IDF kills Four

Nachdem am Sonntag bei einem Granatangriff palästinensischer Milizen bei Nazal Oz vier israelische Soldaten verletzt werden kommt es zu einem Gegenbeschuß durch israelische Artillerie bei dem ein Hamas-Kämpfer getötet und sechs weitere verletzt werden. Bislang wird eine weitere Aktion gemeldet, bei der in Feuergefechten im Gazastreifen drei weitere Hamas-Mitglieder in der Gegend vor Beit Lahia getötet werden. Angegebener Grund: Verdächtiges Benehmen an der Grenze. Hingegen legt sich der IDF-Focus nach Bekanntgabe der mutmaßlichen Täterschaft von Fatahisten im Funduk-Mord letzte Woche auf die Westbank. Palestinian policemen were behind the shooting attack last week which killed Ido Zoldan, a 29-year-old father of two from the settlement of Shavei Shomron, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Sunday night. Zoldan was killed last Monday night - the day before the Annapolis summit began - when shots were fired at his car as he drove past the Palestinian village of al-Punduk. The three members of the cell were Palestinian policemen and members of the Palestinian National Security Force, in which Israel and the United States have been investing as part of the international effort to strengthen Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah government. Defense officials said the weapon used in the attack had not been supplied to the Palestinians by Israel since it did not belong to the official Palestinian security forces. The officials said, however, that the IDF expected the political echelon to rethink its policy of strengthening Abbas in light of the fact that his policemen were involved in terrorism. [Eine Bestätigung der Darstellung steht noch aus.] Riad Malki, the Palestinian minister of information and foreign affairs, said Abbas' West Bank-based government viewed the attack as an isolated incident that didn't reflect on the Palestinian security plan and shouldn't compromise peace efforts. Dies scheint die IDF nicht so zu sehen. In der heutigen Nacht sollen 42 Personen durch die Israelis in der Westbank verhaftet worden sein. Aus Ketziot wird dagegen berichtet das der erste Bus mit Gefangenen die frei gelassen werden sollen abgefahren ist. Insgesamt sollen es 429 sein. [Ein Schelm der Böses bei der zeitgleichen Publikation der Funduk-story denkt.]

The Shin Bet security service has interrogated 270 detainees from Gaza since the beginning of the year, officials told the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Sunday. In one out of six cases, or 17 percent, the Shin Bet used extraordinary measures, as permitted by emergency regulations. ++++ The defense establishment is considering the possibility of installing a system of underground sensors along the Gaza Strip border fence to enhance detection capabilities in face of growing attempts by Palestinian terrorists to infiltrate into Israel. ["Sonic"??? PHOTONIC, ihr ... ++++ One quarter of small-to-medium sized Israeli companies would not consider hiring someone with even a minor disability, and the majority of local employers do not have a single disabled person on their payroll, according to a new study published Sunday by the Commission for Equal Rights of People with Disabilities, which operates under the auspices of the Justice Ministry. + Israel is second to last among developed countries in terms of the average incomes of disabled citizens in relation to its national wage average, according to a survey published Sunday.

Haaretz, "The enemy within": Three Israel Defense Force soldiers were killed and more than 10 were injured in accidents over the past month. More than terrorist organizations, the enemy within has struck at the IDF in the form of mishaps, carelessness and even gross negligence. Each of these accidents apparently could have been prevented. Each and every one is a separate case, but their accumulation - and the reasons for them, as revealed by the investigations - have become a worrisome phenomenon. The senior command and its overseers cannot be allowed to get away with calling it a sad but necessary price for increased military activity.

Richard Bernstein, "Hizb ut-Tahrir mobilizes in the West Bank": The spectacle of Palestinians demonstrating en masse last week against Mahmoud Abbas's agreement to enter into a new round of negotiations with Israel reminded me of a sobering and instructive encounter I had a couple of years ago with a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the organization that sponsored the anti-Abbas demonstrations in the West Bank.