Today's Gaza Strip fighting began after Israeli tanks and bulldozers moved into a sliver of land controlled by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. The army said it went in to demolish several buildings used as Palestinian shooting positions in recent days. Palestinian security forces opened fire to drive the Israelis back. The army action came after two women were ambushed as they drove in the area last night, leaving one of them-Rachel Yom-Tov, a mother of nine children from the settlement of Morag-in serious condition after being struck in the head. The other woman passenger was lightly wounded.
In other attacks yesterday, an Israeli soldier suffered moderate wounds
when
Palestinian gunmen shot at his car on a road northwest of Jerusalem.
Earlier
a civilian telephone repairman was shot at while driving in the Jordan
Valley. The bullets grazed his head, causing light wounds. At around the
same time, a Palestinian Tanzim Fatah activist was shot dead by IDF forces
near Bethlehem. Palestinians claimed he was deliberately targeted by an
Israeli hit squad. In the Knesset, Armed Forces Chief Shaul Mofaz seemed to
confirm that some senior militia commanders are being targeted in an
attempt
to curb the recent explosion in armed Palestinian guerilla attacks. He said
the army would "not hesitate to hit anyone who appears to be a threat
against the IDF." He also revealed that the Palestinians have recently
acquired bombs that are strong enough to penetrate armor plating. He said
the bombs are identical to those used by Hizbullah forces in south Lebanon,
adding to intelligence assessments that the Iranian-backed Muslim group is
now working behind the scenes to aid armed Palestinian forces.
Palestinians opened fire once again on the Gilo neighborhood in south Jerusalem last evening, damaging one apartment. Israeli forces returned the fire. Meanwhile a 24 year-old Israeli woman remains in stable condition after doctors operated to remove a bullet that lodged near her heart following an attack on the neighborhood Monday evening. Palestinians in the nearby town of Beit Jala took reporters to see a church that was apparently damaged when Israeli forces returned fire on the town after the attack. Responding to the visit, an army spokesman said IDF forces had only returned fire after an unprovoked assault was launched on civilian homes in Gilo. He said soldiers were only aiming at Palestinian shooting positions. He implied that the church or areas right next to it had been used to fire at Gilo. The spokesman recalled that Arafat's PLO forces used churches and hospitals as shooting positions in Beirut in the early 1980's in an apparent attempt to draw return fire on the same, resulting in greater world condemnations of Israel.
Israeli officials are upset with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's reported endorsement of calls for a public boycott of all Israeli products. He was quoting as saying that a boycott was "justified because of Israeli aggression against the Palestinians." Egypt imports some goods from Israel, mostly agricultural and computer products. However, Mubarak warned that calls from Muslim groups for a boycott of all American products might cause financial damage to Egypt since the US gives around 2 billion dollars in foreign aid to the Arab country every year.
The opposition Likud party has set next Tuesday as the date for nationwide primaries to determine who will lead the party in upcoming elections expected on February 6. The primary date was set last evening during a lively Likud party rally in Tel Aviv. Party faithful gave current leader Ariel Sharon a warm welcome, but saved most of their enthusiasm for former leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who is widely expected to beat Sharon in the primary vote next week. Sharon said that if he is re-elected as party leader and then prime minister, he would make Netanyahu foreign minister and Ehud Barak defense minister in a national unity government. Many in the packed hall booed at the mention of Barak's name. Sharon indirectly attacked Netanyahu by stating that the candidate who wins the national election "has to know how to run the country afterwards," a transparent reference to the major difficulties that the former PM experienced while in office.
In other election news, the Knesset is expected to either dissolve itself sometime next week in order to go back to the voters for a fresh mandate, or to approve one of three bills that would allow Netanyahu to run even though he is not a sitting member of parliament. The latter option, which would only mean a vote for prime minister, is favored by the 17 man Shas party and by most members of Barak's Labor party since polls show both would lose seats in a general election. Preliminary votes on the bills are taking place today. One of the bills has already been approved by a margin of 67 votes to 35, with 3 abstentions. The legislation must be approved three times by a majority of Knesset legislators to become law. That process usually takes weeks if not months, but Netanyahu's allies believe they have the clout to speed up the process and gain final approval by the time the Knesset recesses late next week.
An Israeli woman was killed and over 20 injured when a civilian bus skidded off the main road that links Jerusalem to Jericho last night. The accident occurred during heavy rainfall in the area. Meteorologists say that this week's strong winter storm, which is dumping large amounts of badly needed water all over the country, especially in the Galilee region, will continue on and off until tomorrow.
DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist. He has written the monthly Israel News Digest for CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL since 1986. His just-released new book, ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD?
You can also find directions at the CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL web site: www.cfijerusalem.org