Katif checkpoint in Gaza while he was trying to cross the checkpoint by\nfoot. An Israeli army spokesperson insisted that Israeli soldiers fired\n\u2018warning shots\u2019 when cars and people began to move through the checkpoint.<\/p>
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>
The curfew in Tulkarm was lifted today, although Israeli\nofficials have stated that the city will remain a closed military area. The\nreturn of the city to the hands of the Palestinian security forces remains\nunlikely.<\/p>\n”,”class”:””}]}[/content-builder]
Posted By AIC 2005 Fellow
Posted Oct 6th, 2015