Subject: From Beer Sheva to Hebron and Gaza...


Following is a report from Haaretz Today,
It is difficult to talk when the victims are not buried yet.
But I want to point out that this is no good for the Israelis
and the Palestinians!!!
I was in Beer Sheva in Better times when Anwar Saadat of Egypt
visited in 1978. Just there at Municipality of Beer Sheva.
I was there with "Peace Now".
Hope Beer Sheva sees Better times again.
Another point I want to make is the fact that both Palestinians and
Israelis are not able to make Rational Policy that is wanted by Most
Israelis and Palestinians.
But I do not give up Hope.
Shmuel Cohen Tel-Aviv
Last update - 09:04 01/09/2004
Be'er Sheva bus bombers were part of Hamas cell in Hebron
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents

The current local head of the terror cell that dispatched the
suicide bombers who carried out Tuesday's attack in Be'er Sheva was
also responsible for the attempted attack at the Caffit Cafe in
Jerusalem two months ago.

The military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility in a leaflet that
surfaced in Hebron, 50 km north of the southern Israeli city, saying
the attacks were meant to avenge Israel's assassination of its two
top leaders in helicopter missile strikes in March and April.

"Our religion orders us to respond in kind to aggression against
us," it said. "This is but one of a series of responses which the Iz
a Din al-Kassam Brigades have vowed to carry out in response to the
martyrdom of the leaders of our movement, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and
Abdel Aziz Rantisi."

Muslim leaders in the Gaza Strip praised the double suicide attack
over mosque loudspeakers, calling it a "heroic operation."

In a new style, the leaflet, which called the attacks a "gift" to
striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, used elements of
psychological warfare directed to Israeli citizens.

"You [Israelis] were mistaken if you thought that killing our
leaders would lessen our determination," the leaflet said. "Your
leaders have harmed our people. You are the ones who choose your
leaders and choose to be their shields. Therefore your shields will
suffer more blows.

"This is a gift to the newcomers who recently arrived to our land,"
it added, in a reference to recent wave of Jewish immigration to
Israel. "We say to you: This is your fate, so we advise you to
reconsider."

The two suicide bombers, Ahmed Kawasma and Nisim Jabri, had
apparently known each other for several years, and coordinated the
attacks almost completely.

The two are members of the two most prominent clans in Hebron, the
Kawasmas and the Jabris.

Ahmed Kawasma owned an aluminum products store in Hebron, while
Nisim Jabri is a construction worker and lives near Kiryat Arba.
Jabri's close relatives, well-known Fatah members in Hebron, accused
Hamas of brainwashing Jabri.

A few hours after the Be'er Sheva attack, IDF forces raided the
homes of the two suicide bombers and arrested several relatives.
Kawama's home was destroyed overnight Tuesday.

The terror cell that dispatched Kawasma and Jabri is headed by a
relative of Kawasma, Imad Kawasma, head of the military wing of
Hamas, Iz a-Din al-Qassam, in Hebron. He has been on the IDF's most-
wanted list since the beginning of 2003. In recent months the IDF
raided his family's home several times, but did not arrest him.

The organization is very compartmentalized, which makes it difficult
to apprehend its leaders. In contrast to terror cells in other
cities in the West Bank, the Hebron cell, as well as the cell in
Ramallah, usually avoids mistakes that reveal their whereabouts to
Israeli forces. When they carry out a successful attack, their
leaders go underground.

Imad Kawasma is considered heir to the founders and heads of the
Hebron terror cells, Abdullah Kawasma and Ahmed Badr, who were
killed by the IDF last year.

Hamas attacks over the past two years were all carried out by the
Hebron Iz al-Din al-Qassam cell. In October 2003, more than 100
members of the Kawasma family and others were arrested in an attempt
to put a stop to the activities of the cell, which have resulted in
the deaths of over 80 Israelis.

While elsewhere in the West Bank the IDF has relatively good
intelligence sources, they are more or less groping in the dark when
it comes to Hebron. Last year, after a concerted effort, security
forces managed to paralyze both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. With
Tuesday's attack, the paralysis came to an end.

Hamas in the Gaza Strip is trying to overcome its difficulty
penetrating Israel. It is seeking alternative routes into Israel,
among them tunnels in Rafah to Sinai and from there to the Negev.

The attack in Be'er Sheva was apparently not coordinated with Hamas
in the Strip. There apparently was also no connection between the
Be'er Sheva attack and the attempted suicide bombing at the Erez
checkpoint before dawn Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, before the Be'er Sheva attack, Palestinian
Authority officials said that the PA had issued an ultimatum to
Hamas in the Gaza Strip to surrender the three Hamas members whom it
accuses of an attempted assassination against the deputy commander
of the PA's general intelligence in the Strip, Tareq Abu Rajab. PA
sources say the three Hamas members have taken shelter in the
Strip's Jabalya refugee camp.