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Al-Aqsa gunman
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Qassam rocket in Sderot
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Al-Aqsa: Release Palestinian or we'll fire Qassam

Palestinian girl claims Monday afternoon that her older sister was kidnapped; Palestinians believe settlers responsible for incident. Fatah's military wing declares Monday evening that if woman is not released immediately, ceasefire will be violated

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, threatened Monday evening that if settlers would not release a Palestinian Hebron resident who was reportedly kidnapped Monday afternoon, they would violate the ceasefire which came into force Sunday and would resume the firing of Qassam rockets at Israel.

 

The Hebron police received a report Monday afternoon from a 9-year-old Palestinian girl, who claimed that her 20-year-old sister was kidnapped by unknown assailants near the Beit Hagai settlement in Mount Hebron.

 

According to the Palestinians and the family, the settlers kidnapped their daughter.

 

Following the report, the police began searching the area, and in the evening it was reported that settlers were not involved in the incident.

 

According to estimates in the Judea and Samaria District, the incident was criminally-motivated or took place following a financial dispute with Bedouins.

 

The woman's family members were also interrogated by the police, but simultaneously the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades held a press conference in which the group announced it would resume the firing of rockets toward Sderot if the woman kidnapped in the Hebron area is not released.

 

One of the al-Aqsa spokesmen, Abu Saker, said: "All the Brigades' groups which agreed to the ceasefire announce that we will not continue to be committed to the calm and will flood Sderot with our rockets in the coming hours.

 

"We give the Olmert government and the settlers three hours to release our sister kidnapped in Hebron. The Israelis are talking about a truce, but the Olmert government continues to carry out crimes," the spokesman said.

 

He confirmed that one of the organization's groups was the one that fired two rockets at Sderot Monday afternoon, "And we promise Sderot's residents to continue flooding them with barrages."


Qassam landing site in Negev (Photo: Tsafrir Abayov)

 

A senior al-Aqsa commander told Ynet Monday evening, following the firing of rockets at Sderot, "Israel is doing everything to cause the truce to collapse. Since the calm and until this moment, the Israeli drones have not left the Strip's skies."

 

He added that the Israel Defense Forces' activity was "a blatant violation of the calm and an Israeli provocation. So are the continued humiliations at the crossings, the siege and the pursuit of our people in the West Bank. If Israel doesn’t change its policy, the calm can collapse any minute as far as we are concerned."

 

Truce violated for second time

The ceasefire was violated for the second time Monday when two Qassam rockets were fired in the afternoon from the northern Gaza Strip and landed in open areas in the western Negev. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

 

This was the second time in which rockets were fired at Israel since the beginning of the ceasefire, which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed upon on Sunday morning.

 

Earlier, the Islamic Jihad called on Palestinian factions to reject a ceasefire with Israel that went into effect on Sunday morning.

 

Sheikh Mohammad Saadi, the head of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin, says the ceasefire should be abolished because it doesn't apply to the West Bank and therefore allows Israel to continue its military operations against armed groups there.

 


פרסום ראשון: 11.27.06, 21:32
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