Armored Vehicles Mass at Gaza BorderAha! We finally got to "war crime and state terror." As for the reoccupation of Gaza: "Whatever it takes" is my bit of unnecessary advice to the Israelis.
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
JEBALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip - Armored vehicles massed on Gaza's border Friday after Israel's security Cabinet approved a large-scale military operation — dubbed "Days of Penitence" — to stop Palestinian rocket fire....
The Cabinet approved the offensive late Thursday, at the end of a day of heavy fighting between troops and Palestinian gunmen in the Jebaliya refugee camp, the Palestinians' largest and most densely populated.
In bloodshed Friday, five Palestinians were killed and at least 22 were wounded in fighting in the camp. The army said troops fired at one group of militants planting explosives and another setting up a rocket launcher....
On Friday, fighting erupted in Jebaliya and nearby towns. In separate incidents, Israeli troops fired two tanks shells and a missile from an aircraft at a group of militants attempting to launch a rocket....
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the security Cabinet he was determined to stop the rocket fire. Israeli officials said the operation would be open-ended.
"What can we do," a participant quoted Sharon as saying. "The Jews, too, have a right to live."...
On Friday morning, some 200 tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers assembled along Israel's border north and east of Gaza. Troops were setting up makeshift camps, apparently in preparation for an extended operation. Some officers were going over maps....
Militants have been stepping up attacks on Israelis in recent months in hopes of portraying Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 as a retreat under fire. The army has been pounding the militants in intensifying strikes to deny them such claims.
Mofaz, the defense minister, said that when Israel withdraws, it will not be under fire....
Palestinian militants have fired hundreds of rockets and mortar shells at Gaza settlements and Israeli border towns since 2000. Most attacks caused damage and minor injuries.
There have been two deadly strikes, including Wednesday's hit on the border town of Sderot that killed two children playing on the sidewalk in a quiet neighborhood at the onset of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot....
"No government can tolerate the continuation of ... missiles falling on the heads of the civilian population," [Israeli government spokesman Gideon Meir] said.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat denounced the Israeli raid as "a war crime and state terror," and said he feared all of Gaza would soon be reoccupied.
Palestinians want their land to be recognized as a sovereign nation? Not as long as they persist in terror attacks on Israel.
Why not have a summit? That would be John Kerry's solution, despite the fact that a summit would simply be a ploy on the part of Arab terrorists (1) to make themselves look legitimate in the gullible eyes of world opinion and (2) to buy time in which to rearm and regroup.
