10 Killed As Israel Pounds Hamas Targets

Israel Attacks Hamas Targets From The Air As Palestinian Infighting Slows Some In Gaza Strip

(CBS/AP) 

Israel had remained on the sidelines during the infighting, but security officials said the military had to respond to the rocket attacks on Sderot.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was under intense public pressure to respond to the Hamas barrage, and he visited the town late Thursday to tell residents they shouldn't feel alone, his office said. “I am handling this crisis in order to remove this threat as much as possible,” he was quoted as saying.

During his visit, the rocket alert system sounded, but an official did not know if a rocket hit.

Olmert is fighting for political survival in the face of plummeting popularity and harsh criticism of his handling of last summer's war in Lebanon.

Still, he Olmert probably would be wary of a major ground offensive in Gaza, fearful of another inconclusive effort. Israeli attacks have unified Palestinians in the past.

“It makes Hamas look like it is the one that is under attack from the so-called American-Israeli team within Fatah,” Palestinian analyst Yehia Rabah said.

Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher said intervening would be fraught with risk for Israel. “If the attacks are seen by the Palestinians as being very comprehensive, they will enable Hamas to rally everyone around the cause of opposing Israel,” he said.

Hamas reacted to the airstrikes by loosing a barrage of verbal attacks on Fatah.

Hamas lawmaker Salah Bardawil said Israel and Fatah had a “shared interest in striking at Hamas' strength” and that Fatah was led by a “bunch of mercenaries.”

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said the group's opponents are “pro-Zionist and pro-American elements who are working in a systematic, barbaric pre-planned campaign against Hamas and its elected leadership.”

A Fatah spokesman, Maher Mikdad, said the accusations were “absurd” and were designed to deflect criticism in light of “public discontent and rejection” of Hamas' militant action.

“Israel's interference is only in the interest of Hamas,” he said.

In the biggest Israeli strike of the day a bomb hit a two-story building belonging to Hamas' militia, the Executive Unit, destroying it and several nearby structures. The blast killed a militant and wounded 45 people, including civilians, who were dug out of the rubble by a frantic crowd.

Later, Israeli missiles struck a trailer housing bodyguards of a Hamas official and a car carrying two senior Hamas militants, killing two people.

An Israeli hit on a pickup truck near the southern Gaza town of Rafah killed a father and his two teenage sons. Israel's military said it targeted a rocket squad, but Palestinians said that was apparently a case of mistaken identity after Hamas fired rockets from the area.

Late at night, Israel said it staged an air attack on a member of a Palestinian rocket squad in Gaza City. His condition was not known.

Palestinians said five Israeli tanks moved about 200 yards into northern Gaza, in an area where Israel's troops have operated in the past trying to quell rocket attacks. Israeli media said a few soldiers set up observation posts. The army had no comment.

[xzavierbrown]

its amazing how the liberal media is, again, diverting the attention away from the real cause of this chaos towards an easy target.
Oh well, whatever it takes to make 'chaos' or anything newsworth going..gotta keep those presses running.

[karlimhof]

israel pounds Hamas....supports Fatah

israel pounds Fatah, supports Hamas

israel pounds Hezbollah, supports Hamas & Fatah

gee, look like israel pounds fairly between all parties!

maybe israel would like to see them all pound themselves out of existance....but there are too many millions of palestinians to pound.

well, i guess pounding is better than a 2 state solution - at least that's what israeli neocons think.

[karlimhof]

israeli policy of apartheid in the occupied Palestinian lands since 1967 and their concerted effort to drive Palestinians from all of Palestine since 1947 has given birth to all terror groups;

Fatah, Hamas, Hezbollah, and splinter groups.

By returning what they have stolen to their rightful owners will remove the reason for continued violence and terror.

Americans must now think of their own safety and force the two parties to an agreement based on the 2 state solution.

[kretos-2009]

that news full of *** israel killed civilians .

[krotec54]

Now, We wait for Hezbolla to start their show of support for Hamas.
Then Iran and Syria will protest the strikes from Israel as unfair retaliations.

[feelfree1]

Israel has to be the most cowardly country ever. The only way that Israel bennefits the people of the U.S., is by saving us from being the most contemptable country on the planet.

Not only do Israeli forces have a long chronic policy of using "human shields", but they have pioneered the practice of "targetted" mass-murder from the cofort and safety of an aircraft.

They regularly imprison, torture, and kill innocent women and children, then try to blame the victims for their own misfortune. The Israelis have truly become their own worst oppressors.

If there is one thing that the overwhelming majority of Americans can agree on, it is that the billions upon billions of U.S. tax dollar funded welfare payments made to prop up the failing State of Israel, is a terrible investment.

Supporting the delluded goals of Israeli extremist leaders has cost our country a huge toll in blood, treasure, and dignity.

[feelfree1]

Israel has to be the most cowardly country ever. The only way that Israel bennefits the people of the U.S., is by preventing us from being the most contemptable country on the planet right now.

Not only do Israeli forces have a long standing chronic policy of using "human shields", but they have also pioneered the practice of "targetted" mass-murder from the cofort and safety of an aircraft, or even an unmanned drone.

The Israelis regularly imprison, torture, and kill innocent women and children, then try to blame the victims for their own plight. The Israelis have truly become their own worst oppressors. What a repulsive country.

If there is one thing that the overwhelming majority of Americans can agree on, it is that the billions upon billions of U.S. tax dollar funded welfare payments made to prop up the failing State of Israel, is a terrible investment.

Supporting the delluded goals of Israeli extremist leaders has cost our country a huge toll in blood, treasure, and dignity.

[feelfree1]

Israel has to be the most cowardly country ever. The only way that Israel bennefits the people of the U.S., is by saving us from being the most contemptable country on the planet.

Not only do Israeli forces have a long chronic policy of using "human shields", but they have pioneered the practice of "targetted" mass-murder from the cofort and safety of an aircraft.

They regularly imprison, torture, and kill innocent women and children, then try to blame the victims for their own misfortune. The Israelis have truly become their own worst oppressors.

If there is one thing that the overwhelming majority of Americans can agree on, it is that the billions upon billions of U.S. tax dollar funded welfare payments made to prop up the failing State of Israel, is a terrible investment.

Supporting the delluded goals of Israeli extremist leaders has cost our country a huge toll in blood, treasure, and dignity.

[krotec54]

Now, We wait for Hezbolla to start their show of support for Hamas.
Then Iran and Syria will protest strikes from Israel as unfair retaliations.

[krotec54]

Now, We wait for Hezbolla to start their show of support for Hamas.
Then Iran and Syria will protest strikes from Israel as unfair retaliations.

[randalds]

Israel pulled all of it's citizens from Gaza, making it look like it was a move toward peace, when actually it was just to make sure that they could launch rockets and helicopter attacks there without fear of killing Israelis. In other words they created their version of the same Warsaw ghetto that the Nazi's did to them in WWII. They drew all of the Palestinians in Gaza in one place to make it easier to exterminate them, just like the Nazi's tried to do to them. They learned from the Nazi's and now the world is learning that they are not much different from them.

[one_american]

"If Hamas is targeted by Israel, it wins immediate sympathy from the public and also unites the Palestinians."

Which is exactly why Hamas continues to provoke Israel with indiscriminant missle attacks and suicide bombs - it knows that the gullible people of the world will always feel sorry it, and the same gullible people will condemn Israel if it tries to defend itself from being attacked.

[bigal321321]

Methinks Hamas cares more about philosophy than human flesh and blood. Always playing the blame game. Here's what's strange here...both sides claim to be defending their side. If you're in a defensive posture then why are you shooting at people? Shooting would indicate offense vs. defense. What Hamas doesn't realize is they're fighting an 800 pound gorilla, who has the entire US arsenal at their disposal. Hamas, do a reality check (no really) and cut the deal with Israel, make peace and give your people something they haven't had in over 40 years.

[sharncedar]

It looks like the Israelis are losing the war. Because they just keep doing the same thing, beating and beating and killing Palestinians in the same violent manner. But they seme to have lost the initiative, it is a continual pattern, a tired pattern. They have to increase the violence level constantly to get the same results. As the US descends into chaos, Israel will lose a big source of funding and structure. They seem to be losing this thing, what do you all think?

[krenz4]

Every country on the planet can stop or prevent weapons from getting to the palestinians and they would find stones to bash in each others brains and blame that on America and Israel too.

[krenz4]

Every country on the planet can stop or prevent weapons from getting to the palestinians and they would find stones to bash in each others brains and blame that on America and Israel too.

[xzavierbrown]

Hamas is the Al Shaprton of the Palestinians. It uses someone else as an excuse to maintain power and authority. Instead of directing it misguide to assure itself 'job security'.

[ajmarine1]

"If Hamas is targeted by Israel, it wins immediate
sympathy from the public and also unites the Palestinians."

Why then did Israel play into Hamas hands then?

[krenz4]

Every country on the planet can stop or prevent weapons from getting to the palestinians and they would find stones to bash in each others brains and blame that on America and Israel too.

[karlimhof]

kkkk