Beit-Sahour Blog

Israeli air force gun ships shelled, in the early hours of Friday morning, a bridge in the center of Gaza city partially destroying the bridge damaging the water system in the area, Palestinian sources reported. Israeli aircrafts also fired at least one missile at an athletic center in Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City causing serious damage to the games hall.
The attack came shortly after the ruling Hamas movement has finished a rally in the soccer pitch at the center.

These attacks came after Israeli military chiefs ordered an escalation of attacks against Palestinians in the aftermath of a suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian man near the settlement of Qadumim, in the northern West Bank, killing at least three Israeli settlers.

Late on Thursday night, Israeli war ships shelled a residential area in the northern Gaza Strip claiming that Palestinian resistance uses this area to launch home-made shells at Israeli targets.

No injuries were reported after the attack, but residents said children were treated for shock, after the explosion caused by the missiles.

Israeli minister of Defense, Shaul Mofaz ordered senior army officers and the Shin Bet security service to step up targeted assassinations of Islamic Jihad activists who claimed responsibility for the firing of home-made shells this week from the Gaza Strip.

The vehicle blew up around 21:45 while it was close Qadumim gas station; Israeli soldiers closed that area directly after the attack.

According to the Israeli online daily, Haaretz, a new armed wing of Fateh calling itself Hammouda Shtewi Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group identified the bomber as Ahmad Mahmoud Masharqa, 24, from the West Bank city of Hebron.  

Haaretz added that the three Israeli had apparently picked up the suicide bomber, who was likely dressed as an observant Jew, as he was hitchhiking on the road, he then detonated the explosives in their car.

The Israeli police believe that the three Israelis killed in the attack are two women and one man, while the fourth is the bomber.

It is not clear if the bomber got in the car at the entrance of the settlement or rode with the Israelis from another area.

After the attack, the Israeli Prime Minister office blamed the Palestinian Authority (P.A) for the attack and accused it of doing nothing to prevent the attacks.

Office spokesperson, David Baker, charged that the Palestinian controlled areas are ground for attacks since the P.A is not conducting any efforts regarding this issue.

The last bombing carried against Israeli targets took place in December 29, 2005, at an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank; one soldier, two Palestinians and the bomber were killed in the attack.

Hamas formally took power yesterday, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swearing in 24 cabinet ministers, including 14 who had served time in Israeli prisons.  Within hours, Canada cut off aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. Other nations are expected to follow.
 
With Hamas at the helm, the Palestinian government faces a crippling international economic boycott. It may run into trouble next week when some 140,000 government employees expect their March salaries.

The Palestinian Authority gets much of its annual budget -- $2.2 billion Cdn -- from overseas. Without money from the Arab world, Europe and the United States, it would be nearly broke.

Yesterday's swearing-in came just a day after Israel's election and drew clear lines of confrontation. Hamas says it will not soften its violent platform and Israel's victorious Kadima party says if that's the case, Israel will set the borders of a Palestinian state itself, without negotiations, and keep large areas of the West Bank.

Israeli officials said it is unlikely acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will negotiate directly with the moderate Abbas as long as Hamas refuses to change. Abbas, leader of the defeated Fatah party, was elected separately and has considerable power.

Israel suspended tens of millions of dollars in monthly tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority after the Hamas victory, and Israeli Foreign Ministry representative Mark Regev said the Israeli cabinet would decide on additional sanctions next week.

The cabinet ministers took their oath in two ceremonies, held simultaneously in the West Bank and Gaza because Israel bans the travel of Hamas leaders between the two territories.

First sworn in was Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who later said at a news conference his government would co-operate with Abbas. He reiterated Hamas won't negotiate with Israel under the current terms, but if Abbas wants to go ahead with peace talks, "it's his prerogative and we have no problem with that."

Abbas then held a separate news conference and said the new government "knows what is required" of it, including dealing with Israel.

*this article was reprinted from the London Free Times

As the Hamas party formally took power with the swearing-in of its 24-member cabinet on Wednesday evening, the US government banned its diplomats from having any contact with the Hamas-led cabinet as it was sworn in by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

In a directive distributed to diplomats and other officials by email, the American government instructed them not to have contacts with Hamas-appointed government ministers, whether they are members of the group or not, according to American officials. The no-contact policy, which took effect just before 6 p.m. Jerusalem time, applies equally of to those who work for the ministers but are not Hamas members, such as independents and technocrats in the new government. The United States hopes to pressure Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce its armed struggle. Hamas officials have called on the United States to reconsider its policy of "collective punishment" of the Palestinian people for their democratic choice. The group's leaders have also said that Israel has not yet recognized Palestinian rights nor abided by peace accords that should have afforded Palestinians a state.

The order took effect in Ramallah at 6pm (1600 GMT), when Hamas formally took power with the swearing-in of its 24-member cabinet.

The ceremony came the day after a general election in Israel that looks set to bring a Kadima-led coalition to power. The party, founded at the end of last year by Ariel Sharon, has vowed to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank if an agreement cannot be reached with the Palestinians.

After the win, the Kadima leader, Ehud Olmert, reiterated his intention to proceed with that plan. Israeli officials have ruled out new talks unless Hamas changes its ways.

US diplomats would still be allowed to contact Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his personal staff, but America is trying to either sideline Hamas or force it to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by peace accords.

The group, which won Palestinian elections in January, is considered a terrorist organization by the US.

Hamas Parliament Member Mushir Masri said the group would not abandon its armed struggle if Olmert pursued his plan to unilaterally draw the Israeli borders with the West Bank.

He accused the Kadima leader of trying to gain international approval for his one-sided moves by presenting his plan as a fallback to failed negotiations.

"I think proposing negotiations along with the unilateral plan is only to make the plan pass and market it to the world," Masri told the Associated Press.

Ismail Haniyeh, the new Palestinian Prime Minister, said yesterday that unilateral moves by Israel "definitely won't be accepted by the Palestinian people or the Palestinian government".

Israeli online daily Ynetnews reported that one person was seriously wounded from an explosion, apparently caused by gas leakage, which took place on Thursday morning in a multi-story building in Nisenbaum street in the Neveh Shaanan neighborhood in Haifa. Another 24 people were injured in the explosion, including two who suffered moderate wounds and the others were lightly injured by glass shrapnel.


The Ynetnews added that three children, a two-year-old toddler, and a three-month-old baby are among the injured.

The explosion took place at 7:15 in the building’s sixth floor; the floor totally collapsed and the seventh floor partially collapsed.

Furniture and rubble were scattered on the street, and cars parked near the building were damaged.

Haifa police Deputy Chief, Ahuva Tomer, told the Ynetnews that an initial investigation reveals that the explosion was caused by an accident.

The firefighter devision in Haifa reported that the explosion was caused by gas leakage at one of the apartments, the leakage was caused by a rip in a gas pipe or because the gas tap was left opened.

A special team formed by the commander of the Haifa firefighter division to probe the circumstances of the explosion.

According to a report by the Israeli police, residents of the building said they smelled gas, but it appears that   none of the residents reported this to the authorities.