IDF soldiers risked their lives Saturday in order to save the Fatah-aligned Hilles terrorist clan from the Hamas army in Gaza. The rescue effort was performed under Hamas fire said Colonel Ron Asherov, head of the northern brigade in the Gaza Belt region.

"Our soldiers could hear the bullets flying past their ears as they evacuated the Palestinians to our side," said Col. Asherov.

Lieutenant-Colonel (res.) Yoel Tzur termed the rescue effort "idiotic" and charged that the government ordered it as another measure to help Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas, after initially having asked Israel to accept the terrorists, reversed his stand and refused political asylum to all but about a dozen.

"We show humanitarian sensitivity, but how would we react if five of our soldiers had been killed," Tzur asked rhetorically." He added, "We are talking about terrorists who attack us with Kassam rockets and hold kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit."

Concerning Abbas, Tzur maintained, "Everyone knows that Hamas will control Judea and Samaria as well as Gaza in two or three years."

Tzur charged that the Israeli government is trying to save the previous agreements it signed with the PA even though they no longer have any bearing in reality.

Tzur said that if a reserve officer had been in charge of the rescue operation, he might have questioned the orders from senior commanders instead of following orders to risk the soldiers' lives to save Fatah terrorists.