Widening its five-day campaign against Palestinian militants, Israel for the first time fired artillery shells into the Gaza Strip yesterday and shut down 15 West Bank offices suspected of distributing money to families of suicide bombers from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
Israeli aircraft also fired missiles at several Gaza targets, knocking out power in Gaza City for most of the night, damaging several buildings and destroying an overpass, but there were no injuries. In the West Bank, Israel rounded up 24 suspected militants, bringing the number of people arrested since the weekend to more than 400.
In other developments, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and an Israeli Cabinet minister said yesterday that Israel could withdraw from some parts of the West Bank and annex others to its territory if peace efforts remain bogged down. The comments by adviser Eyal Arad and Cabinet Minister Tzahi Hanegbi on Israel Army Radio marked the first time two confidants of the prime minister talked in public about the idea of additional unilateral moves by Israel, after the Gaza pullout that was completed in the middle of this month. Sharon's office said it remained committed to a negotiated peace deal with the Palestinians.
PHOTO: AP
The Israeli strikes were triggered by weekend rocket fire from Gaza at Israeli border towns. Since then, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have announced they would halt attacks, but Israel said it would press ahead with the campaign, including targeted killings of militant leaders. On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened Hamas leaders Mahmoud Zahar and Ismail Hanieh by name, saying they could be the next targets.
Israel says the strong reaction is necessary to show that new rules are in place following its withdrawal from Gaza, after a 38-year occupation, and that attacks from the area won't be tolerated.
"Terrorism must be rooted out," Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Israel Radio yesterday.
However, Israel also appears to be seizing an opportunity to deliver a major blow to Hamas, which had been largely off-limits after it agreed in February to abide by an informal truce. Israel has repeatedly demanded that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas disarm Hamas, but Abbas has chosen to co-opt the militants instead.
Hamas charged that Israel is also trying to weaken the group politically before the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January. Among those rounded up in recent days were dozens of Hamas candidates for parliament and local councils. Hamas is expected to make a strong showing in the parliamentary vote and in a new round of local elections -- the third of four -- to be held in more than 100 towns and villages today.
In a new phase of Israel's offensive, troops closed down 15 offices, including charities linked to local mosques, across the West Bank yesterday, the military said. Israel said money for the families of suicide bombers and militants jailed by Israel was distributed through these offices.
The military activity came after various Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the ruling Fatah movement, renewed their commitment to a ceasefire, although they also said they reserved the right to retaliate for perceived Israeli truce violations. As the militants were meeting, a rocket landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, causing no damage or injuries, the army said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
Captain Yael Hartmann, a spokeswoman for the Israeli army, called the militants' pledges "meaningless" and said the open-ended military operation would continue.
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS