Portion below--with my comments; whole thing here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004126291_webgaza15.html
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli tanks and helicopters raided Gaza on Tuesday, killing the son of the territory's most powerful leader and 18 other Palestinians in the bloodiest day of fighting since Hamas seized [after being duly elected] the coastal strip in June.
Palestinian sniper fire across the border killed a 19-year-old volunteer from Ecuador [hmmm 1 vs 19--each gets a paragraph] at an Israeli communal farm.
That death, and the killing of Hussam Zahar, 24, the son of hardline [yeah, all the Israelis shooting at them and bombing them and bulldozing their houses are "softline"] Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, threatened to fuel the violence at a time when Israel and the Palestinians are trying to move peacemaking into high gear.
At the morgue at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Mahmoud Zahar held his lifeless son's bloodied head in his hands and closed his eyes, then kissed him three times on the forehead and recited verses from the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Zahar's eldest son was killed in a botched Israeli assassination attempt against the Hamas leader in 2003. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio that Hussam Zahar, who is survived by a brother and four sisters, was not targeted by Israeli forces.
Hamas, Zahar vowed, will respond to Tuesday's raid "in the appropriate way. We will defend ourselves by all means." Zahar is widely viewed as the mastermind of Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza, in which vastly outnumbered fighters from the Islamic group routed Fatah security forces.
Hamas immediately stepped up its involvement in the daily barrage of rocket and mortar fire on southern Israel, claiming to have fired 17 mortars at two small border crossings with Israel and three rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot. Israel said two rockets were fired at the town, a frequent target.
Four people were lightly injured in the attacks, including a 7-year-old girl and her mother, Israeli rescue officials said.
Zahar accused the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement, of complicity in his son's death for negotiating with Israel.
"This is the hope of Abu Mazen and his colleagues, the collaborators with Israel and the spies of America," Zahar said, referring to Abbas by his nickname.
Abbas, who has no influence in Gaza [because he is a collaborator maybe???], condemned the Israeli raid: "It is impossible to bring peace under these circumstances."
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