Hamas scoffs at discussed Israeli incursion

Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel

JERUSALEM – Hamas is operating under the working assumption Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will reject a proposed large-scale military ground operation being debated in the Knesset today, top Hamas sources told WND.

The Hamas sources said they expect Israel to agree to a truce with Gaza-based militants. They stated they view Israel as engaging in policies of retreat with regard to its actions concerning the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the West Bank.

"We are sure the Zionists will not dare any operation in Gaza," said one top Hamas official. "To show this, in recent weeks, the Israeli military forces have been lowering their level of troops operating near Gaza. If there was going to be any major operation, Israel would be sending in reinforcements, not evacuating its forces."

Hamas' stated estimations are in stark contrast to comments made to the Knesset today by a top military intelligence official from the Israel Defense Forces.

Brig. Gen. Yossi Baidatz, head of the IDF's intelligence research division, stated Hamas fears a broad Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip and is expediting its preparations for such an operation.

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Baidatz spoke at a Knesset session attended by Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and top military officials discussing whether to sign a cease-fire with Hamas or embark on a large-scale military incursion.

The Knesset session started just after Hamas took responsibility for bombarding Jewish populations in southern Israel with at least 18 mortar shells. The Israel Air Force responded with an aerial strike that reportedly killed at least three members of a Hamas mortar crew in the northern Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, Hamas pounded Jewish communities near Gaza with four Qassam rockets.

Hamas has been floating a truce proposal via Egyptian mediators in which Israel is asked to release a number of Palestinian prisoners and refrain from military operations in Gaza in exchange for a halt to rocket fire. Israeli officials reportedly demanded kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit be freed as part of any deal.

Perhaps in an effort to pressure Olmert into a truce, Hamas last night released a letter from Shalit through the foundation of former President Jimmy Carter. According to a report in Israel's Haaretz daily, in the letter Shalit reportedly begs for his life and requests that efforts be made to secure his release as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Hamas sources affirmed Baidatz's statement that the terror group is preparing for an Israeli military incursion but said they viewed any major Israeli operation as very unlikely.

"Of course we prepare for anything, but what we see is that Israel is in retreat. They are pulling their troops back," said a Hamas official.

The Hamas official was referring to an Israeli decision two weeks ago to evacuate troops stationed at the Erez crossing, a major Gaza-Israel border crossing, following repeated Palestinian attacks against Israel's side of the border station.

At the time, WND quoted Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesman and a leader of the Hamas-allied Popular Resistance Committees terror group, blasting Israel as a paper tiger.

"Just as the Zionists are running from the border, they will also run from Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa and Tel Aviv. ... We will keep firing until every Jew climbs back into the sh--ty hole he came from," said Abdel-Al, whose group took responsibility for scores of recent attacks against the Israeli border.

Abu Ahmed, a leader of the Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza, called Israel's troop evacuation a "victory."

"We feel proud and determined," he said. "Israelis start to withdraw from bases that are well-fortified because the Palestinian resistance proved that we are able to reach them at any point even if it is very fortified. We are proving once again that the myth of the unbeatable Israeli army is irrelevant," Abu Ahmed told WND.

Days before the Israeli troop withdrawal from Erez, the Islamic Jihad terror group along with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the so-called military wing of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization, attempted to carry out a massive bombing at the Erez crossing that, if successful, would have been the largest terrorist attack here since the Jewish state retreated from the Gaza Strip three years ago.

Alongside the evacuation of troops and discussion of a cease-fire with Hamas, Olmert last month announced he commenced negotiations with Syria over the Golan Heights – strategic, mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers.

The Golan negotiations are taking place as Olmert faces what is being described as a very serious criminal investigation in which the prime minister is suspected of bribery and corruption. Olmert has vowed to resign if he is indicted in the rapidly expanding case.

A recent survey conducted by Israel's Channel 2 found 70 percent of Israelis oppose relinquishing the Golan Heights for peace with Syria, compared to 22 percent in favor of such a move.

The poll found 57 percent of Israelis believe the timing of the negotiations with Syria is linked to the corruption case against Olmert.

Fifty-eight percent of the respondents reportedly said Olmert did not have the legitimacy to negotiate with Syria.