Israeli planes hit Gaza bridges
Israel's military has attacked three bridges in Gaza amid heightened tension over the capture of an Israeli soldier.
The Israeli military confirmed that the first strike was aimed at stopping Palestinian militants moving Cpl Gilad Shalit, who was abducted on Sunday.

Israel has warned of large-scale military action and tanks have been gathering on the border with Gaza.

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah earlier agreed a document outlining a common political platform.

As part of the agreement, Hamas said it would accept a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza - while maintaining its refusal to recognise the legitimacy of Israel.

Under the deal, the Hamas government also authorises the Fatah leader and President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to conduct negotiations with Israel.

An aide to Mr Abbas, Saeb Erekat, told the BBC the aim of the agreement was to present a united front to Israel in negotiations.

Hamas and Fatah "have to be brought together in order... to be able to sit down with the Israelis and discuss the future of the Palestinians", he said.

The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, says there is little in the document to hint at a longer-term peace deal with Israel.

There is no peace process on the ground, he says, and the dynamic of violence in the area tends to overtake efforts at peace.

Militants on alert

Cpl Shalit was seized when Palestinian militants burrowed under the border and attacked an Israeli army position, killing two soldiers.


Israel has rejected the militants' demands for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails to be freed in exchange for information about the soldier.

The BBC's correspondent in Gaza, Alan Johnston, says it is unclear if the Israeli air raids are precursors to a large-scale ground assault.

But, he says, militants in Gaza are on high alert, preparing ambushes and hideouts to be used in the event of an Israeli invasion.

I can't belive this, attck three bridges, because one soldier is kidnapped. No wonder there are thousands of suicide bombers in Palestine

Israeli soldiers push into Gaza

Tanks enter Gaza
Israeli forces have taken up position in southern Gaza after an overnight incursion aimed at freeing a soldier captured by Palestinian militants.
They reached the disused international airport apparently without meeting resistance, hours after delivering air attacks on bridges and a power station.

It is the first major incursion since Israel withdrew from Gaza last year.

Militants say the soldier is being kept where Israel cannot reach him, and they have set conditions for his release.

It is unclear how many troops are being used in the operation to free Cpl Gilad Shalit, launched from the Kerem Shalom crossing near southern Gaza.

But Israeli army officials told the BBC the operation would remain "limited and surgical" and had one objective alone - to bring Cpl Shalit home safely.


The goal is not to search [for Cpl Shalit], the goal is to cause them to send Gilad home
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Israeli cabinet minister


Cpl Shalit was taken prisoner in a raid claimed by three different organisations - including the armed wing of governing party Hamas - after a raid on an Israeli guard post near Gaza on Sunday.

Israel last year pulled soldiers and thousands of settlers out of Gaza, which it had first occupied after the 1967 war.

On Tuesday, Hamas and its main factional rival, Fatah, agreed a document outlining a common political platform for negotiations with Israel, but the move appears to have been overtaken by events on the ground.

In another development, militants in the West Bank said they had abducted a Jewish settler and would kill him if Israeli continued its operations in Gaza.

'Slowed down'

Israeli forces, under cover of shelling and backed by helicopter gunships, took up positions on farmland outside the disused airport about one kilometre inside the Gaza border.


"We want to bring our soldier home, that is our only goal," said one Israeli cabinet minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.

Mr Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister, told Israeli radio the aim was not to search for the soldier but to pressurise his captors into releasing him:

"The goal is not to search [for Cpl Shalit], the goal is to cause them to send Gilad home... They have to understand we won't just sit quietly."

Palestinian families living in the path of the Israeli incursion have been fleeing their homes to find refuge in the nearby town of Rafah.

While the Israelis reported no resistance, Palestinian militants have been erecting barricades and preparing hideouts and ambush positions.

Abu Qusay, a spokesman for the Fatah-affiliated group al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said that mines left by militants had slowed down the Israeli advance.

"So far the Zionist enemy has advanced only a short distance, thanks to the explosive charges planted on its way," he told the al-Jazeera television channel.

The US has been calling on Israel to give diplomacy more time and both Egypt and France are said to have been involved in talks to free Cpl Shalit.

Militant demands

Before the incursion, Israeli jets attacked three bridges and a power plant in the Gaza Strip.





Cpl Shalit was captured when Palestinian militants tunnelled under the Gaza border and attacked an Israeli army position at Kerem Shalom, killing two soldiers.

Israel has rejected militant demands for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails to be freed in exchange for information about the soldier.

Political leaders of Hamas, the governing Palestinian party, have denied they know of Cpl Shalit's whereabouts and have urged his captors not to mistreat him.

As part of its agreement with Fatah, Hamas said it would accept a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza - while maintaining its refusal to recognise the legitimacy of Israel.

The Hamas government also authorised the Fatah leader and president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to conduct negotiations with Israel.

A Fatah official said the aim of the deal was to present a united front in talks.

BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says the document - first drawn up by Palestinian prisoners in Israel - is not designed as an olive branch to Israel, but to end serious factional strife between Hamas, the Islamist party which won elections in January, and Fatah, the nationalist party it defeated.

I can't belive this, attck three bridges, because one soldier is kidnapped. No wonder there are thousands of suicide bombers in Palestine

The west defines "terrorist" by either : Muslim or suicide bomber.

The west defines "terrorist" by either : Muslim or suicide bomber.

Microshit is also muslim, so am i, and i know for certain he is not insulting anyones family or any muslims. He's just pointing out the stereotyping 95% of the people make of muslims as terrorist. On the outside they act like they are multicultural, ask them the questions in priavate, they will tell you they believe most muslims are capable of blowing up the twin towers and such and such. harsh, but its true. no one admits it openly cause it will cause people to get mad and make you look like a racist fuck, but like i said, 95% will stereotype all muslims.

Reply to your PM

Shame on you two.

Gaza sees bloodiest day of raids
Twenty-two Palestinians and an Israeli have reportedly been killed in the bloodiest day of violence since Israel pushed into the Gaza Strip.
Many of those killed in the air strikes and heavy fighting are militants but there are also civilian victims.

Israel's operations, the biggest since it withdrew from Gaza last summer, began largely in the south in a bid to free a soldier captured by militants.

But troops moved deeper into the north after rocket attacks on a city.

Israeli officials deny any plans to reoccupy Gaza.

The interior minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government, Said Siyam, has called on the security forces to fight Israeli troops.

But correspondents say the minister has limited influence with the security forces, who are mostly loyal to Hamas's rival movement, Fatah.

Veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel's operations were undermining diplomatic efforts to free the soldier, Cpl Gilad Shalit.

Urban fighting

Palestinian medical sources said 22 Palestinians had been killed and dozens injured in Gaza in the last 24 hours.


Militants armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades have been fighting Israeli soldiers backed by tanks and helicopter gunships in street battles.

The fighting has focused on the towns of Beit Lahiya, Abassan and Khan Younis as Israeli tanks approach their outskirts.

An Israeli soldier was shot dead near Beit Lahiya, the army confirmed, marking the first military death of the offensive.

The army is trying to drive back Palestinian militants who fire crudely made rockets into towns in Israel just beyond Gaza's northern border, the BBC's Bethany Bell reports.

While the Israeli army says it is keen to avoid civilian casualties, Thursday's death highlights the dangers of fighting in urban areas, our correspondent adds.





In other developments:


Israel closed the main goods crossing point with Gaza following what it said were alerts received about a planned attack

Israeli police reportedly detained five senior members of Hamas in Jerusalem - police say they had been helping Hamas MPs conduct party activity in the city

The UN human rights watchdog deplored Israel's campaign in Gaza as a breach of international law in an emergency resolution passed in Geneva.
'Buffer zone'

Hamas's military wing has fired two Qassam rockets at Ashkelon in the last 48 hours, the first time Palestinian militants have hit a major Israeli city with their crudely made rockets.


Why do thousands of Palestinians have to suffer death, destruction, lack of water, and electricity for the fate of ONE Israeli soldier?
Omar, Washington DC


The rockets did not cause serious damage or injury.

Ashkelon - more than 10km (seven miles) north of Gaza - was thought to be out of range of Palestinian rockets.

Israeli minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has insisted there is no wish to stay in Gaza.

For their part, groups like Hamas often say that their attacks are a response to Israeli military action - not just attacks on militants in Gaza, but raids, arrests and killings over in the occupied West Bank as well.

Every night since the militants captured Cpl Gilad Shalit, the Israeli air force has struck at sites in Gaza, including bridges and a power station.

Little is known about the fate of Cpl Shalit, captured in a cross-border raid by a joint militant force including fighters from Hamas, but Israeli officials believe he is still alive.

I swear, one day, Israel will suffer for what they are doing now.

This kidnapped soldier is their key.

I never said it was all worth it. But after seeing this contunue for as long as it has, I have come to expect it from the area.

I said that Palestine is suffering because of the killing of Israeli soldiers and the capture of one in Israel. Those kidnappers are to blame. I can tell you that.

And after seeing what HAMAS used as a platform to get elected, I am not suprised they are failing and Palestine is suffering as a result of their strategy. But they don't care. They hate Israel more than they love Palestine.

Your question makes no sense. See, OUR OWN GOVT. WOULD ENFORCE THE LAW AND RETRIEVE THE SOLDIER. And my family would just get out of the way and let that govt. do its job.

I do not delight in that the world is full of people who kill others to achieve their own ends. I accept it, though, and am willing to defend myself and my loved ones.

Micro, how do you feel about the Israelies who have been killed, or had their lives destroyed?

I mourn for both sides, and wish Palestine would police it own people and stop those attacking Israel. Until then Israel is defending itself from Anarchy. and the best way is with a long range attack.

If Israel laid down its arms, Palestine would continue to attack, and Israeli groups would launch their own attacks.

Better Israel stay in control of the warriors it is has trained.

They hate Israel more than they love Palestine.

If Israel laid down its arms, Palestine would continue to attack.

how do you feel about the Israelies who have been killed, or had their lives destroyed?

let's but some facts here, this soldier who was kidnapped was actually on duty killing other Palestinians along with his dead soldiers

Let's have some more facts.
1. That soldier did not volunteer. He was conscripted.

2. He was on guard duty. Not in a combat zone.

3. He was in Israel. and so were the other two guards.

4. This was premeditated for at least months.

How can you argue that there is no government in Palestine, and yet Hamas was brought in by a rightful vote.

We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

"We are committed to peace and I am ready to make painful concessions for peace. But I will not make any concession on the security of the people of Israel,"

Olmert said the violence in Gaza would not deter him from carrying out his plan to leave the West Bank

Ariel Sharon:

You can't have it both ways, man. Either you say hamas got elected and see them as a governement (and don't freeze palestinian money, or kidnap their ministers and elected MP's), or either you say they are terrorists.

I am a supporter of the first interpretation: no matter what they did, they got elected, and kidnapping ministers by a foreign nation is pretty unseen in history, I would dare to say... Do that to any other nation in the world and it's considered as an act of war. That shows you how much credit we give Israel in this conflict.

And let's not be childish about this: If Israel blows up a power plant, and several bridges, they aren't doing it to save a soldiers life, there is another agenda... I can't come up with a proper theory on how you can save a soldier by cutting 100.000's of people from power. To add to that, that is called collective punishment, another thing that is considered as an illegal act of war... But who is counting, when Israel is involved, right?

@microshit: You somehow SERIOUSLY underestimate the military power of Israel. A kidnapped soldier is the worst thing that can happen to a public opnion, of course you will do whatever it takes to get him back. Look at Iraq: 2 American soldiers went missing, and 8.000(!) soldiers searched for them.

I know it's not easy to admit, but there is no denying that Jews are considered as the world's biggest evil in a lot of Arab nations. To give you a small example: A link to the The protocols of the Elders of Zion. A book that talks about the "big jewish conspiracy to rule the world". Everywhere considered as a (bad) joke, a bestseller in the Arab world, used in schoolbooks in Saudi-Arabia. And what the president of Iran is saying about the holocaust can be labelled as an often heard opinion on Arab streets.

It's a bit off-topic, I know, but the point I insist on making is this: Palestinia and Israel are in war, and you can't request them to "act nicely". (Illegal) acts of war will continue to happen from both sides, that is how war works: no humanity, no decency.

The only way to get to peace comes from the coalition members in this war: For me the USA has a massive responsabilty in supporting this war to go on for decades already, but on the other side, the responsability of Arab nations is equally big!

Since resolutions 242 and 338, the Security Council has taken no significant steps to end the Israel-Palestine conflict. United States influence has generally kept the issue off the Council's agenda. When Council members have introduced resolutions, responding to periodic crises, the US has repeatedly used its veto on Israel's behalf. The General Assembly has taken a more active and creative role in the conflict, yet its resolutions are non-binding and have largely symbolic weight.

@K2
At least the PMs are talking peace. Hamas won't even dissavow violence, or acknowledge Israel.

And about the quassam missles. I guess since they don't do damage, they should just ignore them until someone gets hurt.

The intent is still there. They are missles. They are aimed at Israeli towns, with the intent to kill.

Are you saying that if someone makes a half-assed attempt at murder, we should just leave them alone and let them walk free. Then, when they kill someone, we should go and respond?

If a guy is walking around waving a gun, should we just say "Nah, he hasn't actually hit a single person with his bullets yet. Once he gets someone, then we get him?"

@Madrose...
You're talking a game of history. It's been discussed on this board many times. Who was there first. You can go back into the bible and see that the Jewish people were there first.

And the WHOLE WORLD is revolving around land that was occupied from someone else. The 'winner' of that debate is a matter of where in history you stop looking. The further back, the more it changes.

They are missles. They are aimed at Israeli towns, with the intent to kill.

Israeli leaders ordered new incursions into the Gaza Strip, security officials said Tuesday, after the Hamas leader said he would not free an Israeli soldier whose capture by Palestinian militants has led to a bloody 13-day confrontation.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz gave the green light to additional incursions into Gaza to free the soldier and stop Palestinian rocket attacks

The two men spoke within hours of each other — Olmert in Jerusalem, Mashaal in Damascus, Syria. Neither expressed any readiness to compromise, boding poorly for bringing an end to Israel's Gaza Strip incursion that has already killed 58 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier.

"Khaled Mashaal is a terrorist with blood on his hands. He's not a legitimate partner for anything. He's not a partner and he won't be a partner. I will not negotiate with Hamas," the Israeli leader said.

The army said the last attack targeted a group of militants who had just launched a rocket into Israel. On Tuesday, an Israeli aircraft attacked a bridge in northern Gaza to stop militants from transporting rockets, the military said. A Palestinian militant group also claimed that it fired a rocket from the northern West Bank into Israel

A Palestinian militant group also claimed that it fired a rocket from the northern West Bank into Israel. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, took credit for the rocket attack. The Israeli military said it had no evidence of a rocket being fired or landing in Israel.

This started with an Israeli soldier being kidnapped. And the HAMAS leader is refusing to free the soldier they kidnapped. So Israeli responded to a kidnapped soldier. And isn't Hamas the ruling party of the government. So when the government of a nation acts, it acts on behalf of its country. So..the nation of Palestine has kidnapped an Israeli soldier, and is holding him hostage. That last part may be a stretch, due to the instability of everything in the PA.

So. They said quite plainly. To stop rockets and get back a soldier. I don't see anything about reclaiming any part of the land, or trying to do anymore than that.

Well, they don't mention that many of these 58 palestinians are terrorists. I agree, its a shame people, including innocents are dying.

Well, Hamas is a recgonized terrorist organization, that has yet to renounce its violent ways. The world pretty much has a 'will not negotiate with terrorists' policy. Fair enough.

So they fire a rocket, and Israel responds. Pretty much the normal actions for anyone to take when attacked. And the bridge.. oh wait, they were transporting more rockets.

All I am trying to prove is that Israel is responding to attacks. Yes, the attacks are rockets, and the terrorists have lousy aim. Well, don't shoot the rockets, don't kidnap soldiers, and even pretend to be peaceful, and then there can be progress towards peace.

And that is what Israeli missiles do:

They are missles. They are aimed at Israeli Palestinian towns, with the intent to kill.

@Madrose: Where are you from? And what is this jibberish about the media... "Jews agenda"... They are all part of the worldwide jewish conspiracy or what?

The attack at the beach comes amidst an intensified Israeli response to Qassam rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups operating in the area. Human Rights Watch, which is also investigating the use of Qassams against Israeli civilians, has previously called on Palestinian armed groups to cease such unlawful attacks. The Qassam attacks violate international law because they fail to discriminate between military targets and civilians. Qassam rockets are highly imprecise, homemade weapons that are incapable of being targeted at specific objects.

And that is what Israeli missiles do:

They are missles. They are aimed at Israeli Palestinian towns, with the intent to kill.

Madrose..your arguments are based on where you are from.
I don't watch Israeli tv, as I am from the USA.

Your arguments are very tainted, and I believe you said you are from Palestine or that area.

And, according to Human Rights Watch:


Again, Israeli response to attacks.

I agree, but Israelie missles come as responsle to the Palestinian missles.

In America, you have to be educated for some 14 years, and take history and civics classes to be, by proxy of age, to be given the right to vote.

In Palestine, you have to what lived in squalor you hold Israel responsible for because of your fear of the dictator of the week's cronies who are building missiles in your backyard with your kid duct taped to their chest.