13 IDF soldiers wounded

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-12-12 01:42pm

I can only say ouch, and that such a hit was only taken once before.

13 Israelis hurt in tunnel blast under IDF post in south Gaza

By Arnon Regular, Amos Harel and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service, and Agencies

At least 13 Israelis were wounded Sunday evening when a blast ripped through an explosives-laden tunnel beneath an Israel Defense Forces military post close to the Rafah checkpoint on the Gaza-Egypt border, IDF officials said.

Less than hour later, a second blast rocked the area.

Immediately after the initial explosion, Palestinian militants fired mortar shells and shots at the IDF troops in the area. At least one militant was killed in the ensuing gunbattle.

Four of the wounded sustained light injuries and were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, Israel Radio reported. The condition of the others was not known.

IDF troops conducted searches for soldiers who may have been trapped in or around the tunnel, and located one soldier. Army Radio said the force of the blast collapsed some structures in the area and damaged others.

IDF spokesman Captain Jacob Dallal said two explosions hit south Gaza's Rafah crossing while it was open.

"This was a very large, well-coordinated, planned attack against an international crossing, used by Palestinian civilians to cross into Egypt," he said.

Dallal said the checkpoint would be closed until further notice.

Hamas and a group known as the Fatah Hawks claimed responsibility. Palestinian sources said the attack was carried out by several suicide bombers from both organizations. The two groups vowed to continue the attacks.

They said they had burrowed for 600 meters to reach the military post at the Rafah terminal in southern Gaza and then set off 1.5 tons of explosives. The IDF said it was checking the report.

A Palestinian militant giving his name only as Abu Majad said the blast in the 250-meter tunnel was retaliation for what he called "the assassination" of Yasser Arafat, who died on November 11.

"This operation is dedicated to the spirit of martyred Yasser Arafat. This operation is unique and dealt a blow to one of the most fortified sites," he told Al-Jazeera.

Nasser al-Kidwa, Arafat's nephew and the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, has refused to rule out that the Palestinian leader was poisoned by Israel, despite a statement from the French hospital that there was no evidence to support the claim.

Five Gaza schoolchildren said hurt by IDF fire
Earlier Sunday, five Palestinian schoolchildren were reported wounded by IDF tank fire in Khan Yunis after settlements around the Gaza Strip came under Palestinian mortar and Qassam rocket fire.

Palestinian security and hospital officials said IDF troops fired three tanks shells in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, moderately wounding the five schoolchildren.

The students, aged 8-12, suffered shrapnel wounds when one of the shells exploded in the yard behind the school, Palestinian officials said. The IDF had no immediate comment.

The tank attack came after Palestinian militants fired a Qassam rocket at a settlement in northern Gaza and a mortar shell hit another settlement in the same area. There were no casualties but damage was caused to one building in the mortar shelling.

A settlement in the Gush Katif area of southern Gaza was also hit by a mortar shell Sunday morning. There were no casualties in the attack.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/513285.html

Post by **Coyote** » 2004-12-12 02:13pm

Already the atempts to derail any sort of peace are in full swing. Both sides have made it clear that they want to strike while the forge is hot after Arafat's death and see if they can make headway on a peace deal...

...and the "vested interests" (see the one with Arafat's nephew) are trying to stall it before it starts.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-12-12 02:16pm

Coyote wrote:Already the atempts to derail any sort of peace are in full swing. Both sides have made it clear that they want to strike while the forge is hot after Arafat's death and see if they can make headway on a peace deal...

...and the "vested interests" (see the one with Arafat's nephew) are trying to stall it before it starts.

Add to that list is the entire Shas and every single fundie group here.
They all want peace, non will sacrifice a single bit to pass the budget so it goes forward.

Please tell me theres some clause in international law that sudden transforms the UN into a good diplomatic organization to deal with this mess?

Post by **Coyote** » 2004-12-12 02:30pm

Well, MIke (and others) have said here that the biggest problem is that folks think that "peace=victory". I remember that when Ilived there, people told me that one reason why a solution would have to be imposed from theoutside was because if one side or the other offered peace first, they'd be seen as "weak"... and attacked more.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-12-12 02:32pm

Coyote wrote:Well, MIke (and others) have said here that the biggest problem is that folks think that "peace=victory". I remember that when Ilived there, people told me that one reason why a solution would have to be imposed from theoutside was because if one side or the other offered peace first, they'd be seen as "weak"... and attacked more.

I don't know about that conditional, but unless we're both hit with massive sanctions, which BOTH affect people (since sanctions would have more immidiete affect on Israel), I can't see a way of forcing people to see there must be peace.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-12 05:46pm

I can think of several ways to make the Palestinians hurt alongside sanctions against Israel, but since they mostly involve denying them large amounts of their water resources, they'd cause fatalities, whereas Israel is quite self-sufficient food-wise. Oh well, back to the drawing board..

At any rate, I find this rather impressive, as they're now saying it was a full ton of explosives; possibly more. Though that's hardly on the scale of some WWI minings, it's not small potatoes, either, at least by the standards seen over there. Makes me wonder about the Korean border again, for that matter..