December 23, 2005: Israeli artillery and rockets are increasingly being used to hit Palestinian terrorist rocket launching sites in northern Gaza. Helicopters also fire missiles, and warplanes use smart bombs and missiles. Groups like Hamas have not stopped, or even slowed down, their efforts to destroy Israel. Meanwhile, the ruling Palestinian Fatah party is trying delay elections once more, fearing that terrorist groups would seize power in the Palestinian Territories. Many donor nations say they will not give money to the Palestinian Authority if it is run by terrorist groups.
December 22, 2005: An Israeli police raid in the West Bank left three Palestinian terrorists dead. Another Palestinian was killed in Gaza, as terrorists attempted to launch a rocket attack on southern Israel.
December 21, 2005: Israeli police caught a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank, killing him in a shoot out. In Gaza, Palestinian terror group PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) kidnapped two foreign teachers, in an attempt to get the Palestinian Authority to release a PFLP leader from jail. The two teachers were later released.
December 20, 2005: Twenty gunmen from terrorist group Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, briefly seized the city hall in Bethlehem, and demanded jobs for 320 Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades members. Several hundred Palestinian police showed up and convinced the gunmen to leave.
December 17, 2005: Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, running in municipal elections in the West Bank, got about 26 percent of the seats. Long time ruling party Fatah 35 percent. Palestinians are increasingly unhappy with Fatah because of corruption, inefficiency and poor leadership.
Along the Gaza-Israel border, Israeli troops killed a terrorist gunman who was trying to plant mines that would catch Israeli patrols that move through the area.
