(snip)"Not 48 hours after Israeli and Palestinian leaders solemnly united in Sharm el Sheikh on a reciprocal ceasefire, a powerful coalition of Palestinian terrorist groups made a mockery of the occasion by two swift strikes. Their contempt was directed not only at their own elected leader Abu Mazen and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, but also at Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah who endorsed the ceasefire and the meeting.
Early Thursday, February 10, Hamas mortar crews and Qassam missile launchers unleashed more than 30 rounds against Gush Katif. The barrage that lasted two hours and was continued later left no casualties, but damaged a house. Israeli troops returned the fire. Hamas claimed they were retaliating for the Israeli shooting of a Palestinian. This was but a pretext. He was exposed to Israeli gunfire as part of a group of four Palestinians creeping towards Atzmona in the dark. A second Hamas member died while building a bomb."(snip)




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