Mubarak reiterated his oft-repeated warning to Gaza terrorists to stop their deadly clashes over control of the PA government, in an interview published Tuesday with the official Egyptian news agency.
At least five Hamas terrorists were injured in shootouts on Tuesday even as the interview was published in Arab newspapers in the region.
Cleric Adel Nassar was gunned down minutes after calling for peace in his weekly sermon last Friday. Fatah terrorist leader Colonel Mohammed Ghayeb was killed along with seven of his bodyguards a day earlier.
“If the struggle between the Palestinians continues, the Palestinian people will be the ones to pay the price,” warned Mubarak. “They will turn into fighters fighting with each other, and the spirit of revenge will prevail. This will badly harm the Palestinian[cause], particularly at the current stage.”
PA Terrorists Still Aiming At Israel
Even as the terrorists continue to try and kill each other, they are also working toward new ways to murder Israelis as well.
Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based head of the Hamas political bureau, said Monday that his organization is constantly seeking new ways to obtain weapons to fight Israel. Speaking Monday to the Cairo daily Al-Ahram Al-Arab, he said the Arabs of the PA will not abandon their armed struggle and will not put down their weapons until their lands are liberated and their rights reinstated.
Hamas members have been flying to Iran and Lebanon for advanced military training with Iranian Revolutionary guard units and Hizbullah militants, according to a source described as a "senior intelligence official" from the Fatah terror organization.
The Fatah source was confirming reports, which quote Israeli security sourceswho said that dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Hamas terrorists left Gaza for training in Iran.
"We are sure, according to information that we have, that Hizbullah prepares Hamas for a confrontation with us (Fatah) and with Israel. None of these preparations takes place in Gaza, but they take place in Lebanon, in Iran and in other places where the Iranian and Hizbullah experts train Hamas militants," the source told WND.
Army officials said last month that the IDF is expecting the effective range of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip to triple in the near future. The Home Front Command is drafting a plan to expand the protection zone around Gaza to a radius of 20 km, as opposed to its current 7 km. The city of Ashkelon and the towns of Netivot and Ofakim are included in the new danger zone.
“The Kassam cannot be further upgraded and the Palestinians need a new weapon,” said an unnamed senior IDF officer quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “The [terrorist] cells have traveled abroad to learn about the Katyusha rocket and how to manufacture it back in the Gaza Strip.”
Another senior Hamas official said thousands of armed Hamas members have been secretly training in PA cities in Judea and Samaria over the past few months, especially in the areas around Ramallah, Shechem and Hevron.
Mubarak: Missed Opportunities to Solve ‘Palestinian Problem’
In what may have been a reference to the failure of the most recent international attempt at brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the PA -- the Road Map plan proposed by the Quartet (U.S., Russia, United Nations and European Union) -- Mubarak also noted that “many opportunities have been missed throughout the years to solve the Palestinian problem, for many different reasons.”
Implementation of the three-step plan never got past the first stage, which called for a total end to violence between PA terrorists and Israel – a goal that has never been achieved.
A ceasefire between PA terrorists and Israel, limited to ending Kassam rocket attacks from Gaza in exchange for total withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza and an end to military activity against the terrorists there, was initiated on November 26th.
The ceasefire has been violated dozens of times since then, with more than 70 deadly bombardments of western Negev towns near the Gaza border. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s continued policy of restraint has been slammed repeatedly by Israeli politicians, IDF officials and the residents of the besieged communities themselves.
At least five Hamas terrorists were injured in shootouts on Tuesday even as the interview was published in Arab newspapers in the region.
Cleric Adel Nassar was gunned down minutes after calling for peace in his weekly sermon last Friday. Fatah terrorist leader Colonel Mohammed Ghayeb was killed along with seven of his bodyguards a day earlier.
“If the struggle between the Palestinians continues, the Palestinian people will be the ones to pay the price,” warned Mubarak. “They will turn into fighters fighting with each other, and the spirit of revenge will prevail. This will badly harm the Palestinian[cause], particularly at the current stage.”
PA Terrorists Still Aiming At Israel
Even as the terrorists continue to try and kill each other, they are also working toward new ways to murder Israelis as well.
Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based head of the Hamas political bureau, said Monday that his organization is constantly seeking new ways to obtain weapons to fight Israel. Speaking Monday to the Cairo daily Al-Ahram Al-Arab, he said the Arabs of the PA will not abandon their armed struggle and will not put down their weapons until their lands are liberated and their rights reinstated.
Hamas members have been flying to Iran and Lebanon for advanced military training with Iranian Revolutionary guard units and Hizbullah militants, according to a source described as a "senior intelligence official" from the Fatah terror organization.
The Fatah source was confirming reports, which quote Israeli security sourceswho said that dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Hamas terrorists left Gaza for training in Iran.
"We are sure, according to information that we have, that Hizbullah prepares Hamas for a confrontation with us (Fatah) and with Israel. None of these preparations takes place in Gaza, but they take place in Lebanon, in Iran and in other places where the Iranian and Hizbullah experts train Hamas militants," the source told WND.
Army officials said last month that the IDF is expecting the effective range of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip to triple in the near future. The Home Front Command is drafting a plan to expand the protection zone around Gaza to a radius of 20 km, as opposed to its current 7 km. The city of Ashkelon and the towns of Netivot and Ofakim are included in the new danger zone.
“The Kassam cannot be further upgraded and the Palestinians need a new weapon,” said an unnamed senior IDF officer quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “The [terrorist] cells have traveled abroad to learn about the Katyusha rocket and how to manufacture it back in the Gaza Strip.”
Another senior Hamas official said thousands of armed Hamas members have been secretly training in PA cities in Judea and Samaria over the past few months, especially in the areas around Ramallah, Shechem and Hevron.
Mubarak: Missed Opportunities to Solve ‘Palestinian Problem’
In what may have been a reference to the failure of the most recent international attempt at brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the PA -- the Road Map plan proposed by the Quartet (U.S., Russia, United Nations and European Union) -- Mubarak also noted that “many opportunities have been missed throughout the years to solve the Palestinian problem, for many different reasons.”
Implementation of the three-step plan never got past the first stage, which called for a total end to violence between PA terrorists and Israel – a goal that has never been achieved.
A ceasefire between PA terrorists and Israel, limited to ending Kassam rocket attacks from Gaza in exchange for total withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza and an end to military activity against the terrorists there, was initiated on November 26th.
The ceasefire has been violated dozens of times since then, with more than 70 deadly bombardments of western Negev towns near the Gaza border. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s continued policy of restraint has been slammed repeatedly by Israeli politicians, IDF officials and the residents of the besieged communities themselves.