CINA

본문

ATTACK->COUNTER ATTACK->ATTACK TO COUNTER THE COUNTER ATTACK..

..and so on, and so on..

Since today morning(CET) Isreali and intl news agencies are perorting about following new developments in the PA - Israel "relationship". And it seems that the new round of escalation is just in the beginning..

Ynet/Yedioth Ahronoth reported just a short while ago:

Gaza: 2 troops killed, 1 kidnapped

Terror cell infiltrates Israel from southern Gaza Strip, abducts soldier out of tank; initial inquiry reveals terrorists arrived at IDF post through tunnel, fired anti-tank missile at soldiers, activated explosive device

The IDF .. will recommend the government to launch a large-scale operation in Gaza in wake of the incident 
 
Day of battle in Gaza Strip: A soldier and a tank commander, a second lieutenant, were killed Sunday morning, and another soldier was kidnapped after a Palestinian terror cell launched a combined attack on an Israel Defense Forces post in the southern Gaza Strip, near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom.

Several soldiers were lightly to moderately injured in the incident and were taken by helicopter to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.

Following the incident, IDF forces entered areas in the southern Strip, where they are currently operating. Sources in the Strip reported that different elements, including some in Egypt and Jordan, are mediating between Israel and the Palestinian Authority through the Palestinian security organizations in a bid to find out what happened to the kidnapped soldier.

Gaza Operation 
 

Sources in the government added that talks are being held in the European Union and in the United States in a bid to locate the missing soldier. Government officials refused to say whether the PA answered their calls.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office said: "The terror attack was led by senior Hamas members in the Gaza Strip and was approved by the Hamas leadership. The IDF views the incident with severity and sees the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government responsible for the terror attack and for the fate of the missing soldier."

Defense Minister Amir Peretz reported to the ministers during Sunday's cabinet meeting that the attack in Kerem Shalom was mainly implemented by "hurling grenades at a tank."

Peretz said that according to reports received by the defense establishment, the attack was carried out by Hamas.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his ministers that "Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) and (Palestinian Prime Minister) Ismail Haniyeh are the people responsible for the attack."

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz held a meeting Sunday morning to asses the situation in southern Gaza. The IDF views the incident as extremely severe, and according to estimates, the army will recommend the government to launch a large-scale operation in Gaza in wake of the incident.

The well-planned attack on the post started, at 5:40 a.m., according to the IDF. Eight armed Palestinians infiltrated Israel through a tunnel leading from the Strip into Israel's territory, and split into three teams once they came out. One team approached an armored personnel carrier stationed at the place and fired at it. The APC was empty and no injuries were reported in that attack.

Another group simultaneously fired a missile and hurled grenades at a tank standing nearby. The missile hit the tank's rear, hurting the four soldiers that were inside. Two were immediately killed, a third soldier sustained injuries and the fourth was initially reported missing. As the incident developed, security officials came to believe that the soldier has been kidnapped.

During the attack, a third terrorist team moved in the direction of a desert patrol army post and engaged in a shooting battle with the soldiers. An explosive device was also activated at the place. Three soldiers sustained light-to-moderate injuries as a result of the blast, and some of the terrorists were hurt as well.

From the moment the incident was first reported of, the Southern Command and the General Staff have held constant meetings to evaluate the situation, headed by Army Chief Dan Halutz, in a bid to track down the cell behind the kidnapping and return the soldier to Israel.

At the initial stage, heavy equipment was deployed in the area where the incident occurred and where the tunnel was located, in order to try and uncover the terrorists' path. Large forces, including special units, have gone on a state of alert and are preparing to enter Rafah in a bid to locate the abducted soldier.

The IDF has also asked the Egyptian policemen stationed on the border to secure the area and make sure the terrorists don’t try and transfer the solider to Egypt.

While the army has not completed investigating the occurrences in Kerem Shalom, difficult questions arise regarding the way the terrorists managed to infiltrate Israel and carry out the attack. One of the main questions is whether the deployment of the forces in the area was adequate. It is also unclear why no forces provided covering fire for the tank and APC at the post.

Three organizations claim responsibility for operation

A Palestinian security official told Ynet that the terrorists who launched the attack Sunday morning arrived from Sinai and not from the Strip. According to the source, the fact that the attackers were armed and managed to enter the post without disruption testifies to the fact that they may have arrived from the Egyptian, not the Palestinian side.

Sources at the Popular Resistance Committees(PRC) claimed that organization members, along with gunmen from Hamas and a new organization called "Army of Islam," fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF post in the southern Strip and exchanged fire with the troops.

According to the PRC, "this is an operation of high quality, during which some of the people were parachuted close to the crossing."..

A source at the PRC defined the operation as "the ongoing illusion operation." According to the source, "the operation was aimed at making it clear that the Israeli security is an illusion. Israelis will have no security as long as the Palestinians have no security."

A spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, claimed that there were no Palestinian casualties in the operation. The spokesman, Abu Ubaidah, said that "all the fighters who took part in the operation returned to their bases alive." 

Sources at the PRC said that "the operation was a response to the assassination of the organization's leader, Jamal Abu Samhadana , who was killed by the IDF earlier this month, and a response to the killing of head of the group's military wing, Khalil al-Quqa , who was assassinated by the IDF about three months ago."...

Please read the full article - remember this is "just" the Israeli point of view.. (here you find also a video and three links to related articles):

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3266818,00.html#n

The so-called left-liberal Isrealy daily Haaretz wrote this:

Two soldiers killed, one kidnapped in raid on IDF post 
  
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and another was kidnapped when Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups attacked an IDF post within Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip border, in the pre-dawn hours Sunday.

"IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Sunday afternoon that the kidnapped soldier was alive. "Hamas is involved in this matter from head to foot, literally," Halutz told a news conference.

The soldier is alive, and therefore they bear responsibility for his fate."
 
Shortly after the early morning attack, IDF tanks and troops entered Gaza near the site of the incident, an IDF position close to the Kerem Shalom crossing. Military sources said the incursion was part of a manhunt for the missing soldier.

The two soldiers were killed when an anti-tank missile was fired at the tank in which they were located. The missing soldier and another who was seriously wounded were also inside...

More here:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/730994.html

AP:

5 Dead After Militants Attack Israeli Post

Al Jazeera:

Israeli soldier missing after Gaza attack

And right now: IDF is striking back..