Source: Al-Manar TV, 22-5-2008
A Palestinian resistance fighter rammed an explosives-laden truck into the Erez crossing near the Gaza Strip early Thursday.
"Israeli" media reports said soldiers fired at the vehicle as it approached the crossing. An army spokeswoman claimed it had exploded on the Palestinian side before reaching the "Israeli" checkpoint, blowing out windows in nearby buildings.
The spokeswoman said two other men involved in the attack were hit when two missiles launched from an "Israeli" helicopter destroyed their getaway vehicle. But Islamic Jihad said the men had managed to leap from their vehicle before it was struck.
Islamic Jihad said the bomber, Ibrahim Nasser, 23, was a member of its armed wing, the Al Quds Brigade. It said the truck blew up earlier than planned, a few hundred meters (yards) from the border crossing.
Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad noted the truck was carrying four tones of explosives. He described the martyrdom operation as successful and stressed it meant to "send a message'' to the "Israeli" occupying regime that if it didn't accept a truce "Gaza is not going to be a place where you will enjoy stability.''
"Resistance is strong and we are not begging for calm," Abu Ahmed stressed.
The martyrdom operation coincides with the failure of talks held by a senior Hamas delegation with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman on achieving a cease-fire in the Gaza strip due to the "Israeli" occupation refusal to engage in a comprehensive and mutual pacification.
Well-informed sources told Al-Manar correspondent in Cairo that the "Israeli" side proposed a view that stipulates a cease-fire from its side against stopping the launch of rockets from Gaza. According to the sources, the "Israeli"s refused to discuss lifting the siege and opening the crossings alongside rejecting to engage in a comprehensive, mutual and balanced cease-fire. The sources read in the "Israeli" behavior a blowup for all the bases of pacification efforts.
Al-Manar correspondent noted that the Hamas delegation has returned to Damascus. The Gaza delegation members are also expected to return in the few coming hours.