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Israel Kills Top Jihad Leader, Arrests Hamas MPs
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Dahduh's
body was shattered into pieces in the strike. (Reuters)
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GAZA
CITY, March 1, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – An Israeli
air strike killed Wednesday, March 1, the military leader of the
Islamic Jihad, as Israeli troops detained two Hamas MPs in Al-Quds
(occupied East Jerusalem).
Khaled
Al-Dahduh, the overall leader of the Al-Quds Brigades who is also
known by his nom-de-guerre Abu Al-Walid, was killed instantly when the
vehicle in which he was traveling exploded in a ball of flames in Gaza
City, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Witnesses
and Palestinian security sources confirmed to AFP that Dahduh was
killed in an Israel
air strike carried out by an unmanned drone but the occupation army
insisted it was not behind the blast.
"The
IDF (the Israeli occupation army) was not involved," an army
spokeswoman told AFP. "The IDF had no connection to the
incident."
Meanwhile,
an Israeli working at a service station near a Jewish settlement in
the northern
West Bank
was fatally wounded in a drive-by Palestinian shooting.
Fatah's
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades armed wing claimed the attack.
A
spokesman for the faction said in a phone call to AFP that the attack
was carried out to avenge an Israeli army operation in Nablus
last week when three Al-Aqsa members were killed.
The
latest death brought to 4,970 the number of people killed since the
outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada in 2000. Over three-quarters of
the victims are Palestinian.
The
violence prompted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday,
February 24, to call for a special UN Security Council session to rein
in
Israel
after its acting premier vowed to press on with a campaign of attacks
against resistance groups.
Avi
Dichter, a former head of the Shin Beth internal security service and
a leading member of Acting premier Ehud Olmert's Kadima party, said
incoming Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya would not be granted
any kind of immunity by his new position.
MPs
Arrested
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Abbas
called for a UNSC meeting to rein in Israel's aggressions.
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Meanwhile,
Israeli troops arrested Wednesday two newly elected Members of
Parliament for the resistance movement Hamas, which has joined
mainstream politics after its landslide parliamentary election victory
in January.
Police
spokesman Shmuel Ben Rubi said Mohammad Abu Teir and Mohammed Totah
were detained while touring Al-Maqassid hospital on the
Mount of Olives
in Al-Quds.
"They
are not allowed to do any political activities in [occupied] Jerusalem," he said.
A
Hamas source said Abu Teir and Totah were arrested as they toured the
Maqassid hospital as part of an inspection of institutions in Al-Quds.
Since
the 1967 Middle East war, Israel
has occupied and annexed Al-Quds, which the Palestinians want to make
the capital of their promised, future state.
In
a bid to stiffen the pressure against Hamas, Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni embarked this week on her first trip to Europe where she
was due to meet with her counterparts from Britain, France and
Austria.
During
an interview with France's Le Figaro newspaper, Livni reiterated threats to cut all
contact with the Palestinian Authority since Hamas is set to form a
new government in a matter of weeks.
Earlier
in the week, Livni said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas became
"irrelevant" and Israel
would not allow Abbas to be "a fig leaf for Hamas."
Israel's decision to freeze the payment of customs duties it collects on
behalf of the Palestinian Authority in the wake of Hamas's rise to
power has triggered warnings that the government could collapse
entirely.
The
PA is dependent on foreign aid and on tax revenues collected by
Israel
on its behalf to pay its 140,000 employees and keep its ministries and
institutions functioning.
The
European Union said Tuesday, February 28, it would release emergency
aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority after earlier threats
to cut off the aid if Hamas had not "renounced violence" and
recognize Israel.
Hamas
has rejected threats of a fund cut-off as blackmail and said it would
seek assistance from Arabs and Muslims, both at the grassroots and
government levels.
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