(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel, Arnon Regular, Aluf Benn, Shlomo Shamir - Israel decided Thursday night on a 24-hour lull in military action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets to see if its suspended military campaign and American pressure leads to the PA confronting the terror organizations. A senior defense source said that if during the 24-hour lull there was no sign of the PA taking steps against Hamas and terror attacks continued, Israel would step up its offensive against Hamas and Islamic Jihad networks. On Thursday, an IDF helicopter strike in Gaza killed Hamas co-founder Ismail Abu Shanab [number five in the Hamas leadership and a close associate of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin]. A senior officer at the General Staff said the Palestinians "talk a lot, but they did not act because they made the mistake of believing time was on their side. Our reaction made it clear to them that we will not accept any more wasted time," said the senior officer, who expressed doubt the PA would act now.
2003-08-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive