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Palestinian militants in Gaza (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff August 21, 2007 |
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Following an IAF air strike in Gaza on Monday night, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida warned Israel "the Zionist enemy is playing with fire and will have to face the consequences of this crime," the Jerusalem Post reported. Six Hamas terrorists were killed in the strike as they were driving in a car hours after they fired several Qassam rockets into Israel.
The IDF said that the strike was also meant to send a message to militants firing rockets at Israeli cities along the Gaza belt that terrorism against Israel would not go unanswered.
"There was a strike on a car carrying militants who today fired rockets into Israel and we identified hitting it," Ynet quoted an IDF spokeswoman as saying.
Hamas threatened that its arsenal has more sophisticated weaponry than just Qassam rockets. Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a bloody coup in June, it has smuggled in hundreds of tons of weapons and explosives, as well as terrorists from abroad.
"If the Zionists are worried about Qassams they should know that we possess even more dangerous weapons," the spokesman added.
Abu Obeida condemned the attack as "an ugly Zionist slaughter," stressing that "all the options were open" for a response from Hamas, a militant group that regularly carries out terrorist attacks on Israel.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri also threatened reprisal for the air strike, which he said "came in harmony with the conspiracy of the Ramallah government to tighten the siege on our people, including cutting off electricity and arresting our holy warriors in the West Bank," referring to the division between Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel has made significant concessions to bolster the rival Fatah leadership in the West Bank, who it hopes will be a moderate force in the territories.
Despite Hamas' calls for the destruction of Israel and its continuous rocket fire onto Israeli towns, several European countries -- Italy in particular -- have urged to restore relations with the terrorist group.
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