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Israeli Warplanes Buzz Syrian Dictator`s Home

As Israeli troops spread further out within the Gaza Strip, a kidnapped Jewish settler?s body was found near the Palestinian capital of Ramallah, showing the limits of and dangers attendant to fighting terrorism and making difficult choices. The 18-year-old Jewish settler was kidnapped in an effort by Palestinian terrorists to force Israel to stop its invasion of the Gaza Strip to attempt a rescue of 19-year-old Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped at the beginning of the week in an attack that took place after Palestinians tunneled into the Jewish state and killed two of his comrades.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes buzzed the palace of Syrian president Bashar Assad at the coastal Syrian city of Latakia, Israeli Air Force jets have buzzed the dictator?s home in the past in order to intimidate Damascus, seen by Jerusalem as a chief terrorism sponsor. It is believed that the Damascus-based head of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, ordered or authorized the attack earlier this week that, in turn, led to the Israeli incursion of the Gaza Strip.

Whether the Gaza incursion will increase tensions in an already tense region has yet to be seen, earlier this week terrorists of the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, connected to the political party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, claimed to have developed chemical and biological weapons capable of being fitted onto the Kassam rockets that are periodically fired from Gaza into Israel proper. Israeli troops, while looking for the missing Israeli soldier, are also taking measures in the Strip to prevent further rocket attacks.