December 22, 2010 
21:46, December 22, 2010 
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Over the past few days, the Gaza Strip have witnesses a significant violence escalation between the Israeli army and fanatic militant groups. Militants of those groups fired at southern Israel, where Israeli war jets retaliated and bombarded targets of Hamas.
On Monday and Tuesday, six Palestinians were injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Around 15 mortar shells and rockets hit southern Israel which injured two civilians.
Amid the mounting escalations and Israeli army officials statements which threatened to target senior Hamas leaders, the deposed government of Hamas in Gaza has ordered to evacuate most of its ministries as well as police and security apparatuses headquarters in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian leadership located in the West Bank has also warned of the danger of escalation of violence against the Gaza Strip, considering this escalation “an introduction for waging another destructive war on the Gaza Strip.”
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused the Israeli government of violating the peace process. He told Palestinian Radio on Wednesday that “this escalation would lead to more complications and more violence in the region.”
“The situation is so worrying and military solutions won’t help resolve the conflict,” Erekat said. He also called on Israel to stop attacks against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite disputes with Hamas due to the current internal split.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman in Gaza Fawzi Barhoum told Xinhua that Israel “is preparing for a new war on the Gaza Strip by threatening to carry out a large-scale military operation or practice murder against the population and their military leaders. ”
“We expect anything from Israel, but Israel should understand that the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and their factions of resistance would never surrender in case of any operation against Gaza. We will defend our people and our lands by all means, ” Barhoum said.
Israel earlier accused Hamas of being behind the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip by allowing minor radical groups to fire rockets at Israel. Barhoum said that “Israel suffers from crisis and it always import those crisis through out military escalation.”
Israeli military sources told Israel Radio that there is a possibility that the situation on the borders between the Gaza Strip and Israel would inflame and the situation won’t be under control anymore sooner or later.
Meanwhile, Israeli army officials expressed concerns over Hamas military abilities to target the railway stations in Israel and fire remote controlled rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israeli trains travelling between the city of Beer Sheba in southern Israel and Tel Aviv.
The officials told Israeli Radio that Hamas military abilities had improved since the last Israeli war on the Gaza Strip carried out in Dec. 2008, where more than 1,400 Palestinians and ten Israelis were killed and thousands of Palestinians were injured.
Israel said the Cast Lead war that lasted for three weeks aimed at preventing Gaza militants from firing homemade rockets from the enclave at southern Israel. Over the past two years, dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza to Israel and those actions were retaliated by Israeli war jets.
The Israeli army also revealed in the last few days that Hamas militants had fired an anti-tanks rocket and managed to cause severe damages to an Israeli Merkava tank. The Israeli army said that rocket is an advanced Kornet rocket that accurately target and damage tanks.
Israeli Radio also reported that Israel had officially filed to the United Nations an official complaint against militants in the Gaza Strip for firing homemade projectiles and rockets to Israel. In return the Israeli army said it prepared to target Hamas members.
Source: Xinhua(by Osama Radi, Saud Abu Ramadan)
Israel, Palestinians warn of military escalation in Gaza – People’s Daily Online.
Occupied Palestine | فلسطين 
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