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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Related Issues Home page  back Print  Send To friend Ashkenazi: Hamas wants Gaza, not violence Ma`an News Agency 23/03/2010 16:24 http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=270917 Ma`an – Hamas fighters were not behind the recent projectile launches from Gaza, Israel army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told Knesset members on Tuesday, Israeli media reported. Speaking at the the Knesset`s security and foreign affairs committee, Ashkenazi said Hamas was more interested in maintaining its rule over Gaza than escalating violence with Israel, since it would cause the collapse of the state of appeasement in Gaza and risk shuffling the deck in the Strip, the Israeli Hebrew-language daily Ma`ariv wrote. Nonetheless, he added, Hamas `could do more to stop the rocket fire.` This was also Ashkenazi`s justification for why `the IDF retaliates against Hamas targets... because we regard them as the sovereign group [in the Strip].` Israeli military representatives regularly note that the institution holds Hamas responsible for maintaining security control of the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said multiple Israeli airstrikes on Gaza sought to disturb the peace and prompt a response in order to distract the attention of the international community from Jerusalem. Addressing a commemoration ceremony for Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, assassinated six years earlier by Israeli forces, Zahhar hinted that recent projectile launches were `conspiracies plotted by some collaborators,` providing excuses for Israel to strike Gaza. `We respect resistance regardless of which factions are adopting it. Palestine belongs to all including us,` Zahhar said, but reiterated his cation that Hamas `warns of some conspiracies plotted by collaborators.` According to an Israeli military spokesman, 35 homemade projectiles were launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel since the end of the country`s Operation Cast Lead in 2009. Three were claimed by members of Hamas` Al-Qassam Brigades, but later refuted by spokesmen. bz Links to the latest articles in this section Adam Keller in Berlin, Sept 5-8 Activists protest Tel Aviv arms exhibition: `Arms trade is death trade` In Memeoriam Beate Keller Zilversmidt, 1942-2021