By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Sep 07, 2004
Israeli military aircraft pounded a Gaza training camp belonging to Hamas overnight, killing 14 members of the terror group and wounding at least 30 others.
Israeli sources said the raid came in response to last week’s double “suicide” bombing in the Negev town of Beersheva, which killed 16 and wounded more than 100 others. Hamas claimed credit for that massacre.
And while the international community is certain to harshly criticize at the Jewish state for defending itself in this manner, Foreign Ministry officials were confident they could justify the strike due to its purely military target and the fact no civilians were harmed.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz told reporters Monday that Israel must destroy the ability of Hamas and other terror groups to plan the murder of its citizens unimpeded from the safety of Damascus.
Defeating terror
IAF missiles slammed into the Gaza City facility during the predawn hours, destroying a training camp that Hamas leaders were certain Israel did not know about.
That is because by day, the location acts as a community soccer field. But by night, the area is transformed into a arena of death, where Hamas members prepare bombs and train themselves how best to slaughter Israeli men, women and children.
According to Arutz 7, the air force commenced its attack just as “Palestinian” terrorists were practicing the infiltration of Jewish communities and IDF outposts.
Terrorist training activities are typically held at night, in an effort to avoid detection by Israeli forces.
Israel issued a statement following the raid, saying the camp was “was led by senior Hamas terrorists who were involved in the carrying out of deadly terror attacks and attempted attacks.”
Terrorists respond
Both Hamas and its allies in the Islamic Jihad vowed to extract a “heavy price” from Israel in response to the successful raid.
Throughout the morning hours Tuesday, Kassam rockets and mortar shells rained down on the Negev town of Sderot and nearby Gaza Jewish communities.
A 60-year-old Israeli man out for a morning jog in Sderot was light wounded when shrapnel from a Kassam rocket tore through his body.
Warning for Damascus
Taking what Israel promised would be an all-out war against Hamas to the next level, Mofaz said Monday that the Jewish state had no choice but to crush the terror group’s command and control structure, no matter where it may be found.
“If we do not act decisively against this terrorist infrastructure and its support bases, the results could be cataclysmic, like those we all saw in horror last week in Russia,” Ma’ariv quoted the defense minister as saying.
Mofaz warned Syria that Israel would not sit idly by while Hamas leaders planned the mass murder of Jewish men, women and children from the comfort of Damascus.
“They need to know this, and realize that we can reach them wherever they are, including Damascus.”