Meanwhile Prime Minister Olmert agrees to continue negotiationsBy Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – Terrorists from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization were killed yesterday while trying to carry out a large-scale attack against a major Israel-Gaza crossing, according to informed security sources speaking to WND.
The foiled attack comes as Israel's ground and air operations in the Gaza Strip the past few days have been largely reported as a war against the Hamas terrorist group. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, meanwhile, has continued negotiations with Abbas aimed at creating a Palestinian state before the end of the year.
Olmert last weekend said his government would continue allowing the Israel Defense Forces to attack Hamas, "which is uninterested in any structure of understanding with us, and to continue with diplomatic negotiations with (Abbas) and the Palestinian Authority."
The prime minster's statements were echoed by scores of Israeli leaders who painted the clashes in Gaza as attacks against Hamas' terror infrastructure in the territory.
But yesterday, two members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, were shot by Israeli forces while approaching the Erez crossing, the main border station between Israel and Gaza. The terrorists had grenades and other explosive devices, according to informed security sources.
Abu Ahmed, a senior leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, confirmed to WND his group intended to attack Erez, which would have been a major escalation in the fighting.
Israel last week launched a mid-scale ground and air assault on Hamas positions in Gaza following massive rocket bombardments of Jewish cities by Palestinian terrorists. In a major escalation last week, Hamas fired long-range Grad rockets at the strategic port city of Ashkelon, which is home to about 125,000 Israelis. Ashkelon houses a major electrical plant that powers most of the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, WND quoted members of Abbas' declared military wing complaining Hamas is taking all the credit for attacking Israel from Gaza.
"We engaged in clashes with Israeli forces and just yesterday fired four rockets into Sderot and one into Ashkelon," said the Brigades' Abu Ahmed. Sderot is a city of about 25,000 near the Gaza border that has been barraged by more than 130 rockets since Thursday.
The Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip even released an official pamphlet taking credit for firing at Israeli troops involved in ground skirmishes with Palestinian terrorists.
According to senior Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades sources, cells of the terror group engaging Israeli troops include the Al Mujaheeden Brigades, a unit of Fatah fighters allied with Hamas; and the Aymin Guda cells, strong Hamas rivals.
Fatah's attacks and attempted attacks against the Jewish state came as Abbas today agreed to resume negotiations with Israel following a meeting between the Palestinian leader and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"I've been informed by the parties that they intend to resume the negotiations and are in contact with one another as to how to bring this about," Rice said at a news conference in Jerusalem following a meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
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