Aletho News

Resistance factions do not call for war, Ashkenazi calls for shelling populated areas

Palestine Information Center – 26/03/2011

GAZA — The recent firing of mortar shells at Israeli targets by the armed wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, was in retaliation to the escalating Israeli army crimes against the Palestinian people, Abu Obaida, the Brigades’ spokesman, said.

He added in an interview with the Panorama TV program on the Hiwar network Friday that there is a practical calm in Gaza, and the resistance factions only retaliate against Israeli attacks.

The spokesman stressed that resistance factions do not call for war and seek to spare the people its repercussions, charging Israel with starting the aggression.

Israel is trying to picture the resistance as the one starting violence and that its aggression was in retaliation, which is totally false and the vice versa is correct, Abu Obaida added.

He accused Israel of spreading rumors about resistance arming itself with advanced weaponry to the extent it said the resistance has acquired pilotless planes.

Israel is trying to drive a wedge among the Palestinians in a bid to weaken resistance, which is the factor uniting the Palestinian people, Abu Obaida said.

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Ashkenazi calls for shelling populated areas to kill resistance fighters

Palestine Information Center – 26/03/2011

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel’s former chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi has called for killing Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip using all means even it entails shelling populated areas.

Speaking at a ceremony in Paris, Ashkenazi was quoted by the Hebrew radio on Friday as saying that the Israeli army should chase and liquidate Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza at any price “even if they are present in civilian areas”.

Shifting to Iran, the former chief of staff opined that Iran should be blocked from attaining nuclear weapons. He added that no option should be ruled out in this attempt.

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Israel deploys air defense system ‘Iron Dome’ near Gaza

Palestine Information Center – 26/03/2011

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The Israeli army is to deploy the mobile air defense system the “Iron Dome” in areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a Hebrew press report said.

Yediot Ahronot said the deployment of the system to start on Sunday was in anticipation of further deterioration of the conditions on the “Gaza front” as calls are escalating for launching a large scale offensive against the besieged coastal enclave.

Two of the Iron Dome’s systems would be initially deployed, the paper said, noting that it would not be practically operational for months.

However, heads of local councils surrounding Gaza doubted the Iron Dome’s ability to ward off the danger of rockets fired from the Strip as it would not cover all those areas in the first stage.

The army announced that the Iron Dome, which is designed to intercept very short-range rockets up to 70 kilometers in all-weather situations, would not be able to cover and protect all settlements surrounding the Strip.

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Israeli artillery shell blasts factory in Gaza

Palestine Information Center – 26/03/2011

GAZA — Artillery shelling by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Saturday started a huge fire in a soft drinks factory in the Gaza Strip and inflicted major damage to the facility.

The PIC reporter said that an artillery shell slammed into Al-Sattar factory east of Zaitun suburb in Gaza city causing a big explosion in the petrol tanks inside the factory.

He said that fire fighters controlled the resultant massive fire after two hours, adding that civil defense squads participated in the effort.

March 26, 2011 - Posted by aletho | Militarism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes