PFLP's Nablus Commander Killed in Raid
al-Aqsa counters from Gaza, Israel says
it is out of options
Steve Schippert
Three Palestinians were killed in Nablus trying to escape
capture after a four storey building was sealed off by the
IDF. One of
the dead was the Nablus commander of the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The PFLP
is the same terrorist group that earlier in the week
kidnapped and later released an Australian in the Gaza strip.
The other two terrorists killed were members of al-Aqsa
Martyrs’ Brigades.
In response to the Israeli raid, the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades
launched a rocket attack from Gaza into Israel. Five IDF soldiers were lightly wounded by
the Qassam rocket explosions. One Palestinian was later killed
in Gaza as Israel responded with artillery bombardment of the
Qassam launch point.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office said that
Israel ‘has been left no other choice’ but to find a harsher
response to rocket attacks from Gaza, signaling the possible
increased use of precision airstrikes or, potentially,
even a ground incursion into areas of the Gaza Strip.
Another possibility being publicly considered is cutting the
power to Gaza in the event of a pre-election surge of
violence. ...
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