Al Qaeda-linked group claims responsibility for deadly Israel attack

Palestinian mourners carry the body of one of the two Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli air strike on north Gaza during their funeral on June 18, 2012. / GettyImages

(AP) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A shadowy group claiming ties to al Qaeda said Tuesday that it carried out a deadly cross-border attack in Israel, the strongest evidence to date to back Israeli claims that the global terror network is operating on its doorstep.

While the claim of responsibility, made in a video obtained by The Associated Press in the Gaza Strip, could not be independently verified, it was accompanied by a separate statement with additional details on the attack posted on a website affiliated with al Qaeda.

Israel blames Hamas for all violence from Gaza. Following Monday's attack, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on militant targets in Gaza, drawing retaliatory rocket fire.

Late Tuesday, a rocket hit a house in an Israeli village near Gaza, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Rescue services said three people were hurt.

Three Palestinians were killed in violence Tuesday.

An Islamic Jihad militant told The Associated Press late Tuesday night that a cease-fire with Israel, mediated by Egypt, was in effect. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. Israel had no immediate comment.

In Monday's attack, two gunmen infiltrated Israel from Egypt's Sinai desert, killing a civilian worker who was part of a team building a border fence to prevent such attacks. The two gunmen were later killed by Israeli forces.

The short video said the attack was carried out by the Mujahedeen Shura Council of Jerusalem, a murky group that was formed in April.

It identifies two men, one Egyptian and one Saudi, as the perpetrators of Monday's attack. "Soon we will carry out a double suicide mission against the enemy troops on the Egyptian border with occupy Palestine today, Monday, June 18," said the Saudi man.

Later Tuesday, the group issued a statement on an al Qaeda-linked website saying the men targeted an Israeli patrol with a bomb, anti-tank rockets and gunfire. It said the attack was dedicated to "Sheik Mujhahid Osama bin Laden," the al Qaeda founder who was assassinated by U.S. troops last year.

The Israeli military declined comment on the latest claims. Military officials have been warning for more than a year that al Qaeda is operating in the area.

Israeli officials believe the group has taken advantage of the power vacuum in the Sinai since the ouster of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year.

On Tuesday Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, toured the area of the infiltration and said his forces are dealing with the situation.

"The more significant issue is what is happening inside Sinai, the dispatch areas, the terror bases that are expanding and growing there. Egypt must exercise its sovereignty in Sinai," he said.

Israeli officials also believe al Qaeda and other "global jihad" elements have infiltrated the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which lies between Israel and the Sinai.

Hamas denies al Qaeda is operating in Gaza. The two militant groups have far different ideologies. Hamas says its struggle is focused solely against Israel, while al Qaeda claims to be fighting a holy war against the West.

Two Palestinian men in Gaza were killed early Tuesday in an airstrike, which Israel said was in response to rocket fire. In all, at least 45 rockets fell on southern Israel Tuesday, Rosenfeld said.

Late Tuesday, Gaza health official Adham Abu Salmia said an explosion in a house killed a child and injured 3 others.

Gaza officials initially blamed Israel, but residents there said apparently a rocket fired by militants at Israel fell short and hit the house.

The flare-up in violence is the most serious in months, and has threatened an informal cease-fire that has largely held for the past three years. Hamas, which has mostly stayed out of violence, claimed responsibility for some of the rocket fire.

In another development Tuesday, vandals torched and scrawled graffiti on a Palestinian mosque in the West Bank, Israeli security officials said. Suspicion fell on radical Jewish settlers angry over the looming demolition of an unsanctioned settler enclave.

By July 1, the government has committed to destroying 30 apartments built illegally on privately owned Palestinian land. Radical settlers routinely attack Palestinian targets in retaliation for government settlement policy they oppose.

The Hebrew-language graffiti spray-painted on the mosque in Kfar Jabaa read, "Ulpana War" and "Price Tag," the names of the outpost and the settler retaliation campaign.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and said authorities would act swiftly to bring the vandals to justice. "This is an act of intolerant and irresponsible lawbreakers," he said.

Police said no suspects had been arrested.

Israeli construction on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state is at the heart of the current peacemaking deadlock.

[cbs_tom]

LONDON, June 20 (KUNA) -- A Muslim couple were assembling components of a home-made bomb to attack Jewish neighbourhoods after becoming radicalised by al Qaida propaganda on the internet, a court heard Wednesday.
ST .LOUIS, MO (KTVI) - Two St. Louis area men said they have received death threats from Iran and they are taking those threats seriously. The said a fatwa, or religious decree, has been put on their heads.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York man pleaded guilty on Monday to terrorism charges for helping the militant group al Qaeda.

Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) -- A militant Islamist group claimed responsibility Monday for bombings the day before that the Nigerian Red Cross said left 50 people dead at three Christian churches in Nigeria.

This is how the religion of peace proselytizes.

[mrsleiman]

Hamas winks at the international community

The article written by the head of the Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh in the British newspaper The Guardian raises a great interest in the Palestinian arena. the Haniyeh article asserts that the Palestinians do not want to further bloodshed, but want to achieve justice and freedom for the Palestinian people, who have suffered from decades of repression, stressing that security for the Palestinians is in the interest of all peoples of the Middle East.The article sparked anger of many in Fatah, the political opponent of Hamas. First, the article is said to be an attempt to make contact with the Western world in order to gain legitimacy for Hamas in the international arena. Secondly, Hamas did not publish the article in its website, suggesting that it was written solely for propaganda reasons. Thirdly, Fatah expressed doubts over the credibility of its content.A source from the Fatah movement, in a call with Nuqudy.com, expressed surprise about the Haniyeh article, saying that its contents demonstrated "trickery and cunning." Regarding Haniyeh's claim that Hamas is not interested in shedding more blood, and is only interested in gaining justice and rights for the Palestinians, the source said: "There have been attempts to reach a settlement over the past 25 years, but Haniyeh and his partners prevented any possibility of progress. How can Haniyeh say now he is for a just peace, security, and stability?"The source added that there is open fear that Hamas is trying to take over the PLO through the word of reconciliation and that Haniyeh's Guardian article has no basis in truth at all. It is this spirit of reconciliation attempts by serious or not explicit.Haniyeh does not speak in his article about the non-recognition of Israel or of anything Hamas has to offer in the political process. He is not talking about the border, but writing trivial slogans that are no longer of any benefit to the Palestinian cause.

[roadracer9x]

Naturally CBS will show a picture of 'poor' Palestinians killed being taken to a funeral. What about the Israeli civilian whose death and the wounding of two others sparked the violence? What CBS, no sympathy for the first victims? No pictures of their funerals for the world to see that they had grieving families too. Shame CBS, more of the hypocrisy and double standard of your newsroom.

[earth5695]

You forgot to mention the BBC and the European news media who have been twisting the news for 30 years.

[chirpwood]

The last sentence of the article states as fact that the main roadblock to peace is Israeli construction of settlements. The real reason there is no peace is the same as has been since at least the 1920's. That reason is the bigoted Arab position that accepts no Jewish ( or anyone else) control of any 'Arab' land. 'Arab land of course being defined as any area on Earth that was ever conquered by a Muslim. There was no Israeli control of the west bank until 1968. Yet no Palestinian would consider peace for 1948 until 1968. It's not just Jews who get murdered by the religion of peace. Christians are getting driven out of Muslim controlled lands as well.

[earth5695]

indigenarojo,

I'm not a fan of the settlers but history did not start with them.

Back in 1967 and also during Carters administration and also Clintons Israel was ready to give back 96.7 of the land and the rest as negotiable in future negotiations.

Te Palestinians said NO in 1967 in Karthoum and again said No when Clinton was shocked by Arafat.

Even liberals in Israel are tired of negotiating with those who have no interest in at least accepting the nation of Israel to this day.

How is one supposed to make peace with someone who wants you dead.

I blame the liberal media for formenting this debacle since they have for 3 decades buried the facts and reality on the ground. .