 |
 |
|
|
||
Newsletter : 2fax0621.txt
Directory | Previous file | Next file
New Syrian Scud
By IsraelNationalNews.com
Janes Defence Weekly, citing Israeli and U.S. defense officials, reports that Syria is preparing to begin production of an extended-range version of its 'Scud-C' short-range ballistic missile.
Israel Calls Up Reserves to Expand Operations in Palestinian
Territories By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel has begun calling up reserve soldiers as it widened its military operation in Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank. The military moves are in response to two suicide bombings in Jerusalem that killed at least 26 Israelis.
The Israeli army has issued emergency orders for what is being described as a limited call-up of reserves as the military expands its raids and re-occupation of Palestinian-controlled towns and villages in the West Bank.
Some of the soldiers are expected to be deployed along the so-called Green Line that separates Israel from the West Bank, in an effort to keep Palestinian militants from infiltrating into the Jewish state.
In response to two suicide bombings this week in Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers moved into Bethlehem, the nearby Dheisheh refugee camp, a suburb of Ramallah and Tulkarm. Hospital officials have said a pregnant Palestinian woman was shot and killed during an exchange of gunfire between Israeli troops and gunmen in Qalqilya.
Israeli government spokesman Dore Gold said the military will continue to operate in Palestinian areas as long as the suicide attacks continue. "Until there is a change of behavior on the other side, until they can take responsibility for areas under their jurisdiction, we have no choice but to move into certain areas that will improve our ability to prevent infiltrations into Israel."
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat has renewed his call for an end to all attacks against Israeli civilians. Members of the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups rejected Arafat's request, saying they will continue to launch assaults inside Israel.
Israeli TV: West Bank Settlement Shooting
By VOA News
Israeli TV reported Thursday that a Palestinian gunman has killed five people at a West Bank Jewish settlement, Itamar in the northern West Bank. In a separate attack on the settlement last month, a Palestinian militant killed three teenagers before he was shot dead.
A mother, three of her children and a man were killed, and eight people were wounded Thursday evening when a Palestinian gunman infiltrated a home in the settlement of Itamar, near Nablus. Two other children from the family and two soldiers were among the wounded. One of the children was in serious condition, one person was in moderate condition and the other six sustained light wounds.
A resident of the settlement said that the gunman began shooting at people in the street before taking control of the house and holding its residents hostage. He was shot dead by IDF troops after an exchange of fire.
One medic at the scene said the shooting had been so heavy that it had been impossible to evacuate the wounded. Another resident, Ya'akov Heiman, told Israel Radio that he "heard screaming. We closed the house and then the army started to come. It's a terrible feeling."
Rinat Cabara, a resident of Itamar who lives next door to the house under attack, described her panic at the sound of gunshots. "I was hanging laundry outside and when I finished, I heard shots being fired so I ran home," she told Channel Two television. "When I entered I saw my husband with his gun near the window... We're in the valley and there aren't any fences here or anything."
"We were in a panic... trying to hope it wouldn't get worse and praying that there wasn't anyone killed. It was a home with seven children." She said that the father of the family was not at home at the time of the attack.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility, in a call to The Associated Press. A caller said the attack was in response to the arrest of a PFLP leader and Israel's attempt to separate the West Bank from Israel. An anonymous caller told Reuters that an armed offshoot of the PFLP, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, carried out the attack. Abu Ali Mustafa, head of the PFLP, was killed by Israel last August.
Education Minister Limor Livnat (Likud) said that Israel must carry out a "preventive strike" in order to guarantee Israel's security. "We must make a preventive strike, and take the battle to their territory," she said. "Self-defense is not enough. We must dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and the regime that supports terrorism."
Sharon said Thursday morning that the Palestinian Authority was responsible for the recent wave of terror attacks and that Iraq, Iran and Syria were supporting terror, Itim reported. "The eradication of terror and a complete cessation of violence and incitement are the pre-conditions to any possibility for peace," Sharon said in a speech to the 34th World Zionist Congress.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio Thursday
that Israel has no choice but to deepen its military presence in
Palestinian areas. "In this new reality we have no choice but to
deepen our presence (in Palestinian areas) to search for the
(terror) infrastructure, and our presence disrupts the departure of
(suicide bombers) from Palestinian cities."
Israeli Jew On Space Shuttle Means Much To Survivors
By IsraelNationalNews.com
Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon said he can see the pride in the eyes of Holocaust survivors, about his upcoming flight in the space shuttle Columbia in mid-July.
Ramon called it very symbolic for Israel and for the Jewish community. Ramon does not consider himself an Orthodox Jew,but he asked for a halachic ruling about how to observe the Shabbat while he is in space, even though he does not observe Shabbat while he is here on Earth.
Ramon, the 48-year-old son of an Auschwitz death camp survivor, says every time he talks to Holocaust survivors about his upcoming space shuttle flight, he can wonder and pride in their eyes. "They really don't believe that I'm an astronaut because for them, it's out of this world."
Ramon is an Israeli air force colonel who has seen combat, survived a midair collision by ejecting from his jet. He insists he is not afraid or even worried about the upcoming launch.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe is a bit more concerned. He told AP that there is no question the space shuttle fleet his is a high-value target," and that all intelligence information agrees that the shuttle is considered to a high-value target which terrorists view as a great way to make a statement." Among the extra security used ever since the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks On every launch day, Air Force fighter jets have been on the lookout, for hijacked airliners, and for small planes that try to hit the fueled spaceship.
| Home My Account Search Contact Us |
by Electronic World Communications, Inc.)
