And the US should adopt it too...stop deporting terrorists! Bruce
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=AY1JPX5U3U0DQCRBAELCFEY?type =worldNews&storyID=8865169 Israel revives militants assassination policy Wed Jun 22, 2005 03:35 PM ET By Mark Heinrich JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has resumed an assassination policy against Islamic Jihad militants, a sign of how far a truce with the Palestinians has deteriorated. An Israeli aircraft fired missiles at four Islamic Jihad men in the Gaza village of Beit Lahiya on Wednesday as they launched rockets into Israel. No one was hurt but a rocket was destroyed. The army said the strike targeted the launchers, not people. A government official earlier said Israel could stage air strikes in Gaza, even at the risk of civilian casualties, to ensure its planned summer pullout from Gaza did not come under fire. Israel shelved "targeted killings" of militants in February as part of a new truce deal. But resurgent violence has raised fears Israel's planned August withdrawal from Gaza could be disrupted and has dimmed hopes for peace talks afterwards. The White House declined to criticize Israel for resuming an assassination policy against Islamic Jihad militants and called on the Palestinian leadership to do more to combat "terrorist" groups. "Our views on terrorist organizations are well known. They need to be dismantled," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters when asked about Israel's decision. "There is more that the Palestinian leadership can do to go after those who engage in violence and terrorist activity, and we encourage them to do more." Word that the assassination policy had been dusted off came with Israeli confirmation of a failed missile strike on Tuesday while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were holding tense talks in Jerusalem. "An opportunity presented itself. Any means to neutralize the organization are relevant and possible," Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said. Islamic Jihad has resumed mortar bomb and rocket salvoes against Jewish settlements in Gaza in what it calls retaliation for continued Israeli raids to capture wanted militants. "The attempt yesterday to kill an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza signaled the resumption of the targeted killing policy," an Israeli security source told Reuters. Khaled al-Batsh, a senior Islamic Jihad leader, warned of "terrible consequences" if Israel carried out assassinations. "The calm would thereby end. We will not be dictated to by Israel," he said. "MAJOR COLLATERAL DAMAGE" A senior adviser to Sharon also said on Wednesday Israel could stage air strikes in Gaza if militants tried to attack departing settlers to try to show they were chasing them out of occupied territory. Withdrawing from Gaza under fire would be political poison for Sharon, strengthening rightist foes who have said the pullout would be perceived by the Palestinians and Arab world as a sign of weakness. "Israel will act in a very resolute manner to prevent terror attacks ... while the disengagement is being implemented," said Eival Giladi, head of the government team coordinating the plan. "If pinpoint response proves insufficient, we may have to use weaponry that causes major collateral damage." Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel could respond to any Palestinian attacks from Gaza even after the pullout. "If needed, Israel will return to Gaza after the disengagement for a few days in order to stop the terrorism," the Haaretz daily quoted Shalom as telling foreign diplomats. At their summit, Sharon complained to Abbas that the moderate Palestinian leader was doing little to rein in gunmen from whom he wrung a pledge of "calm" after his election in January. Other militant groups including the most powerful, Hamas, have generally respected the truce. The overall level of violence is much lower than during the Palestinian revolt launched in the occupied West Bank and Gaza in 2000. Sharon and Abbas agreed at their meeting to cooperate on the evacuation of 8,500 settlers from Gaza and a few hundred among 230,000 in the West Bank, making it as smooth as possible. But aides to Abbas said Sharon brushed aside his requests for goodwill gestures to relieve burdens of occupation, such as open borders for Gaza, a removal of a roadblock network in the West Bank and further releases of jailed Palestinians. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza) C Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved. -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
