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Holmes: Attack kills top Hamas member
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- CNN correspondent Michael Holmes arrived in Gaza City on Sunday night just after an Israeli helicopter attack killed four people who Palestinian sources said were members of the military wing of the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas. In this report via telephone from the scene, Holmes says the attack might not have been a surprise to Palestinians. HOLMES: It depends on who you talk to. The Palestinian Authority would say that they were hoping there would be no further attacks so they could continue what they say was a start of their crackdown. Meanwhile, there is some news to report. Five Qassam rockets were fired at a Jewish settlement called Kfar Darom about 20 kilometers [12 miles] south of Gaza City. Israeli soldiers returned fire. [There were] no reports of injuries on either side. [It was] an immediate response, perhaps, to another deadly attack by those Israeli helicopters here in Gaza. Four members of the Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, were killed when at least two, perhaps three, missiles were fired at them as they sat in a vacant lot across from the beach -- close to both the offices of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and of Mohammed Dahlan, the authority's security chief for Gaza. A fifth Hamas member was critically injured, as were several bystanders, including a young child. The dead men have all been named, and I can tell you that one of them, Ahmed Eshtwi, was on Israel's most-wanted list. He was said to have been the military wing's liaison between Gaza and the West Bank. I just got off the phone with Israeli military sources, who said Eshtwi was in the top leadership, the head of operations, of Izzedine al Qassam. The sources said he was responsible for planning and directing and carrying out attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, and was in the middle of planning an attack when he was fired upon by those missiles. Eshtwi's assistant and two other Hamas members also were killed. This comes at the end of a day when Palestinian security forces carried out two actions they said were part of their plan to eventually bring militants to heel. Tunnels dug under the border between Egypt and Gaza were found and filled in. Eight people [were] arrested there. Earlier this evening, Palestinian roadblocks were set up to try to stop just the sort of Qassam rocket attack that occurred a short time ago. Both sides in this conflict blame each other for failing to live up to their commitments under the so-called "road map" to peace. The Palestinian Authority says such killings as we've witnessed here tonight merely hardens the resolve of groups like Hamas, increases their popularity on the streets and makes it harder for Palestinian security to act effectively. Israel says Palestinians have not done enough and that it reserves the right to strike when it chooses.
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