Ironduke

Gaza missile attack kills four

Israeli helicopter gunships have attacked a target in Gaza City with missiles, killing four Palestinians.
Two of the victims were identified as local leaders of the armed wing of Hamas by both the group itself and Israeli sources.

Israel has vowed to eliminate leaders of Palestinian groups involved in attacks on its citizens, with its army chief saying that any Hamas members were potential targets for "liquidation".

On Thursday, helicopters attacked the car of senior Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab in Gaza, killing him and two others days after a suicide bomb attack left 21 dead in Jerusalem.

In Sunday night's attack, three missiles were fired into the city's seafront where the four men killed had been sitting - according to some reports, in a car.

"I was about to enter my house with my wife, when suddenly a huge explosion shook the ground under my feet," said Shadi Wassi, a local resident.

"When I looked back, I saw a big flame burning the trees, then another two huge explosions hit the area."

The victims were said to be armed and wearing combat fatigues.

'Moving in'

Witnesses said the four men had been sitting near the beach for about half an hour when the gunships struck.

The attack is believed to have taken place just 100 metres from the Gaza office of Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan.

Israeli security sources in Jerusalem said the men were responsible for recent mortar attacks on Israeli targets near Gaza.

Israel's army chief, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, said earlier on Sunday that all members of Hamas were "potential targets for liquidation".

"If, at the end of the day, the Palestinian Authority [PA] doesn't move against them, we will have to do so," he said on a day when divisions surfaced within the PA over control of security.

PA leader Yasser Arafat is reported to be pushing for an old comrade, Nasser Yousef, to take overall charge of security matters in what appears to be a direct challenge to the current security chief, Mr Dahlan.

The promotion of Mr Yousef is seen as directly undermining Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Jerusalem said this latest attack proves again that Israel has the ability to find and kill specific individuals.

But he said it would also increase the determination among Hamas militants to take their revenge against Israeli targets.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3178401.stm

bigross86

Yeah! Right in their own back yard!!!

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