Gaza Crossing Suicide Bomb Attack

[Nagishkaw 510]

(GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip) — A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated a truck loaded with explosives as he tried to ram a crucial crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel early Thursday, a spokesman for the militant Islamic Jihad said. No one else was wounded.

The explosion, which could be heard miles away, came as a Gaza's Hamas rulers reported that the latest Egyptian efforts to pry a truce from Israel and Gaza militants had failed.

The Islamic Jihad spokesman, who called himself Abu Ahmad, said the 23-year-old militant drove a pickup truck filled with four tons of explosives toward the Erez crossing in northern Gaza.

He described the attack as a "successful martyrdom operation" that was meant to "send a message" to Israel that if it doesn't accept a truce "Gaza is not going to be a place where you will enjoy stability."

The truck exploded on the Gaza side of the border, blowing a hole in a pedestrian passageway leading out of the terminal and into Gaza. No pedestrians were at the crossing at the time because it was early, and the Israeli military said no soldiers were wounded. The explosion shattered windows in Netiv Haasara, an Israeli community across the border.

Shortly after the attack, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a nearby jeep similar to the kind often used militants and the security forces of Hamas, a Hamas security official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not yet been officially released. There were no casualties in the missile strike, he said.

The Erez crossing will be closed until the damage can be repaired, said Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner. Erez is the main crossing point for international aid workers and Palestinians traveling to Israel for medical treatment, he said, and thus "the main victims of this attack are the Palestinians themselves."

Israel's army regularly clashes with Gaza gunmen who fire rockets at Israeli towns and attack troops along the border. The crossings, which militants see as hated symbols of Israeli authority, are frequent targets.

Since June 2007, when Hamas came to power, Israel and Egypt have kept the Gaza crossings closed to everything but humanitarian aid in an attempt to weaken the group. The sanctions have been tightened in response to the ongoing rocket fire.

The attack on Erez came as a Hamas delegation was returning to Gaza from Egypt after holding cease-fire talks. Hamas officials said Thursday that the round of talks failed, and blamed Israel for not accepting a proposed six-month truce. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the group had yet to make an official statement.

Israel claims that Hamas would only use a lull in fighting to rearm, strengthen its rule and prepare for another round of fighting, and Hamas officials acknowledge that is one of their goals.

In a separate incident Thursday morning, a 62-year-old Palestinian civilian was shot and killed in central Gaza, according to Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Gaza Health Ministry. Islamic Jihad said there was fighting with Israeli troops in the area, but the army had no immediate comment and the circumstances of the man's death remained unclear.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8...1808481,00.html

[Ban Hammer 13,644]

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Ban Hammer 13,644]

please stand by, wom will be by soon to give you the hamas approved version of this story.

[SaadBell 0]

Not sure how you can defend that act, but I do have to say, whoever gets these guys to load themselves with explosives and kill themselves with innocent people, is one hell of a sale man. The story itself is a little hard to swallow, now go and kill yourself and tons of others and you will have a bunch of hottie virgins. You gotta be kidding me, and some of these men are educated, I stand in awe of the person that can talk another person into that kind of a situation. Priceless.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Very informative, she is.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

As usual, you can glean additional info by scanning Israeli news -- they usually have at least a few details that are regularly *not* included in the versions intended for American mass consumption:

Last update - 15:41 22/05/2008

Suicide bomber blows up truck at Erez crossing on Gaza border

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff , Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters

A Palestinian bomber blew up an explosives-laden truck on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing on the Israel-Gaza Strip border early Thursday morning. The driver was the only casualty in the attempted attack.

A spokesman for Islamic Jihad said his group carried out the attempted attack in cooperation with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's more secular Fatah faction. Jihad described it as a successful martyrdom operation.

Several hours later, Israel Defense Forces troops opened fire into a crowd of protesters at another border passage, killing a 22-year-old man and wounding 16, including three children, a Gaza health official said. The military said it was looking into the report.

No IDF soldiers were hurt in the attempted attack on the Erez crossing. The explosion shattered windows in Netiv Ha'asara, an Israeli community near the border.

The truck may have exploded on the Palestinian side due to a technical failure. As it approached the border, other militants fired mortar shells at the crossing. The explosion ripped a hole in a pedestrian passageway leading out of the Erez terminal and into Gaza, but no pedestrians were there because it was still early.

Shortly after the explosion, the Israel Air Force attacked a vehicle carrying several Palestinians that were apparently connected to the attempted attack. The IDF said two militants were killed in the strike, but Islamic Jihad said the men had managed to leap from their vehicle before it was struck.

Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad's armed wing, said the truck was carrying four tons of explosives. He identified the suicide bomber as 23-year-old Ibrahim Nasser from Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip. The group released a video of Nasser, a young bearded man in uniform, smiling as he brandished a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the vehicle was driven by a suicide bomber under cover of heavy early morning fog and that he was accompanied by gunmen.

"In terms of the amount of explosives used, Thursday's attack was the biggest since Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza nearly three years ago," IDF spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said. She could not confirm the militants' claim that the truck carried four tons of explosives.

Residents in the Gaza Strip who live over 30 km (20 miles) from the crossing reported hearing the blast.

Israel's Channel 10 television said troops had prevented the truck from getting close to the crossing by firing at it before it exploded.

Thursday's incident was one in a string of recent Palestinian militant attacks on Israeli crossings on the Gaza border. Last month, on the eve of Passover, Hamas gunmen wounded 13 Israeli soldiers in a well-coordinated assault by explosives-laden vehicles against the Kerem Shalom crossing.

One week prior, Gaza militants killed two Israeli civilian workers at the Nahal Oz crossing's fuel depot.

Israel has heavily restricted the movement of Palestinian people and goods through its border crossings with Gaza since Hamas seized the territory from Fatah in fighting last June.

"Israel must not let such attacks halt the flow of goods into Gaza," said John Ging, the Gaza director of the UN organization in charge of Palestinian refugees. "If you hand the agenda over to the extremists, then they are very happy about it. If it only takes one rocket to derail everything, then that's massive power," Ging said.

In Egyptian-mediated talks on a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups, Hamas has demanded the crossings be re-opened in return for a cessation of violence.

"Resistance is strong and we are not begging for calm," Abu Ahmed said after the attack.

Separately, but at the time of the bombing, IDF troops raided a village in the central Gaza Strip and shot dead a 63-year-old man, medical workers and Hamas said.

An IDF spokesman had no immediate information on the incident. Israel frequently carries out raids and air strikes in the Gaza Strip as part of what it describes as efforts to curb Qassam rocket fire at Negev towns.

The attack on Erez came as a Hamas delegation was returning to Gaza from Egypt after holding cease-fire talks. Hamas officials said Thursday that the round of talks failed, and blamed Israel for not accepting a proposed six-month truce. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the group had yet to make an official statement.

Israel charges that Hamas would only use a lull to rearm. Hamas officials have openly said this is their goal.

Abu Ahmad, the Islamic Jihad spokesman, said Thursday's bombing was meant to send a message to Israel that if it didn't "accept a truce, Gaza is not going to be a place where you will enjoy stability."

Hmmmmmmm. Why in the world would Abbas' group (backed by the U.S. and, for the moment, Israel) try to create a reason to scuttle any possible agreement with Hamas ?

[Nagishkaw 510]

As usual, you can glean additional info by scanning Israeli news -- they usually have at least a few details that are regularly *not* included in the versions intended for American mass consumption:

Last update - 15:41 22/05/2008

Suicide bomber blows up truck at Erez crossing on Gaza border

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff , Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters

A Palestinian bomber blew up an explosives-laden truck on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing on the Israel-Gaza Strip border early Thursday morning. The driver was the only casualty in the attempted attack.

A spokesman for Islamic Jihad said his group carried out the attempted attack in cooperation with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's more secular Fatah faction. Jihad described it as a successful martyrdom operation.

Several hours later, Israel Defense Forces troops opened fire into a crowd of protesters at another border passage, killing a 22-year-old man and wounding 16, including three children, a Gaza health official said. The military said it was looking into the report.

No IDF soldiers were hurt in the attempted attack on the Erez crossing. The explosion shattered windows in Netiv Ha'asara, an Israeli community near the border.

The truck may have exploded on the Palestinian side due to a technical failure. As it approached the border, other militants fired mortar shells at the crossing. The explosion ripped a hole in a pedestrian passageway leading out of the Erez terminal and into Gaza, but no pedestrians were there because it was still early.

Shortly after the explosion, the Israel Air Force attacked a vehicle carrying several Palestinians that were apparently connected to the attempted attack. The IDF said two militants were killed in the strike, but Islamic Jihad said the men had managed to leap from their vehicle before it was struck.

Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad's armed wing, said the truck was carrying four tons of explosives. He identified the suicide bomber as 23-year-old Ibrahim Nasser from Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip. The group released a video of Nasser, a young bearded man in uniform, smiling as he brandished a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the vehicle was driven by a suicide bomber under cover of heavy early morning fog and that he was accompanied by gunmen.

"In terms of the amount of explosives used, Thursday's attack was the biggest since Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza nearly three years ago," IDF spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said. She could not confirm the militants' claim that the truck carried four tons of explosives.

Residents in the Gaza Strip who live over 30 km (20 miles) from the crossing reported hearing the blast.

Israel's Channel 10 television said troops had prevented the truck from getting close to the crossing by firing at it before it exploded.

Thursday's incident was one in a string of recent Palestinian militant attacks on Israeli crossings on the Gaza border. Last month, on the eve of Passover, Hamas gunmen wounded 13 Israeli soldiers in a well-coordinated assault by explosives-laden vehicles against the Kerem Shalom crossing.

One week prior, Gaza militants killed two Israeli civilian workers at the Nahal Oz crossing's fuel depot.

Israel has heavily restricted the movement of Palestinian people and goods through its border crossings with Gaza since Hamas seized the territory from Fatah in fighting last June.

"Israel must not let such attacks halt the flow of goods into Gaza," said John Ging, the Gaza director of the UN organization in charge of Palestinian refugees. "If you hand the agenda over to the extremists, then they are very happy about it. If it only takes one rocket to derail everything, then that's massive power," Ging said.

In Egyptian-mediated talks on a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups, Hamas has demanded the crossings be re-opened in return for a cessation of violence.

"Resistance is strong and we are not begging for calm," Abu Ahmed said after the attack.

Separately, but at the time of the bombing, IDF troops raided a village in the central Gaza Strip and shot dead a 63-year-old man, medical workers and Hamas said.

An IDF spokesman had no immediate information on the incident. Israel frequently carries out raids and air strikes in the Gaza Strip as part of what it describes as efforts to curb Qassam rocket fire at Negev towns.

The attack on Erez came as a Hamas delegation was returning to Gaza from Egypt after holding cease-fire talks. Hamas officials said Thursday that the round of talks failed, and blamed Israel for not accepting a proposed six-month truce. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the group had yet to make an official statement.

Israel charges that Hamas would only use a lull to rearm. Hamas officials have openly said this is their goal.

Abu Ahmad, the Islamic Jihad spokesman, said Thursday's bombing was meant to send a message to Israel that if it didn't "accept a truce, Gaza is not going to be a place where you will enjoy stability."

Hmmmmmmm. Why in the world would Abbas' group (backed by the U.S. and, for the moment, Israel) try to create a reason to scuttle any possible agreement with Hamas ?

That is certainly one way of putting things into perspective.

[mawilson 2,133]

As usual, you can glean additional info by scanning Israeli news -- they usually have at least a few details that are regularly *not* included in the versions intended for American mass consumption:

The truck may have exploded on the Palestinian side due to a technical failure.

Yep - that's what happened. The engine just blew out.

[Ban Hammer 13,644]

As usual, you can glean additional info by scanning Israeli news -- they usually have at least a few details that are regularly *not* included in the versions intended for American mass consumption:

The truck may have exploded on the Palestinian side due to a technical failure.

Yep - that's what happened. The engine just blew out.

i thought the most interesting part was this........

Israel charges that Hamas would only use a lull to rearm. Hamas officials have openly said this is their goal.

[GaryC 7]

please stand by, wom will be by soon to give you the hamas approved version of this story.

You called that one right Charles.

[Ban Hammer 13,644]

please stand by, wom will be by soon to give you the hamas approved version of this story.

You called that one right Charles.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

please stand by, wom will be by soon to give you the hamas approved version of this story.

You called that one right Charles.

sad

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

please stand by, wom will be by soon to give you the hamas approved version of this story.

You called that one right Charles.

The article from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz is the "Hamas-approved version of the story" ?

Interesting.

Edited May 22, 2008 by wife_of_mahmoud

[mawilson 2,133]

The article from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz is the "Hamas-approved version of the story" ?

Interesting.

I'm sure Hamas loves Haaretz - they are about as leftie as a newspaper can get.