By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Feb 10, 2005
Just 36 hours after PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas declared a cessation of “all acts of
violence against the Israelis and against the Palestinians wherever they are,” Hamas terrorists launched a massive artillery siege against the Jews of southern Gaza.
One PA official responded to an inquiry about the bombardment by saying there was no ceasefire.
Later, unconfirmed reports indicated Abbas had sacked three senior Gaza-based security chiefs for failing to maintain calm in the area.
PA security forces never took action against those responsible for the assault.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon simply expressed “concern” over the shelling of Jewish civilians. His government decided against a military response or active defensive measures, and said it would continue its policy of restraint.
The victims and their supporters accused the prime minister of abandoning Gaza’s Jews.
Under siege
Starting during the predawn hours, some 38 mortar shells and Kassam rockets were fired at Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip Thursday. Hamas claimed to have fired many more.
Miraculously, there were no injuries, but at least one home sustained damage and electricity was knocked out in one settlement.
Though they have endured more than 5,300 “Palestinian” mortars and rockets over the past four years, Jewish residents of southern Gaza told Arutz 7 they could not remember a heavier bombardment than Thursday’s.
Terrorists also launched a rocket at the coastal town of Ashkelon, just north of the Gaza Strip. The projectile reportedly landed in the sea.
‘Peace’ partners?
David Bedein of Israel Resource News Agency said he called Palestinian Authority officials to inquire about the attacks and why Abbas’s government was doing nothing to stop them.
When Bedein asked how the relentless shelling fit into Abbas’s ceasefire declaration in Sharm el-Sheikh Tuesday, the reply was, “There is no ceasefire.”
Later in the day, an Arab official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters Abbas had ordered PA forces in Gaza to immediately halt all attacks on Israeli settlements.
When the shelling continued, the source said Abbas sacked three senior Gaza-based PA security chiefs.
Abbas’s government never officially confirmed those reports, and no action was ever taken on the ground in Gaza by PA security forces.
Sharon merely ‘concerned’
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office responded to the shelling of Jewish civilians by expressing “concern.”
No orders were given to the IDF to retaliate or take defensive action.
Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz later said the government had decided to continue its policy of restraint, but did warn Israel would have no choice but to restart its war on terror if Abbas did not act soon.
Rather than respond militarily, Jerusalem lodged an official complaint against the PA with Washington and Cairo.
Government officials said the attacks would not delay Sharon’s plan to set free hundreds of jailed “Palestinian” terrorists in a gesture of goodwill towards Abbas.
Undefended
Gaza residents and their supporters responded angrily to Sharon’s seemingly apathetic response.
“Sharon has abandoned Gush Katif and its residents; the fact that there have been no wounded has nothing to do with him,” said MK Uri Ariel of the National Union faction.
Ariel decried the government’s new “open fire” orders, whereby soldiers serving in Gaza “can no longer merely open fire on suspected infiltrators; they have to ask permission from their higher-ups, and it takes a while.”
This had created a situation, Ariel explained, where “all the Hamas leaders have now come out of their holes, and are walking around free, preparing for the next round of terror.”
The official Gush Katif website reported that the main highway leading from PA-controlled areas to the Jewish communities was now completely open to unsupervised Arab traffic.
"This enables the terrorists to rearm and transport mortar shells from north to south with no disturbance," the site reported.
Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg called on Sharon and his cabinet “to open their eyes and see with whom we're making this imaginary peace, and to whom they're making the gestures.”