YnetNews.com reports: “Just hours after IDF forces kill gunmen behind the shooting death of settler, Fatah’s armed wing threatens swift retaliation. In Gaza, PRC calls on armed groups to avenge killing of three Palestinians near border fence.

Thousands of people attended the funerals of three al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades members who were responsible for the shooting death of Jewish settler Meir Avshalom Hai.

Raghsan Abu Sharah (40), Anan Sabah (36), and Raed a-Sarkaji (40) were killed by IDF forces operating in the West Bank town of Nablus.

Armed groups in the West Bank and Gaza threatened swift retaliation to the killings in Nablus and to the death of three other Palestinians by IDF fire near Gaza.

‘The occupation (Israel) is opening the gates to hell,’ said Abu Mahmoud, a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades commander.

Fatah’s armed wind vowed to respond ‘in the language of blood and fire.’

Speaking to reporters in the West Bank, Abu Mahmoud threatened that its suicide bombers would ‘turn Israel’s night to day’ and would avenge the ‘crime’ committed by IDF forces in Nablus…” (Don’t blame Israel for opening the gates of hell when their purpose of retaliation is simply to protect their people against terrorist attacks by religious fanatics.)

Haaretz reports: “Iran would strike back at Israeli weapons manufacturing sites and nuclear installations if Israel attacks the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi was quoted as saying.

Israel has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve an international dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

Iran denies the charge and says it would retaliate if attacked.

‘The Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces are fully prepared,’ Vahidi told reporters during a visit to Syria, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. If attacked by Israel, Iran’s first targets would include various weapons manufacturing sites and ‘unconventional nuclear centers’, Vahidi said.

Iran does not want further escalation in the dispute over its nuclear programs and wants talks with the world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

‘We do not welcome any escalation and are ready to hold further talks with world powers over global issues,’ Ahmadinejad said after a cabinet session in Tehran, reiterating previous offers of talks, which, however, did exclude the nuclear issue in the past…” (Beware Ahmadinejad, Israel is the “apple of God’s eye” – Zechariah 2:8. Yahweh God will come to aid His beloved people – Ezekiel 39:6 and Zechariah 14:2-4, 12, and 16.)

Alarabiya.net reports: “Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he has documented evidence that the United States is doing what it can to prevent the coming of the Mahdi, the Imam that Muslims believe will be ultimate savior of mankind, press reports said Monday.

‘We have documented proof that they [U.S.] believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts [Middle East] and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,’ the hard-line president said, addressing an audience of families of those killed during the 1980’s war against Iraq.

‘They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule.’

Iranian news website Tabnak said Ahmadinejad further revealed plots by both the East and the West to wipe out the Islamic Republic.

‘They have planned to annihilate Iran. This is why all policymakers and analysts believe Iran is the true winner in the Middle East,’ he went on to proclaim, adding that they were after Iranian oil and other natural resources.

‘In Afghanistan, they are caught like an animal in a quagmire. But instead of pulling their troops out to save themselves, they are deploying more soldiers. Even if they stay in Afghanistan for another 50 years they will be forced to leave with disgrace — because this is a historical experience.’

The president said on his last visit to New York he asked officials ‘Is there not one sane person in your country to tell you these things?’

‘They know themselves that they need Iran in the Middle East, but because of their arrogance they do not want to accept this reality. They are nothing without the Iranian nation and all their rhetoric is because they don’t want to appear weak,’ he added…” (Mahdi is not mankind’s saviour – Jesus alone is: John 4:42; Acts 4:12; Philippians 3:20; II Timothy 1:10; Titus 1:4; 2:13; 3:6; II Peter 1:11; 3:18; I John 4:14.)

The Jerusalem Post reports: “The killing of the three Fatah operatives in Nablus by the IDF could trigger a third intifada, Fatah officials warned…

But the new intifada, they said, would be different from the first two – this time it would be directed against the Palestinian Authority.

During the funerals of the three men, all veteran members and leaders of Fatah’s armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, thousands of Palestinians chanted slogans accusing the PA of collusion with Israel and calling for an end to security coordination with Israel and the dismantling of the PA.

For several hours during the funerals, which took place in Nablus, it seemed as if the PA and not the IDF had killed the three men. It was, in the words of a local journalist, ‘one of the biggest anti-Palestinian Authority demonstrations’ in many years.

The relationship between the PA and local Fatah activists has always been tense. Nablus and its surrounding refugee camps, especially Balata refugee camp, has long been a stronghold for disgruntled Fatah militiamen who occasionally vent their frustration against the PA leadership and security forces…” (Muslim brothers in their faith will kill one another in the name of Allah. How wrong – “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” – I John 3:15.)