Weekend Wrap, April 1

US cuts ties with Hamas; Iran tests radar-defying missile; Auschwitz escapee dies.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
weekend wrap 88 (photo credit: )
weekend wrap 88
(photo credit: )
IDF cuts contact with PA forces The IDF ordered its field officers Friday night to cease all contact with their counterparts in the Palestinian Authority security forces. According to Israel Radio a senior army official said that the IDF would no longer distinguish between PA security personnel and terrorists since the security forces' Hamas superiors support terror attacks. PA calls for 'restraint' following terrorist's death Deadly factional fighting in Gaza has created a "dangerous" situation, the Palestinian prime minister said Saturday, adding that his security forces would try to get some of the gunmen off the streets. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh spoke a day after a top terrorist was killed in a car bomb. His assassination set off exchanges of fire that killed three Palestinians and wounded 36. IDF steps up anti-Kassam strikes The IDF continued overnight Friday to bomb a number of targets in the Gaza Strip in response to Kassam rocket fire. The IAF targeted a building in northern Gaza that functioned as both a hideout for terrorists and a launching site for Kassams. According to Palestinian sources, the building was destroyed. No wounded were reported in the strike. In another operation, IDF artillery and navy ships shelled open areas in Gaza City as well as access routes to Kassam launch sites. Iran tests radar-avoiding missile Iran successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads, the military said Friday. The Fajr-3, which means "Victory" in Farsi, can reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East, state Iranian media indicated - causing alarm in the United States and Israel. The announcement also is likely to stoke regional tensions and feed suspicion about Tehran's military intentions and nuclear ambitions. US cuts off contact with Hamas The United States on Friday ordered its representatives in Israel and throughout the world to cut off all contact with any members of the Palestinian Authority government who belong to Hamas. The order applies to all Hamas ministers and their subordinates, even those who are not themselves Hamas members. Auschwitz escapee, 82, dies in Canada Rudolph Vrba, one of five Jews who escaped the Auschwitz death camp during World War II, died Friday in Vancouver, Canada at age 82, Israel Radio reported. 'Finance portfolio is more important than defense' Labor MK Binyamin Ben Eliezer said Saturday that the finance portfolio was more important than the defense portfolio. "Security is society," Ben Eliezer told Israel Radio, and therefore, he added, Labor would do everything possible to receive the finance portfolio and fulfill its campaign promises. Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson denied Saturday that Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had ruled out Labor party chairman Amir Peretz as a possible candidate for Finance Minister in a Kadima-led coalition.