'We'll keep firing until every Jew climbs back into the sh---- hole he came from'By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM Terrorists in the Gaza Strip are rejoicing at an Israeli decision today to evacuate troops stationed at a major Gaza-Israel border crossing following repeated Palestinian attack against Israel's side of the border station.
"This retreat proves the Israeli army is a paper tiger. What we proved to the world in 2005 (when Israel evacuated its Jewish communities from the Gaza Strip) we are proving once again. We are reaching a new step and proving our Resistance and our rockets are working," Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesman and a leader of the Hamas-allied Popular Resistance Committees terror group, told WND.
"Just as the Zionists are running from the border, they will also run from Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa and Tel Aviv ... . We will keep firing until every Jew climbs back into the sh--ty hole he came from," said Abdel-Al, whose group took responsibility for scores of recent attacks against the Israeli border.
Abu Ahmed, a leader of the Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza, called Israel's troop evacuation a "victory."
"We feel proud and determined," he said. "Israelis start to withdraw from bases that are well-fortified because the Palestinian Resistance proved that we are able to reach them at any point even if it is very fortified. We are proving once again that the myth of the unbeatable Israeli army is irrelevant," Abu Ahmed told WND.
Under instructions from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government, the IDF announced soldiers stationed at the Gaza District Coordination Office, the army's liaison office to Gaza, were set to be transferred from their facility just outside the Erez border crossing to a base further inside Israel due to the security threat in the Gaza border area.
Erez is the main commercial and humanitarian aid crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. It has been the target of several recent Palestinian terror attacks and attempted attacks.
Last Thursday, the Islamic Jihad terror group along with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the so-called military wing of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization, attempted to carry out a massive bombing at the Erez Crossing that, if successful, would have been the largest terrorist attack here since the Jewish state retreated from the Gaza Strip three years ago.
In last week's attempted attack, a truck reportedly carrying four tons of explosives detonated prematurely as it was approaching Erez. Even though the truck exploded hundreds of feet from the crossing, the explosion was large enough to rip a hole in a pedestrian passageway leading out of the Erez terminal and into Gaza.
Residents in the Gaza Strip who live more than 20 miles from the crossing told the Palestinian media they heard the blast.
"In terms of the amount of explosives used, Thursday's attack was the biggest since Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza nearly three years ago," Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said.
IDF sources told WND that if last week's attack would have been successful, they estimate tens of soldiers and civilians would have been killed.
In response to Palestinian attacks, defense officials here have been petitioning the government to carry out a large-scale Gaza incursion to massively dent the territory's terrorist infrastructure.
An average of one dozen rockets and mortars per week are fired from the Gaza Strip into nearby Jewish communities. Earlier this month, during a visit by President Bush to Jerusalem, one terrorist rocket smashed into a large shopping mall in the coastal city of Ashkelon, seriously injuring 11 people.
The new decision to evacuate Israeli troops from the border station comes as Olmert is reportedly seeking to finalize an Egyptian-brokered cease fire with Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups.
Amos Gilad, who heads the Israeli defense ministry's political-security branch, flew to Egypt today for talks with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman regarding the cease fire deal.
Defense officials here have been warning a cease fire in Gaza will likely be used by Hamas to transport weapons into Gaza, rebuild armies and infrastructure in the territory and train in combat against future IDF operations.
Alongside the evacuation of troops and brokering of a cease with Hamas, Olmert last week announced he commenced negotiations with Syria over an Israeli retreat from the Golan Heights strategic, mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers.
The Golan negotiations are taking place as Olmert faces what is being described as a very serious criminal investigation in which the prime minister is suspected of bribery and corruption. Olmert has vowed to resign if he is indicted in the rapidly expanding case.
A survey conducted last week by Israel's Channel 2 found 70 percent of Israelis oppose relinquishing the Golan Heights for peace with Syria, compared to 22 percent in favor of such a move.
The poll found 57 percent of Israelis believe the timing of the negotiations with Syria is linked to the corruption case against Olmert.
Fifty-eight percent of those polled reportedly said Olmert did not have the legitimacy to negotiate with Syria.