Monday, June 28, 2004 IDF soldier killed, 5 hurt in attack on Gaza army post By Nir Hasson, Arnon Regular and Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies 28 June 2004 www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/444106.html [IMRA: There was confusion on Sunday night regarding casualties due to the IDF policy of not mentioning dead until the families are notified. Until the soldier trapped under the rubble died he was included in reports – the moment he died all references to his existence were dropped from reports. It should be noted that on 21 June „The Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qure’ asserted that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fateh movement will not be dissolved and Fateh will never relinquish its military wing.” GAZA, June 21, 2004 (IPC+Agencies)–(Official PA website) www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_06/131.html ] Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed and five others were wounded Sunday evening after a huge explosion went off at a tunnel beneath an army outpost at the Gush Katif junction in the Gaza Strip. A few hours later, Israel launched two separate missile strikes at metal workshops in Gaza City early Monday. No major injuries were reported. Israel said the workshops were being used by Hamas and other militant groups to make weapons, including home-made rockets. One of the soldiers was trapped under the rubble of the post before dying of his wounds Sunday night. As of Monday morning, one soldier was in serious condition, one was in moderate condition, and two more were lightly wounded.
Palestinian gunmen fired guns and mortar shells at rescue forces as they attempted to evacuate the wounded from the site of the attack. Two Palestinians from Khan Yunis, to the south of the outpost, were killed in clashes with IDF troops shortly after the attack, Palestinian sources said. They said one of the Palestinians was a 12-year-old boy. Both Hamas and the Fatah-related Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Brigades said militants had dug a 350-meter long tunnel, and detonated 150 kilograms of explosives underneath the outpost. „This is a message to [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon that … our fighters will continue the holy struggle until we uproot them [Israelis] from our land,” said the spokesman, who gave his name only as Abu Mohammed. Hamas said the explosion came as revenge for Israel’s assassination of the group’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in March, and of his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a month later. According to an IDF source, the Palestinians used a cellular phone to detonate the explosives set under the IDF outpost. Cheering crowds of tens of thousands of Palestinians filled the streets of Gaza City in celebration. Gunmen fired in the air and youths set off pipe-bombs. „God pleased our hearts. An eye for an eye,” they chanted. The outpost that was hit is located on a strip of road in central Gaza, not far from the Gush Katif bloc of settlements. Israelis travel on a bridge set up above the junction, while Palestinians travel on the route itself. The army was busy removing massive stores of arms and ammunition from the outpost Sunday night. The explosion occurred shortly after 9:30 P.M. and caused the iron roof of the outpost, which is supposed to protect the soldiers from snipers, to collapse. The explosives, apparently 150 kilograms worth, were planted in a tunnel leading under the outpost. Though the IDF is not yet certain where the tunnel originated, army sources said that it probably originated in the area of Khan Yunis, whose northernmost houses lie only some 300 meters south of the outpost. A diplomatic official said that attempts to execute attacks like the attack Sunday of the Gaza outpost were to be expected as the pullout plans progressed. Army sources noted that the IDF has been receiving warnings for weeks about Palestinian efforts to tunnel under one of the Gaza outposts, and for this reason all the outposts were reinforced – but in this case, to no avail. Brigadier General Shmuel Zakai, commander of the Gaza Division, said that it apparently took the Palestinians several days to dig the tunnel, but the area around the outpost contains buildings and groves which may have provided cover for the diggers. Over the past two months the IDF has foiled four attempts to detonate car bombs near Israeli targets in the Strip. Eitam: Terror will chase whoever runs away from it Right-wing politicians and the Yesha Council of Settlements said Sunday night the attack showed that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to disengage from the Gaza Strip was flawed. „Unilateral escape will never bring peace and security,” said National Religious Party chairman Effi Eitam, who resigned from the government recently to protest the disengagement plan. „Whoever runs away from terror, terror will chase after him; and whoever fights terror wins. IDF activity in Judea and Samaria proves that when the IDF is in the field and fights, it succeeds in defeating terror. We must not abandon the residents of Ashkelon, Ashdod and the Negev communities to terrorists from Hamas and Fatah.” National Union MK Benny Elon, a disengagement opponent who was fired from the government ahead of the cabinet vote on the pullout plan, called on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to resign and pass the job onto his betters in the nationalist camp. „Whoever smuggles out his soldiers in a unilateral withdrawal with his tail between his legs, in betrayal of biblical values, should not be surprised when the enemy aids him in his own humility ritual,” Elon said. The Yesha Council issued a statement saying: „The grave attack on the outpost proves that we must not ignore the warnings by the chief of staff and IDF officers that fleeing under fire will only increase terrorism. It is now clear that the very decision to withdraw, even before its implementation, has provided a tailwind to terror.” BPI.-info
