Tuesday, April 8, 2008
They're not good at much else, after all. Lots of stories today about the horrors of the Gaza "blockade". At least it's not only Israel being implicated anymore: Hamas warns of Gaza "explosion7quot; if border stays shut
A leader of the Islamist Hamas group warned on Tuesday the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt could soon be breached again, saying an "explosion" was imminent if the frontier remained closed.
"I say clearly all options are open ... What is coming will be bigger than what happened in the past, not only at the borders with Egypt but in other areas too," Khalil al-Hayya told a news conference...
... Hayya said a blockade Israel has tightened around the Gaza Strip since Hamas violently took over the territory last June was tantamount to "a death penalty being slowly carried out against 1.5 million people in the largest prison in history".
"We urge all concerned parties to intervene to break the siege. Otherwise, we warn of an imminent and unprecedented explosion if the siege continues," he said...
Of course, the truth is that Gazans are getting what they need, and probably more than they deserve. Here's just today's report from the Israel MFA:
Today (8 April as of 16:30 Israel time), terrorists in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip fired 32 mortar bombs and three Kassam rockets at Israeli territory. So far, there have been no reported injuries or damage.
In addition, during an IDF operation against terrorists operating near the border fence between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, terrorists opened fire on the IDF force. The IDF soldiers returned fire, hitting two gunmen. Rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles were found on the two terrorists.
At the same time, 127 humanitarian aid trucks, carrying medical equipment, diapers and basic food products were transferred today from Israel to the Palestinian population in Gaza, via the Sufa and Kerem Shalom crossings.
Israel is facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip while at the same time it is being attacked from that territory. Israel holds Hamas fully responsible for these attacks and their consequences.
