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A Palestinian fighter sets up an explosive device into a mount of sand in preparation of the Israeli onslaught. |
GAZA CITY — With the clock tickling and Israel amassing its troops on the borders, Palestinians creamed in the impoverished Gaza Strip are readying themselves for a "prolonged and extensive" Israeli onslaught.
"Israel has never halted its aggressions against us. The imminent Gaza blitz is only a new chapter in its black history," Ahmed Sobeih, a Palestinian university student, told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, June 27.
Galal Hamid, a father of seven, fears Israel will isolate Gaza from the rest of the world.
"They are using us as hostages to force the resistance to release the missing soldier," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered his army to conduct a series of military operations in the Gaza Strip after Corporal Gilad Shalit, a tank gunner, went missing during a Palestinian attack on an Israeli military post on Sunday, June 25.
Israeli tanks and armored vehicles have lined up near the Kerem Shalom crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel with their turrets and guns pointing straight towards the Palestinian territory.
Two infantry regiments and two armored battalions were also deployed around the impoverished area.
Three Palestinian resistance factions, which claimed joint responsibility for Sunday's operation, said it came to avenge the killings of innocent Palestinians.
Mohammed Jamal Roqa, 5, Sania al-Sharif, six, and Bilal al-Hissi, 16, were killed in an Israeli air attack on Tuesday, June 20, in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli warplanes bombarded Gaza city on Tuesday, June 13, killing at least eleven Palestinians, including three children, and wounding tens others in the deadliest air strike this year.
Israeli shelling killed seven Palestinians on Friday, June 9, while enjoying a picnic on a beach in northern Gaza.
Preparations
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| Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers mobilized at Gaza borders. (Reuters) |
With their humble capabilities, Palestinians are trying to fortify their cities and towns against the imminent Israeli invasion.
Young Palestinians, elders and women have joined hands with resistance fighters in building sand piles and military fortifications, especially at the entrances of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya.
"Many people are also taking watch shifts to be able to intercept the movement of the invading Israeli tanks and vehicles," Abu Mujahed, a leader of Ezzelddin al-Qassam Brigades, told IOL.
Palestinians are also blanketing their streets with covers to help the resistance fighters escape Israel's watchful electronic eyes and drones.
"We are using all equipment at our disposal to defend our people," Abu Mujahed said.
"Young Palestinians are volunteering to sacrifice their lives in defense of their homeland," he added.
Defense
Members of different resistance groups are forming unit defense teams and closely monitoring the Israeli troops stationed at the Gaza borders.
Many have also been busy mining entrances expected to be used by the invading Israeli forces during the onslaught.
"We are well-prepared and God willing, we are not going to welcome them with flowers," said Abu Obeida, another Qassam spokesman.
"We mobilize people to defend the strip against any Israeli aggression and assure them that there are an army of Palestinian fighters ready to sacrifice their lives for defending their people," he added.
The Islamic Jihad has called for a general mobilization of its fighters in anticipation for the looming Israeli aggression.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's armed wing, also vowed to battle the Israeli forces.
"The enemy will be surprised with the ferocity of the Palestinian resistance," spokesman Abu Qasy told IOL.
"They should be ready for a new defeat in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Israel withdrew from Gaza Strip late last year after 30 years of military occupation thanks largely to painful attacks by Palestinian resistance groups.
Diplomacy
While Israel built up its troops on the Gaza borders, all major international players appealed for diplomacy.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged all parties to "exercise restraint at this grave moment, and to take all possible steps to avoid further escalation and bloodshed," his spokesman said.
The United States has also asked Israel to show restraint.
"There really needs to be an effort now to try and calm the situation, not to let the situation escalate and to give diplomacy a chance to work to try to get this release," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told journalists on a plane taking her to Islamabad.
"We don't want to see (an) escalation, we would like to give politics a chance," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told a gathering of peace mediators in the southeastern Norwegian town of Losby.
"But I think it's better to try to solve these problems as much as possible politically and without going to an escalation situation that would not benefit anybody," he said.
Israeli Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer warned Tuesday that Israel could kidnap ministers in the Hamas-led government.
"If we start with kidnappings, Israel has no problem entering the Gaza Strip and kidnapping half the Palestinian government," said the former defense minister.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cautioned Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that Israel would target him, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesday.
Abbas said Israel would also target Foreign Minister Mahmoud a-Zahar and Interior Minister Said Sayam.
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