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Palestinians Condemn Latest Israeli Gaza Bombing
GAZA CITY, Dec. 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The fierce Israeli bombardment of Gaza, just as Palestinians were sitting down to break the fast on Monday, continued to draw heavy condemnation as an Israeli attempt to abort any hope for a peace settlement.
Palestinians rushed out from homes and shops and saw four U.S.-made helicopters hover and fire a dozen surface-to-air missiles and large-caliber machine-guns at Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's personal heliport.
"This isn't the first time they've bombed Gaza," said a civil servant named Mohammed. "There has been war since the start of the Intifada [uprising], but this is a message.
"They are hitting the Palestinian Authority first because they consider Arafat responsible for the … bombings," he added. "They've been saying they want him out for a long time, but this is the end of the peace process."
The head of the Palestinian Authority Legislative Council, Ahmed Qorei, described the Israeli bombing of Gaza City as an attempt to destroy the Palestinian Authority. He said it was a criminal act of aggression that will only lead to more violence.
"This bombing aims at aborting any peace efforts," Qorei told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Palestinian Authority Legislative Council, Ibrahim Abol-Naga, accused the U.S. administration of blessing the Israeli killing of Palestinians.
"The United States encourages Israeli aggressions and asks us for a ceasefire," he told a press conference, following the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
"We are in a state of self-defense. We do not own any F-16s, which Israel uses to kill Palestinian civilians. We do not launch SAM-6s at safe civilians in their homes and streets. They who possess such weapons are the ones who should cease their fire."
Secretary-General of the Palestinian Cabinet Ahmad Abdel-Rahman emphasized that White House spokesman Ari Fleischer's declarations distort the true facts of the situation in favor of Israel.
"When the White House spokesman describes the Israeli bombardment of Gaza as an act of self-defense, he disregards the fact that Israel occupies Palestinian land and kills Palestinian people," Abdel-Rahman said.
"The Unites States seems to care for nothing but the interest of the Israelis," he added, "but the Palestinian Authority will not work as a protecting force for Israel."
The head of the Palestinian security service, Abdel-Razeq Al-Majaida, condemned the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and described it as an atrocious, barbaric, unprecedented act of aggression.
"This new aggression will not affect the will of the Palestinian people," he said at a press conference. "The Palestinians will stand firm and strong against continued Israeli aggressions."
Meanwhile, in Gaza, activist leader Yasser Zaanoon said hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had wanted to blow the whole peace process up and bring negotiations to a halt.
"Sharon wanted to further destroy the national unity agreement between the Palestinian resistance movements, Hamas and Jihad, on the one hand, and Palestinian [Authority] President, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority on the other," Zaanoon said. "It is upon this agreement that the Palestinian resistance stopped its operations inside Israel and concentrated only on Israeli military targets."
"To nip the unity agreement in the bud, Sharon ordered the assassination of top Hamas leader Mahmoud Abou-Hanoud, knowing that the Palestinian resistance will avenge his death," Zaanoon added.
"The retaliation came in a series of bomb explosions that ripped through the West Bank and Haifa. The Palestinian resistance will continue so long as Israel occupies our land and kills our children."
"Israel has every right to exercise such violence," Abdel-Bary Atwan, editor-in-chief of the Arab daily,
Al-Quds Arabeyya, told Al-Jazeera satellite channel. "Sharon got the go ahead from Washington. As to Arab public opinion, it's long dead."
Seventeen people were injured in the Israeli attack on Gaza, hospital sources told AFP, including some who were treated for smoke inhalation.
"Of course this was a message," said a colonel in the security services watching the devastation. "But what does Israel think if this is going to help anything. This is a real war for our people."
"We don't have tanks, we don't have guns and our option is not to do something like this," he said.
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