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Sunday, Jan 11 '09, Tevet 15, 5769
1. 300 Terrorists Killed this Week
by Gil Ronen
A senior IDF officer estimated Saturday evening that more than 300 Hamas gunmen have been killed over the week that has passed since the ground phase of Operation Cast Lead began.
Since Saturday morning, forces from the IDF's different corps - Infantry, Armored, Engineering, Artillery and Intelligence – continued their activities in Gaza with the aid of the Air Force and Navy.
Golani Brigade forces shot a terrorist dead in northern Gaza and upon checking the body discovered that he had been wearing a suicide bomber's explosive vest. The forces also called in close air support against a terrorist cell which they had spotted in the act of planting explosive charges. In another incident, IAF attack helicopters shot terrorists who had been firing anti-tank missiles at Golani troops.
Paratrooper Brigade forces identified several rocket launches against Israel. They called in close air support against the launchers and directed it to the target. Givati Brigade troops hit a terrorist who was spotted laying an explosive charge in Gaza City.
IAF: 60 targets bombed
IAF aircraft have attacked 60 targets since the morning. These included two rocket-launching squads in the Jebalya area, which were hit a short time after they fired rockets at Ashdod; 10 launch points, including underground ones; 7 tunnels; a mined road; an anti-aircraft position; about 10 locations for manufacturing and storing weapons; two vehicles which stored weapons; three Hamas positions and dozens of other attacks called in by ground troops.
Seven IDF soldiers were lightly hurt during the fighting Saturday. All but one have been released from the hospital.
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by Gil Ronen
A senior IDF officer estimated Saturday evening that more than 300 Hamas gunmen have been killed over the week that has passed since the ground phase of Operation Cast Lead began.
Since Saturday morning, forces from the IDF's different corps - Infantry, Armored, Engineering, Artillery and Intelligence – continued their activities in Gaza with the aid of the Air Force and Navy.
Golani Brigade forces shot a terrorist dead in northern Gaza and upon checking the body discovered that he had been wearing a suicide bomber's explosive vest. The forces also called in close air support against a terrorist cell which they had spotted in the act of planting explosive charges. In another incident, IAF attack helicopters shot terrorists who had been firing anti-tank missiles at Golani troops.
Paratrooper Brigade forces identified several rocket launches against Israel. They called in close air support against the launchers and directed it to the target. Givati Brigade troops hit a terrorist who was spotted laying an explosive charge in Gaza City.
IAF: 60 targets bombed
IAF aircraft have attacked 60 targets since the morning. These included two rocket-launching squads in the Jebalya area, which were hit a short time after they fired rockets at Ashdod; 10 launch points, including underground ones; 7 tunnels; a mined road; an anti-aircraft position; about 10 locations for manufacturing and storing weapons; two vehicles which stored weapons; three Hamas positions and dozens of other attacks called in by ground troops.
Seven IDF soldiers were lightly hurt during the fighting Saturday. All but one have been released from the hospital.
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2. Olmert Slams Int'l Double Talk
by Hana Levi Julian
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert slammed international calls for restraint by IDF forces in Gaza, as the Cabinet met Sunday to decide on Israel's next moves in Operation Cast Lead.
"For many years we've demonstrated restraint. We reined our reactions. We bit our lips and took barrage after barrage," said Olmert in remarks at the opening of the weekly meeting of government ministers. "No country in the world – not even those who preach morality to us – would have shown similar patience and self-control."
The prime minister's comments appeared to be aimed at the United States, which abstained last week from a vote and allowed the United Nations Security Council to pass Resolution 1860, calling for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all IDF forces from Gaza.
On January 8, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the Council for passing the resolution, which she called "a step toward our goals." Although she noted that the U.S. recognizes the right of Israel "like other states, to exercise its right of self-defense," she softened the statement by adding "We have said to Israel that it is obligated to take feasible steps to minimize the impact of any actions on civilians."
The fact that IDF soldier Gilad Shalit continues to be held in captivity by Hamas terrorists more than two and a half years after being kidnapped in a raid on an army base near the Kerem Shalom Crossing merited only a passing mention: "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to remind the Council also that Hamas continues to hold IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, and he must be released." No mechanism for forcing Hamas to comply with the demand was proposed.
Rice also urged the Council to "keep our eye on the goal of Resolution 1850, which we passed in this chamber a short time ago. That is the goal of establishing an enduring commitment to mutual recognition; freedom from violence, incitement, and terror; and a two-state solution, building upon previous agreements and obligations. All UN member-states bear a responsibility to promote these principles and to help the parties toward the establishment of a State of Palestine to live in peace, side by side with the state of Israel."
Olmert: 'Did Not Delude Ourselves' About Int'l Double Standard
"We did not delude ourselves that what seemed natural, clear and self-evident for any other country, would be received with a proper measure of agreement given that the State of Israel is involved," he noted bitterly. "This did not impair, and does not impair, our determination to defend our residents."
Olmert repeated a refrain reiterated in almost every statement by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni since the operation began: "We have never agreed that someone should decide for us if we are allowed to strike at those who bomb kindergartens and schools and we will never agree to this in the future. No decision, present or future, will deny us our basic right to defend the residents of Israel."
The prime minister also praised the defense establishment, and particularly "IDF fighters and commanders," IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as "the anonymous fighters of the ISA (Israel Security Agency)" and ISA (Shin Bet) Director Yuval Diskin.
He added that the war, "an unprecedented national effort that restored the spirit of unity to the nation" was nearing its goals; however, Olmert said, further action was necessary in order to ensure that the security situation in the south would be changed for the long-term.
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by Hana Levi Julian
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert slammed international calls for restraint by IDF forces in Gaza, as the Cabinet met Sunday to decide on Israel's next moves in Operation Cast Lead.
"For many years we've demonstrated restraint. We reined our reactions. We bit our lips and took barrage after barrage," said Olmert in remarks at the opening of the weekly meeting of government ministers. "No country in the world – not even those who preach morality to us – would have shown similar patience and self-control."
The prime minister's comments appeared to be aimed at the United States, which abstained last week from a vote and allowed the United Nations Security Council to pass Resolution 1860, calling for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all IDF forces from Gaza.
On January 8, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the Council for passing the resolution, which she called "a step toward our goals." Although she noted that the U.S. recognizes the right of Israel "like other states, to exercise its right of self-defense," she softened the statement by adding "We have said to Israel that it is obligated to take feasible steps to minimize the impact of any actions on civilians."
The fact that IDF soldier Gilad Shalit continues to be held in captivity by Hamas terrorists more than two and a half years after being kidnapped in a raid on an army base near the Kerem Shalom Crossing merited only a passing mention: "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to remind the Council also that Hamas continues to hold IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, and he must be released." No mechanism for forcing Hamas to comply with the demand was proposed.
Rice also urged the Council to "keep our eye on the goal of Resolution 1850, which we passed in this chamber a short time ago. That is the goal of establishing an enduring commitment to mutual recognition; freedom from violence, incitement, and terror; and a two-state solution, building upon previous agreements and obligations. All UN member-states bear a responsibility to promote these principles and to help the parties toward the establishment of a State of Palestine to live in peace, side by side with the state of Israel."
Olmert: 'Did Not Delude Ourselves' About Int'l Double Standard
"We did not delude ourselves that what seemed natural, clear and self-evident for any other country, would be received with a proper measure of agreement given that the State of Israel is involved," he noted bitterly. "This did not impair, and does not impair, our determination to defend our residents."
Olmert repeated a refrain reiterated in almost every statement by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni since the operation began: "We have never agreed that someone should decide for us if we are allowed to strike at those who bomb kindergartens and schools and we will never agree to this in the future. No decision, present or future, will deny us our basic right to defend the residents of Israel."
The prime minister also praised the defense establishment, and particularly "IDF fighters and commanders," IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as "the anonymous fighters of the ISA (Israel Security Agency)" and ISA (Shin Bet) Director Yuval Diskin.
He added that the war, "an unprecedented national effort that restored the spirit of unity to the nation" was nearing its goals; however, Olmert said, further action was necessary in order to ensure that the security situation in the south would be changed for the long-term.
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3. No Fatah Solidarity With Hamas
by Hillel Fendel
Reports emanating from Shechem (Nablus) and other areas in Palestinian Authority-controlled Samaria indicate that the Arabs there are not showing great solidarity with their war-torn brethren in Gaza. Some attribute it to apathy, and others to the PA government, which may be “waiting in the wings” for its return to power in Gaza.
PA's Fatah Gov't on Preventative Alert
Fatah security forces belonging to PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas have been deployed very intensively throughout Judea and Samaria over the past two weeks, since Israel’s war in Gaza began. Correspondent Ali Waqed of Ynet reports that the forces are stationed in all intersections, near mosques, at potential clash points along the Green Line separating the areas from pre-1967 Israel, and at every place from where a spark can ignite widespread disturbances. Youths who try to approach Jewish-populated areas have been forcibly rebuffed by PA forces, Waqed reports.
“People here are busy with making a living,” a Fatah leader in Shechem told Waqed, “and they have either forgotten – or been caused to forget – about the issues of nationalism and occupation.”
PA Kills Attempts to Display Solidarity
An unnamed city councilman from an unnamed PA-controlled city said, “The means used by the PA made it clear to the people that it would not be worth their while to enlist for a serious protest wave. They have killed every attempt to display solidarity with Gaza and to ease the pressure on our brethren there.”
"They Are Alive, We are Zeroes"
He continued: “True, in Gaza there are hundreds of dead and thousands of destroyed building – but despite that, I can tell you for sure that they are the ones who are alive, and we are the dead. All spirit of solidarity and mutual support is dead here; we are zeroes, we are wretched, we are dead. They in Gaza are the living ones, they have the honor, and we are the pitiful ones.”
Hamas, for its part, has not done very much to arouse sympathy among Fatah members. Over the past two weeks, 35 Fatah members have been summarily executed in Gaza, according to some reports; Cabinet Secretary Oved Yechezkel said on Sunday that there have been testimonies that "tens of Fatah supporters" have been killed in cold blood by Hamas. In addition, more than 70 Fatah members have been shot in the legs or had their hands broken at the hands of Hamas terrorists. “Only scattered and buried mentions of these attacks have appeared in such newspapers as the New York Times and the Washington Post,” writes Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.
Fatah Claims: We Fired 4 Rockets
There are those within Fatah whose hatred for Israel overcomes all of the above, however. The Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam reported an “exclusive” of Friday, to the effect that Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades had shelled two Israeli locations. Four Fajr missiles reportedly hit Nachal Oz and another area just east of Gaza. Al-Aqsa is the fundamentalist Moslem wing of the mostly secular Fatah movement.
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Reports emanating from Shechem (Nablus) and other areas in Palestinian Authority-controlled Samaria indicate that the Arabs there are not showing great solidarity with their war-torn brethren in Gaza. Some attribute it to apathy, and others to the PA government, which may be “waiting in the wings” for its return to power in Gaza.
PA's Fatah Gov't on Preventative Alert
Fatah security forces belonging to PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas have been deployed very intensively throughout Judea and Samaria over the past two weeks, since Israel’s war in Gaza began. Correspondent Ali Waqed of Ynet reports that the forces are stationed in all intersections, near mosques, at potential clash points along the Green Line separating the areas from pre-1967 Israel, and at every place from where a spark can ignite widespread disturbances. Youths who try to approach Jewish-populated areas have been forcibly rebuffed by PA forces, Waqed reports.
“People here are busy with making a living,” a Fatah leader in Shechem told Waqed, “and they have either forgotten – or been caused to forget – about the issues of nationalism and occupation.”
PA Kills Attempts to Display Solidarity
An unnamed city councilman from an unnamed PA-controlled city said, “The means used by the PA made it clear to the people that it would not be worth their while to enlist for a serious protest wave. They have killed every attempt to display solidarity with Gaza and to ease the pressure on our brethren there.”
"They Are Alive, We are Zeroes"
He continued: “True, in Gaza there are hundreds of dead and thousands of destroyed building – but despite that, I can tell you for sure that they are the ones who are alive, and we are the dead. All spirit of solidarity and mutual support is dead here; we are zeroes, we are wretched, we are dead. They in Gaza are the living ones, they have the honor, and we are the pitiful ones.”
Hamas, for its part, has not done very much to arouse sympathy among Fatah members. Over the past two weeks, 35 Fatah members have been summarily executed in Gaza, according to some reports; Cabinet Secretary Oved Yechezkel said on Sunday that there have been testimonies that "tens of Fatah supporters" have been killed in cold blood by Hamas. In addition, more than 70 Fatah members have been shot in the legs or had their hands broken at the hands of Hamas terrorists. “Only scattered and buried mentions of these attacks have appeared in such newspapers as the New York Times and the Washington Post,” writes Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.
Fatah Claims: We Fired 4 Rockets
There are those within Fatah whose hatred for Israel overcomes all of the above, however. The Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam reported an “exclusive” of Friday, to the effect that Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades had shelled two Israeli locations. Four Fajr missiles reportedly hit Nachal Oz and another area just east of Gaza. Al-Aqsa is the fundamentalist Moslem wing of the mostly secular Fatah movement.
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4. IDF Warns Gaza: Worse is to Come
by Gil Ronen
Things are about to get worse for residents of the Hamas terror entity in Gaza, according to the IDF. Leaflets were dropped in large quantities at 3:00 p.m. Saturday over Gaza City and other areas of Gaza. The leaflets warned the residents that “a new phase in the battle against terror is about to begin.”
Flyers over Gaza
Blue Eye
"In the coming days, the IDF will continue to attack tunnels, weapons caches and terror activists with growing intensity throughout Gaza,” the fliers said. “For your safety and that of your families you are requested to avoid being in proximity to terror elements or to places in which weapons are stored, or where terror activity is being carried out.”
The residents were asked to “continue heeding instructions that are being given to you by various means.”
IDF video shows mortar fire from schoolyard, rocket launches during the "humanitarian ceasefire".
Earlier this week, the IDF warned residents of Rafiah that they were about to be attacked from the air, causing about 800 families to leave their homes and find refuge in a UN school. Soon afterwards, Rafiah was hit with massive bombardment.
The IDF praised those families in Saturday's fliers: “Two days ago, the IDF dropped fliers in Rafiah in which it warned the residents and instructed them to leave their homes for their safety. Because the residents of Rafiah listened to the IDF, a situation in which noncombatants could have been hurt was avoided,” it read.
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
Things are about to get worse for residents of the Hamas terror entity in Gaza, according to the IDF. Leaflets were dropped in large quantities at 3:00 p.m. Saturday over Gaza City and other areas of Gaza. The leaflets warned the residents that “a new phase in the battle against terror is about to begin.”
Flyers over Gaza
Blue Eye
"In the coming days, the IDF will continue to attack tunnels, weapons caches and terror activists with growing intensity throughout Gaza,” the fliers said. “For your safety and that of your families you are requested to avoid being in proximity to terror elements or to places in which weapons are stored, or where terror activity is being carried out.”
The residents were asked to “continue heeding instructions that are being given to you by various means.”
IDF video shows mortar fire from schoolyard, rocket launches during the "humanitarian ceasefire".
Earlier this week, the IDF warned residents of Rafiah that they were about to be attacked from the air, causing about 800 families to leave their homes and find refuge in a UN school. Soon afterwards, Rafiah was hit with massive bombardment.
The IDF praised those families in Saturday's fliers: “Two days ago, the IDF dropped fliers in Rafiah in which it warned the residents and instructed them to leave their homes for their safety. Because the residents of Rafiah listened to the IDF, a situation in which noncombatants could have been hurt was avoided,” it read.
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5. Hamas Terrorists Afraid to Fight
by Gil Ronen
"Hamas's gunmen are afraid to come out and fight,” a senior IDF officer said Saturday. “We have identified cases of [Hamas terrorist going AWOL and deserting,” he added. The officer said that Hamas's reluctance to fight helped the IDF to eliminate a senior Hamas commander Saturday.
Everything OK -- IDF soldiers, Gaza.
Flash 90
The commander, Amir Mansi, was in charge of Hamas's rocket and mortar squads in the Gaza City area and was an expert on the use of medium range Grad rockets. Since his men's motivation to fight was flagging, Mansi came out himself and tried to fire mortar shells at an IDF Golani Brigade force. The IDF fired at him, killing him and wounding two others.
Hamas's senior officers are unaware of the extent to which their militia has been hurt, the senior officer said, and hinted that at the possibility that they are being misled by their own men. “On the day that the organization's senior men come out and inspect the damage and the price that they have paid, they will understand the might of the IDF,” he added.
"We know that entire Hamas companies have simply been erased,” the officer said. “We have identified cases of [Hamas terrorist going AWOL and deserting the battlefield.”
He added that the IDF is in constant movement and is “deepening its grasp on the territory.” He said that while Hamas squads were firing rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and more deadly, long range guided anti-tank missiles, most of these units were eliminated before they manged to hit the IDF.
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
"Hamas's gunmen are afraid to come out and fight,” a senior IDF officer said Saturday. “We have identified cases of [Hamas terrorist going AWOL and deserting,” he added. The officer said that Hamas's reluctance to fight helped the IDF to eliminate a senior Hamas commander Saturday.
Everything OK -- IDF soldiers, Gaza.
Flash 90
The commander, Amir Mansi, was in charge of Hamas's rocket and mortar squads in the Gaza City area and was an expert on the use of medium range Grad rockets. Since his men's motivation to fight was flagging, Mansi came out himself and tried to fire mortar shells at an IDF Golani Brigade force. The IDF fired at him, killing him and wounding two others.
Hamas's senior officers are unaware of the extent to which their militia has been hurt, the senior officer said, and hinted that at the possibility that they are being misled by their own men. “On the day that the organization's senior men come out and inspect the damage and the price that they have paid, they will understand the might of the IDF,” he added.
"We know that entire Hamas companies have simply been erased,” the officer said. “We have identified cases of [Hamas terrorist going AWOL and deserting the battlefield.”
He added that the IDF is in constant movement and is “deepening its grasp on the territory.” He said that while Hamas squads were firing rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and more deadly, long range guided anti-tank missiles, most of these units were eliminated before they manged to hit the IDF.
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6. FM: No Response to Venezuela
by Hana Levi Julian
Israel's Ambassador to Venezuela, Shlomo Cohen, left the country on Friday prior to the Sabbath, the deadline ordered by President Hugo Chavez, but his Venzuelan counterpart is still here in Israel.
On Wednesday Cohen was given 72 hours to leave the country, together with his entire staff.
Although the Foreign Ministry had said it would decide last week whether to reciprocate and expel Venezuelan diplomats from Israel in response to the move, by Sunday nothing had been done.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi told Israel National News that no decision had yet been reached on whether to expel Cohen's counterpart in Israel. "They don't have an ambassador here," he explained, "they have a Second Secretary, and there has been no decision on what action to take, if any." Levi said he didn't know when a decision would be reached.
It was also not clear exactly whether Cohen had returned to Israel, or was waiting abroad to see if the situation would be diplomatically smoothed out.
The expulsion of the Israeli ambassador was a slap at Israel by Chavez to protest the Jewish State's counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Chavez is a strong ally of Iran.
Cohen's departure leaves Israelis and relatives of Israelis in Venezuela without an address for passports and other official issues. "We are harboring the hope that this will be resolved quickly and relations will improve," Cohen told a reporter for the Associated Press before boarding a flight to Germany on Friday.
Chavez: Sends Support to Anti-War Protestors in Israel
Chavez also sent a message of support that was read to thousands of protestors who flooded the streets of Nazareth Illit Saturday in a demonstration led by the extreme leftist Hadash party.
"We are not united by one nationality -- rather, what unites us is... the blood shed in Gaza ... the blood of humanity. Venezuela kisses each and every one of you and stresses that it supports the Palestinian people and all those who suffer from the occupation," Chavez said in his message.
Arab Knesset Member Mohammed Barakeh also had a message for protestors, but he addressed the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) counter-demonstrators gathered outside the convention hall where the Hadash protest was held.
"Remember... on whose land you're standing," he said to them. "We have childhood memories here, the history of our forefathers, and a future. Those who have no memories from here have no right to talk to us. We insist on staying on this land -- either on it, or buried in it."
Comment on this story
by Hana Levi Julian
Israel's Ambassador to Venezuela, Shlomo Cohen, left the country on Friday prior to the Sabbath, the deadline ordered by President Hugo Chavez, but his Venzuelan counterpart is still here in Israel.
On Wednesday Cohen was given 72 hours to leave the country, together with his entire staff.
Although the Foreign Ministry had said it would decide last week whether to reciprocate and expel Venezuelan diplomats from Israel in response to the move, by Sunday nothing had been done.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi told Israel National News that no decision had yet been reached on whether to expel Cohen's counterpart in Israel. "They don't have an ambassador here," he explained, "they have a Second Secretary, and there has been no decision on what action to take, if any." Levi said he didn't know when a decision would be reached.
It was also not clear exactly whether Cohen had returned to Israel, or was waiting abroad to see if the situation would be diplomatically smoothed out.
The expulsion of the Israeli ambassador was a slap at Israel by Chavez to protest the Jewish State's counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Chavez is a strong ally of Iran.
Cohen's departure leaves Israelis and relatives of Israelis in Venezuela without an address for passports and other official issues. "We are harboring the hope that this will be resolved quickly and relations will improve," Cohen told a reporter for the Associated Press before boarding a flight to Germany on Friday.
Chavez: Sends Support to Anti-War Protestors in Israel
Chavez also sent a message of support that was read to thousands of protestors who flooded the streets of Nazareth Illit Saturday in a demonstration led by the extreme leftist Hadash party.
"We are not united by one nationality -- rather, what unites us is... the blood shed in Gaza ... the blood of humanity. Venezuela kisses each and every one of you and stresses that it supports the Palestinian people and all those who suffer from the occupation," Chavez said in his message.
Arab Knesset Member Mohammed Barakeh also had a message for protestors, but he addressed the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) counter-demonstrators gathered outside the convention hall where the Hadash protest was held.
"Remember... on whose land you're standing," he said to them. "We have childhood memories here, the history of our forefathers, and a future. Those who have no memories from here have no right to talk to us. We insist on staying on this land -- either on it, or buried in it."
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7. Jewish Evacuees Standing Strong
by IsraelNN TV Staff
Terrorist bombardment is something that Gush Katif expellees were familiar with when they lived in Jewish communities in Gaza. Today, they feel that their presence in other communities in the south helps the residents learn to endure.
Click here to view the report.
Close to 10,000 Jews of Gaza were forcefully evicted from their homes as part of the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza carried out by the Kadima party government. Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated the purpose of the Israeli pull-out of Gush Katif: "These steps will increase security for the residents of Israel and relieve the pressure on the IDF and security forces in fulfilling the difficult tasks they are faced with. The Disengagement Plan is meant to grant maximum security and minimize friction between Israelis and Palestinians."
Ariel Sharon, Dec. 18, 2003
Comment on this story
by IsraelNN TV Staff
Terrorist bombardment is something that Gush Katif expellees were familiar with when they lived in Jewish communities in Gaza. Today, they feel that their presence in other communities in the south helps the residents learn to endure.
Click here to view the report.
Close to 10,000 Jews of Gaza were forcefully evicted from their homes as part of the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza carried out by the Kadima party government. Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated the purpose of the Israeli pull-out of Gush Katif: "These steps will increase security for the residents of Israel and relieve the pressure on the IDF and security forces in fulfilling the difficult tasks they are faced with. The Disengagement Plan is meant to grant maximum security and minimize friction between Israelis and Palestinians."
Ariel Sharon, Dec. 18, 2003
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