GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, May 18, 2007
Gaza Plunges Deeper Into Chaos
Israeli Planes Pound Hamas Targets; Fatah And Hamas Clash On Gaza Streets
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Play CBS Video Video U.S. Backs Abbas In Palestine The U.S. is backing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the battle to fill the void left by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death, and it's putting money into the effort. David Martin reports.
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Video Israel Steps Into Mayhem An Israeli missile strike against a car it claimed was carrying Hamas officials put the country deeper into the mayhem of Palestinian factional fighting. Allen Pizzey reports.
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Video Israel Attacks Hamas Compound CBS News RAW: An Israeli air strike targeted a Hamas compound in central Gaza City, killing one person and wounding at least 45, Palestinian witnesses and medical officials said.
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Hamas gunmen carry their weapons during the funeral for a member killed in an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, May 18,2007. (AP)
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Israelis react after rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot on May 18, 2007. (AP)
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An Israeli tank maneuvers outside the Gaza Strip on May 18, 2007. (AP)
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A man comforts two women after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot on May 18, 2007. (AP)
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Mourners carry the body of Talat Haniya, a member of Hamas, during his funeral in Gaza City, May 18, 2007. (AFP)
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Interactive Mideast Conflict Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
The concentric circles of violence have scuttled a 5-month-old truce between Israel and Gaza militants and brought Palestinian factions that nominally share power to the brink of civil war. More than 70 Palestinians have been killed in the spasm of bloodletting that broke out Sunday.
Hamas militiamen took the internal Palestinian strife to an ominous new level by widening the group of targets, seizing aides to two prominent Fatah officials.
The U.S. has made no secret about which faction it is supporting in the near-civil war. It's backing Fatah, contributing $59 million to equip and train the palace guard of Fatah leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.
"When there is a showdown, we want the right people to come out on top," says Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Hamas has fired more than 100 rockets across the border this week, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.
Israeli missiles came screeching down on Gaza at least five times Friday in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks that have sent southern Israel into a state of panic. At least 13 rockets fell throughout the day, injuring four people in the rocket-scarred town of Sderot.
One of the air strikes incinerated a minivan carrying Hamas militants and what the army described as "a large amount of weapons." Three fighters were killed and 12 people were wounded, Palestinian hospital officials said.
"We were sitting outside my grocery store when a huge explosion shook the area and a small minivan turned into a ball of fire," witness Jawad Dallou said.
People in a nearby mourning tent grieving for a victim of the Palestinian infighting were also wounded, he said.
Five Palestinians, including at least three Hamas militants, were killed and six wounded in an earlier strike east of Gaza City. The military said the target was a Hamas headquarters building.
Other air attacks throughout the day caused no fatalities.
In all, at least 20 Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes that began on Tuesday.
Hamas said the Israeli military called the house of Ahmed Jaabari, head of Hamas' military wing, and warned his family the building would be hit, too.
People converged on the house to protect it, he said. Jaabari was not at home, and the military had no immediate comment.
In other developments:
Despite the intensified attacks, a senior Israeli army official said Israel had no immediate plans for a major ground offensive to halt rocket fire, because it is reluctant to unite warring Palestinian factions against a common enemy. He spoke on condition of anonymity because no final decision has been made.
Six days of fighting between Hamas and Fatah have claimed more than 50 lives and all but destroyed a 2-month-old power-sharing deal between the two groups. The fighting was touched off by Abbas' deployment of thousands of troops in Gaza City last week to try to restore law and order — a move Hamas took as a provocation because it wasn't consulted.
The two abductions in Gaza on Friday broadened the mayhem because it was the first time senior civilians with ties to Fatah were targeted.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- erasmus6:
Implicit in your response is a basic fact that most journalists choose to ignore -- peace agreements between politicians don't usually change much at street level (as we are seeing in Gaza). Hamas and Fatah politicians agreed that there would be a cease-fire, but the virtual civil war is still going on.
Likewise, the much-hailed, recent agreement between politicians in Northern Ireland is unlikely to have a lasting effect.
I wish I could continue this discussion longer, but I am about to be booted off this public library terminal. My time's up! - Reply to this comment
- --juwboy
In some context you are correct, I agree with you to some degree. The real problem with trying to establish peace in the Middle East is that there are too many groups hostile to Israel to deal with. All the groups hostile to Israel need to group and speak with one voice and agree to a peace deal whatever that may be collectively. Israel's problem is that when Israel reaches a peace agreement, too many groups hostile to Israel are not included and the fighting expands and continues. There has to be a way to include everyone all at once and then maybe peace can have a real chance. We all get excited when Israel reaches a peace deal only to be disappointed to learn some group was left out of the process, not included and the fighting erupts again! That%u2019s the problem, the Arabs need to get their act together and speak with one voice, one peace agreement. I like Isreal and wish Israel much success but Isreal needs to help its own cause too and be creative and agressively seek ways to deal with its enemies as one, that's the real solution, everyone needs to get on board to a peace process collectively. - Reply to this comment
- Wrong, tbweb.
After the 1967 war, Israel called for an international peace conference to settle problems in the region once and for all but the Arabics totally rejected the idea.
Going back even further, after the 1948 war, Golda Meir struck a peace deal with the then king of Jordan. Shortly after, the king was assassinated.
When the Arabics show a desire to reciprocate, Israel will be more than willing to strike a peace deal, as they've done consistently in the past.
The major obstacle is the Arabics' wish to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth. - Reply to this comment
- I%u2019ve always liked the underdog and since Israel is surrounded by so many Arabs in the Middle East I like to see Israel win, being outnumbered by so many. But I have one problem with Israel. Israel never seems to initiate peace first; some country from the outside always seems to need to initiate peace for Israel. I never see Israel reach out, be aggressive for peace. Israel always seems to find excuses for picking up the gun, going to war, keeping the conflicts going. When does Israel seek peace aggressively on its own? Israel does not want war, but Israel does not initiate and aggressively seek peace on its own either, Israel wants to be left alone and since Israel is rich compared to its neighbors that%u2019s not a practical position, Israel needs to share and help its poor neighbors. I like Israel and support Israel but Israel needs to do more for peace and needs to appear sincere in its efforts and not just for window dressing.
- Reply to this comment
- Goodnight Sir.
Posted by Stezzer at
Goodnight to you to Sir and have a good weekend.It has been a pleasure. - Reply to this comment
- radiob
"We should all work for the benefit of all humankind"
Yes, we should. Bless you, I hope I get to chat with you again.
Goodnight Sir. - Reply to this comment
- Goodluck to you Sir, I will say a prayer for you tonight. It'll be a Jewish prayer, hope you don't mind :)
Posted by Stezzer
No I will not mind, we should all "pray" for each other benefit and the benefit of all humankind.We should all work for the benefit of all humankind as well.People allow distorted teachings to shape their views of groups of people instead of trying to understand other people.Certainly not what we were put here on earth for even if a individual is a athetist. - Reply to this comment
- radiob
I agree with you. You're a nice person.
Hey, one day, maybe all us nice folks will run the world.
Goodluck to you Sir, I will say a prayer for you tonight. It'll be a Jewish prayer, hope you don't mind :) - Reply to this comment
- radiob
Okay, I'm sorry. I appreciate your argument.
However, I'm a Jew. Jesus doesn't come into the equation for me. However, I agree. Surely sometime soon, we can all live in peace.
Thank you for your response.
Posted by Stezzer
No problem. I just think that is wrong for people to critize a teaching that is non violent and equate it with teachings that are violent. The comparision that was made by Patriot9 was not based on the teachings of Jesus. - Reply to this comment
- radiob
Okay, I'm sorry. I appreciate your argument.
However, I'm a Jew. Jesus doesn't come into the equation for me. However, I agree. Surely sometime soon, we can all live in peace.
Thank you for your response. - Reply to this comment
- radiob
What's your point?
Posted by Stezzer
The point is that the teachings of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins is not the same as extreme Isalm which is what Patriot9 suggested.To suggest that the groups that promote violence against others is not religion. It has nothing to do with religion teachings. The forgiveness of "sins" by "Jesus" is not the same as radical Islam or any group that promotes the destruction of any group of people. - Reply to this comment
- radiob
"I will not make excuses"
Good, so what's your point? - Reply to this comment
- I will not make excuses for the likes of Jim Jones, Osama Bin Laden,Taggart,Bush, Hitler or anyone else that twist the basic premise of religion for their own personal agendas. None of them are religious.The ten commandments are universal teachings amongst religions, worded phrased differently but the same premise they are the foundation of society. Without them we would be living on instinct and our intellect. Instinct can be a useful tool when used for good but it can also be a tool used for destruction, the same goes with intellect. Laws (ten commandments) are what are supposed to guide us in dealing with each other, not waging war or causing harm to others.
- Reply to this comment
- radiob
What's your point? - Reply to this comment
- Sins comitted by Adam and Eve,Sinners are those innocent Newborn Children who can't even think about comiting a sin and the price is paid by a Third Party named JESUS.
Are you with sin or without causing harm to people you love or those that you do not know? It does not have to be physical, have you ever cheated anyone on a purchase paid less deliberately for what it was worth taken advantage of someone that was in dire straits, turn your back on someone who was suffering? These are all "sins" or atrocities against humankind and are but a few of the many "sins" we as human beings do every day of our lives. No one is perfect and cannot live without causing a injustice to another human being be it deliberate or not.This are what "Jesus" forgave us from, the only truly innocents in the world are the new born babies that do not know wrong from right. Those that do have the option of accepting the teachings of Jesus or ignoring them.As I said I am not a Christian. Part One - Reply to this comment
- Palestinians wants Israel to with draw to the 1967 borders.
This is like 3 of your neighbors coming to your house and trying to kill you and in the process one of them loses his wallet; later he comes back and wants you to give it back to him and he is irate that you won't. - Reply to this comment
- What.. A.. mess.
Is anyone truly surprised? Did anyone really think that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza was a good thing?
Each time Israel concedes one inch of ground, the terrorists move one inch closer. - Reply to this comment
- Part two
The irony of the Palestinian Israelis conflict is that while middle eastern nations have supported the destruction of the Jewish people by supplying them, training them with weapons, Israel and the US are the two biggest contributors to the Palestinian economy.Have you forgotten when the middle eastern nations throwed out the Palestinian refugees as they were to much of a burden on their economys? This is similiar to the Iraqi refugees who have fled Iraq because of the violence and are now living in Syria and other nations which will not allow them to work in these nations. So much for Arab brotherhood. - Reply to this comment
- reply patriotic9
Hitler,Osama Bin Laden,Bush neither followed the teachings of Christ. I am not a Christian but I have been taught Christianity the real Christianity which has nothing to do with violence or murder. I have also studied other religions Hinduism,Buddish, Islam. None of these religions promote violence or murder. It is the extremist or evil or whatever you wish to label it that distort the teachings that cause violence.The leaders of various nations, churches, mosques over the years have taken the teachings and distorted them for their own personal conquest not for the teachings of the particular religion.Israel is no saint but neither are the Palestinians or the middle eastern nations that are willing to supply them with weapons to wage war but are not willing to invest in the economic growth of the Palestinian territories.Near East Consulting, the Harry S Truman Institute have conducted polls on the people of Israel and the Palestinian territories which demonstrate that the majority of the people on both sides want to live in peace. The radicals on both sides continue to rule and promote war.Show me a passage from Jesus where he advocated violence or the destruction of his fellow man.There are none. Part one - Reply to this comment
- george2221,
Yes, know place like the Holy Land. Can anyone figure up how many people have been kill there over the centuries? - Reply to this comment
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