Bedein: Israeli Airstrike Kills Hamas Military Leader

Jerusalem – A Hamas military leader has died of his injuries sustained during an Israeli air strike.

Imad Shabana, a senior commander in Hamas’s Izzedin Kassam military wing, died late on Saturday after being targeted by a low flying Israel Air Force fighter-jet as he was walking through Gaza City.

Shabana was regarded as one of Hamas’s top leaders in the Gaza City area. He was said to have been responsible for the supply of Kassam-class, short-range missiles to Palestinian gunners in the northern Gaza Strip.

The death of Shabana did not halt or reduce Palestinian missile fire into Israel. Hamas and other Palestinian factions claimed responsibility for about a dozen attacks on Sunday.

Over the past two weeks, Palestinian gunners have fired more than 250 missiles into Israel.

Two Israelis were killed, and more than 100 Israeli civilians have been injured as a result of these missile attacks.

About 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air and artillery strikes on suspected Hamas and Islamic Jihad strikes throughout the Gaza Strip. Many of the Israeli missiles struck brick factories, metal workshops and auditoriums believed to contain or produce missiles.

Missiles Fired From Apartment Buildings Expected To Cause Massive Casualties

Missile attacks on Israel from Gaza over the past two weeks have emanated from populated areas in Gaza.

Last Monday, The Sderot Media Center filmed a missile fired from the rooftop of an apartment building in Gaza (which can be seen in the second video clip at at http://web.israelinsider.com/views/11365.htm).

As a result, the top brass of the Israeli army has given orders to wipe out all missile launch pads. That order will mean that it is a matter of time before there are massive Arab civilian casualties that will occur because the terrorists are shooting the rockets from within civilian areas.

A left-wing Jewish group known as Betselem, which is funded by European governments and by the American, Canadian and British supporters of the NEW ISRAEL FUND, has warned the IDF not to kill civilians, saying that this would be a war crime. This follows quieter Betselem statements that harboring terrorists is also a war crime.

U.S. State Department spokespeople and U.N. spokespeople have also warned Israel against attacking civilians.

However, the Bulletin interviewed the head of the IDF Code of Ethics committee, Prof. Assa Kasher, and asked him if the ethical code of the IDF allows it to neutralize a missile launcher if missiles are fired from the roof of an apartment building, even if civilian casualties will occur as a result of that attack.

Kasher’s answer was “yes,” if the missiles continue to be launched from these Gaza roof tops.

Arab NPO?To Recruit Volunteers To National Service

For the first time in Israel, an Arab nonprofit organization will be able to recruit and supervise Jewish and Arab volunteers doing national service. Yesterday Welfare

Minister Yitzhak Herzog gave approval to an Arab sector nonprofit organization to be in charge of national service. “This makes us a part of the citizens of Israel,” said the NPO’s chairman.

Young men and women who cannot serve in the IDF for various reasons can be recruited into national service.

Today, about 10,000 young men and women volunteer in the framework of national service, including about 400 Arabs. They are recruited by means of seven non-profit organizations, with the approval of the Welfare Ministry, which is responsible for national service.

On Sunday, in an unprecedented step, Israel Welfare Minister Yitzhak Herzog gave approval for the “NPO for Social Equality and National Service in the Arab Sector” to recruit Jewish and Arab volunteers.

©The Bulletin 2007