Maybe Jimmy Can Get Us Some Hamas Gas!
April 14, 2008
It would certainly be nice if Jimmy Carter, (who had such productive diplomacy and fruitful military operations against the Iranian forces, when Iran overran our embassy, took the staff captive, and held all of them prisoners during the rest of his presidency), could use some of his great wisdom and persuasive ability to get us some Hamas gas.
However, considering the last paragraph in the second excerpt from the DEBKAfile, which follows the Voice of America Article, Hamas leader Mashaal in Syria may persuade Jimmy to give Hamas some of our gas to make up for the shortage Mashaal “says” is caused by Israel.
The last paragraph reads as follows:
“The hard-line Hamas leader Meshaal will capitalize on his forthcoming talks with ex-US president Jimmy Carter to play on his sympathies by accentuating the “plight” of Gaza’s Palestinian population and attributing its cause to Israel’s ‘collective punishment.’”
Begin Voice of America Article
Israel Accuses Hamas of Fabricating Hum anitari
an Crisis
By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
13 April 2008
Israel and militant Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip are trading accusations over an alleged fuel shortage. As Robert Berger reports from VOA’s Jerusalem bureau, the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, is warning of dire consequences.
At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Israeli ministers blasted accusations by Hamas that Israel is sparking a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Hamas said it will have to shut down Gaza’s main power plant if Israel does not resume fuel shipments.
Deliveries were suspended last week after a cross-border Palestinian attack on a fuel depot that killed two Israeli civilians.
Hamas official Taher Alnunu said if Israel does not resume fuel supplies there will be an explosion and the Palestinian people will break the siege by force.
That could mean storming the Egyptian border as they did in January, or possibly trying to storm the Israeli border.
An Israeli army spokesman, Major Peter Lerner, says there is plenty of fuel that was already transferred to a depot inside Gaza before supplies were temporarily suspended.
“There is fuel on the Palestinians side still waiting to be picked by the Palestinians. It is about 800,000 liters of diesel and another 140,000 liters of gasoline,” said Lerner.
Lerner told Israel Radio that Hamas is to blame for the suspension of additional supplies.
“They have to first of all ask the question, ‘Why do terrorists attack the only fuel depot for Gaza?’, these terrorists working under the auspice of Hamas itself,” he added.
Hamas said the fuel depot was attacked to protest Israel’s crippl ing blockade on Gaza, which
includes reductions in fuel and food supplies. Israel imposed the blockade in response to daily Palestinian rocket attacks, but says it is allowing in enough vital supplies
to prevent a humanitarian crisis. Israeli officials say Hamas is fabricating a humanitarian crisis to bring condemnation on Israel and win international sympathy.
Begin DEBKAfile Article
Exclusive: Israeli and Egyptian forces on high alert on Gaza borders over Hamas threats
April 13, 2008, 1:01 AM (GMT+02:00)
Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal voiced this threat Saturday, April 12.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the raid by Palestinian gunmen on the Israeli-Gaza fuel terminal – and murder of two of its employees, Oleg Lipson and Lev Cerniak – were meant to set the stage for a mass Hamas assault on the Gaza-Israeli border. Earlier this year, Hamas organized a “popular demonstration” of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who smashed their way through the Egyptian border to Sinai.
After forcing Israel to close the fuel terminal, the Gaza population’s main source of fuel by its attack last Wednesday, Hamas plans to stage a mass protest against purported fuel shortages which is designed to end up flattening the border fence with Israel.
Our sources report that these shortages are a myth: Hamas has tons of heavy oil and petrol in stock, but reserves it for “military use.” The population is kept short and ripe for action against “the Israeli and Egyptian blockade” of the Gaza Strip.
Cairo had enough of this ruse earlier this year. This time, Egypt has beefed up its forces on the Sinai-Gaza border, built a high wall along the Philadelphi strip and warned any Palestinians attempting an illegal crossing that they would be “shot like rats.”
In addition to preparing for Hamas to smash through Gaza’s borders by means of civilian “protest marches,” Israel is braced for Hamas or its allied terrorist groups to try and secrete suicide bombers into Israel – either from Gaza or by using the terror teams still at large in Egyptian Sinai, where a terror alert remains in force, especially at the holiday resorts.
Friday, the Israeli Negev – civilian locations and army bases – also went on alert after intelligence tip-offs were received of planned Palestinian terror attacks.
The hard-line Hamas leader Meshaal will capitalize on his forthcoming talks with ex-US president Jimmy Carter to play on his sympathies by accentuating the “plight” of Gaza’s Palestinian population and attributing its cause to Israel’s “collective punishment.”
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