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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas's Mashaal: Prisoner deal is 'historic victory'

2011-10-12

Mashaal says 1,000 prisoners in exchange for Schalit; Izaddin al-Kassam spokesman claims Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors. Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader Khaled Mashaal on Tuesday night called the deal to exchange Gilad Schalit for over 1,000 Paleostinian prisoners a "great achievement." "We are happy with this great achievement and we thank our God for that. But our happiness is mixed with sorrow because we were not able to gain the freedom of all prisoners," Meshaal said from Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... , speaking in a televised speech. Hamas presented the prisoner exchange agreement as a "historic victory," saying Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors. Abu Obaida, front man for the armed wing of Hamas, Izzadin Kassam, said the agreement includes prisoners from east Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs and all the women and minors among the security prisoners. He also pointed out that two-thirds of the prisoners who would be released in return for Gilad Schalit are serving lengthy terms in prison. "This is an historic deal," Abu Obaida boasted. "Hamas will remain faithful to the cause of the prisoners and will continue to work toward securing the release of all of them." Hamas officials revealed that the agreement was achieved with the help of the Egyptians. They said that the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, Murad Mawafi, was personally involved in the negotiations. According to the officials, Ahmed Ja'bari, Izzadin Kassam's overall commander, visited Cairo two weeks ago to oversee the final details of the exchange.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

ŽSchalit will end up like Ron AradŽ

2009-04-16

[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The fate of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit will be similar to that of missing IAF navigator Ron Arad if Israel does not accept the conditions of Hamas for his release, a senior Hamas official declared on Wednesday. Abdel Latif Qanou, a Hamas representative in the northern Gaza Strip, said that the abduction of IDF soldiers was the only way to gain the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. "The kidnapping of Israeli soldiers has become a strategic vision for Hamas," Qanou said in a statement marking Palestinian Prisoners' Day. "In the past, this was a tactical move endorsed by [Hamas's armed wing] Izaddin al-Kassam already in 1988 with the kidnapping of [IDF Sgt.] Avi Sasportas." Qanou said that Hamas was determined to do everything it could to secure the release of all Palestinians from Israeli prisons, regardless of their political affiliations. "We will use all available methods regardless of the price to release our prisoners," he added. "International diplomacy, false promises and lousy agreements won't do anything for our prisoners." The Hamas official warned that unless Israel accepted all the demands of the captors, Schalit's fate would be similar to that of Ron Arad. A Hamas representative in the Gaza Strip said that his movement was waiting to hear from the new Israeli government about its position regarding the possibility of reaching a prisoner exchange agreement between the two sides. "The talks over the release of Schalit are currently frozen," the official said. "We still haven't heard from the new government in Israel." The Hamas official told The Jerusalem Post that the captors' demands remained unchanged. He said that without the release of hundreds of prisoners from Israeli jails, "Schalit would never see daylight."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Analysis: Hamas desperate for lull

2009-01-06

As the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip entered its 10th day, Hamas has begun sending conflicting messages regarding its intentions. These contradictory messages, Palestinian political analysts said, reflected the state of confusion in Hamas and raised questions as to who was calling the shots in the Gaza Strip. While some Hamas leaders have been openly signaling their readiness to accept a new cease-fire, others are still calling for pursuing the fight against Israel "until victory." What is clear is that Hamas is now desperate for a lull in the fighting. But it is also eager to score some kind of a "military victory" before a cease-fire is reached. Hamas can't accept a new cease-fire without having proved to the Arab and Muslim masses that it was capable of making Israel pay a heavy price for its military offensive. Hamas is fighting for its survival and its leaders know that their collapse would constitute a severe blow not only to the movement, but also to its patrons in Teheran and Damascus. "It's hard to tell who's in charge in the Gaza Strip these days," said a Ramallah-based analyst. "Hamas's political leaders have disappeared after throwing away their mobile phones. No one knows exactly what Hamas wants." The analyst said that according to his sources, the embattled Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip were no longer in direct contact with their colleagues in Syria. "The political leaderships of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Damascus have been disconnected from each other," he added. "I doubt if there's any coordination between them." He pointed out that the decision to dispatch two senior Hamas envoys to Cairo for talks about a cease-fire came as a surprise to the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. The two envoys are based in Damascus and report directly to Khaled Mashaal, he said. Another Ramallah-based political analyst said that the political leadership of Hamas has given the movement's armed wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, full freedom to take any measures it deems necessary to prevent the collapse of the Hamas regime. "The gunmen on the streets are now in charge," he noted. "This is a dangerous situation, because they don't report to anyone at the top. This has created a state of anarchy and confusion." Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip said on Monday that the general feeling was that Hamas does not exist any longer as a governing body. "All their government institutions have been destroyed," said a Gaza City reporter. "The Hamas leaders are now behaving like al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden and [his deputy] Ayman Zawahiri. Their only public appearances are through recorded messages aired on Arab TV stations." On Monday, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar made his first public appearance in a previously recorded message broadcast on a Hamas TV station. Zahar's appearance was reminiscent of similar appearances made by al-Qaida terror leaders. Until two weeks ago, Zahar, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Interior Minister Said Siam - the three top Hamas leaders - were still sleeping in their homes and moving around freely and fearlessly. Until then, they were also frequent guests on various talk shows in the Arab media - especially Al-Jazeera, which is being accused by some Palestinians as serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas. Sources close to Hamas said that in light of the new reality, where the Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have virtually vanished, the armed wing was receiving its instructions from the movement's leadership in Syria. The sources said that Mashaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, was in direct contact with commanders of Izzadin Kassam in different parts of the Gaza Strip. "There's a vacuum in the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip," they said. "The Hamas leaders in Damascus are now in charge. There's no one to talk to in the Gaza Strip."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

'Forget about Gilad Schalit if Hamas leaders are killed'

2008-02-12

Israel can forget about kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit if it goes ahead with its threats to assassinate the political leaders of Hamas, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip warned Monday. The official, who was speaking to The Jerusalem Post by phone, said he was confident that the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, would "not remain idle" if Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh or Mahmoud Zahar. "The assassination of our political leaders will have serious repercussions on the case of Schalit," he said. "Israel must know that there are red lines that should not be crossed. If Israel decides to carry out its threats, it will have to forget about Schalit forever." The Hamas official pointed out that negotiations to release Schalit have been suspended temporarily because of the crisis that erupted between his movement and Egypt in the past few weeks.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF uncovers five weapons smuggling tunnels in Gaza

2006-10-19

IDF units operating in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday uncovered five tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Earlier Wednesday, as the army moved in force into southern Gaza, Hamas sources reportedly told an independent Palestinian news agency that the IDF had killed two Palestinians near Rafah, one of whom was active in preparing and executing the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit from the Kerem Shalom outpost on June 25. According to Israel Radio, Ashraf el-Muashar had been a senior operative in Hamas' military wing. The report, which has not been confirmed, came on the heels of a recent order issued to the IDF by the diplomatic echelon to begin drawing up plans for a widespread operation in the Gaza Strip in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing Shalit and to prevent the terror buildup in the Palestinian territory. Meanwhile, with Kassams still being fired at the western Negev and Hamas claiming to be building up an army, the IDF has set in motion preparations for a massive ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, one that senior officers in the Southern Command claim will be "larger than ever before." On Tuesday, in a sign of what is in store for the IDF, soldiers from the Beduin Reconnaissance Battalion, who were operating along the Philadelphi Route for the first time since the Gaza disengagement, uncovered two tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt. One of the tunnels was 12 meters deep. The IDF has found 15 smuggling tunnels since the end of June, when the army intensified activity in the Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. Capt. Noa Meir, an army spokeswoman, said Israel would continue military operations as long as was necessary to block the flow of arms - which she said included guns, explosives and anti-tank rockets - into Gaza. "The tunnels are part of a production line meant to kill Israelis, and it's our job to stop it," Meir said. Palestinian Authority officials warned Israel on Tuesday against launching a military operation in Gaza, while Hamas announced that its men said they were prepared to thwart any attempt by the IDF to invade the area. "Such an attack will have grave consequences on security and stability in the entire region," said Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. He said the PA has appealed to the US to intervene with Israel to prevent a large-scale attack in the Gaza Strip. The armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, announced that it had completed its preparations for a possible confrontation with the IDF. A spokesman for the group warned that "the fighters of the al-Kassam will not have mercy on the cowardly [Israeli] soldiers. Your destroyed tanks will become the eternal testimony of your failure and of your running away from the Gaza Strip." Hamas leaders denied Israeli charges that their movement had smuggled large amounts of weapons into the Gaza Strip, including advanced anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles. IDF officers have raised fears that advanced Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles had been smuggled into Gaza. "These charges are meant to provide an excuse for Israel to invade the Gaza Strip and launch a new aggression on our people," said a senior Hamas official in Gaza City.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Abbas sends envoys to talk to Mashaal

2006-07-10

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday dispatched two envoys to Syria for talks with Hamas leader Kahled Mashaal on ways of finding a solution to the case of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, senior PA officials here said. Relations between the two have been strained ever since the Hamas leader accused Abbas of conspiring with the US and Israel to bring down the Hamas government. Israel holds Mashaal directly responsible for the abduction of Shalit. A PA official told The Jerusalem Post that Abbas and the PLO executive committee, a key decision-making body, decided over the weekend to negotiate with Mashaal after reaching the conclusion that Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip had little influence, if any, over the kidnappers. "It's clear that Mashaal and his men in Syria and Lebanon are calling the shots," he said. "They have a great impact on the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, whose members are holding the soldier somewhere in the southern Gaza Strip." The two emissaries, who are expected to begin their mission in Damascus on Monday, are Taysir Khaled, member of the PLO executive committee and a leader of the Leninist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Abdullah Hourani, a widely-respected former PLO official.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Izzadin al-Kassam threaten to attack schools, power stations

2006-07-03

That'd be a change from just attacking anything that moves... Israel has not ruled out the possibility of releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, Hamas legislator Salah al-Bardaweel said on Sunday. But Bardaweel's comments stand in stark contrast to the unequivocal comments made Sunday in the weekly cabinet meeting by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen Dan Halutz, and head of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin, who all said that Israel would not release prisoners for Shalit because this would only encourage more and more kidnapping attempts. Painful as it may be, that's the sensible course... Meanwhile, Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, on Sunday threatened to attack infrastructure facilities inside Israel, including schools, hospitals and universities. The threat, the first of its kind since Hamas won the parliamentary election last January, was issued in response to continued Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip. "If they continue with these attacks, we will strike at targets in Zionist territory that we have not struck until now," said the organization's spokesman. The latest threat came as Egypt continued its efforts to resolve the crisis. It also came as sources in the Gaza Strip revealed that the Palestinian Authority's security forces had, for the first time, begun searching for Shalit in Rafah and Khan Yunis. The sources said that members of the Preventative Security Service and the General Intelligence Force had secretly deployed hundreds of their men in the streets to try to track down the whereabouts of the solider. They added that some of the security officers had been disguised as Fatah and Hamas militiamen. Yadlin, however, told the government that the Palestinian Authority security services are doing nothing to look for Shalit. The PA might have to look for him, but I doubt greatly that Hamas does.

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