Militants declare they're preparing to 'hit Americans without mercy'
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Militants declare they're preparing to 'hit Americans without mercy'*
Posted: November 12, 2006
News From Israel
JERUSALEM – Four terror groups here, including militants from
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, which the
U.S. considers moderate, warned today America is now officially a target
for attacks both in the region and abroad.
The terror groups blamed the U.S. for "attacking Muslim land" in Israel,
Iraq and Afghanistan, and for providing support to the Israeli Defense
Forces, which last week accidentally hit a residential area with
artillery fire while trying to stop rockets from being launched from the
northern Gaza Strip into nearby Jewish communities.
Several Palestinian terror leaders in Gaza said that their organizations
will soon lead attacks against U.S. interests.
"We call upon all mujahedeen in Palestine and around the world to start
hitting Americans without mercy. The Americans are destroying Palestine,
Iraq and Afghanistan and are bombarding our Muslim land," read a
statement signed by Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Popular
Resistance Committees, the Fatah-affiliated Abu Rish Brigades, and a new
group calling itself the Brigades of the Believers.
"The Americans seem not to understand any language but that of blood and
violence. We say the Americans have an artificial culture. It is a
country that doesn't respect the blood of innocents. Americans only take
into consideration the blood of the Jews," read the statement.
The statement went on the blast the U.S. for vetoing a draft U.N.
resolution yesterday condemning an ongoing Israeli military offensive in
the Gaza Strip. The resolution demanded Israeli troops pull out of the
territory.
The IDF stepped up operations in Gaza last month following reports
hundreds of tons of weapons, including advanced missiles were smuggled
into the territory. Since Israel withdrew from Gaza last summers,
Palestinian groups there have been regularly firing rockets into
neighboring Jewish communities.
The Israeli army last week used artillery shells to target a site in
Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip from which Qassam rockets were
fired at a nearby, populated Jewish city. The Israeli shells strayed and
hit a residential area about a third of a mile from the targeted zone,
killing 19 Palestinians. IDF sources said the army was investigating if
the wrong coordinates were fed to the artillery unit and whether the
error was human or technical.
Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni expressed regret for the deaths,
saying Israel did not set out to harm innocent civilians.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized for the Palestinian deaths and
called for immediate peace talks with Abbas, stating the Palestinian
leader "will be surprised at how far I am willing to go."
Olmert said he is willing to free "many, many Palestinian prisoners."
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton said yesterday the U.S. was
"disturbed" by the Arab-backed draft resolution concerning Israel's Gaza
raid, calling the draft "biased against Israel and politically motivated".
"This resolution does not display an evenhanded characterization of the
recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of
Israeli-Palestinian peace," Bolton said.
'Americans will very soon be subjected to our plans'
Meanwhile Palestinian terror groups said their organizations will lead
attacks against the U.S.
Abu Ahmed, a senior leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in Gaza, said, "We
asked the Palestinian people and the mujahedeen to target Americans.
American targets will very soon be subjected to our military plans
inside Israel and the territories. We are still deciding whether to only
target U.S. interests in Palestine or also abroad."
Abu Ahmed said some cells of the Al Aqsa Brigades don't support the call
to target Americans, but the majority of the Brigades agree the U.S.
should be attacked.
"Most members (of the Brigades) will participate in attacks within
Israel and the territories even if some members of our organization
don't like this new development (of targeting Americans)," Abu Ahmed said.
The Al Aqsa Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah
party. Abu Ahmed is a member of Fatah, which the U.S. largely considers
moderate. The U.S. has provided large sums of aid, weaponry and advanced
military training to Fatah militants.
Abu Abir, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella
of major Palestinian terror groups, said that his group would target
Americans anywhere, including abroad.
"We will reach Americans either inside or outside. We will not hesitate
to target the U.S.," Abu Abir said.
The Committees spokesman claimed the U.S. was using Israel to test
weapons on Palestinian civilians.
"We have proof of American involvement in Beit Hanoun last week. Every
weapon the Americans create, they first give to the Israelis to examine
on innocent Palestinian civilians. The U.S. will pay a price for this,"
Abu Abir said.
The Committees previously attacked U.S. interests here. In 2003, it
bombed an American convoy in Gaza, killing three U.S. contractors.
Abu Abir's comments followed a statement last week by Hamas also blaming
the U.S. for Palestinian deaths. The statement warned of upcoming Hamas
attacks against the U.S. and urged Arabs and Muslims to "teach the
American enemy merciless lessons they will not forget."