ISRAEL INFILTRATED HAMAS LEADERSHIP
The mysterious death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month has prompted Hamas to launch an internal investigation to determine whether Israel has managed to infiltrate the highest echelons of the Islamist movement, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip revealed on Tuesday.
Source: AP, JPost
- “The assassination of someone as senior as Mabhouh has rung an alarm bell in Hamas,” the official told The Jerusalem Post. “Only a few people in the Hamas leadership knew about Mabhouh’s secret activities and movements.”
- The official said that many Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip and Syria were convinced that the Mossad has infiltrated the movement’s top ranks. “Obviously, the assassination of Mabhouh is a huge security blunder for Hamas, because it shows that the Israeli agents are sitting among our leaders in Damascus.”
- The Hamas official said Hamas was also looking into the possibility that Israel has infiltrated the Syrian security services, which are responsible for the safety of the leaders of all the radical Palestinian groups based in Damascus, including Hamas.
- “We don’t rule out the possibility that the Israelis or some other security agency that works with them have recruited a senior Syrian intelligence officer who feeds them with details about the movements and whereabouts of representatives of Hamas and other groups, particularly Hizbullah,” he said.
- Meanwhile, Hamas appears to be divided over the question of whether it should attack Israeli and Jewish targets around the world to avenge the killing of its top operative.
- Some Hamas officials warned that “exporting” the fight against Israel to the international arena would jeopardize the movement’s efforts to seek recognition by the West.
- A Hamas representative in the West Bank urged his movement to abide by its long-standing policy of refraining from attacking Israeli and Jewish targets outside the Palestinian territories and Israel.
- He predicted that despite the threats, Hamas would not “change the rules of the game” by carrying out terrorist attacks abroad.
16 DEAD AS HAMAS AND RADICAL ISLAMIST CLASH INI GAZA
Abdel-Latif Moussa The leader of an al-Qa'ida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip
The leader of an al-Qa'ida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip blew himself up during a shootout today with security forces that killed 22 people. The jihadis have posed one of the biggest challenges to Hamas since the militant group seized power in Gaza two years ago.
THADIA AGREEMENT TO BE SIGNED IN EGYPT TODAY
Egyptian sources assess that a tahdia agreement will be signed on today, February 9, 2009 between Israel and all the Palestinian factions.The tahdia will be for a period of 18 months with an option for extension, and each side will have the right to respond immediately to any aggression by the other. The agreement will also stipulate a 300-meter demilitarized zone.
According to the agreement, Israel would open the albeit crossings, at 80-percent capacity, which would allow a large quantity of merchandise to pass into the Gaza Strip, as Hamas is demanding.
However, Israel still insists on the right to prevent certain materials from entering the Strip - including cement, iron and other items. Hamas is believed to want just these materials to come in, to begin rebuilding the thousands of homes destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces during Operation Cast Lead.
Israel says these materials would be allowed in only after an agreement is reached on Shalit's release, in exchange for the Pales
tinian prisoners in Israeli jails. As for the Shalit deal, Palestinian sources claim that Israel agrees to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 350 of the 370 prisoners demanded by Hamas.
The three ministers who spoke about the Shalit release - Defense Minister Ehud Barak, National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan, who was appointed by Olmert to be on the team dealing with Shalit's release did so during interviews on Army Radio.
Sources close to Olmert were apparently displeased over reports that Barak and his representative, Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's political department, were responsible for moving the agreement forward.
Source: Al-Ayyam, PA, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London
IF ELECTED, NETANYAHU VOWS TO CRASH HAMAS AND TO REMOVE IRAN THREAT
Addressing the annual Herzliya security conference on Wednesday, Netanyahu said: "In the end of the day there will be no choice but to remove the Iranian threat in Gaza."There will be no escape from toppling the Hamas regime which is the Iranian proxy in the Gaza Strip," he said. "This is the real threat we are facing.
"If I'm elected, the biggest, most important task of my government will be to fend off the Iranian threat in all aspects," he said.
"It will oblige us to work on all fronts, including harnessing the US administration to stop the threat."
The 59-year-old leader of the Likud party, which is expected to have the most seats in the 120-member parliament after next Tuesday's vote, said the divided Palestinians were too weak for a peace deal.
"Palestinian society is deeply divided. They are not strong enough to accept minimal concessions for a peace deal and are not strong enough to fight terror," he said.
"The reality is very clear, any territory we evacuate today will be taken over by Iran," he said, alluding to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which he opposed.
Netanyahu vowed to form a unity government if he wins the elections.
"If elected, I intend to unite all central powers in the country in a national unity government," he said.
"I will turn to our natural allies, but that is not enough. We must unite the entire nation and I will turn to all Zionist parties because, in the face of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the social and economic challenges, we will have to stand together."
HAMAS' OVERMATCHED WEAPONRY PROVE DEADLY
INTERNATIONAL ANALYSIS(GAZA)
some of the most advanced personal weaponry available to a modern military, but they nonetheless face great danger on the ground in Gaza.
The Islamist militant group Hamas, masters of asymmetrical warfare, has several key weapons that can inflict heavy casualties on an invading force, despite being overmatched.
These weapons were not of great concern to Israel when it was attacking from sea and air. But the danger has increased exponentially since Israel launched its ground assault over the weekend.
One significant danger every Israeli soldier faces in Gaza is a foe who is yearning to give up his life. Hamas has built a force of willing suicide bombers whose explosive vests are typically packed with an assortment of shrapnel to raise the casualty rate among their targets.
While Israeli soldiers are prepared to die in the defense of their country, they are also trained to survive. The suicide bomber is, therefore, a weapon available only to one side of this conflict.
Hamas has been talking tough in the face of superior military power; its leaders have vowed to inflict massive casualties.
"Gaza will be your cemetery," and "we will fight until the last breath," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said in a written statement.
As Israel pushes into Gaza on the ground, it does not know exactly what weapons -- and how many of them -- Hamas possesses.
"We don't know what has been smuggled into Gaza," said David Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and a former Pentagon official specializing in Middle East issues.
Hamas lacks air, sea and armor assets, so it has little hope of successfully challenging Israeli forces on an open battlefield. But a modern military's overwhelming advantage dwindles quickly in an urban environment.
Hamas, Schenker said, has claimed possession of American-manufactured weapons the State Department gave to its political rival, Fatah. The weapons, intended to help bolster the precarious security situation of the Fatah government, now could be used to fight the Israeli military.
Source: FOXNews.Com
The Islamist militant group Hamas, masters of asymmetrical warfare, has several key weapons that can inflict heavy casualties on an invading force, despite being overmatched.These weapons were not of great concern to Israel when it was attacking from sea and air. But the danger has increased exponentially since Israel launched its ground assault over the weekend.
One significant danger every Israeli soldier faces in Gaza is a foe who is yearning to give up his life. Hamas has built a force of willing suicide bombers whose explosive vests are typically packed with an assortment of shrapnel to raise the casualty rate among their targets.
While Israeli soldiers are prepared to die in the defense of their country, they are also trained to survive. The suicide bomber is, therefore, a weapon available only to one side of this conflict.
Hamas has been talking tough in the face of superior military power; its leaders have vowed to inflict massive casualties.
"Gaza will be your cemetery," and "we will fight until the last breath," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said in a written statement.
As Israel pushes into Gaza on the ground, it does not know exactly what weapons -- and how many of them -- Hamas possesses.
"We don't know what has been smuggled into Gaza," said David Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and a former Pentagon official specializing in Middle East issues.
Hamas lacks air, sea and armor assets, so it has little hope of successfully challenging Israeli forces on an open battlefield. But a modern military's overwhelming advantage dwindles quickly in an urban environment.
Hamas, Schenker said, has claimed possession of American-manufactured weapons the State Department gave to its political rival, Fatah. The weapons, intended to help bolster the precarious security situation of the Fatah government, now could be used to fight the Israeli military.
Source: FOXNews.Com
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
