Paying their last tribute to the new martyrs, Palestinians swear to avenge them

Additional Reporting By Yasser al-Banna, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, August 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The armed wing of Hamas, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, vowed Monday, August 25, to avenge the killing of four of its members in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier, with Israel affirming continuation of the so-called "targeted killings" of Palestinian resistance activists.

"Al-Qassam Brigades announces that there is a pressing need to launch all kinds of military operations against the Zionist enemy, including martyrdom operations, raids, missile attacks and skirmishes, in order to rein in the Zionists," the group said in a statement, a copy of which was e-mailed to IslamOnline.net.

"We will answer the crimes of the Zionist occupation as soon as possible. It is a matter of time and it is up to our freedom strugglers to decide when to strike back."

The statement further said that the Brigades would only target the enemy, asserting that the Israeli attempts to ignite a Palestinian civil conflict would never bear fruit.

The Brigades further urged all Palestinian resistance fighters to remain vigilant and keep low profile.

Israeli helicopter gunships fired Sunday, August 24, five missiles into a car in western Gaza, killing four Hamas activists and wounding five others.

The statement identified the martyrs as Ahmad Rushdi Eshtawi, 25, Wahid Hamid al-Hams, 21, Mohammad Kanaan Abu Labda, 23, and Ahmad Mohammad Abu Hilal, 23.

The air assault broke a relative weekend lull and came despite efforts by the Palestinian Authority to take the initiative in collecting illegal arms and shutting down tunnels used for weapons and drug trafficking.

It was the first since Hamas and the Islamic Jihad called off the truce unilaterally-declared by Palestinian resistance factions on Friday, August 22, after senior Hamas political figures Ismail Abu Shanab and two associates were assassinated in an Israeli air strike.

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"Every member of Hamas is a potential target for liquidation," Yaalon said

In a related development, an Israeli security source confirmed Monday that Israel will not continue but rather intensify "targeted killings" of Palestinian activists in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip.

During a meeting of Israeli top brass late Sunday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz claimed that the Palestinian Authority "still refuses to fight terrorism," and that measures it had taken against armed Palestinians were just for show.

"Every member of Hamas is a potential target for liquidation," Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon said Sunday in the first public comment by a senior defense official on Israel's new policy.

"If at the end of the day, the Palestinian Authority doesn't move against them, we will have to do so," he said.

Israel and Palestinian resistance groups rebuffed Sunday a proposal by the PA for a new truce.

Osama al-Baz, the political adviser to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, launched effort for a new truce Friday, August 22, in an impromptu visit to the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

A report released by a Palestinian human rights organization revealed on August 12 that Israel has in the last month alone killed seven Palestinians and carried out 854 violations of the truce. (Click to see a breakdown for Israeli violations).