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Palestinians gather around the wreckage of a car hit by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City Wednesday. The strike targeted terrorists from the Popular Resistance Committees. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners December 15, 2005 |
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Israeli missiles fired from the air, ripped apart two cars in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing four Palestinian terrorists and wounding five other people, including an Islamic Jihad spokesman, the military and Palestinians said.
The strikes came as the Palestinians' ruling Fatah Party slipped into disarray, with young activists splitting away and forming their own party for Jan. 25 parliamentary elections, rejecting attempts by oldtimers to keep control of the party that has ruled Palestinian politics for decades. But aides to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he still hoped to avert the split.
In marked contrast to Fatah's chaos, the Islamic Hamas group unveiled a neatly chosen slate of parliamentary candidates, naming a well-known pragmatist to head the list in an apparent effort to woo mainstream Palestinians. The Fatah split, an embarrassment to Abbas, was also likely to help Hamas.
The air strikes in eastern Gaza City were Israel's third and fourth since it renewed the practice of targeting terrorists following a deadly suicide bombing in Israel on Dec. 5. Altogether, seven terrorists have been killed.
The Israeli missile set off explosives in the car, the military said, blasting it into pieces. Israeli army footage filmed by a drone aircraft showed a huge column of black smoke leaping from the stricken vehicle.
Israel said the militants, from the Popular Resistance Committees, were on their way to an attack the Karni cargo crossing, a vital lifeline for Palestinian imports and exports.
A Popular Resistance spokesman who goes by the name of Abu Saed vowed revenge.
"The blood shed by the Zionists will not be shed in vain," he said. "We will retaliate and send them the message that Palestinian sacrifice does not come cheap."
The group was behind several deadly attacks against Israelis in Gaza, and some link PRC with an Oct. 2003 attack in which three U.S. Marine guards were killed in the bombing on a U.S. embassy convoy in Gaza.
The second strike came after nightfall. Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, was slightly wounded when an Israeli missile was fired at his car, Islamic Jihad official Omar Shallah said, pledging to continue the struggle against Israel.
Late Wednesday and early Thursday, Israeli artillery and aircraft pounded northern Gaza, where terrorists fired rockets at Israel. Two Palestinians were slightly wounded.
The first air strike interrupted a news conference by Hamas, where leaders of the Islamic group were presenting their list of candidates for the parliamentary election, the first in a decade - and the first time Hamas is running.
The list, prepared quietly, placed a pragmatist, Ismail Haniyeh, at the top - while Fatah leaders haggled over their choices, the disagreements spilling over into violence and threatening a split in the movement that has ruled Palestinian politics for decades.
Hamas has done well in three rounds of local elections in the past few months and expects a strong showing in West Bank municipal elections on Thursday - presaging a strong showing in the Jan. 25 vote.
Hamas has been building strength partly because of the bumbling of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah Party, unable to clean up rampant corruption, combat widespread poverty or take advantage of Israel's pullout from Gaza and part of Judea and Summer in the summer.
Hamas ideology does not accept a place for a Jewish state in the Middle East, and its suicide bombers have killed hundreds of Israelis over five years of conflict. However, Hamas has largely kept a truce Abbas negotiated in February, showing its practical side.
Haniyeh's pragmatism is relative - he does not recognize Israel or favor peace talks - but he has often expressed his support for the truce, which expires at the end of December.
Hamas hardliner Mahmoud Zahar was relegated to the ninth slot. Ten women were among the 62 candidates, including widows of two notable Hamas terrorists killed in Israeli strikes - Jamila Shanti, widow of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, slotted third, and Mona Mansour, widow of a Hamas leader from Judea and Samaria.
Haniyeh urged Palestinians to go to the polls. "We are going to do our utmost to create the proper atmosphere for a successful election process. We are optimistic that our people will go to vote in this historical event," he said.
So far election preparations have been chaotic - but not because of the terrorists Hamas.
Fatah infighting has led to armed attacks on polling places during primary elections and, in recent days, assaults on election commission offices - ending in a split.
On Wednesday, gunmen burst into Fatah headquarters and exchanged fire with the bodyguards of a party leader. Three people were wounded.
In the hour before a midnight deadline, young Fatah activists registered their candidates under a new party named "The Future," headed by Marwan Barghouti, who is serving multiple life terms in an Israeli prison.
Where Fatah primaries were held, young activists thrashed old-time, corruption-tainted colleagues of the late Yasser Arafat. But Abbas, Arafat's number two since the 1960s, declared the primaries as just one of the factors in drawing the list - inserting the old guard back into prominent places.
That set off a rebellion among the young activists, ending in the party split - a bitter blow to Abbas and a boost for Hamas.
Abbas' supporters submitted their own list, but aides said Abbas and Barghouti talked by telephone and pledged to try to avert the split. A decision was expected Thursday. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al Kidwa said Barghouti also tops the oldtime Fatah list along with another prisoner, followed by three members of the old guard.
In the election, 132 legislators will be chosen, half in districts and half from national party slates.
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