'Peace partner' attempts massive border explosion

Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades logo

JERUSALEM – The so-called military wing of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization yesterday attempted to carry out a massive bombing of the Israeli border that, if successful, would have been the largest terrorist attack here since the Jewish state retreated from the Gaza Strip three years ago.

"The armed struggle is still leading Fatah's philosophy and ideology. We don't see contradictions between the political fight and resistance to occupation," Abu Ahmed, chief of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group in northern Gaza, told WND.

"We are aware some of the members of Fatah's leadership and government don't see positively the attacks, but they don't represent the historical experience of Fatah," said Abu Ahmed, whose Brigades took credit for yesterday's failed attack along with the Islamic Jihad terror group.

The Brigades is Fatah's declared military wing. Israel has been negotiating with Fatah in U.S.-backed talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state before the end of the year.

In yesterday's attempted attack, a truck reportedly carrying four tons of explosives detonated prematurely as it was approaching the Erez crossing, the main industrial border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Erez is the crossing through which Israel supplies humanitarian aid and goods to Gaza.

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The truck was thought to have exploded on the Palestinian side of the crossing due to a technical failure.

In a sign of a well-coordinated attack, as the vehicle approached Israel's border, terrorists inside Gaza fired mortar shells at the crossing, where dozens of Israeli soldiers are stationed.

Even though the truck exploded hundreds of feet from the crossing, the explosion was large enough to rip a hole in a pedestrian passageway leading out of the Erez terminal and into Gaza.

Residents in the Gaza Strip who live more than 20 miles from the crossing told the Palestinian media they heard the blast. "In terms of the amount of explosives used, Thursday's attack was the biggest since Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza nearly three years ago," Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said.

IDF sources told WND that if the attack would have been successful, they estimate tens of soldiers and civilians would have been killed.

The sources said it was likely Fatah was trying to disrupt an Israeli-Hamas cease-fire Egypt has been attempting to broker in the Gaza Strip. The sources said Hamas favors a cease-fire for fear of a large-scale IDF raid of Gaza but that Fatah favors a massive IDF operation against rival Hamas in hopes of reasserting some control in Gaza afterwards.

Abu Ahmed told WND that Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades was the driving force behind yesterday's failed attack.

He also said the Brigades yesterday fired two rockets toward the Israeli town of Sderot. One rocket was launched in honor of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, he said, while the other was in response to recent Israel anti-terror raids of the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

 

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To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.

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