By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BEIT HANOUN, Gaza – Israel intensified it raids against Hamas after the organization confirmed that it was responsible for the suicide attack in Dimona on February 4. At first there was confusion over which group carried out the attack; initially the the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine groups claimed responsibility. However, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a video of the two suicide bombers, Mohammed al-Hibrawi and Shadee Z’Ghayer, preparing for the attack. Both men were from the West Bank city of Hebron. However, there are reports that al-Hibrawi and Z’Ghayer do not fit the description of the men killed in Dimona.
This is the first suicide attack that Hamas has carried out since it abandoned the practice in 2004. This marks a possibly deadly change in its policy towards Israel. In the video of the bombers, they stated that the realities in Gaza pushed them to carry out the attack.
Following the attack in Israel on February 4, Israel has carried out several military operations in Gaza, killing at least eight Palestinians on February 5 and at least six on February 6. On February 5, two Israeli Defense Force (IDF) operations were conducted. One operation left two members of Hamas dead near the border. A second operation killed six members of Hamas in police station in Khan Yunis.
On February 6, at least four members of Hamas and a member of the Islamic Jihad were killed in an operation in Beit Hanoun; three were killed by missiles and the others were killed in an exchange of gunfire with Israeli ground forces. In the strike on February 6, a school teacher was killed as a school was hit. Three teenaged students were also injured. Israeli army states that the missile was aimed at a rocket-firing crew nearby. Israel said that there will be an investigation into the teacher’s death.
As IDF operations increased, there has been an increase in the number of missiles being launched from Gaza into Israel. On February 5, Hamas fired several rockets into the town of Sderot. One Qassam rocket struck a house causing extensive damage. A second rocket struck a factory warehouse. On February 6, a rocket landed in Kibbutz Beeri, a village located about four miles from the border, and injured two sisters, aged 12 and 2, who were playing outside. IDF operations in Gaza discovered several underground caches of rockets.
In addition to increasing military operations, Israel also began to cut the power it supplies to Gaza. Shlomo Dror, a spokesperson for Ehud Barak, stated the reduction will be less than 1% of the 124 megawatts of power Israel supplies Gaza. Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defense minister, stated that Israel is “trying to reduce the Gaza Strip’s dependence on Israel in many fields.”
Also, there has been discussion of alternative or additional methods that Israel could employ to stop the barrage of rockets from Gaza. One suggestion is a military operation to re-occupy Gaza. A second suggestion is targeting top political leaders of Hamas. This was done in 2004 by Ariel Sharon, when Israel assassinated Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin and its top Gaza politician, Abdel Aziz Rantissi. Since then, Israel has limited its strikes to target armed militants.
This policy is supported by Tzahi Hanegbi, a senior member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party and the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Hanegbi argues since the field commanders and militants carrying out the attacks are acting on the political leaders’ orders that the political leaders of Hamas are legal military targets. He told Israeli Radio that “there’s no difference between those who wear a suicide suit and a diplomat’s suit.”
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Israel Reduces Gaza Power Supply – 8 February 2008
International Herald Tribune – Rockets Hit Israel After Power Cut – 8 February 2008
Jerusalem Post – Israel May Target Hamas Heads – 8 February 2008
Al Jazeera – Gaza Teach Killed in Israel Raid – 7 February 2008
Associated Press – Gaza Rocket Wounds 2 Israeli Girls – 7 February 2008
BBC – Israel Launches Deadly Gaza Raids – 7 February 2008
Jerusalem Post – Barak: IDF Ops to Grow Even Stronger – 7 February 2008
Washington Post – Israel to Intensify Strikes if Rocket Fire Continues – 7 February 2008
Al Jazeera – Hamas Claims Dimona Raid – 6 February 2008
The Daily Star – Hamas Vows Retaliation After Israeli Attack Kill Nine in Gaza – 6 February 2008
Independent – Hamas Admits Suicide Attacks as Israel Retaliates – 6 February 2008
YouTube – Dimona Bombers’ Families Speak to Al Jazeera – 6 February 2008
Jewish Telegraphic Agency – Hanegbi Wants Hamas Politicos Hit – 5 February 2008
