Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [As the dollars, pounds, francs, Deutschmarks and weapons keep flowing in from the arbiters of tolerance and diversity, freedom and human rights. But Kofi Annan and Joschka Fischer - and of course Lord Robertson - are "deeply concerned". Deeply.] Tuesday July 31, 10:13 PM Shocked and angry, Palestinians take to streets after deadly Israeli strike NABLUS, West Bank, July 31 (AFP) - Thousands of shocked and furious Palestinians swarmed into the streets of this West Bank town Tuesday after the deadliest single strike by Israel since the start of the intifada killed six Palestinian activists and two children. The explosion -- reportedly from anti-tank rockets launched by helicopters -- rocked downtown Nablus and blew apart the local office of the hardline Islamic group Hamas, opposed to the very existence of Israel. The mid-afternoon blast in the Palestinian town sowed instant panic among people out in the streets, as dozens scrambled to pull the dead and injured from the rubble. Two Israeli projectiles slammed into the apartment block where the Hamas office was housed, killing two Hamas leaders and four other activists. One of the leaders, 42-year-old Jamal Salim, was decapitated by the blast, hospital sources said. The other was identified as Jamal Mansour, 41. The attack also killed two young brothers and seriously injured their mother as they were walking along the busy street outside the building, located in a downtown residential and shopping area, witnesses said. The mother was among 15 injured, two othem seriously. Israel confirmed it carried out the strike, saying its target was a top-level group behind anti-Israeli attacks. Hamas has claimed responsibility for many such attacks, using suicide bombers and other methods. The army said the men were senior Hamas officials and had been plotting an attack on Israeli targets. The strike was a preventative measure, it said, with Israelis on full alert against Palestinian attacks amid soaring tension. As thousands of residents gathered in the streets around the scene of the blast, leading Palestinians swore to avenge the deaths. Hamas' spiritual chief, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, vowed that Israel would pay for the attack. "The Israeli people should know that they will pay the price, because our blood is not cheap," Yassin told reporters. The attack follows hard on the heels of another blast near Nablus Monday which killed six Palestinians, including militants wanted by Israeli security forces, in unclear circumstances. The Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, to which three of the men belonged, said it would exact "rapid and painful revenge" for the blast, which occurred in the Farah refugee camp. Palestinians blamed Israel, which said the men blew themselves up while preparing a bomb. The Palestinians have been engaged in an intifada, or uprising against Israeli occupation, for more than 10 months. It has cost the lives of 685 people, including 538 Palestinians and 128 Israelis. Tuesday's deaths, plus two more killed in the Gaza Strip, brought the toll to 71 -- 54 Palestinians and 17 Israelis -- since a US-sponsored ceasefire was declared on June 13 to try to end the violence. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
