Gaza Blitz to Break Resistance Ahead of Pullout

"The Israeli army ran amok in the Gaza Strip to destroy its infrastructure and trigger social and economic crises to drift the attention of the Palestinians from the unabated resistance," Ashraf Al-Ajrami, a political analyst, told IslamOnline.net.

He said the Israelis want to spread chaos in the Strip before their planned unilateral withdrawal to prove that the Palestinians cannot establish their state all by themselves.

The onslaught, on of the deadliest in four years’ time, targeted the Strip’s largest refugee camp of Jabaliya, allegedly to put an end to Qassam rocket attacks on nearby Sderot.

Israeli troops have already taken control of a nine-kilometer area on the edge of the refugee camp.

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the expansion of the incursion and reinforcements to about 2,000 troops backed by up to 200 tanks.

The massive operation continued Sunday, October 3, claiming the lives of at least three more Palestinians.

Some 57 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in the sweeping Israeli offensive which was unleashed late Tuesday, September 28.

‘Lebanese Complex’

Ajrami said Israel is haunted by its "Lebanese complex", when Hizbullah resistance fighters forced its army to hastily withdraw its troops from a large territory in south Lebanon it had been occupying since 1978.

Israel is till occupying a number of villages and adjacent land on the eastern side of Alsheikh Mountain, known as the Shebaa Farms, which have been captured by Israel in 1967.

"Several Israeli ministers and Likud leaders having been pressing Sharon for a heavy-handed operation before the Gaza pullout to emerge victorious and kill the Palestinians’ stamina to pursue resistance," added the political activist.

"Israel knows well that it would not be able to stop the locally-manufactured Qassam rocket attacks unless it re-occupied every inch of the Gaza Strip," Ajrami said.

Paradigm for Resistance

The Palestinian expert said that Israel is targeting the Jabaliya refugee camp as it has set itself up as a paradigm for resistance.

"Breaking the staunch will of this camp will take its toll on the Palestinian resistance."

He, however, did not expect the Israeli occupation army would risk storming the entire camp, given the dear price they would pay.

Emad Al-Falouji, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (lower house of parliament), said Israel , in targeting Jabaliya refugee camp, wants to avenge the resistance attacks.

"They want to kill as much as they can from the Palestinians in retaliation for the panic caused by the resistance inside Israel ," he told IOL.

Senior Hamas member Ismail Haniya said Saturday the resistance movement was willing to stop rocket attacks should it stop its current invasion of Gaza .

Hours earlier, Masked Hamas fighters said in a TV statement that there would be no let-up in the attacks.