Israel Strikes Terrorist Base in Syria
By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Israeli warplanes bombed what the military called an Islamic Jihad training base in Syria on Sunday in retaliation for a suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant. It was the first Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory in more than two decades.
The attack ? one day after an Islamic Jihad bomber killed 19 people ? threatened to widen three years of Israeli-Palestinian violence into neighboring countries and marked a dramatic new strategy in Israel's efforts to stop terror attacks.
Israel, which accuses Syria of harboring and funding Islamic Jihad, said it would strike at terrorists anywhere in the region. A statement from the military also accused Iran of funding and directing Islamic Jihad, saying Israel "will act with determination against all who harm its citizens."
"Any country who harbors terrorism, who trains (terrorists), supports and encourages them will be responsible to answer for their actions," government spokesman Avi Pazner said.
Syria's Foreign Ministry issued a terse statement saying it plans to lodge an "urgent complaint" against Israel with the United Nations. A Jihad spokesman denied the organization has any bases in Syria.
A senior commander from another radical Palestinian group ? the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command ? said the camp was one of their deserted bases, not Jihad's. The attack injured a civilian guard, the commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
There was no immediate U.S. comment on the strike. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to Israel's foreign minister after Saturday's suicide bombing amid worries at the time that Israel's response would target Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Sunday's strike came a day before the 30th anniversary of the joint Syrian-Egyptian attack known in Israel as the Yom Kippur War ? named after the holiest day in the Jewish calendar which begins at sundown Sunday. It was believed to be the first Israeli operation on Syrian soil since that war, though in 1985 Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon pursued Syrian fighters into Syrian airspace and shot them down.
In Sunday's strike, the Israeli air force hit several targets at the Ein Saheb camp about 14 miles northwest of Damascus, according to Israeli security officials. The base was used by several terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the army said in a statement.
Undated footage of the camp released by the Israeli military and taken from Iranian television shows a military officer conducting a tour. In one room were displayed hundreds of weapons, including grenades with Hebrew markings and other weapons apparently captured from Israel. Another scene showed a series of underground tunnels packed with arms and ammunition.
Israel had not yet determined if any people were killed, said Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin. "This was a measured response," he said. "We did not attack Syrian targets, but very specific camps used to train the terrorists."
Speaking on the Al-Jazeera television network, Abu Emad El-Refaei, an Islamic Jihad spokesman in Beirut, denied there were any Islamic Jihad bases in Syria. "All our bases are inside the Palestinian occupied territories," he said. He did not deny militants received training in Syria.
The strike was a dramatic escalation in Israel's response to the suicide bombings that have plagued it during the past three years of violence with the Palestinians. Until now, Israel has focused its retaliation on the Gaza Strip and West Bank, either with large-scale incursions or pinpoint strikes against militant leaders.
Now Israel insisted it was going after the militants' suppport abroad, but the strike threatened to draw Syria into the conflict.
Over the past 30 years, most military action between Israel and Syria has taken place in Lebanon, which is dominated by Damascus and where thousands of Syrian troops are deployed. On April 16, 2001, Israeli warplanes blasted a Syrian radar station in Lebanon, killing three Syrian soldiers. That strike came in retaliation for an attack by Hezbollah, the Syrian-backed Shiite guerrilla group, in which an Israeli soldier was killed.
Since the invasion of Iraq, the United States has hiked up pressure on Syria, accusing it of harboring terrorists. After demands by Washington, Syria closed the offices of Islamic Jihad, the larger Islamic militant group Hamas, and other radical Palestinian groups. However, most of the groups' officials continue to work from their homes in Damascus or from Lebanon.
The United States had been pushing Syria to act further and expel Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, but Damascus has refused.
"Syria has been warned more than once by the United States that it should close all the facilities of the Islamic Jihad," Pazner said. "Apparently it has not done so."
Jihad claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide bombing in the Mediterranean seaside restaurant Maxim, popular with both Jews and Arabs in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. A Palestinian woman wrapped in explosives blew herself up in the crowded restaurant, killing 19 people, including four children, and wounding 55 people.
It was one of the deadliest suicide bombings in three years of violence.
In addition to the attack inside Syria, Israel also conducted operations in Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli troops sealed off parts of Gaza, cutting the 20-mile long coastal strip into four sections, to prevent the movement of militants and weapons, army officials said.
Israeli helicopters launched missile strikes on two sites in Gaza ? a small empty house in Gaza City and the house of an Islamic Jihad leader in the Boureij refugee camp. There were no injuries in either attack, and residents said the militant leader escaped.
In the West Bank, army forces in Jenin destroyed the house of the family of Hanadi Jaradat, a 27-year-old woman identified as the Haifa suicide bomber. The soldiers also destroyed the house of the head of Islamic Jihad in Jenin.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called his advisers for an emergency meeting Saturday evening, and Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said Israel faced tough decisions and, if necessary, would carry them out regardless of international opinion.
"The world will have to accept our decisions," Olmert said.
Saturday's bombing increased fears Israel might act on threats to remove Arafat. Palestinian officials appealed to international mediators to ensure Arafat's safety.
Arafat condemned the suicide bombing and said it endangered Palestinian interests.
The United States opposes expelling Arafat, and Israel's security chiefs are divided on the issue. Hours after the blast, two Israeli planes briefly circled Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, and Israeli army jeeps drove past.
When Powell spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Saturday, he was told Israel would consult with the United States before acting against Arafat.
Saturday's bombing brought to 103 the number of suicide bombings in the past three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. At least 432 people have been killed in these attacks.
***********************
Thoughts?
Melon
By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Israeli warplanes bombed what the military called an Islamic Jihad training base in Syria on Sunday in retaliation for a suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant. It was the first Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory in more than two decades.
The attack ? one day after an Islamic Jihad bomber killed 19 people ? threatened to widen three years of Israeli-Palestinian violence into neighboring countries and marked a dramatic new strategy in Israel's efforts to stop terror attacks.
Israel, which accuses Syria of harboring and funding Islamic Jihad, said it would strike at terrorists anywhere in the region. A statement from the military also accused Iran of funding and directing Islamic Jihad, saying Israel "will act with determination against all who harm its citizens."
"Any country who harbors terrorism, who trains (terrorists), supports and encourages them will be responsible to answer for their actions," government spokesman Avi Pazner said.
Syria's Foreign Ministry issued a terse statement saying it plans to lodge an "urgent complaint" against Israel with the United Nations. A Jihad spokesman denied the organization has any bases in Syria.
A senior commander from another radical Palestinian group ? the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command ? said the camp was one of their deserted bases, not Jihad's. The attack injured a civilian guard, the commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
There was no immediate U.S. comment on the strike. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to Israel's foreign minister after Saturday's suicide bombing amid worries at the time that Israel's response would target Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Sunday's strike came a day before the 30th anniversary of the joint Syrian-Egyptian attack known in Israel as the Yom Kippur War ? named after the holiest day in the Jewish calendar which begins at sundown Sunday. It was believed to be the first Israeli operation on Syrian soil since that war, though in 1985 Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon pursued Syrian fighters into Syrian airspace and shot them down.
In Sunday's strike, the Israeli air force hit several targets at the Ein Saheb camp about 14 miles northwest of Damascus, according to Israeli security officials. The base was used by several terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the army said in a statement.
Undated footage of the camp released by the Israeli military and taken from Iranian television shows a military officer conducting a tour. In one room were displayed hundreds of weapons, including grenades with Hebrew markings and other weapons apparently captured from Israel. Another scene showed a series of underground tunnels packed with arms and ammunition.
Israel had not yet determined if any people were killed, said Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin. "This was a measured response," he said. "We did not attack Syrian targets, but very specific camps used to train the terrorists."
Speaking on the Al-Jazeera television network, Abu Emad El-Refaei, an Islamic Jihad spokesman in Beirut, denied there were any Islamic Jihad bases in Syria. "All our bases are inside the Palestinian occupied territories," he said. He did not deny militants received training in Syria.
The strike was a dramatic escalation in Israel's response to the suicide bombings that have plagued it during the past three years of violence with the Palestinians. Until now, Israel has focused its retaliation on the Gaza Strip and West Bank, either with large-scale incursions or pinpoint strikes against militant leaders.
Now Israel insisted it was going after the militants' suppport abroad, but the strike threatened to draw Syria into the conflict.
Over the past 30 years, most military action between Israel and Syria has taken place in Lebanon, which is dominated by Damascus and where thousands of Syrian troops are deployed. On April 16, 2001, Israeli warplanes blasted a Syrian radar station in Lebanon, killing three Syrian soldiers. That strike came in retaliation for an attack by Hezbollah, the Syrian-backed Shiite guerrilla group, in which an Israeli soldier was killed.
Since the invasion of Iraq, the United States has hiked up pressure on Syria, accusing it of harboring terrorists. After demands by Washington, Syria closed the offices of Islamic Jihad, the larger Islamic militant group Hamas, and other radical Palestinian groups. However, most of the groups' officials continue to work from their homes in Damascus or from Lebanon.
The United States had been pushing Syria to act further and expel Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, but Damascus has refused.
"Syria has been warned more than once by the United States that it should close all the facilities of the Islamic Jihad," Pazner said. "Apparently it has not done so."
Jihad claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide bombing in the Mediterranean seaside restaurant Maxim, popular with both Jews and Arabs in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. A Palestinian woman wrapped in explosives blew herself up in the crowded restaurant, killing 19 people, including four children, and wounding 55 people.
It was one of the deadliest suicide bombings in three years of violence.
In addition to the attack inside Syria, Israel also conducted operations in Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli troops sealed off parts of Gaza, cutting the 20-mile long coastal strip into four sections, to prevent the movement of militants and weapons, army officials said.
Israeli helicopters launched missile strikes on two sites in Gaza ? a small empty house in Gaza City and the house of an Islamic Jihad leader in the Boureij refugee camp. There were no injuries in either attack, and residents said the militant leader escaped.
In the West Bank, army forces in Jenin destroyed the house of the family of Hanadi Jaradat, a 27-year-old woman identified as the Haifa suicide bomber. The soldiers also destroyed the house of the head of Islamic Jihad in Jenin.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called his advisers for an emergency meeting Saturday evening, and Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said Israel faced tough decisions and, if necessary, would carry them out regardless of international opinion.
"The world will have to accept our decisions," Olmert said.
Saturday's bombing increased fears Israel might act on threats to remove Arafat. Palestinian officials appealed to international mediators to ensure Arafat's safety.
Arafat condemned the suicide bombing and said it endangered Palestinian interests.
The United States opposes expelling Arafat, and Israel's security chiefs are divided on the issue. Hours after the blast, two Israeli planes briefly circled Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, and Israeli army jeeps drove past.
When Powell spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Saturday, he was told Israel would consult with the United States before acting against Arafat.
Saturday's bombing brought to 103 the number of suicide bombings in the past three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. At least 432 people have been killed in these attacks.
***********************
Thoughts?
Melon
out of me.
