Palestinian cops fire on Hamas terrorists

PA security forces battle, arrest Hamas members Monday evening in Gaza; the terrorists were ready to fire rockets at Israeli town; two mortar shells land near settlement
By Ali Waked

GAZA - Has the Palestinian Authority finally gotten serious about Qassam rockets? Security forces battled terrorists near the town of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Two Hamas members were arrested.

According to official Palestinian sources, the fight began when Hamas terrorists planned to fire rockets and mortar shells at the Israeli town of Sderot, and PA officers tried to arrest them.

Though the two sides exchanged gunfire, there were no reports of injuries. Likewise, no casualties were reported when mortar shells later landed near a settlement in the northern Gaza Strip.

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The Hamas militants had managed to avoid one PA checkpoint but were stopped at another. There, police officers uncovered a treasure trove of mortars and rockets ready to go.

As they closed in on the suspects’ vehicle, two mortars were fired at the settlement – one falling on an IDF post and the other in an open field.

A Hamas spokesman warned the PA against any injury to the members of his organization or of other groups: “Any injury to Palestinian activists will mean the collapse of any efforts to calm things down and the enemy will pay the price,” said Abu Zuhairi on Al-Jazeerah TV.

Cracking down on terror and corruption

In the last few days, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his interior minister, Nasser Yusef, have warned Palestinian factions that the Authority will take an iron fist to those who break the law, giving specific orders to end attacks on Israeli targets.

Following rocket attacks by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Monday, Yusef met with senior commanders of that group in the hopes of getting them to commit to a ceasefire.

In the beginning of the week, Palestinian forces spread out over the Gaza Strip in order to stop the firing of Qassam rockets and mortar shells against southern towns and Gaza settlements.

The operation did not stop the terrorists, though. Two rockets were fired at Sderot Monday, and last week, there were three others.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing PA struggle against anarchy and corruption, security forces demolished three homes, which were illegally built by police officers on the Gaza coastline.

The message behind the demolition was that not even PA officials are outside the law.

(Hanan Greenberg contributed to this article)