Hamas threatens Gaza escalation while PM Olmert plans Washington trip
May 31, 2008, 8:26 PM (GMT+02:00)
Mahmoud a-Zahar - new threats
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has scheduled a consultation on the lingering Gaza missile crisis with defense minister Ehud Barak and foreign minister Tzipi Livni for Sunday, June 1 before taking off Monday for a week of talks in Washington.
The prime minister is traveling in the face of rising pressure for him to step down over the corruption scandal hanging over his head. Both Barak and Livni have openly supported this demand.
DEBKAfile reports: The three leaders have been warned repeatedly by Israel’s military and intelligence chiefs that the longer effective action against Hamas and its allied terrorist groups is delayed, the harder and more costly in lives the operation will be.
Mahmoud A-Zahar, speaking for Hamas in an interview Saturday, May 31, threatened that if Israel rejects his group’s ceasefire terms in Gaza and refuses to end its blockade, “the Palestinians will resort to all means at their disposal including armed force.”
Saturday, the Egyptian police reported the discovery of 30 anti-air missiles in a large arms cache in Sinai 80 km. south of the Gaza Strip. It also contained rifles, 2,000 rifle rounds, sacks of hand grenades and RPGs. The weapons were to have been smuggled into Gaza through tunnels. Police are investigating their source.
Palestinians sources add: Hamas’ truce offer is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition through Cairo; it has no intention of halting the ongoing build-up of its Iran- and Syria-backed war machine or controlling fellow terrorist groups’ attacks on Israeli locations neighboring on the Gaza Strip.
Saturday morning, a Hamas activist blew himself up and injured 16 family members and passers-by while handling explosives at his home in Gaza City.
Five missiles were fired at civilian locations Friday causing damage but no injuries.
Seven Palestinians were injured Friday when Israeli soldiers broke up a second mass assault organized by Hamas to smash through the Gaza-Israel border – this one at the southern Sufa crossing.