Israeli Missile Attack Slams Hamas

Strike Kills Gunman Involved In Capture Of Israeli Soldier Two Years Ago

(CBS/AP)  Israeli aircraft sent missiles slamming at a group of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip Thursday, killing a gunman involved in the capture of an Israeli soldier two years ago, the Israeli military said. The death threatened to cloud Egyptian-led efforts to broker a truce in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

In a separate incident, Palestinian medical officials said a 62-year-old civilian was killed and three militants wounded by Israeli fire, during fighting in Gaza. The military had no immediate comment.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas underwent an unannounced heart test at a Jordanian hospital on Thursday, adding new uncertainty to already troubled peace talks.

Aides to Abbas, 73, said he was doing well after a catheterization procedure they described as successful, and that he was expected to leave Jordan Hospital later in the day. Abbas is due to return to the West Bank on Friday, they said, adding that they expect him to return to work immediately after his arrival.

In Amman, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said a doctor recommended the catheterization procedure during a routine medical examination Thursday.

Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Abbas, said he spoke to the Palestinian leader from the West Bank on Thursday afternoon. "He's doing very very well. He's in very high spirits. He even joked to me," Erekat said.

He said Abbas planned to resume his schedule immediately and has meetings scheduled with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday and with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sometime next week.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment on Abbas' test.

Palestinian officials initially said Abbas underwent an angioplasty, a treatment to help open blocked arteries. But later, they said the procedure was only a catheterization to check for blockage. The Arabic word "castara" is used to describe both procedures.

In cardiac catheterization, a doctor inserts a thin plastic tube into an artery or vein in the arm or leg, and from there advances it into the chambers of the heart or into the coronary arteries. The test can measure blood pressure within the heart and how much oxygen is in the blood. It's also used to gather information about the heart muscle's ability to pump.

Abbas underwent a similar procedure in 2005, and had prostate surgery in the U.S. in 2001.

It was not clear how Abbas' health problems would affect peace talks, if at all. Dr. Victor Guetta, deputy director of the heart institute at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, said patients can go back to work immediately after the procedure.

The negotiations are secret, and while some insiders claim progress, the situation on the ground remains largely unchanged.

Israel continues to build homes on land the Palestinians claim for a future state, and movement in the West Bank remains severely restricted by Israeli military roadblocks, stifling the Palestinian economy.

Israel says the roadblocks are needed to halt militants. It says Abbas has not reined in militant groups in the West Bank. His government also has no authority in the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by a rival government of Islamic Hamas militants since June.

Abbas traveled to Washington last week hoping to get a boost for his efforts, but returned disappointed and pessimistic about achieving any deal with Israel this year. The two sides have set a year-end target for a peace agreement since relaunching peace talks last November.

While pursuing peace with Abbas, Israel continues to pursue Gaza militants involved in attacks on Israel.

Hamas confirmed that a "leading commander" was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Thursday, and its military wing vowed to avenge the death of Nafez Manzur.

"The blood of our late commander will not be shed in vain," the statement read. "We have the full right to respond in the time and place that we choose."

Israel said Manzur was involved in the capture of Cpl. Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier seized in June 2006 after militants from Hamas and two allied factions tunneled under the Israeli border and attacked a military post. Two other soldiers were killed in that raid.

Schalit remains in captivity in Hamas-ruled Gaza as talks have stalled on swapping him for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The military did not say whether Manzur was involved in the actual capture of Schalit, or whether he took part in the planning. Hamas did not confirm whether Manzur was involved in Schalit's capture.

The deadly airstrike came as Egypt tries to broker a cease-fire in volatile Gaza, where militants launch near-daily rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel, provoking Israeli reprisals.

The deal Egypt is trying to put together includes a six-month truce, a prisoner swap and the opening of Gaza's border crossings.

Egyptian mediators say 12 Palestinian factions have accepted a proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza. Under the deal, Israel would lift its crippling blockade of Gaza and the Palestinians would stop rocket attacks. Israel, though, has mixed feelings, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger, who adds that Israel fears Hamas would use any truce to re-arm for the next round of violence.

Israel sealed its border with Gaza after Hamas seized control there in June. It says it worries that lifting the blockade would allow militants to rearm.

Israel has also rejected the lists of prisoners Hamas wants freed, saying they include hundreds of militants involved in attacks on Israel.

[telecom_1]

Islamic suicidal terrorists in their great desire to die, cause many bystanders to suffer, whether they are suicide bombing shoppers and bystanders or stockpiling weapons in schools, mosques and hospitals, to hide behind woman and children while committing horrific crimes.

[pentangyl]

An Israeli military investigation has cleared its air force in Monday''s deaths of a Palestinian mother and her four children, the Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.

When the Israelis fired, the militants'' backpacks were hit, causing "secondary explosions," the IDF said in a written statement.

OK. An attack fighter struck a back pack and caused the deaths. Then Chuck Norris came out and won the war!

[quetzal0666]

libagenda

there, There bible man...

Have some Jayzus Blood wine and a Rib Sandwich,
itll make ya feel allot better than that little blue pill you forgot to take.

[downsteamjim]

I wonder if the Israeli soldier is being treated as well as the terrorists in Gitmo. Somehow I don''t think that the left will ever complain about Cpl. Schalit treatment.

[factsearcher]

During the last 60 years, wars have drawn and redrawn the map of Israel, as the Israeli people repulsed Arab armies in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 and defended themselves from cross-border infiltrations and terrorist attacks that continue to this day.
Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yassar Arafat rejected opportunities for autonomy, legitimacy and statehood several times, notably the 1993 Oslo Accords, and a generous last-ditch offer from Ehud Barak and then-President Bill Clinton in 2000. Mr. Arafat responded by launching the latest round of terror war.
In 2000, the Arab population in the West Bank was 95 percent under the control of the Palestinian Authority, practically a state. In 2005, Ariel Sharon forcibly removed every Jewish person from the Gaza Strip; a de-facto state now exists. The terrorist group Hamas fires rockets daily to terrorize the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashkelon. Israeli prime ministers repeatedly demonstrate they have no desire to govern the Arab population of Gaza and the West Bank, and 1 million Israeli Arabs live and work peacefully within the Jewish democratic state. I hope the definition of "state" is clearer now.

[factsearcher]

There never has been an Arab nation on the land that now is Israel.

Once a part of the Ottoman Empire, British Mandatory Palestine was divided into Arab and Jewish areas by the United Nations in 1947. Decimated by the Holocaust, the Jewish people accepted the meager portion offered them. In return, five Arab nations launched a war to destroy the nascent Jewish state: "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades," Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, said on May 15, 1948.

[quetzal0666]

What should i be appreciative of?
Republican Christians right to kill in the name of God, while saying that its for my freedom?
what a load of cooked cra.pola.....

no thanks, if youre going to murder, do it in your name, dont bring me into it.

[ghostdog8]

I served two tours in vietnam, took part in Desert Storm and did NOT have a desk job. If you negotiate with terrorists and jihadists, they only think you are weak or you would not need to negotiate. The only thing they understand and respect is strength and superior firepower.

[quetzal0666]

libagenda....
youre an idiot dude.....
get used to a democrat government,
you Repubs are toast.

[algoresarse]

come on how do you think the liberals would react to this news?? of course they are sad and mad..its best to leave them alone to lament the death of thier brethrens..

[quetzal0666]

by libagenda at ..

ill wait for u to come and pick me up RedNeck....
will us ing for me off key once more?

[far_point200]

Thumbs up!

Keep up the good work Israel!

Kill those Arab dogs when they bite!

One day, maybe they will discover they are human beings and learn how to talk and negotiate like men!

Woof woof....

[quetzal0666]

libagenda ..

did u have a desk job in the military?
or were you in the firing line?
Me thinks you were like BUSH all gung ho behind a monitor!!!

[quetzal0666]

libagenda ...

Hey RedNeck is there nothing to do in Cibolo?
dont you work?
or does your wife still bring home the funds to support your intenet habit?

[karlo59]

Hey, libagenda. Here''s something for you to check out, if your pea brain can comprehend it. Back in 1968 israel bombed a unarmed US ship. This ship was the USS Liberty. The crew tried to put up the US flag 2 or 3 times only to have the murdering jews shot it down everytime. MANY dead and MANY wounded. But I know you won''t check this out, because you''re a christian zionist. You people are as filthy as the zionist jews. Go back to reading your make-believe bible about how the jews are your gods chosen people.

[quetzal0666]

libagenda .. Enlist Christian soldier...

[inventagod2]

...and Washington will ignore this terrorist attack, as usual...

[notblue]

noyalisti, what part of the middle east do you come from?

[factsearcher]

dinkydog1, this is what I found.... as expected you did not have facts:
Our findings indicate significantly distorted coverage by all of these network news shows. In the first study period ABC, CBS, and NBC reported Israeli deaths at rates 3.1, 3.8, and 4.0 times higher than Palestinian deaths, respectively. In 2004 these rates increased or stayed constant, to 4.0, 3.8, and 4.4, widening still further, in the case of ABC and NBC.

[dinkydog1]

Posted by factsearcher at 12:24 PM : May 01, 2008

Reasearch this fact, For every Isreali killed Isreal kills over 20 Palestinians. Only a small number of thier deaths make the US press.