Israel lanceert grondoffensief in de Gaza Strook

 

Het gaat vooralsnog om een beperkte operatie, waarbij vooral de plaatsen van waaruit de raketten op Israel worden afgevuurd worden bezet.

 

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Israel launches ground offensive in the Gaza Strip http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052299.html

By Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Yanir Yagana, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies

Israel entered the second week of its offensive against rockets from Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday evening by launching a much-expected ground operation into the coastal strip.  Shortly after the ground operation began, exchange of fire was reported between Israeli troops and Hamas militants inside the Gaza Strip. "The objective is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations," said Israel Defense Forces Major Avital Leibovitch, a military spokeswoman, confirming that incursions were under way. "We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas." The IDF Spokesperson's office issued a statement, emphasizing that this stage of the operation will further the goals of the eight-day offensive as voiced by the IDF until now: To strike a direct and hard blow against the Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term. Large numbers of forces are taking part in this stage of the operation including infantry, tanks, engineering forces, artillery and intelligence with the support of the Israel Air Force, Israel navy, the Shin Bet security service and other security agencies. The invasion was preceded by the firing of artillery shells into the strip from military preparation sites dotted along the Gaza-Israel border. Palestinian witnesses said the artillery barrage caused a large explosion in Gaza City as well as a series of blasts stitching the nearby frontier with Israel. Channel 10 television quoted a witness as saying that Israel was shelling targets along the entire length of the shared border. At one tank base along the border, the roar of tank engines and the rumble of their movements toward the border could be heard after dark, though none moved across the frontier. Hamas officials also reported tank movement toward the border near the northern Erez crossing point. Defense officials said some 10,000 troops, including tank, artillery and special operations units, were massed on the Gaza border and prepared to invade. They said top commanders were split over whether to send in ground forces, in part because such an operation could lead to heavy casualties but also because they believe Hamas already has been dealt a heavy blow. A family in Beit Lahiya said that an Israeli artillery shell had hit a house there, wounding many people. Ambulances could not immediately reach them because of the resulting fire, they said. Meanwhile, Israel Air Force warplanes stepped up airstrikes on Gaza, bombing the main road that runs throughout the strip in three different spots, making travel from one side of the Strip to the other close to impossible. Palestinian health officials in Gaza reported Saturday evening that 13 people had been killed in another IAF bombing of a mosque in Beit Lahiya. They said that 26 Palestinians had died in IAF raids after dark Saturday. The air force struck more than 40 Hamas targets over the course of Saturday, killing the third senior Hamas official since Israel's aerial assault began. On Saturday morning, Israel Radio quoted a spokesman for the Hamas military wing as saying it had repelled an attempt by Israel Defense Forces soldiers to infiltrate the Shajaiyeh section of Gaza City. According to Israel Radio, Hamas said that its militants detected the soldiers and fired six mortar shells. Hamas said the soldiers reportedly opened fire and then returned to Israeli territory.

Trouw Podium: 'Geweld Israël in Gaza is niet buiten proportie'

 

Israëls campagne in Gaza niet buitenproportioneel

http://www.zionism-israel.com/blog/archives/00000338.html

IMO Blog, 3 januari 2009

Onderstaand opiniestuk staat vandaag in ingekorte vorm in Trouw.

Geweld Israël in Gaza is niet buiten proportie

De Israëlische bombardementen op de Gazastrook worden, zoals bijna iedere Israëlische militaire operatie, alom als buitenproportioneel bestempeld, zo ook in Trouw. Zowel in het hoofdcommentaar als een opiniestuk door Tijs Berman en Tineke Bennema wordt de operatie afgekeurd, gesteld dat alleen de extremisten baat hebben bij het geweld en gepleit voor hervatting van het vredesproces.

De vraag is echter: wat is proportioneel? Israëls raketten zijn onnoemelijk effectiever dan die van Hamas. Mag Israël alleen terugschieten met even primitieve raketten als Hamas, en mag het maar evenveel doden en gewonden veroorzaken als Hamas doet? En geldt dat dan alleen voor burgerdoden of ook voor strijders? Mag Israël pas aanvallen nadat Hamas een school vol kinderen heeft getroffen? Er bestaat geen norm in het oorlogsrecht dat een partij, indien aangevallen, slechts eenzelfde hoeveelheid geweld mag gebruiken. Daarmee zou het immers welhaast onmogelijk worden voor landen zich met succes te verdedigen tegen andere staten, laat staan tegen guerrillalegers of milities. Het zou dergelijke groeperingen een vrijbrief geven om (burgers van) een ander land aan te vallen.
Ieder doel dat de vijand militair voordeel oplevert, is geoorloofd in een oorlog, daar vallen ook niet strikt militaire doelen onder zoals infrastructuur en industriële complexen.


Hamas heeft sinds Israëls terugtrekking uit de Gazastrook in 2005 meer dan 6000 raketten en mortiergranaten op Israëlische steden en dorpen afgevuurd, waarvan zo'n 3000 in het afgelopen jaar, met als doel zoveel mogelijk mensen te doden en verwonden en het zuiden van Israël onleefbaar te maken. Dat dat tot nu toe niet beter is gelukt, doet aan die intentie niets af. Ondanks het kleine aantal fatale slachtoffers maken de raketten een normaal leven voor honderdduizenden mensen onmogelijk. De raketten worden steeds beter en kunnen nu ook de steden Ashdod en Beersheva bereiken, waar bij elkaar meer dan een half miljoen mensen leven. Moet Israël wachten totdat Hamas tienduizenden raketten heeft die heel Israël kunnen treffen?

Israël heeft lang gewacht met haar offensief vanwege het risico op burgerslachtoffers, en omdat zonder een grondoffensief Hamas niet echt is te verslaan, terwijl dat juist tot veel slachtoffers aan beide kanten kan leiden. Jarenlang heeft de regering de druk van rechts en van de bewoners in het betroffen gebied weerstaan. Dat dit offensief de extremisten en rechts in Israël in de kaart zou spelen, is dan ook onjuist. Rechts won juist aan populariteit vanwege de passiviteit van de regering, die haar eigen burgers niet zou kunnen beschermen. Hamas is zelf een extremistische groepering, die uit is op het 'bevrijden' van geheel Palestina door middel van de Jihad. Zolang Hamas deze doelstelling niet opgeeft, is geen vrede mogelijk en valt over niets anders te praten dan weer een wankel staakt-het-vuren, dat elk moment verbroken kan worden en geen duurzame veiligheid biedt. Een verzwakt Hamas zal eerder concessies doen aan de Palestijnse Autoriteit van president Abbas en dat zal de vrede bevorderen. Wellicht kan een staakt-het-vuren na Israëls operatie vergezeld gaan van de eis de macht in Gaza met de PA te delen en de situatie van voor de machtsovername van Hamas te herstellen. Hamas' populariteit is overigens al een tijdje tanende, zowel in de Gazastrook als op de Westoever.

Bennema en Berman stellen dat de blokkade van Gaza de oorzaak is dat Hamas het bestand verbrak. Deze (gedeeltelijke) blokkade is echter pas ingesteld nadat Hamas in een bloedige coup de macht greep in de Gazastrook, de EU waarnemers aan de Egyptische grens wegstuurde en de raketaanvallen op Israël opvoerde. Ook grensovergangen werden veelvuldig aangevallen. Israël leverde Gaza stroom, brandstof, cement en andere zaken die Hamas tevens gebruikte bij de opbouw van haar militaire vleugel. Het is uniek in de geschiedenis dat een land gedwongen is zijn vijand te bevoorraden. Medewerkers van de elektriciteitscentrale in Ashkelon hadden er moeite mee dat zij stroom leverden aan Gaza terwijl zijzelf doelwit waren. Toch is de stroomtoevoer slechts tijdelijk en met enkele procenten teruggebracht.

Het is Hamas dat haar eigen burgers gijzelt en misbruikt in haar strijd tegen Israël, dat hun welzijn opoffert om haar imago te handhaven van volhardende en zuivere verzetsgroep. Regeren vergt echter per definitie het sluiten van compromissen en gaat niet samen met gewapend verzet. Hamas moet kiezen of het een politieke partij of een militie wil zijn, en de internationale gemeenschap moet dan ook weigeren met Hamas te praten zolang zij het geweld niet afzweert.

Berman en Bennema willen het associatieverdrag als drukmiddel tegen Israël gebruiken met een reeks van eisen aan dat land. Hoewel zij pro forma ook de Palestijnse raketbeschietingen veroordelen, worden aan Hamas en de Palestijnen verder geen eisen gesteld. De schuld en verantwoordelijkheid voor de huidige escalatie, en het conflict in het algemeen, wordt geheel bij Israël gelegd. De bouw in nederzettingen moet inderdaad stoppen, net als de corruptie en het wanbestuur in de PA, en het verheerlijken van geweld in Palestijnse media, en beide partijen moeten hun extremisten harder aanpakken. De EU en Nederland moeten daarin een constructieve rol spelen en zeker niet van Israël eisen dat het onderhandelt met groeperingen die haar bestaansrecht niet erkennen en geweld tegen burgers als middel beschouwen om hun doel te bereiken. Het is van hieruit makkelijk oordelen over wat Israël moet doen om tot vrede te komen, maar het zijn Israëlische burgers die al jarenlang door de raketten van Hamas worden beschoten.

Ratna Pelle

Buitenland betrokken bij schending mensenrechten door Palestijnen

Buitenland betrokken bij schending mensenrechten door Palestijnen

Amanda Kluveld, 02-01-2009 18:28

 

Fatah en Hamas doodden in 2007 meer Palestijjnen dan Israël
http://extra.volkskrant.nl/opinie/artikel/show/id/2308/Buitenland_betrokken_bij_schending_mensenrechten_door_Palestijnen

 

 

Sinds april 2006 vinden in Gaza en op de Westelijke Jordaanoever ernstige mensenrechtenschendingen plaats door Fatah en Hamas.
Er wordt gemarteld en er worden willekeurige arrestaties en schijnexecuties uitgevoerd. Lichaamsdelen van gevangenen worden geamputeerd en de menselijke waardigheid wordt aangetast. De vrijheid van meningsuiting en het recht op vereniging worden geschonden.

 

In de periode van één week in juni 2007 stierven zo 144 Palestijnen in Gaza. Onder de doden waren 41 burgers te betreuren, waarvan 11 vrouwen en 7 kinderen. 700 Palestijnen raakten toen gewond. In 2007 zijn in totaal 490 Palestijnen omgekomen door intern geweld. Door Fatah en Hamas zijn dat jaar meer Palestijnse doden gevallen dan door toedoen van Israël.

 

De president van de Palestijnse autoriteit Mahmoud Abbas en de door Fatah gedomineerde veiligheidsdiensten worden door de VS gefinancierd. De veiligheidsdiensten en presidentiële garde worden door Washington en de Jordaanse politie getraind. De EU traint de civiele politie. Hamas krijgt geld en steun van onder andere Iran.

 

Geen van de financierende partijen schenkt aandacht aan de mensenrechtenschendingen die begaan worden door de organisaties die zij ondersteunen en opleiden. Zowel de westerse als de Arabische wereld is dus betrokken bij mensenrechtenschendingen door Palestijnen.

 

De wereldgemeenschap heeft Hamas nooit veroordeeld wanneer het Israël bestookte met raketten en mortieren.

In 2008 werd een regen van 1750 raketten en 1528 mortiergranaten op het Israëlisch territorium afgevuurd. Dat was meer dan een verdubbeling ten opzichte van 2007. Het ging niet uitsluitend om de weinig krachtige Qassam-raketten, maar ook om Grad-raketten met een aanzienlijk groter bereik.

 

Nu Israël zich verdedigt tegen de raketaanvallen wordt dat, behalve door de Duitse premier Angela Merkel, wereldwijd als excessief geweld veroordeeld. Daarbij wordt vergeten dat Israël zich lange tijd terughoudend heeft opgesteld terwijl de raketaanvallen alleen maar toenamen tegen het einde van 2008.

 

Van Israël wordt nu gevraagd te onderhandelen met Hamas, een organisatie die uit is op vernietiging van de staat en die, met steun van Iran, Palestijnen onderdrukt. Zolang Europa, de VS en de Arabische wereld geen verantwoordelijkheid nemen voor, rekenschap afleggen over en elkaar aanspreken op hun rol in het conflict, kan moeilijk van Israël gevraagd worden bij te dragen aan en zich te laten inzetten voor een internationale legitimering van Hamas.

 

 

Geen humanitaire crisis in Gaza volgens IDF

 

Het is soms moeilijk uit te maken wie te geloven. Het IDF stelt het hier waarschijnlijk wat te rooskleurig voor, maar de eindeloze mantra over een humanitaire crisis en het 'uithongeren' van de bevolking schijnt vooral propaganda van Palestijnse kant te zijn.

Dit wordt al geroepen sinds het begin in 2007 van de gedeeltelijke Israelische blokkade en invoerbeperkingen. Een video uit Gaza van begin december geeft daarentegen geen blijk van voedselschaarste, en ook auto's rijden er volop in Gaza.

 

Wouter

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IDF coordination chief: There is no humanitarian crisis
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jan. 1, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733138893&pagename=JPArticle%2FSho

 

Hamas terrorists are using civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip - including hospitals, mosques and areas next to offices of international aid groups - to conduct terrorist activity and fire rockets at Israel, Col. Moshe Levi, commander of the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), said Thursday.

Levi, who is in charge of coordinating humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip, told The Jerusalem Post that since Sunday over 330 trucks carrying food, medicine and medical supplies had been allowed into the Gaza Strip despite the daily rocket barrages against the South.

In addition, the CLA has facilitated the transfer of 10 ambulances and 2,000 blood units to Gaza, and has approved a Palestinian request to allow three Gazans wounded in the fighting into Israel for medical treatment, Levi said.

He rejected Palestinian claims of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. "Hamas is trying to create the appearance of a humanitarian crisis, but together with the international organizations, we are preventing this from happening," he said.

Levi said Israel was prepared to accept additional wounded Palestinians for medical treatment, but that the Palestinians had not submitted a request. He said 80 wounded had been allowed into Egypt for treatment as well.

The CLA commander said it was possible that Hamas was preventing wounded from leaving Gaza for medical treatment, but that either way, the health system in Gaza was "stabilizing" and that there were 2,200 beds available for the wounded.

"We asked if they wanted to send us more, and they said they were managing," Levi said. "In recent years, the hospital system has improved in Gaza, and today there are hospitals in every district in the Strip."

Levi backed up comments made by Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin that Hamas operatives were conducting operations inside Gaza's Shifa Hospital and in mosques.

"Hamas uses civilian infrastructure to shoot at us," he said. "They fire from next to buildings that belong to international organizations and from within urban centers."
The Palestinian people, he said, understood that Hamas was responsible for Operation Cast Lead and that Israel had made this clear by launching only surgical air strikes at Hamas targets.

"The IAF is focused on Hamas installations and Hamas officials who are known to the Palestinian people," he said. "The Palestinian street knows that our operations are directed solely against Hamas."

Tientallen Hamas doelen getroffen in Gaza

 

Een overzicht van de gebeurtenissen in Gaza vrijdag.

 

________________

 

Report: Hamas says it foiled IDF infiltration attempt in Gaza

 

By Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies

Last update - 05:50 03/01/2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052034.html

 

 

A spokesman for the military wing of Hamas said early Saturday morning that it foiled an attempt by Israel Defense Forces soldiers to infiltrate the Shajaiyeh section of Gaza City, Israel Radio reported.

According to Israel Radio, the spokesperson said that after Hamas militants detected the IDF soldiers, Hamas gunmen fired six mortar shells at them.

The soldiers reportedly returned fire and then retreated into Israeli territory.

The Israel Air Force on Friday pressed on with its assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, bombing the home of Hamas member Mohammed Madhoun, who was responsible for rocket attacks against Israel.

Madhoun's house was also used as a laboratory for the manufacturing of rockets and explosive devices and as a storage facility for rockets, mortar shells, and various weapons.

At least eight people, among them five children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Friday. In all, the IAF reportedly hit 35 Hamas targets throughout the day Friday.

Earlier Friday, the IAF targeted the home of Hamas military wing commander Imad Akel, a senior Hamas operative. His house was used as a large storage facility for weapons. Akel was the founder and one of the men heading Hamas' rocket and mortar efforts, in addition to being a weapons manufacturer. Large secondary explosions were seen following the attack proving the presence of large amounts of weaponry.

The IAF also bombed the residence of former Hamas minister Atef Adwan. Adwan was the Minister of Prisoner Affairs in the government of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Also on Friday afternoon, the IAF resumed its assault on the Philadelphi route tunnels, used to smuggle supplied into the Strip from Egypt.

Earlier Friday, IAF planes, in coordination with the Shin Bet, bombed the home of senior Hamas activist Mohammed Matouk. The IDF said that Matouk's home was being used by militants as a weapons storehouse and factory, and that a smuggling tunnel had been dug underneath the building.

Before dawn, Israeli aircraft hit 15 houses belonging to Hamas militants, Palestinians said. They said the Israelis either warned nearby residents by phone or fired a warning missile to reduce civilian casualties.

Late Thursday, IAF aircraft struck a mosque in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, being used as a terror-hub by the Hamas terror organization.

The mosque had served as a storehouse for a large number of Grad missiles, Qassam rockets and additional weaponry. The strike set off series of secondary explosions and a large fire, caused by the ammunitions stockpiled inside the mosque.

The mosque had also served as a center of operations for Hamas, as a meeting place for its operatives and a staging ground for terror attacks, the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson's office said in a statement.

"The IDF will continue to attack any target used for terrorist activity, and will not hesitate to strike those involved in terrorism against the citizens of the State of Israel, even if they deliberately choose to operate from locations of religious or cultural significance," the statement went on to say.

Earlier Thursday, an Israeli aircraft killed a high-ranking Hamas official in Gaza along with nine women, including at least four wives, and 11 of his children, in the first major assassination since the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead on Saturday.

According to sources from the defense establishment, decision-makers are increasingly inclined to order a ground invasion into Gaza.

The assassination of Nizar Ghayan left dozens of people from neighboring buildings injured and brought up the body count on the Palestinian side to 425 people since the start of the campaign. The number of wounded is now estimated at around 2,000.

The IDF Spokesman said that Ghayan's house had served as a weapons silo and a war room for Hamas. Under the house, according to the IDF, was a tunnel which was meant to serve as an escape route in case of an Israeli attack.

Palestinian media reported that the incident was not a planned assassination, but rather a routine bombing of a target suspected by the IDF to contain weapons.

The IDF has code named such operations "roof knocking," in which the army informs the residents of s suspected building that they have 10 minutes to leave the premises. In some cases, residents of suspected houses have been able to prevent bombing by climbing up to the roof to show that they will not leave, prompting IDF commanders to call off the strike. In these cases, Channel 10 reported Thursday, the IAF sometimes launches a relatively harmless missile at the corner of the roof, avoiding casualties but successfully dispersing the crowd.

Sources familiar with Ghayan's record said he was one of the people who encouraged Gazans to climb on rooftops to prevent bombings.

It appears that the "roof knocking" technique was used in the assassination, but Ghayan decided to stay indoors with his family, and the army opted to bomb the house anyway.

A lecturer at Gaza's Islamic University, Ghayan, 49, had mentored suicide bombers and would sometimes go on patrol with Hamas fighters. He was known for his close ties to the group's military wing and was respected in Gaza for donning combat fatigues and personally participating in clashes against Israeli forces. He sent one of his sons on an October 2001 suicide mission that killed two Israeli settlers in Gaza.

He was also an outspoken advocate of renewing suicide bombings against Israel. Hamas said Israel would pay a "heavy price" for his death. Ghayan was one of the most extreme opponents of Fatah, and supported violence against Fatah's men during Hamas' seizure of power.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni rejected calls for a 48-hour "humanitarian pause" and told her French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, that Hamas must not be given the opportunity to gain any sort of legitimacy within a renewal of a truce. Under the current offensive, she said, Hamas understand that Israel will not tolerate Gaza rocket fire without response.

In addition to the assassination, the Israel Air Force bombed several other Hamas targets.

Hamas fired about a dozen rockets into Be'er Sheva and near Ashdod, resulting in no injuries. In all, Gaza militants fired at least 50 rockets at southern Israel throughout the day Thursday.

Awaiting a decision by the political leadership, ground forces of the IDF are in the final stages of preparations for an invasion into Gaza, and the army has amassed the forces outside the Strip in formation for a rapid deployment in the area as soon as the order is given.

But even as IDF tanks rev their engines, various international powers are offering to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. The IDF is recommending a major, but relatively short-term, ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

 

Dit soort demonstraties en protesten spelen Hamas in de kaart, dat zich immers graag als slachtoffer en de underdog presenteert, en op een staakt-het-vuren hoopt zonder er om te moeten bedelen en extra concessies te moeten doen, zodat het als morele overwinnaar uit de strijd komt en zijn populariteit toeneemt. In tegenstelling tot wat veelal beweerd wordt, is Hamas' populariteit de afgelopen jaren afgenomen en staat Fatah ruimschoots voor op Hamas in iedere peiling. Met vrede hebben dergelijke protesten dan ook niet veel te maken.

 

RP

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Demonstratie tegen Israëlisch optreden in Gaza

http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article1935348.ece/Demonstratie_tegen_Israelisch_optreden_in_Gaza.html

 

(Novum) - In Den Haag is woensdagmiddag gedemonstreerd tegen de Israëlische bombardementen in de Gazastrook. Volgens de organisatie waren er tweeduizend mensen aanwezig.

De demonstratie werd georganiseerd door verschillende maatschappelijke en studentenorganisaties. Volgens de initiatiefnemers maakt Israël zich schuldig aan oorlogsmisdaden en schending van de mensenrechten, en doen Nederland en Europa te weinig om Israël tot de orde te roepen.

De demonstratie begon om 14.00 uur op het Plein voor de Tweede Kamer, waarna de demonstranten langs de Amerikaanse en Israëlische ambassades liepen. Om 16.00 uur was hij afgelopen.

Zaterdag werd er op de Dam in Amsterdam ook gedemonstreerd tegen de Israëlische aanvallen, die een reactie zijn op raketbeschietingen door de radicale Hamas-beweging. Komende week staan nog twee demonstraties in Amsterdam en Rotterdam gepland.

Bij de luchtaanvallen van Israël op de Gazastrook vielen tot nu toe 374 doden. De meesten waren veiligheidstroepen van Hamas, maar er vielen ook 64 burgerdoden.

 

Geen tranen voor Hamas leider in Ramallah

 

Rayyan zou niet alleen een islamitische bibliotheek, maar ook een wapenopslagplaats in zijn huis hebben gehad. Dat was de primaire reden dat het tot doelwit werd. Hijzelf schijnt een telefonische waarschuwing te hebben gehad van Israel om zichzelf - maar vooral zijn vrouwen en kinderen - in veiligheid te brengen.

 

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No tears for Hamas leader in Ramallah
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jan. 1, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733134624&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Nizar Rayyan, the Hamas military commander who was killed in Thursday's air raid on his home in the Jabalya refugee camp, was a sworn enemy not only of Israel, but also of the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Rayyan, who had four wives and a dozen children, led the Hamas militiamen who defeated Abbas's security forces in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007. He is the third most senior Hamas leader to be killed by Israel, after the targeted killings of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in March 2004 and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a few weeks later.

Hamas leaders stressed that Rayyan's death, while a "painful loss" to their movement, would not affect its determination to continue the fight against Israel.

A Hamas spokesman said he did not rule out the possibility that the PA had asked Israel to kill Rayyan because of his role in the Hamas-Fatah clashes in 2007.

"Sheikh Rayyan was one of the main reasons why many of Abbas's men did not sleep well at night," he said. "They knew that as long as the sheikh was around, they would never be able to return to the Gaza Strip."

A few days before Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip, Rayyan, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, declared that he and his supporters were planning to hold Friday prayers inside Abbas's presidential compound in Gaza City.

Rayyan personally led the Hamas militiamen who seized the compound and PA security installations throughout Gaza. He later boasted that the Strip had been "cleansed" of "traitors" and "CIA agents" - a reference to Abbas and his former security chiefs.

A few months later, Rayyan again issued a threat against Abbas. This time he declared that he would soon lead Friday prayers inside Abbas's Mukata compound in Ramallah, an indication of Hamas's intention to extend its control to the West Bank.

That was why PA officials in Ramallah Thursday did not shed tears over his departure from the scene. In fact, some of them privately expressed relief, claiming that he was responsible for the killing of scores of Abbas loyalists in the Gaza Strip during the 2007 "coup."

Many Palestinians saw the killing of Rayyan, 60, as a severe blow to Hamas and its armed wing, Izzadin Kassam. Some Hamas supporters said on Thursday that Rayyan was more significant than Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh or senior Hamas leaders Mahmoud Zahar and Said Siam.

"He was one of the most popular figures in Hamas," said a Palestinian journalist who knew the slain Hamas leader for nearly two decades. "He was the type of leader who would go out with the fighters to confront Israeli tanks and fire rockets at Israel. He loved wearing the military uniform."

Apart from serving as a "spiritual" leader for Hamas's armed wing, Rayyan was also a teacher at the Islamic University in Gaza City. His students referred to him as "The Professor" and described him as a prominent Muslim scholar. One student said Rayyan was Yassin's real successor.

Rayyan was a leading authority on the sayings of the prophet Muhammad (Hadith), and the basement of his four-story house had been turned into a library of more than 5,000 books and documents on Islam.

After Islamic studies at universities in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Sudan, he returned to the Gaza Strip and worked as a preacher in several mosques. His fiery sermons and involvement in incitement and terrorism resulted in four years in an Israeli prison.

When the PA assumed control over the Gaza Strip in 1994, Rayyan was one of the first Hamas members to find himself in a Palestinian prison, together with Zahar and Rantisi.

At the beginning of the second intifada, Rayyan sent one of his sons to carry out a suicide attack in Gush Katif's Elei Sinai in 2001. Two Israelis were killed. Rayyan was also responsible for a series of suicide bombings and attacks inside the Green Line, including the suicide bombing in Ashdod Port in 2004 in which 10 Israelis died.

In recent years, Rayyan served as a liaison between the political leadership of Hamas and Izzadin Kassam. He is even said to have been one of the very few Hamas operatives who knew where IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit was being held in the Gaza Strip.

 

Conflict Israël-Hamas lijkt uitzichtloos

Een genuanceerd artikel over de Gaza oorlog:

Conflict Israël-Hamas lijkt uitzichtloos
http://www.frieschdagblad.nl/index.asp?artID=42611

 

Hoofdartikel - vrijdag, 2 januari 2009

 

 

Het Israëlische leger is al bijna een week bezig met het bombarderen van de Gazastrook om Palestijnse raketaanvallen te stoppen. De aanval op Hamas zal waarschijnlijk geen einde maken aan de beschietingen op Israël. Want om Hamas op de knieën te dwingen, zal Israël de Gazastrook opnieuw moeten bezetten, maar daar heeft niemand in Israël trek in. Dat zou te veel levens eisen. Het zal hooguit bij kortstondige invallen in Gaza blijven.

 

De Israëlische regering beseft ook dat het onwaarschijnlijk is dat Israël met bloedvergieten Hamas kan uitroeien en zo zijn grenzen weet te beveiligen. Maar niets doen is ook geen optie. Geen enkele regering kan het zich veroorloven werkeloos toe te zien hoe het eigen land wordt gebombardeerd. De projectielen richten weinig schade aan, maar ze zorgen voor veel onrust onder de bevolking. Die roept al langer om actie tegen Hamas. Het verlopen van een bestand met Hamas twee weken geleden en de hervatting van de raketbeschietingen was voor Israël het juiste moment om toe te slaan.

 

Sommige commentatoren stellen dat een stevig optreden tegen Hamas goed ligt in de publieke opinie in Israël, waar op 10 februari parlementsverkiezingen zijn. De Kadima-partij van Livni gaat in de peilingen gelijk op met de rechtse oppositiepartij Likud van oud-premier Benjamin Netanyahu. Hij roept al maanden dat de regering niets doet tegen Hamas. De regering en vooral minister Ehud Barak van Defensie, die ook voorman is van coalitiegenoot de Arbeidspartij, zouden zich eindelijk van een andere kant kunnen laten zien en tegelijk de oppositie de wind uit de zeilen nemen.

 

Maar stemmenwinst bij de aanstaande verkiezingen is niet het beoogde doel van de huidige campagne tegen Hamas; hoogstens levert het een positief bijeffect op. Te suggereren dat de acties tegen Hamas zouden zijn ingegeven door electorale redenen, zoals sommige media doen, getuigt van cynisme. Opmerkelijk is dat er nauwelijks achterdocht is over de beweegredenen van Hamas. Hoewel daar meer aanleiding toe is. Hamas stuurt vanuit dichtbevolkte gebieden lukraak raketten af om een militaire reactie van Israël uit te lokken en om zich vervolgens als slachtoffer te kunnen afficheren. Dat de Palestijnse bevolking daarvoor een hoge prijs betaalt, speelt voor Hamas nauwelijks een rol. Hamas hoopt alleen dat Israël als agressor wordt afgeschilderd en dat de religieuze drift die verzet tot plicht maakt, kan zorgen voor een aanwas onder de gelederen van Hamas.

 

De Israëlische regering weet ook wel dat Hamas met de voortdurende raketbeschietingen Israël provoceert terug te slaan. Maar het ziet geen andere optie dan dat ook inderdaad te doen. Want de Hamas-beweging is er een die de vernietiging van de joodse staat nastreeft. Onderhandelen met een organisatie die dat nastreeft, heeft geen enkele zin.

 

Dus beschermt Israël liever zijn eigen burgers. En probeert het de afschrikkingsmacht te herstellen, die verloren ging na de mislukte oorlog tegen de Libanese Hezbollah in 2006. Daarmee zendt het een boodschap uit naar Hezbollah en Iran dat er met Israël niet te spotten valt.

 

De vraag is of deze militaire optie de verstandigste is. Op de korte termijn kan de rust erdoor worden hersteld. Maar op de langere termijn lost het weinig op. Israël kan onmogelijk de Gazastrook langdurig bezet houden. En de huidige poging met militaire kracht Hamas te verpulveren, stelt Hamas in de gelegenheid zich als slachtoffer op te stellen.

Een diplomatieke uitweg verdient boven alles de voorkeur, maar dat lijkt uitgesloten. Hamas heeft, anders dan de Palestijnse Autoriteit van Fatah-leider Abbas, nooit enige serieuze belangstelling getoond voor een twee-statenoplossing. Het enige dat het wil, is Israël van de kaart vegen.

In de loop der jaren zijn de tegenstellingen tussen Israël en militante Palestijnen dusdanig geradicaliseerd dat een vreedzame oplossing van het conflict menselijkerwijs gesproken onmogelijk lijkt. Hamas wil geen vrede. Israël heeft zich niet tot het uiterste ingezet om de Palestijnen een levensvatbare eigen staat te geven.

Israël en Hamas zijn in een gewelddadige spiraal verwikkeld waar zij uit eigen kracht niet uit kunnen komen. Alleen als de internationale gemeenschap dwingend een vredesregeling oplegt, vredestroepen stationeert en de beide partijen veiligheidsgaranties geeft, is er kans op langdurige vrede. Maar dat zal zulke grote personele en financiële offers vragen van de wereld dat het er niet van zal komen. Te vrezen valt dat het conflict tussen Israël en Hamas pas ten einde komt als een van tweeën oorlogsmoe is of definitief wordt verslagen. De vraag is wie de langste adem heeft.

 

Diskin: Hamas schuilt in moskeeën en ziekenhuizen

 

Volgens Google News zei Diskin dat Hamas zich in ziekenhuizen schuil houdt en strijders zich als dokters en verplegers voordoen. Een dergelijk cynisch gebruik van de burgerbevolking ontgaat echter al onze linkse parlementariers en groeperingen als Amnesty International.

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95E1N0O1

The chief of Israel's internal security services, Yuval Diskin, told a government meeting that Hamas members had hidden inside mosques, believing they would be safe from airstrikes and using them as command centers, according to an Israeli security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to share the information.

Other militants were hiding in hospitals, some disguised as doctors and nurses, Diskin said, according to the official.

RP

---------

 

Dec 31, 2008 12:23 | Updated Dec 31, 2008 23:49
Diskin: Hamas dealt a 'serious blow'
By HERB KEINON
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456543368&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Hamas has been attacked in a manner in which it has never been attacked before, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin told the security cabinet Wednesday, a week after the same forum approved Operation Cast Lead.

According to Diskin, Hamas's ability to govern has been seriously harmed, and the organization's leaders are in hiding. He said that some are hiding in hospitals, disguised as doctors or nurses, while others are hiding in mosques.

Diskin said that Hamas has turned some of Gaza's mosques into command and control centers, assuming that Israel would not bomb them. He also said Hamas has stockpiled weapons in mosques.

According to Diskin, the IAF has destroyed Hamas's weapons-manufacturing capabilities, as well as numerous arms-smuggling tunnels. He said Hamas was trying to rebuild the tunnels to smuggle its leadership to Egypt.

The security cabinet was also told that of the 390 Palestinians killed since the start of the operation, 40 have been identified as civilians. Two hundred and twenty others have been clearly identified as Hamas activists, and the identity of the other 130 still needed to be clarified.

The cabinet was also told that the IDF has made some 100,000 phone calls to Gaza residents since the beginning of the operation, warning them to leave their apartments or homes before an impending attack.

 

 

Hamas verschuilt zich in ziekenhuizen en creches

 

Het gekke is, dat deze informatie ook in het vrije westen nauwelijks gepubliceerd wordt, en de meeste media de taktiek van Hamas om burgers als menselijk schild te gebruiken volkomen negeren.

 

RP

------------

Gaza Update 8
Jan. 1, 2009

Palestinian Media Watch

Iranian reformist daily:
Hamas hiding forces in nurseries and hospitals

 

An Iranian reformist daily newspaper has criticized Hamas "for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals." This is reported in today's Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam. The Palestinian daily adds that in response the Iranian government has closed the newspaper.
 
The following is the story in today's Al-Ayyam:

Headline: "Iran closes a reformist newspaper, for publishing a report criticizing Hamas"
 
"The Iranian news agency "Irna" reported yesterday, that the Iranian Culture Ministry has closed the reformist daily newspaper "Karjo Zaran", because it published a report that included criticism of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

 

On December 30 the paper published a statement of a reformist student organization, that has criticized Hamas for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The statement was published whilst the Iranian government expresses a unified stands against Israel, and Tehran is overwhelmed by demonstrations against Israel."

 

[Al-Ayyam, Jan. 1, 2009]

 

-----------------------------------
Palestinian Media Watch:

www.pmw.org.il
PMW | King George 59 | Jerusalem | Israel

 

12 Palestijnen in Israel behandeld en 2.500 ton humanitaire hulp naar Gaza

 

Hoeveel landen in oorlog behandelen de gewonden van hun vijand? Hoeveel landen in oorlog stellen hun grenzen open voor grote hoeveelheden humanitaire hulp en voedsel voor de vijand?

 

Israel is naar eigen zeggen niet in oorlog met de Palestijnen in Gaza maar met de Hamas, maar aangezien Hamas het gebied volledig controleert, en ook nog eens democratisch is gekozen, is dat onderscheid in de praktijk soms lastig. Israel is uniek in het zo ver doorvoeren van dit principe, ook met waarschuwingen aan de bevolking voordat bombardementen plaatsvinden, waar uiteraard ook Hamas haar voordeel mee doet. Hoewel de Geallieerden in '40-'45 met de nazi's in oorlog waren, spaarden zij de burgerbevolking in Duitsland bepaald niet, en dit geldt, hoewel iets minder extreem, voor de meeste oorlogen. Toch wordt juist Israel steeds weer van genocide en het doden van grote aantallen burgers beschuldigd.

 

RP

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Ministry of Defense
Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories
Office of the Spokesman

31th December, 2008

12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza

Today 12 Palestinians accessed Israel for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. Two of those evacuated were children injured during the military activates, the remaining are chronically sick people, and their escorts, that accessed Israel for treatment that is not available within the Gaza Strip.

Further more, despite ongoing rocket fire, Israel continues with the extensive humanitarian effort in coordination with the international organizations, Palestinian Authority and various donors. Ninety three trucks, with approximately 2500 tons of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and medication were conveyed through "Kerem Shalom" cargo terminal. The World Food Program has informed Israel that they will not be resuming shipment of food commodities in to Gaza due to the fact that their warehouses are at full capacity and will last for approximately two weeks.

Since the beginning of operation "cast lead" some 6500 tons of aid have been transferred at the request of the international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. Preparations are underway to facilitate further shipments expected to arrive in the coming days.


--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

Israelische bombardementen 31 december en dood Hamas leider

 

Allemaal legitieme militaire doelen.

 

---------

 

IDF Spokesperson Dec 31st, 2008

Evening summary of IDF operations

Operation Cast Lead, which aims to reduce Hamas' capacity to launch rocket attacks against communities in southern Israel, is now in its fifth day. The IDF is engaged in a battle with Hamas and other terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and does not aim to target the Palestinian civilian population.

Summary of humanitarian aid efforts:

A total of 93 trucks transporting provisions, medical equipment and medicine entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing. Five ambulances also crossed into the Strip.

Twelve Palestinians, including two children, were transferred to Israeli hospitals.

Since the early morning hours on Wednesday, the IDF has attacked over 25 targets in the Gaza Strip. These include:

A mosque in Gaza City used as a as a storage site for Grad missiles and Qassam rockets, as well as a staging ground for launches. The strike set off numerous secondary explosions, caused by the munitions stockpiled in the mosque.

Weaponry manufacturing and storage facilities in southern Gaza, including a storage site in the Khan Younis area where Amar Abu Ghalula, a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad's rocket infrastructure, was present. Three additional Islamic Jihad operatives were in the facility at the time of the IAF strike.

A tunnel in the Khan Younis area, used for the smuggling of operatives and weaponry.

A Hamas outpost and training camp in the Gaza City area, which was also used as a weaponry manufacturing site and place of assembly for senior members of the terror organization.

Rocket launching sites, several of which were underground, as well as a number of loaded Grad launchers.

In all the IDF has so far attacked 450 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF will continue to operate against terror organizations and will not hesitate to strike those involved both directly and indirectly in attacks against the citizens of the State of Israel.

---------------------

 

Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:  Israel Television Channel 2 reported that Israel warned Rian on the phone to evacuate the building with his family but Rian opted to stay with his family in his house.

IDF Spokesperson January 1st, 2008

Israel Air Force Attack on the House of Nizar Rian

The IAF attacked the house of Nizar Rian, a senior Hamas terror operative, in Jabaliya. The attack was carried out based on IDF and ISA intelligence. Many secondary explosions were identified as a result of the attack, thus proving that the house was used for storing weaponry.  It was also used as a communications center. In addition, a tunnel was located under the house and was used for the escape of terror operatives.

 

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

Hamas raketten 'Made in China'

 

Terwijl het acht uur journaal en de NRC vol waren van verhalen over hongerige Gazanen die eindelijk de grens over konden om eten in de Sinai te kopen, werden de raketten binnen gesmokkeld die nu tot in Beersheva en Ashdod reiken en ervoor zorgen dat een miljoen Israeli's getroffen kunnen worden. Ook zijn er raketten via de tunnels de Gazastrook ingesmokkeld.

 

RP

---------

 

Latest rockets manufactured in China
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jan. 1, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733119975&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

 

The Grad-model Katyusha rockets that were fired into Beersheba on Wednesday were manufactured in China and smuggled into Gaza after the Sinai border wall was blown up by Hamas in January, defense officials said.

The Chinese rockets have a range of 40 kilometers. They are very similar to the 122 mm Soviet-made Katyusha that was used extensively by Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War and are slightly more sophisticated than an Iranian-made Grad-model Katyusha that is also in Hamas's arsenal.

The four rockets that hit Beersheba this week were filled with metal balls that can scatter up to 100 meters from the impact site, officials said. These rockets have also been fired into Ashkelon and Ashdod.

The three countries that manufacture Grad-model Katyushas are China, Russia and Bulgaria.

Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post the rockets were smuggled into Gaza in the 12 days after Hamas blew a hole in the border wall between Gaza and Egypt on January 23.

"Huge quantities of weaponry were smuggled into Gaza then from above ground, including the Grad rockets," an official said, adding that even after the border wall was sealed, Hamas continued to smuggle the long-range rockets into Gaza via tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor.

From China, the rockets make several stops before reaching Gaza. In many cases, officials said, they are bought by Iran or Hizbullah and then transferred to Sinai.

In some instances, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has learned of weapons that came from Yemen and Eritrea, were moved to Sudan, then north to Egypt, and finally smuggled into Gaza.

"This is a complicated smuggling system that involves many different people around the world," one official said.

The Grad-model Katyushas, officials said, were packed with large quantities of ammonia and less-than-maximum explosives to increase their durability and lethality.

Last Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that Cairo was not responsible for Hamas's military buildup and that the long-range rockets in the group's arsenal were not smuggled through the tunnels from Sinai.

Defense officials said Wednesday that Aboul Gheit was partially correct, in that some of the rockets did not come into Gaza through tunnels, but that they did enter the Strip from Sinai.

Tientallen raketten uit Gaza op Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva en Ashdod

 

Inmiddels leven bijna een miljoen Israeli's binnen 'rocket range' en kunnen elk moment een alarm verwachten waarna zij 15 seconden hebben om een schuilkelder te bereiken. Hamas heeft de afgelopen 6 maanden duidelijk niet stil gezeten: voor het staakt-het-vuren kon men met moeite de buitenwijken van Ashkelon raken, dat minder dan 20 km van de Gazastrook ligt. Nu komt men ruim 40 km ver. Deze raketten zijn echter geen eigen fabrikaat, maar binnen gesmokkeld via de tunnels en over land toen de grens vorig jaar in januari 10 dagen open was.

 

RP

-----------

Last update - 19:02 01/01/2009       
Barrage of Gaza rockets strikes Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod
By Haaretz Service
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051858.html

 

 

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of more than 40 rockets at southern Israel on Thursday, one of which scored a direct hit on an eight-floor residential building in the northern Negev city of Ashdod, nearly 40 kilometers from the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.

 

More than 40 Grad and Qassam rockets were fired at the Negev on Thursday, after a relatively quiet night.

 

The strike on the Ashdod apartment house caused a fire to erupt in the building and seriously damaged the top floor. Rescue workers evacuated all residents, fearing that the building would collapse. The incident ended without physical injuries and the damaged structure still intact.

 

A number of people were treated for shock, however, many of them children and elderly people.

 

The Israel Defense Forces announced just after the strike that an Israeli aircraft had bombed the Gaza-based squad responsible for firing the rocket.

 

Four Grad rockets exploded a few minutes after the Ashdod strike in the city of Ashkelon and about two more struck the city a few hours later. No casualties were reported in any of those incidents.

 

Three rockets struck the western Negev town of Sderot early Thursday afternoon. There were no reports of casualties in those strikes.

 

Another barrage was fired at Ashdod and Ashkelon in the middle of the afternoon, and another eight rockets exploded in near Be'er Sheva toward evening.

 

Six Qassam rockets exploded in the Eshkol region over the course of the morning, and two Grad rockets hit the city of Be'er Sheva. There were no casualties reported in any of the incidents, but some area buildings sustained damage.

 

Three rockets hit Be'er Sheva late Wednesday, just hours after Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement extending the 'special situation' status on the home front to all communities within 40 kilometers of the Gaza border.

 

Be'er Sheva and Yavne, previously thought to be beyond the range of Palestinian rockets, are now among the cities included in the order.

 

A barrage of more than 70 Katyusha and Qassam rockets hit the western Negev on Wednesday, with several rockets exploding in Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva.

 

The defense minister reiterated his appeal to all residents "to strictly follow Home Front Command instructions."

 

Barak's order allows the Defense Ministry, through the Home Front Command, to issue binding regulations for the civilian population in the specified area. The decision is valid for 48 hours, and must then be ratified by the government.

__._,_.___

Parallellen tussen Gaza operatie en 2de Libanon Oorlog

 

Er zijn verschillende parallellen tussen de huidige operatie in Gaza en de tweede Libanon oorlog te trekken. Niet genoemd in het artikel hieronder is het feit dat de raketaanvallen van de vijand niet afnemen ondanks voortdurende Israelische bombardementen op hun wapenvoorraden, de lanceerinstallaties en hun gewapende troepen. Hopelijk verandert dit snel.

 

Naast parallellen zijn er echter ook belangrijke verschillen, zoals het feit dat de huidige operatie maandenlang was voorbereid.

 

RP

----------

 

The Jerusalem Post
Jan 1, 2009 2:26 | Updated Jan 1, 2009 11:17

Analysis: Disturbing echoes of 2006
By DAVID HOROVITZ
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733120327&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

The Second Lebanon War, inevitably, has cast its shadow over Operation Cast Lead from the start.

The parallels were unavoidable: Two conflicts that Israel chose to enter after its people came under unprovoked attack. Two conflicts against the proxy armies of Iran. Two conflicts in territories from which Israel had unilaterally withdrawn. Two conflicts entered by Israel knowing there would be no sympathy from its international critics and only short-term empathy even from most of its friends. Two conflicts overseen by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

But the differences were striking, too: Unlike 2006, this was not a rushed resort to force, agreed upon in hours and foist on an unprepared IDF. Operation Cast Lead had been prepared for months, by an experienced defense minister (unlike the last time) and a no-nonsense chief of the General Staff (unlike the last time).

Hamas, for all its estimated 15,000 armed men, was far less well-equipped than Hizbullah, and had far less physical room to maneuver: It has its back to the sea or an unaccommodating Egypt, limiting its capacity to melt away, as Hizbullah's gunmen had done ever further to the north in Lebanon.

The legitimacy was overwhelming, and Israel had taken some steps to put in place the public diplomacy to explain it: Israel was responding to eight years of rocket attacks by a terror group whose leadership had seized power in a violent coup, repeatedly broadcast its determination to destroy Israel, and abused a misnamed cease-fire to smuggle in more arms and extend the range of its missiles.

And yet, as Day Five of Operation Cast Lead drew to a close, dismaying comparisons with 2006 were multiplying.

As happened then, there was a developing lack of clarity about the goal of the operation. Initially clearly defined as being aimed at restoring security to the South, it was being exaggerated by some Israeli officials as extending to the destruction of Hamas, and minimized by others as merely seeking a better version of the failed cease-fire.

Even though it was later rejected, an impression of hesitancy was created by the mere fact that Defense Minister Ehud Barak was prepared on Tuesday to entertain the idea of a 48-hour time-out, which might have been extended to a renewed cease-fire if Hamas halted its rocket attacks. This path would plainly have left unrealized the strategic goal of a changed reality in the South.

The willingness to even begin to consider a time-out implicitly amounted to Israel starting a stopwatch toward a cease-fire - an approach that, at this stage, flies in the face of the relentless determination promised by the Israeli leadership at the outset.

As with 2006, the hesitancy has extended to the use of ground forces - or rather the non-use of ground forces - though the unfavorable weather is plainly a factor here, too.

Hamas is lying in wait for a predicted major ground onslaught, gleefully anticipating that its nimble forces will outmaneuver Israel's tanks, cause heavy casualties, provoke growing opposition in Israel and send the IDF home humiliated.

But that is where Israel's traditional military daring and innovation are meant to kick in, via the use of surgical, penetrating, disorienting ground missions, to tackle the sensitive Hamas targets that cannot easily be eliminated from the air.

That is where Barak, the personification of the unexpected during his years as head of Sayeret Matkal (the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), and his partner Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi are supposed to demonstrate how things have changed from the Amir Peretz-Dan Halutz era.

That is where, when the time for a cease-fire does come, Israel is meant to have achieved tangible results and thus be able to dictate the terms that will deter Hamas not merely from restarting rocket fire, but from rebuilding the capacity to fire.

Terms, furthermore, that will enable Israel to maintain continued freedom of action to prevent the revival of this strategic threat.

It is not too late for this; Olmert insisted on Wednesday that "We didn't initiate the Gaza operation in order to end it while Israeli towns are still under fire."

But the international pressure is growing. The mediators are booking their flights. Hamas is hoping it will soon be able to celebrate and gloat and regroup.

And there's no escaping a worrying echo of 2006 in the dissipating Israeli momentum.

De redenen achter de Gaza oorlog (Barry Rubin)

 

Waarom valt Israel toch zo hard aan in Gaza? vragen velen zich af. Het antwoord is simpeler dan je denkt.

 

RP

--------

 

Barry Rubin on Gaza

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2008/12/barry-rubin-on-gaza.html

 

 

Common sense seems to be hard to come by. Everyone seems bent on finding a reason for Israel's operation in Gaza other than the obvious one: The Hamas are raining rockets on Israeli towns and making life impossible. 

 

This explanation below by Barry Rubin is straightforward. The proof of why Israel really had no choice but to attack Hamas, is in the rockets that hit Beersheba and Yavneh. This extension of the range of Hamas rockets was accomplished in six months, thanks to the Tahidiya - the truce. From little  Qassam Rockets in  Sderot to Grad rockets that reach Beersheba. Here is a map of how the range of Hamas rockets in Israel has expanded.   (Ami Isseroff)

 

 

The Gaza War: Is it All So Hard to Understand?

 

Barry Rubin
December 31, 2008

 

 

But why, more than one reporter from highly reputable publications has asked me, is Israel attacking Gaza now? At first, I was astonished: because Hamas cancelled the ceasefire and started massive rocket firings at Israel.

 

No, they responded, as if I had said something rude. Isn't it the election, or an attempt to stop the tunnels, or this or that reason?

 

Absolutely not, I say, it's like Pearl Harbor, or September 11. If someone announces they are going to go to war with you and then does it, you retaliate and fight.

 

At that point, the reporters seem to lose interest and bring the interview to an end, as if clearly a person who can say such things is not going to provide any rational analysis. Yet if one cannot even understand this most basic fact, what comprehension can there be of this issue or, indeed, of Middle East politics in general.

 

There are reasons, however, for this response. Large elements in the West find it very hard to "get," that is to understand, Hamas or the Palestinians in general--or, for that matter, Islamists in general, or Arabs in general, or Muslims in general--albeit with all the many variations and exceptions.

 

The problem with pragmatism:
Today, people ask, why didn't the Jews of Poland understand the Nazis were going to wipe them out, at least in the earlier period when escape or revolt was more possible? According to contemporary and later eyewitness testimony because they didn't think Germans would act in such an unpragmatic manner.

 

After all hundreds of thousands of Jews were involuntarily contributing to the German war effort. They were making clothes, repairing roads, growing food. Why should the Third Reich destroy a highly effective, very cheap, and low-problem labor force, thus crippling itself and helping to ensure that it lost the war?

 

Answer: ideology. A doctrine and belief system will make people act in a way that doesn't fit pragmatic expectations. Why should Hamas start a war against a stronger power? Due to believing itself to be stronger and needs to mobilize mass support. Why should Palestinian leaders reject a state even if it means the end of an increasingly small degree of "occupation"? Due to belief that total victory is inevitable, that compromise is treason, and that their enemies are satanic.

 

The solvency of solutions:
The other big question asked is: what is the solution? How can, as some say, peace be attained; how can Israel, others say, eliminate Hamas? The presumption is that the first or the second is easy, or at least possible.

 

Answer: Wrong. This is the Middle East we don't do solutions. Hamas is not going to disappear, nor will it be moderate. Israel, for good reasons, has no interest in occupying the Gaza Strip. Fatah is incapable of retaking control there.

 

This situation will go on and probably most likely end in some new ceasefire. Hamas will break the ceasefire a bit every week, and smash it altogether every six to eighteen months, repeating the current situation. That isn't the ideal outcome but it is by far the most likely one.

 

The unbearable lightness of gratitude:
No matter how much diplomatic aid, sympathy, or money the West gives Hamas--and it has saved Hamas and the PLO over and over from their own mistakes--they will not become grateful or pro-Western. Anti-Western and anti-American sentiment is too valuable and too widespread to disappear. The Palestinians--and Iran's regime, and Syria's government, and Hizballah, and other Islamists--need scapegoats. Who else are they going to blame for their problems, themselves?

 

If you save the terrorists today, they will commit more terrorism tomorrow. If you let them escape the consequences of their own extremism, you can guarantee they will stay extremist and take a lot of the masses with them.

 

The reality of reality:
In some ways, the most important--or at least second most important--thing to happen in the Middle East this week is that Hizballah leader Hasan Nasrallah went too far, calling for the overthrow of Egypt's government.

 

Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit responded, "They have actually declared war on Egypt...." And when he says "they" he means Iran, Syria, Hizballah, and Hamas. The Saudis and Gulf Arabs are also drawing lines deeper than ever before. Publicly and loudly, they look at Gaza, and see Arabs and Muslims, and criticize Israel. More softly in public and loudly in private they look at Gaza and see the Iranian axis.

 

This is the Middle East of 2008 and not of 1958, 1968, 1978, 1988, or 1998. The Palestinian issue has little effect on any other issue. The real conflict is Iran-Syria against Egypt-Saudi Arabia. Islamists are seeking to conquer the region from Arab nationalists. Radical groups are not interested in happy homelands but jihad and genocide.

 

And so the issue is not why Israel is attacking Hamas in Gaza now, but why Hamas in Gaza is attacking Israel now.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley

Israelische luchtmacht bombardeert moskee en woonhuis vol explosieven in Gaza

 

"Israel bombardeert moskeeën en woonhuizen" aldus Meulenbelt morgen op haar blog en Van Agt op NOVA. De moskee zat echter vol met explosieven en raketten, vandaar dat na het bombardement nog verschillende explosies waren te horen, en ook het huis van Nizar Ghayan zat vol met wapens en werd gebruikt als commandocentrum voor de strijd tegen Israel.

Zeer ongebruikelijk in oorlogsvoering: Israel waarschuwde de inwoners van te voren zodat zij het huis konden ontvluchten voordat het gebombardeerd werd, maar deze kozen ervoor binnen te blijven, waarschijnlijk in de hoop dat Israel er dan vanaf zou zien of omdat Israel om de dood van vrouwen en kinderen veroordeeld zou worden.

RP
--------

IAF bombs Gaza mosque used as terror hub

 

By Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052034.html
Last update - 01:30 02/01/2009


Israel Air Force aircraft struck a mosque in Jabaliya late Thursday night used as a terror-hub by the Hamas terror organization.

The mosque was used as a storehouse for a large amount of Grad missiles, Qassam rockets and additional weaponry. The strike set off series of secondary explosions and a large fire, caused by the ammunitions stockpiled inside the mosque. 

The mosque was also used as a center of operations for Hamas, as a meeting place for its operatives and a staging ground for terror attacks, the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson's office said in a statement.

"The IDF will continue to attack any target used for terrorist activity, and will not hesitate to strike those involved in terrorism against the citizens of the State of Israel, even if they deliberately choose to operate from locations of religious or cultural significance," the statement went on to say.

Earlier Thursday, an Israeli aircraft killed a high-ranking Hamas official in Gaza along with nine women, including at least four wives, and 11 of his children, in the first major assassination since the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead on Saturday.

According to sources from the defense establishment, decision-makers are increasingly inclined to order a ground invasion into Gaza.

The assassination of Nizar Ghayan left dozens of people from neighboring buildings injured and brought up the body count on the Palestinian side to 425 people since the start of the campaign. The number of wounded is now estimated at around 2,000.

The IDF Spokesman said that Ghayan's house had served as a weapons silo and a war room for Hamas. Under the house, according to the IDF, was a tunnel which was meant to serve as an escape route in case of an Israeli attack.

Palestinian media reported that the incident was not a planned assassination, but rather a routine bombing of a target suspected by the IDF to contain weapons.

The IDF has code named such operations "roof knocking," in which the army informs the residents of a suspected building that they have 10 minutes to leave the premises. In some cases, residents of suspected houses have been able to prevent bombing by climbing up to the roof to show that they will not leave, prompting IDF commanders to call off the strike. In these cases, Channel 10 reported Thursday, the IAF sometimes launches a relatively harmless missile at the corner of the roof, avoiding casualties but successfully dispersing the crowd.

Sources familiar with Ghayan's record said he was one of the people who encouraged Gazans to climb on rooftops to prevent bombings.

It appears that the "roof knocking" technique was used in the assassination, but Ghayan decided to stay indoors with his family, and the army opted to bomb the house anyway.

A lecturer at Gaza's Islamic University, Ghayan, 49, had mentored suicide bombers and would sometimes go on patrol with Hamas fighters. He was known for his close ties to the group's military wing and was respected in Gaza for donning combat fatigues and personally participating in clashes against Israeli forces. He sent one of his sons on an October 2001 suicide mission that killed two Israeli settlers in Gaza.

He was also an outspoken advocate of renewing suicide bombings against Israel. Hamas said Israel would pay a "heavy price" for his death. Ghayan was one of the most extreme opponents of Fatah, and supported violence against Fatah's men during Hamas' seizure of power.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni rejected calls for a 48-hour "humanitarian pause" and told her French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, that Hamas must not be given the opportunity to gain any sort of legitimacy within a renewal of a truce. Under the current offensive, she said, Hamas understand that Israel will not tolerate Gaza rocket fire without response.

In addition to the assassination, the Israel Air Force bombed several other Hamas targets.

Hamas fired about a dozen rockets into Be'er Sheva and near Ashdod, resulting in no injuries. In all, Gaza militants fired at least 50 rockets at southern Israel throughout the day Thursday.

Awaiting a decision by the political leadership, ground forces of the IDF are in the final stages of preparations for an invasion into Gaza, and the army has amassed the forces outside the Strip in formation for a rapid deployment in the area as soon as the order is given.

But even as IDF tanks rev their engines, various international powers are offering to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. The IDF is recommending a major, but relatively short-term, ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

 

 

Een vreedzamer 2009!

 

Zes clichés over Israëls operatie in Gaza

Een paar veelgehoorde beweringen die bij iedere Israëlische legeroperatie weer opduiken.

--------------

Answering Israel's critics
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3647296,00.html

Six clichés you are likely to hear constantly in the coming days, and why they're false
Yigal Walt

Published: 12.30.08, 19:13 / Israel Opinion

 

1) "Israel's response in Gaza is disproportionate"

Since when is war a mathematical equation? The basic objective of any warring party is to inflict maximal damage on the enemy while minimizing its own casualties. Was there anything proportional about the US war in Iraq? Or about Iraq's invasion of Kuwait for that matter? Or about Russia's recent war against Georgia? Israel is doing exactly what any other country has done in the past. This is how war works.

Would a British citizen complain that "too few" British soldiers are being killed in Iraq? Probably not.

And on a more elementary note: Palestinian military inferiority is not an indication of moral superiority. Palestinian insistence on resorting to violence despite this military weakness is an indication of poor judgment perhaps – yet it is by no means an indication of moral virtue. Being militarily weak does not make the Palestinians right.

2) "But Qassams don't kill"

Actually, Qassams do kill. Not too often, perhaps, but dozens of Israelis were killed and wounded by rocket fire in recent years. Moreover, at this time the Palestinians are firing long-range Grad rockets with even greater explosive power. Such rockets killed 2 Israelis Monday.

Yet beyond the casualty figures, the psychological damage caused as result of living under an ongoing rocket threat is immeasurable. Would anyone in the West agree to have their family live under constant rocket attacks and be regularly woken up by sirens in the middle of the night? Would anyone living under such conditions appreciate being told that "these rockets don't kill?" Probably not.

3) "It's all because of Israel's siege. Israel should allow aid into Gaza."

Israel has allowed goods into Gaza regularly throughout the "siege". Palestinians have been able to complement these deliveries with supplies smuggled through hundreds of tunnels (of course, they would likely be able to bring in even more food had they not used the tunnels to smuggle in missiles.).

The day before operation "Cast Lead" got underway, Israel allowed dozens of trucks carrying aid to enter the Strip. On Tuesday, another 100 trucks – double the normal number –are expected to enter Gaza after Defense Minister Barak approved the move.
In short, Israel is allowing aid into the Strip (but guess who has kept Gaza crossings mostly closed thus far? That's right, Egypt.)

4) "Why didn't Israel just agree to renew the Gaza truce?"

First, what truce? Terror groups continued to fire rockets throughout the lull, even if somewhat infrequently, and even if the world didn't seem to care too much. Nonetheless, Israel clearly declared that it is interested in extending the truce. Our top officials made it clear time and again.

Yet Hamas leaders clearly declared that the truce has ended on December 19th, and proceeded to bombard southern Israeli communities with dozens of rockets daily. In short, it is no wonder that even the Egyptians are blaming Hamas this time.

5) "But Hamas was elected democratically – why can't Israel accept it?"

Although Hamas won the Palestinian elections, it took Gaza by force, in the process hurling rival Fatah members down to their death from high-rises and shooting others in the knees with the declared aim of maiming them. Some democracy.

In any case, Israel in fact "recognizes," de facto, Hamas' rule in Gaza, which is precisely why it is justified in attacking the Hamas-ruled Strip, recognizing that it is indeed being governed by a terror entity. Israel did not launch the operation because Hamas is in power there – rather, it did so because Hamas is a terrorist organization that has deliberately targeted civilians with thousands of rockets over the past 8 years.

6) "Israel is targeting civilians"

You mean to say that "one of the most powerful armies in the world" has been bombing Gaza for days, deploying massive air power, dropping hundreds of bombs, and ultimately killing a grand total of 50 civilians or so in the "most crowded place on earth?"

There are two options here: A) The Israeli army is not targeting civilians, or B) Israeli pilots suck. We tend to go with option A.

Indeed, Israel goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, by deploying precise ammunition and specialized techniques. In fact, nobody in the world does this better than the Jewish State.

 

Betoging AEL in Antwerpen tegen Israël loopt uit de hand

 

Bij de demo in Den Haag waren geen rellen en mochten niet zoals in Antwerpen Israelische vlaggen worden verbrand, maar ook daar waren de meeste demonstranten geen lievertjes. Op het journaal waren portretten van Nasrallah en Achmadinejad te zien, niet bepaald voorvechters van vrede in het Midden-Oosten of toonbeelden van tolerantie.

 

Wouter
________________

31/12 Betoging AEL in Antwerpen tegen Israël loopt uit de hand
http://www.hbvl.be/nieuws/binnenland/onlinenieuws-betoging-ael-in-antwerpen-tegen-israel-loopt-uit-de-hand.aspx?art=21220f6e-7192-4bc7-bc1d-1dcee4846f2f

 

 

Zowel in Antwerpen als in Brussel is woensdagmiddag betoogd tegen de Israëlische beschietingen op Gaza. In Antwerpen liep de betoging, georganiseerd door de Arabisch-Europese Liga (AEL), helemaal uit de hand toen de betogers zich naar de joodse wijk probeerden te begeven. De politie was massaal aanwezig en trad hardhandig op. Rond 17 uur normaliseerde de situatie.

De protestactie begon rond 14 uur aan de Kerkstraat in Borgerhout. Rond 15.15 uur ontbond de politie de betoging. Daarop probeerden een tweehonderdtal, voornamelijk allochtone, jongeren zich naar de joodse wijk te begeven. Ter hoogte van de Franklin Rooseveltplaats liep de situatie helemaal uit de hand.

Bekijk het fotoalbum.

Nadat de manifestatie op de Kerkstraat werd opgeheven trok een honderdtal jongeren een spoor van vernieling langs de Turnhoutsebaan. Winkeliers waren gelukkig tijdig door de politie verwittigd en konden hun ramen en deuren afsluiten.

Joodse wijk gespaard

 

Via de Turnhoutsebaan trokken de relschoppers langs het Astridplein naar de Rooseveltplaats. Daar werden ze opgewacht door de politie die probeerden te vermijden dat het tot rellen in de joodse wijk zou komen.

Door de opstootjes op de Rooseveltplaats werd het openbaar vervoer danig in de war gestuurd. De politie probeerden de jongeren vervolgens terug te dringen in de richting van Borgerhout, waarna er zich een kat-en-muisspel tussen politie en relschoppers voltrok.

Herinneringen aan 2002

 

Sommigen vrezen dat de betoging nog kan ontaarden en herinneringen aan de rellen op de Turnhoutsebaan in 2002 steken de kop op. Om 17 uur probeerde een imam de jongeren te bedaren. Dat zou enige resultaten opleveren.

 

De oorlog in de Gazastrook (IMO Blog)

 

Op: IMO Blog - Israel & Midden-Oosten

De oorlog in de Gazastrook

Zoals te verwachten sprak de internationale gemeenschap direct haar afkeuring uit over het Israëlische offensief in de Gazastrook, en zelfs de VN veiligheidsraad roept op tot onmiddellijke beëindiging ervan en een staakt-het-vuren. Ban Ki-Moon en andere VN functionarissen waren feller en eenzijdiger in hun kritiek.

Het is opvallend dat de VN en wereldleiders altijd met dit soort afkeuringen komen wanneer Israël terugschiet. Inderdaad, onnoemelijk veel effectiever dan de raketten van Hamas, maar dat is toch niet het criterium voor het bepalen of een actie gerechtvaardigd is? Als Israël net zulke primitieve raketten als die van Hamas af zou schieten, mag het dan wel? Waar het om gaat is dat sinds Israëls terugtrekking uit de Gazastrook in 2005 Hamas meer dan 6000 raketten en mortiergranaten op Israëlische steden en dorpen heeft afgevuurd, waarvan 3000 in het afgelopen jaar, bewust op burgers en met het doel zoveel mogelijk mensen te doden en verwonden. Dat dat niet beter lukt, doet aan die intentie, die men vaak uitspreekt en blijkt uit de vreugde wanneer een aanval wel 'succesvol' is, niks af. En ondanks de weinige fatale slachtoffers maken de raketten een normaal leven voor honderdduizenden mensen die in plaatsen rond de Gazastrook leven onmogelijk. Kinderen zijn getraumatiseerd, scholen vallen geregeld uit, mensen durven hun huizen niet meer uit. Voor dat leed is opvallend weinig, eigenlijk helemaal geen aandacht in de Nederlandse media. Ik kan me geen enkele reportage over Sderot of Ashkelon herinneren, of een van de vele kibboetsen in de nabijheid van Gaza. Omdat de mensen in Gaza erger lijden, doen de mensen in Sderot en Netivot en Ashkelon en al die andere plaatsen er niet toe, lijkt de logica te zijn.
Lees verder...

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Dries van Agt in NOVA over Gaza oorlog

Hoewel iedereen het er wel over eens is dat Israëls huidige offensief in de Gazastrook tegen Hamas is gericht, en vooral gebouwen die haar toebehoren of door haar worden gebruikt zijn getroffen, roepen allerlei mensen, zoals Dries van Agt - zaterdagavond in NOVA - toch weer dat Israël oorlogsmisdaden pleegt. Van Agt sprak zelfs van 'genocidale praktijken' in navolging van VN rapporteur Richard Falk, bekend om zijn vergelijkingen van Israël met de nazi's. Je vraagt je overigens af waarom NOVA Van Agt als gast uitnodigt om commentaar te geven op de Israëlische bombardementen op de Gazastrook. We weten immers precies wat Van Agt vindt: alles ligt altijd aan Israël; de Palestijnen, ook de Hamas, treft nooit enige blaam, en alles wat Israël doet is per definitie disproportioneel. Hij was dan ook voorspelbaar, welhaast slaapverwekkend, en zijn gebrek aan ook maar het minste inzicht in Israëls drijfveren was verbijsterend. Iemand die zich zo intensief met een zaak bezig houdt, moet, los van z'n eigen opvattingen, op zijn minst enig begrip van beide partijen hebben.
Lees verder...

PLO en Fatah houden Hamas verantwoordelijk voor doden Gazastrook

 

Hoewel de Palestijnen hun woede op Israel vanwege de bombardementen in Gaza niet onder stoelen of banken steken, is er ook interne kritiek op Hamas dat het zover heeft laten komen, en zowel wou regeren als een 'verzetsbeweging' zijn.

 

RP

-------------

 

PLO and Fatah Officials: Hamas is Responsible for the Deaths of Its People

http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD216408

 

Along with expressing solidarity with the Hamas casualties in Gaza, PLO and Fatah officials criticize Hamas for its contribution to the escalation that led to the Israeli attack. They blamed Hamas for not listening to PLO's call to prolong the tahdiah, for not preparing properly for the possibility that Israel would attack, and for combining its government functions with its resistance activity, which made it vulnerable to an attack on its institutions. Hamas, for its part, accused the PLO and Fatah of collaborating with Israel.

The following are excerpts from statements and articles in the Palestinian media:

Abu Mazen: We Told [Hamas] - "Don't End the Tahdiah"

In his visit to Egypt, PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) placed the responsibility for the Israeli attack on Hamas, saying, "We called the leaders of Hamas, and told them both directly and directly, through Arab parties and non-Arab parties. We talked with them on the phone. We told them, 'Please, do not end the tahdiah.'" [1]

Nimr Hammad, an advisor to Mahmoud Abbas, said: "The one responsible for the massacres is Hamas, and not the Zionist entity, which in its own view reacted to the firing of Palestinian missiles. Hamas needs to stop treating the blood of Palestinians lightly. They should not give the Israelis a pretext." He called upon the leaders of Hamas to stop carrying out "operations which reflect recklessness, such as the firing of missiles." [2]

Director of the Palestinian TV & Radio Authority: Hamas is In the Grips of Megalomania

Bassem Abu-Sumayyah, director of the Palestinian TV & Radio Authority and columnist for the PLO daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, reiterated the accusation that "Hamas blocked its ears… They should have had even a little bit of political and security sense, and not left the people wandering, and losing their way, getting killed and injured. It is clear that Hamas was struck by megalomania since they took over Gaza, which blinded them so they would not listen to any advice. Hamas behaved like a superpower, as if they have weapons and means like Hizbullah in Lebanon, and as if they can conduct a war like the July war [of 2006]. Hamas's people thought they have a number of missiles that can enable them to prevail in a war of such size." [3]

Palestinian Columnists: Hamas Could have Prevented the Bloodshed

Editor of the PLO daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida Hafez Al-Barghouthi criticized Hamas for not prolonging the tahdiah, and for kidnapping Gilad Shalit: "Prolonging the tahdiah was a supreme national interest. Why hasn't [Hamas] prevented the aggression and the massacre? How many times have we written, and President Abu Mazen has declared, that these missiles [that Hamas is firing at Israel] as ineffective and contrary to the supreme national interest. Even Hamas saw them as contrary to the supreme national interest at the time of the tahdiah. We said, also, that the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit cost us 500 casualties in one year." [4]

Columnist Muwaffaq Matar called for creating an internal Palestinian investigation committee, and blamed Hamas for being responsible for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza: "Will we learn the lesson, or are our leaders going to run away from bearing responsibility, as they usually do? If we believe in the value of men and in humanity, we should establish a Palestinian investigative committee that will reveal to the Palestinian people what happened, and why over 200 people have lost their lives and 750 have been injured within one hour, even though the calls for war, the speeches and the statements [in Israel], were abundant a week before the tahdiah ended… What did the commanders in Gaza expect? That the commanders of the Israeli army will let them know what is the zero hour, so that they will remove their people from the military and security headquarters?... This bloodshed and horrible destruction of our national institutions could have been prevented. It only needed political courage, moral wisdom, and adherence to the aspirations of the Palestinian people to live securely and in freedom and independence." [5]

Hamas has to Choose Between Being a Government and Fighting Its Resistance Activities

Abdallah Awwad, columnist for the PA daily Al-Ayyam, argued against Hamas' attempt to be both a government as well as a fighting resistance: "The Israeli incursions after 2000 [during the Al-Aqsa Intifada] and the destruction of the PLO headquarters were enough [for the PLO] to see the incompatibility of being a government at the same time as fighting the resistance… We are paying the price of stupidity, and the maniacal love of being rulers, that has nothing in it except for hollow slogans. [A choice must be made to be] either a government or a resistance. When the two are combined, it gives the occupying power easy targets… The example of the destruction of the PLO headquarters in the West Bank during the Intifada should have sufficed… What happened in Gaza demonstrates that the lesson was not learned. Instead of disappearing under the ground, which is the basis for any resistance, Hamas personnel remained exposed in the open… This destructive formula contained within it a premise that the occupation will not dare to carry out a bloody attack on Gaza." [6]

---

[1] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PLO), December 29, 2008.

[2] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), December 28, 2008.

[3] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), December 29, 2008.

[4] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), December 28, 2008.

[5] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), December 28, 2008.

[6] Al-Ayyam (PA), December 28, 2008.

Wat Israel tegen de VN zou moeten zeggen

 

Deze nep speech van een paar dagen geleden geeft adequaat de reactie van de internationale gemeenschap weer.

 

Of het volgende waar is, zou ik niet durven zeggen, maar ik kan mij heel goed voorstellen dat het op veel Joden wel zo overkomt:

 

My answer to the question regarding the obsessive preoccupation with the actions of the Jews is purely sociological. Many of you, the shapers of public opinion, and mostly the Europeans amongst you, are interested in easing your conscience: If you can only show that the Israelis-Jews are not so moral or innocent, perhaps they deserve everything you did to them before they were able to establish their state? After all, here they are, occupying and butchering the poor Palestinians; they are certainly no better than us!

 

Kritiek op Israel is zeker legitiem, maar een heel klein beetje bescheidenheid vanwege het verleden zou ons niet misstaan.

 

RP

-------------

Israel addresses the UN

Our speech at the UN

 

Assaf Wohl - Ynet
Published:  12.29.08, 01:39 / Israel Opinion

 

 

 

Members of the United Nations,

 

Democracies, dictatorships, republics, and the honorable secretary-general:

 

Within a few hours, media outlets in your countries shall present horrific photos of blood, fire, and rubble from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians will be screaming, in front of the cameras, about the massacre undertaken by the State of Israel. Initially, you may show understanding for our operations in the Strip, yet once the photos of wounded civilians reach you, you shall press us, as is your custom, to stop defending ourselves.

 

The first signs of this phenomenon can already be seen. Calls to "end the violence" from across the world are being heard loud and clear – yet they are only being heard now, after years of violence, and after Israel finally decided to respond. The European Union already rushed to declare that it condemns Israel's "disproportional use of force." Several news networks have brought together panels whose members are scrutinizing the law books at this very moment in order to ascertain whether the Jewish State violated some international law.

 

I do not intend to deal with the question of where were these condemners and critics for the past seven years, when Hamas' murderers set the timers of their rockets to coincidence with the end of the school day in Israel, because of a declared aim to kill as many children as possible. The question we should be discussing at this time is as follows: Why do the countries of the world and global media outlets obsessively engage in strict criticism that is only directed at Israel? After all, there is not even one country out there that is required to adhere to the moral criteria which the world demands of us – of us of all people, the ones who as opposed to the rest of the world face threats of extermination.

 

Our Arab neighbors are well familiar with this double standard vulnerability. On their part, they are not bound by any kind of moral code. And so, they learned to exploit the international strictness towards Israel. A long time ago, they already understood that they cannot face the State of Israel on the battlefield. Indeed, when it comes to photographs and videos, they boast uniforms and weapons, yet once the fighting gets underway, they are quick to take off their uniforms and assimilate among women and children used as human shields.

 

They also make sure to place their arms depots in hospital basements and to fire rockets at population centers out of schoolyards. Their great hope is to elicit an Israeli response that would unintentionally hurt a few children. Once that happens, they will wave their bodies before the cameras and cry out to the world for help. This was the case in Lebanon, and this may happen tomorrow in the Gaza Strip.

 

Easing Europe's conscience

 

The states demanding that Israel adhere to certain moral standards do not even dream of asking the same of her enemies. After all, we are dealing with theocracies and dictatorships, where homosexuals are publicly hanged, where women are regularly stoned for undermining their "family's honor," and where children suspected of theft have their arms severed. What do these states have to do with the value of human life? We should therefore ask representatives of global opinion: Be honest with yourselves - Do the lives of humans being butchered daily in Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur arouse you into similar action? Reality indicates this is not the case.

 

My answer to the question regarding the obsessive preoccupation with the actions of the Jews is purely sociological. Many of you, the shapers of public opinion, and mostly the Europeans amongst you, are interested in easing your conscience: If you can only show that the Israelis-Jews are not so moral or innocent, perhaps they deserve everything you did to them before they were able to establish their state? After all, here they are, occupying and butchering the poor Palestinians; they are certainly no better than us!
  
To that end, you are willing to help out the lowliest terrorists. Therefore, you bought into their slanderous Mohammed al-Dura tale, and therefore you will rush to buy into various blood libels in the coming days. Those who launch missiles and mortar shells into kindergartens know that they will always enjoy a protective umbrella from you. They draw their self-confidence from the intolerable ease with which they enlist your public opinion in their favor.

 

Therefore, you would do well to think twice before you move to stop the punishment they lawfully deserve. After all, you are the only lifesaver that can spare this radical terror group the measure of justice hovering above it.

 

 

Hamas gebruikt burgers als menselijk schild - Israel roept reservisten op

The IDF has made frequent use of what is known as "knocking on the roof": Militants are warned by phone when a residential building used to store arms will be bombed, and told to vacate the premised together with their neighbors. The weapons caches are hit only after the residents leave.

Hamas has tried placing civilians on the roofs of such buildings when the phone call warning comes in. In these cases, the IDF fired antitank missiles near the building, and in a few cases the residents left.

Dit doet Hamas omdat het weet dat Israel zo'n gebouw dan niet meer zal bombarderen en, mocht het dat toch doen, Israel hard veroordeeld zal worden voor het doden van zoveel burgers. Het gebruik van burgers als menselijk schild is een oorlogsmisdaad, maar de mensenrechten- en vredesgroepen die altijd klaar staan om Israel te veroordelen, zul je hier niet over horen.

Als ik een wens voor het nieuwe jaar mag doen: wat minder hypocrisie en dubbele standaarden wat dit betreft bij vooral zich progressief noemende mensen.

Ratna
--------------------

Last update - 23:54 30/12/2008

Barak asks cabinet to approve emergency call-up of 2,520 reservists
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051305.html
By Amos Harel


Defense Minister Ehud Barak asked the cabinet last night to approve the mobilization of an additional 2,510 reserve forces soldiers by means of an emergency call-up order (Tzav Shmoneh).

If approved, they will join the 6,700 reservists whose mobilization the cabinet approved on Sunday. Barak apprised Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel of his decision in writing, and requested approval of the order from the cabinet by phone. The resolution will be submitted to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee within 48 hours, as required by law.

The additional reservists will be deployed in the Home Front Command, the Border Police, the Navy, the Logistics Branch, Military Intelligence and Ground Forces headquarters.

The Home Front Command will begin training activities today in the communities that were only included in the rocket-strike range as of Monday, such as Gan Yavne, Yavne and Rehovot. Some reservists will be deployed to the liaison units working with local governments in these communities. Physicians and psychologists will be called up to assist local governments in the south with their emergency response programs.

The head of the Israel Defense Force's Central Command, Yair Golan, is planning to introduce an experimental program that will divide the larger towns and cities in the area under attack into districts to facilitate the use of volunteers. He also wants to dispatch students in military academies to the south to aid the communities.

The Central Command plans to focus its activities today on Ofakim, which was hit by Katyusha rockets on Tuesday for the first time.

Military officials believe 2,000 rockets remain in terrorist organizations' arsenals, compared to nearly 3,000 last week. More than 200 rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip since Operation Cast Lead began.

Hundreds more were destroyed in Israel Air Force sorties, as were rocket launchers. The same officials believe that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have a few dozen Katyusha rockets with a range of 40 kilometers, and a few hundred 20 kilometer rockets.

Army officials are very concerned about the 120 kilometer Iranian-made mortar shells that are causing heavy damage in Gaza-area communities and IDF bases. The assumption is that some of the rockets fired in the past few days were aimed at Air Force bases in the south, although none have hit their mark. About one quarter of the rockets fired this week from Gaza hit populated areas, with the remainder falling in open areas.

The IDF believes that about two thirds of Hamas' underground rocket launch sites in the northern Gaza Strip were destroyed in the first round of Air Force sorties, on Saturday.

Additional bunkers were destroyed in the days that followed, after a way was found of striking them when civilians were not in the vicinity.

The IDF has made frequent use of what is known as "knocking on the roof": Militants are warned by phone when a residential building used to store arms will be bombed, and told to vacate the premised together with their neighbors. The weapons caches are hit only after the residents leave.

Hamas has tried placing civilians on the roofs of such buildings when the phone call warning comes in. In these cases, the IDF fired antitank missiles near the building, and in a few cases the residents left.

 

Hamas raketten bereiken Beersheba

 

De raketten van Hamas hebben nu de vierde stad van Israel bereikt. Als Israel niks onderneemt, is het een kwestie van tijd voordat ze Tel Aviv en de 'Israelische randstad' kunnen treffen. Volgens militaire bronnen heeft Israel circa eenderde van Hamas' raketten en lanceerinstallaties vernietigd, en hoewel de regering zegt dat de operatie nog maar in haar beginfase is, neemt de druk om een staakt-het-vuren te accepteren toe.

 

RP

------------

 

Rockets reach Beersheba, cause damage

 

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis join list of rocket-stricken communities as Grad missile explodes in empty kindergarten, causing damage; several people suffer shock. Man lightly injured by rocket in Ashkelon

 

Ilana Curiel - YNET

Published: 12.30.08, 21:09
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3647569,00.html

 

Beersheba joined the list of rocket-stricken communities Tuesday evening as an air raid siren sounded across the southern city, followed by several explosions. A Grad missile landed in an empty kindergarten in the city, causing damage. The Magen David Adom emergency services treated several people for shock.

Another rocket landed in an open area in the Merhavim Regional Council. Shortly afterwards, two Qassam rockets hit Ashkelon and two others were fired at the Sdot Negev Regional Council.

One man was lightly injured by shrapnel as a rocket landed in the center of Ashkelon. Vehicles and buildings in the area sustained heavy damage. Eight people were treated for shock at the Barzilai Medical Center in the city.

The residents of the neighborhood hit by the rocket said they had run to the bomb shelter only to find it locked. "Everything was closed there, what should we do? We live in a house with plaster walls," one of them said.

Beersheba resident Itama Abuhatzeira was at his friend's house when the siren sounded. "Luckily, the entire apartment is in a basement, so we didn't have to move anywhere else - simply because we didn't have enough time," he told Ynet.

"Explosions were heard along with the siren. We have been hearing about warning for the Beersheba area for days now, so I wasn't too surprised.

The southern town of Omer, near Beersheba, also joined the list of communities disrupted by air raid sirens.

Efrat, an Omer resident, was at home with her two small daughters and was terrified to hear the siren. "As a lecturer at the Sapir College (in Sderot), but with my children at home it was terrible," she told Ynet.

Efrat's husband ran outside and discovered that the bomb shelter was locked. The town's schools and kindergartens held a rocket alert drill on Tuesday morning, but not all residents received the leaflets with the Home Front Command's instructions.

Mayor warns residents

On Tuesday afternoon, Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovich called on his city's residents not to be complacent and act in accordance with instructions issued by the Home Front Command.

Speaking during a briefing at his office, Danilovich said the city was more than 50% connected to the Home Front Command's alert system. The rest of the neighborhoods will be connected in the coming days.

Several rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip several hours earlier. One exploded in the parking lot of a big factory in the city of Ashdod and another landed in Ashkelon, without causing any damage. Several people suffered shock. Additional rockets landed within the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council in the Gaza vicinity.

Simultaneously, the Israel Defense Forces continued its airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, and for the second time since the start of Operation Cast Lead bombed tunnels in the Philadelphi Route, near Rafah. Dozens of tunnels were damaged.

On Tuesday afternoon, a Grad rocket fired from northern Gaza landed in the city of Kiryat Malachi. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The attack marked the first time that the city and its surrounding areas have been targeted.

Explosions were also heard in the city of Netivot. One rocket landed north of Beersheba near Rahat. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

 

Yael Branovsky and Shmulik Hadad contributed to this report

Door Israel getroffen doelen in Gaza Strook (dinsdag)

 

Er doen allerlei wilde gerichten de ronde over dat Israel bewust burgers zou treffen en zijn nieuwste wapens op de Palestijnen wil uittesten voordat ze (voor meer geld wanneer er meer doden vallen) worden geëxporteerd. In werkelijkheid doet Israel er juist alles aan om burgerdoden tot een minimum te beperken, al bemoeilijkt dat de strijd tegen Hamas, dat zelf juist bewust vanuit burgergebied opereert en wapens in huizen opslaat.

 

Hieronder een lijst van getroffen doelen door Israel.

 

RP

-----------

IDF Spokesperson Dec 30th, 2008

Hamas Tunnel Network Targeted in the Southern Gaza Strip

Additional Hamas Targets Struck Throughout the Day

 

A short while ago, the IAF attacked dozens of tunnels in the Rafah area which are a part of the tunnel network used by the Hamas terror organization.  These tunnels were used for smuggling weapons as part of their terror activity in the Gaza Strip. Accurate hits were reported.

The tunnel network was also used for the passage of terror activists from Egypt to the Gaza Strip and back. These tunnels play a major role in supplying Hamas with the means of strengthening its ability to carry out terror.

Thirty additional targets throughout the Gaza Strip were also attacked today, including tunnels along the northern and southern Gaza strip, seven Grad and five Qassam rocket launchers, rocket launching cells, rocket launching sites, weapons manufacturing facilities, Hamas outposts, and armed terror operatives.

Secondary explosions were seen in many of the attacks proving the presence of large amounts of ordinance, explosive materials, and weapons in the area.

Israel also transferred dozens of human aid trucks into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The IDF will continue operating against terror and anyone involved, including those sponsoring and hosting terror, and those who send innocent woman and children to be used as human shields.


--------------------------------------------

 

IDF Spokesperson December 30, 2008

 

Summary of events overnight

 

 

Israeli air and naval forces attacked dozens of Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip during the early morning hours on Tuesday.

 

The targets included three buildings in the Hamas government complex in the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, Hamas training camps and outposts, stations held by the Islamist group's naval force, a vehicle transporting a stockpile of Grad missiles, rocket launchers, a weaponry manufacturing facility and sites used as headquarters by terror cells.

 

Two civilians and an IDF soldier were killed, and several civilians and soldiers were wounded from rocket and mortar attacks on Israel since Monday. In all, more than 70 rockets and mortar shells were launched from the Gaza Strip during that time.

 

Due to the incessant rocket attacks against Israeli towns, the IDF Home Front Command has revised and expanded its emergency directives for Tuesday to include all communities within a 30 kilometer radius of the Gaza Strip.

 

The instructions call for all schools to remain closed, the limiting of 100 individuals per fortified shelter and the discouraging of large gatherings outdoors.

 

 

 

http://extra.volkskrant.nl/opinie/artikel/show/id/2290/Isra%EBl+moet+Hamas+definitief+verslaan

Israël moet Hamas definitief verslaan

Michael B. Oren en Yossi Klein Halevi

Volkskrant, 30-12-2008 18:32

 

 

Als Israël niet de ruimte krijgt Hamas definitief te verslaan, is de tweestatenoplossing voorgoed buiten bereik.

De vorige keer dat Israël zei een oorlog te beginnen omwille van de vrede is alweer een kwart eeuw geleden. De buitenwereld was er destijds allerminst van overtuigd dat 'Operatie Vrede in Galilea' – de Israëlische invasie in Libanon van 1982 – bedoeld was om Israël en de Arabische wereld  te verzoenen, en dat gold ook voor veel Israëliërs. Het resultaat was precies  tegengesteld: de oorlog maakte de weg vrij voor de desastreuze terugkeer van  Arafat naar de Westelijke Jordaanoever en de Gazastrook, en voor de dominante rol van Hezbollah in Libanon. De huidige Israëlische operatie in  Gaza is echter  essentieel voor het creëren van de omstandigheden die uiteindelijk tot een tweestatenoplossing kunnen leiden.

Vijf jaar terreur

De afgelopen twintig jaar zijn de meeste Israëliërs gaan inzien dat de komst van een ooit zo vermaledijde Palestijnse staat noodzakelijk is. Dat is een historische overwinning voor Israëlisch links, dat zich altijd al sterk maakte voor Palestijnse zelfbeschikking. Maar het was vooral een theoretische overwinning, want rechts won het pleit met het praktische argument dat de buitenwereld Israël ondanks al zijn concessies het recht op zelfverdediging zou ontzeggen.

Dat was de  les van het mislukken van het vredesproces van Oslo, waar in het najaar van 2000 een eind aan kwam nadat Israël akkoord was gegaan met het voorstel van president Clinton om zich vrijwel geheel uit Oost-Jeruzalem en de Palestijnse gebieden terug te trekken. De Palestijnen reageerden met vijf jaar terreur.

Maar een groot deel van de internationale gemeenschap gaf Israël de schuld van het geweld, en de pogingen van het land zichzelf te verdedigen werden keer op keer veroordeeld. Die ervaring heeft een diepe wond geslagen in de Israëlische ziel.

Sindsdien deinsden de Israëlische leiders ervoor terug maatregelen te nemen die door de VN en de EU zouden worden afgekeurd of zelfs tot sancties tegen de Joodse staat zouden leiden.

Genocidale bedoelingen

Dat had onder meer tot gevolg dat Israël nauwelijks durfde te reageren op de provocaties waarmee Hezbollah na de eenzijdige terugtrekking van Israël uit Libanon in mei 2000 was begonnen. Door die aarzelende houding wist de sjiitische terreurorganisatie een heel raketarsenaal op te bouwen, met de openlijke bedoeling Israëlische steden en dorpen te verwoesten.

Toen Hezbollah die wapens  in juli 2006 afvuurde, kreeg Israël het verwijt dat het buitensporig hard terugsloeg. Onder zware druk moest het land de defensieve operaties in Libanon staken en akkoord gaan met een internationale 'vredesmacht', waardoor Hezbollah de kans kreeg een nog grotere wapenvoorraad aan te leggen.
Nu vragen de Israëliërs zich af of de Libanese nachtmerrie zich in de Gazastrook gaat herhalen. 

Net als destijds in Libanon heeft Israël zich in 2005 eenzijdig achter de landsgrens met Gaza teruggetrokken, en kreeg het in plaats van veiligheid een regime dat op zijn verwoesting uit was. De duizenden raketten en mortiergranaten die sindsdien op Israëlische woonwijken zijn neergedaald, waren niet alleen een poging om burgers te doden en te terroriseren, maar vormden een regelrecht bewijs van genocidale bedoelingen.

Hypocrisie

Israëliërs uit het hele politieke spectrum waren het erover eens dat de staat het recht en zelfs de plicht had de bevolking te beschermen. Er was maar één vraag: zou de internationale gemeenschap daarmee akkoord gaan?

Die vraag werd urgent in de dagen voor 19 december, toen het broze bestand tussen Israël en Hamas eindigde.

Er regenden bijna driehonderd raketten op Israël neer, waardoor het zuiden van het land grotendeels werd lamgelegd. Toch besloten de Israëlische leiders nog niet tot de tegenaanval.

Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Tzipi Livni vloog naar Cairo om de Egyptische leiders met klem te vragen Hamas in te tomen, en premier Olmert bezwoer de kijkers van tv-zender Al-Arabiyah dat Israël niet op een militaire confrontatie uit was. Als Israël zich al buitensporig heeft getoond, dan was het in zijn bereidheid een diplomatieke uitweg uit de crisis te vinden, desnoods ten koste van mensenlevens onder de eigen bevolking.

Toch is Hamas niet veroordeeld door de Veiligheidsraad, die pas bijeen wilde komen toen Israël uiteindelijk toch tot actie overging. De hypocrisie van de VN, en de aanzwellende kritiek op Israël in de media, versterken de Israëlische angst dat al dan niet eenzijdige territoriale concessies de veiligheid van het land alleen maar verder in gevaar zullen brengen.

Angst

Die vrees speelt zeker bij de gedachte aan gedeeltelijke terugtrekking uit de Westelijke Jordaanoever, die binnen schootsafstand ligt van grote steden en industriegebieden.

In de Gazastrook  staat veel meer op het spel dan alleen de militaire uitkomst van de Israëlische operatie. Waar het om gaat, is of Israël zijn afschrikkingsvermogen kan herstellen en kan vasthouden aan het principe dat zijn burgers niet ongestraft kunnen worden aangevallen. Zolang ze er niet zeker van zijn dat ze hun huizen en gezinnen na eventuele terugtrekking mogen beschermen, zullen de Israëliërs een tweestatenoplossing terecht als een bedreiging van hun bestaan beschouwen. In theorie zullen ze het wel eens blijven met het linkse idee van vreedzame coëxistentie met hun Palestijnse buren, maar in de praktijk zal de rechtse angst voor Joodse machteloosheid de doorslag geven.

Mokerslag

De crisis in de Gazastrook heeft ook gevolgen voor de onderhandelingen tussen Israël en Syrië. Ook hier speelt dat de Israëliërs geen afstand willen doen van belangrijke strategische gebieden – in dit geval de Golanhoogte  – in een internationaal klimaat waarin elke poging tot zelfverdediging als ongerechtvaardigde agressie wordt bestempeld. De aanjagersrol die Syrië bij het conflict in de Gazastrook heeft gespeeld, maakt het Israëlische wantrouwen nog groter. Het kantoor van Hamas in Damascus, dat de bescherming geniet van het regime van Bashir al-Assad, heeft zijn veto uitgesproken over de pogingen van Hamasleiders in Gaza om het bestand te verlengen en erop aangedrongen dat de raketaanvallen zouden worden opgevoerd.

De komende dagen  komt het mogelijk tot een Israëlische grondinvasie in Gaza. Israël moet de ruimte krijgen deze operatie af te ronden met een definitieve overwinning op Hamas, want de voortdurende raketaanvallen en grootscheepse wapensmokkel vormen een onhoudbare situatie. Het fiasco van 2006, toen Israël er niet in slaagde Hezbollah in Libanon te vernederen, kan nu worden goedgemaakt door een andere jihadistische marionet van Iran een mokerslag toe te brengen.

En het is misschien ook de laatste kans om de Israëliërs te overtuigen van de levensvatbaarheid van een tweestatenoplossing.  Zolang Hamas niet wordt verslagen, komt een verdrag dat zowel tegemoetkomt aan de Palestijnse aspiraties als aan de angsten van Israël niet dichterbij. In de Gazastrook staat niet minder op het spel dan de toekomst van het vredesproces.

 

Vertaling Cecilia Tabak
© The Wall Street Journal

-------------------

Michael B. Oren is docent aan het Shalem Centrum in Jeruzalem en hoogleraar aan Georgetown University. Yossi Klein Halevi is docent aan het  Shalem Centrum.

 

Israel nog niet klaar met Gaza offensief

Ondanks allerlei absurde claims dat Israel uit zou zijn op burgerdoden of deze haar op zijn minst onverschillig laten, heeft Israel juist een aantal strategische doelen niet gebombardeerd vanwege het risico op burgerdoden.

 

Although the first UN figures on Monday reported dozens of civilian fatalities in Gaza over the past three days, numerous potential targets - including weapons factories, arms stores and missile silos - have not been struck in the Israeli raids because of their proximity to civilian concentrations. Much of the Hamas military infrastructure is callously interwoven with residential areas.

 

Het zal de antizionisten er niet van weerhouden leugens te verspreiden, en de media niet om die kritiekloos te reproduceren, maar daar kunnen we wel de feiten tegenover zetten.

 

RP

-----------

Analysis: Barak not heading for the exit yet

Dec. 30, 2008
David Horovitz , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

 

It's not only all manner of international statespeople, organizations and would-be mediators who are urging Israel to call a halt to the assault on Hamas and its Gaza terror state. Many Israeli opinion-shapers, too, are applying Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's "enough is enough" epithet in quite the opposite direction from the one she had intended.

Newspaper columnists, some former senior military figures and even certain TV military commentators - notably Channel 10's Alon Ben-David - were on Monday wondering, with varying degrees of impatience, whether Israel ought now to be moving toward implementing its exit strategy, in the form of a hopefully improved de facto "cease-fire" arrangement with a bloodied, though firmly unbroken Hamas.

Day One of Operation Cast Lead was marked by air strikes on Hamas symbols of power in Gaza, including training bases and military command positions.

Day Two saw the bombing of the Hamas lifelines - 40 supply tunnels running from Egypt beneath the Philadelphi Corridor. Day Three included strikes on weapons factories and on weapons research labs at Gaza City's Islamic University - the manufacturers of the tools of the terror trade.

But at the special Knesset session Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak clearly suggested that more days of conflict loom in pursuit of the declared goal of this military campaign - a return of complete, stable calm to the South.

Israel, he said, was engaged in "a war to the bitter end" with Hamas.

The demise of Hamas rule in Gaza is not a stated aim of the current resort to force. But within the security establishment, there is no sense that Hamas has sustained a long-term strategic blow.

Its estimated 15,000-strong armed force is largely intact. So, too, is a goodly proportion of its rocket-launching capability. It was Hamas that formally ended the cease-fire, and Hamas is emphatically not issuing humbled pleas for its restoration.

Although the first UN figures on Monday reported dozens of civilian fatalities in Gaza over the past three days, numerous potential targets - including weapons factories, arms stores and missile silos - have not been struck in the Israeli raids because of their proximity to civilian concentrations. Much of the Hamas military infrastructure is callously interwoven with residential areas.

If Barak, Livni and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are indeed determined to achieve a genuine "remaking of the reality" in the South - to create conditions under which Hamas not only halts rocket fire, but is deterred from seeking the capacity to restart it - even such particularly problematic Hamas military targets will not be left unscathed.

In this context, it should be recalled that Barak is not only a former chief of General Staff, but also the former head of the IDF's elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, a specialist in unexpected, pinpoint operations.

The defense minister has spoken repeatedly over the past three days of an Israeli readiness to "expand and intensify" the assault on Hamas until the goals of the operation are met, and the gradual massing of ground forces at the Gaza border makes that threat palpable. But Barak has not specified how the ground forces might be utilized.

Hamas has always bragged that it will be ready for the IDF when the ground operation comes. Presumably Barak, who employed considerable cunning to achieve the surprise of Saturday's initial attack, is aiming for more of the unexpected.

_______________________________

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456523011&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Hamas hoopt op grondoffensief Israel in Gazastrook

 

De vraag is hoe Israel de operatie zonder gezichtsverlies kan beëindigen ook al is Hamas niet geheel van de kaart geveegd, iets wat waarschijnlijk niet mogelijk zonder veel slachtoffers aan beide kanten. Hamas zal dan zeker de overwinning uitroepen, en op de laatste dag nog wat raketten afvuren om te laten zien dat het niet verslagen is.

Anderzijds kan ook een grondoperatie Hamas in de kaart spelen, wanneer die voortijdig moet worden afgeblazen vanwege ofwel groter aantallen Israelische doden ofwel vanwege internationale druk.

Inmiddels lijkt Hamas wel voor een staakt-het-vuren te zijn, en het zou kunnen dat in de komende dagen achter de schermen een nieuw staakt-het-vuren wordt uitonderhandeld, en de tanks vooral voor de show aan de grens blijven staan.

 

RP

------------

 

ANALYSIS / Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051024.html

Three days into Operation Cast Lead, Israel is proposing a diplomatic exit. A ground operation likely looms in an effort to increase the pressure on Hamas. At the same time, however, others argue that the air force is close to exhausting its target bank, so if Hamas can be brought to accept a cease-fire on terms convenient to Israel in the near future it would be better to do so. Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar fire at Israel Monday. It is starting to recover from the initial shock of the assault, and the bad weather is helping to protect its launching crews from Israeli aircraft. By 8 P.M., Hamas had fired more than 80 rockets and mortars at Israel, including a Grad Katyusha strike on Ashkelon that killed an Israeli construction worker and wounded 10 others. At 9:30 P.M., a Katyusha hit Ashdod, seriously wounding another two civilians . The Home Front Command says some of the civilian casualties of the last few days could have been prevented had people obeyed its orders and entered shelters when they heard the warning sirens. Israel has thus far refused to officially discuss a cease-fire, but in practice it is conducting an indirect and hesitant dialogue with Hamas. As of yet, however, there is no official mediator. Khaled Meshal, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' political bureau, has been calling for a cease-fire for two days now. However, communications with the organization's leadership in Gaza are hampered because all its leaders have gone underground for fear of Israeli assassination attempts, while Israel's air strikes have disrupted the Strip's communications networks. Paradoxically, the same measures that have hampered Hamas' military response are also impeding efforts to end the fighting. Israel will insist that any truce include a complete, long-term halt to the rocket fire from Gaza. In exchange, it will apparently agree to reopen the border crossings at some point, though no final decisions have been made. Some ministers want to continue the military operation, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Gabi Ashkenazi, are more cautious. The diplomatic clock is ticking relatively slowly because both Europe and the United States are all but closed for Christmas and New Year's Day. Meshal has been trying to get the Arab League and Senegal, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to push for a cease-fire. So far, international criticism of Israel has been relatively muted despite the many Palestinian casualties. Even in the Arab world, not everyone is crying over Hamas' losses. The operation's goals, as defined by the cabinet, are "creating a different long-term security situation in the south, while bolstering Israel's deterrence." The IDF does not interpret this to mean a complete end to the rocket fire, as it considers this impossible. Rather, its goal is to eliminate Hamas' desire to attack Israel. The bombing campaign has so far dealt a severe blow to Hamas. However, ground forces are already in place for the next phase. The Gazan mud will make it harder for tanks and armored personnel carriers to maneuver, and Hamas has clearly been preparing its defense for months. Thus any ground operation will entail many casualties, which is one of the government's considerations in deciding how the operation should proceed. On July 12, 2006, hours after the Second Lebanon War began, Barak called Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and warned: "It's very important to define how and when you'll end [the war], because the more time goes by, the greater the potential for complications." That is no less true today. As for the Palestinians, they plan to declare victory regardless of what happens. If the IDF withdraws rapidly, without a ground operation and without having seriously reduced the rocket fire, Hamas will boast that it survived and Israel blinked first. But Hamas officials and analysts said Monday that the organization would actually like Israel to launch a ground operation; it hopes this would let it inflict such heavy losses on Israeli tanks and infantry that Israel would flee with its tail between its legs. Just as the Second Lebanon War did, the current war will have far-reaching consequences for the balance of forces in the Middle East. First, it has brought the conflict between Hamas and Egypt into the open, which could influence domestic developments in Egypt. To some degree, it has also reignited the conflict between Arab moderates, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and the extremists, led by non-Arab Iran. In Lebanon, it is already clear which side won. In Gaza, we will learn the answer in the coming days or weeks.

Hezbollah kwaad op Egypte en woedend op Israel

 

De Arabische landen reagerden verdeeld, waarbij met name Hezbollah-leider Nasrallah de zaak probeert flink op te stoken en Egyptenaren tegen hun regering probeert op te zetten. Verschillende mensen en landen roepen Egypte en Jordanië op hun banden met Israel te verbreken, ook intern wordt daartoe opgeroepen.

Woensdag komt de Arabische Liga in een spciale zitting bijeen om over de situatie in Gaza te spreken.

 

Dat Israel haar troepen aan de Libanese grens in paraatheid brengt is logisch. De Israelische operaties in de Gazastrook in 2006 werden door Hezbollah aangegrepen voor een aanval aan de noordgrens van Israel.

 

RP & WB

----------------------

The Jerusalem Post
Dec 28, 2008 22:45 | Updated Dec 29, 2008 15:44

 

Egypt: Hizbullah declared war on us
By BRENDA GAZZAR, AP AND JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456503819&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


In a press conference held on Monday afternoon in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit responded to criticism by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, saying that "They have practically declared war on Egypt via several satellite stations. The Egyptian people reject and opposes this declaration."

"They want for there to be chaos in Egypt as there is in their country," Gheit said of Hizbullah.

"I tell this man [Nasrallah]: No, no! Our armed forces can defend our homeland from people like you. Your interest in creating chaos is not in the best interest of the area," he added.

The Egyptian foreign minister added that his country had tried to prevent the escalation in violence by asking Israel not to carry out an operation in the Gaza Strip.

"We asked Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to Cairo in order to tell her: 'Do not attack the Gaza Strip,' but unfortunately, this is not what happened."

Meanwhile, Tens of thousands of Lebanese Hizbullah supporters poured into the streets of southern Beirut, protesting Israel's air assault on the Gaza Strip.

The protesters carried Palestinian, Lebanese and yellow Hizbullah flags and banners supporting the Palestinian people.

"Death to Israel," and "At your service, Gaza!" many in the crowd shouted during Monday's demonstration.

The massive rally was called for by Nasrallah who in a speech on Sunday urged crowds in the Arab and Islamic world to rise up in support of Gaza.

He declared Monday a day of mourning and solidarity with Gaza.

In his televised speech on Sunday, Nasrallah attacked Arab nations - particularly Egypt and Jordan - and accused them of cooperation with Israel in its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"There are some who speak of Arab silence, but this is wrong. There is full Arab cooperation, especially by those who have signed so-called peace agreements with Israel," he said.

The Hizbullah leader called on Arabs everywhere to go out into the streets and demonstrate, in order to force their governments to stop the Israeli offensive.

Nasrallah reprimanded Egypt for casting the responsibility of the condition in Gaza on Hamas.

He attacked the Egyptian foreign minister who in a Saturday press conference said that Hamas, which had been repeatedly warned by Egypt, must bear responsibility for the current situation in Gaza.

"Yesterday, we heard a high-ranking Egyptian leader cast the responsibility on the victim. Can we accept such things from Arabs? Casting the responsibility for this war on the Gaza resistance is embarrassing and saddening," Nasrallah added. "Our nations call on Egypt to help."

Nasrallah also warned the Lebanese government and army to be on alert in southern Lebanon in case Israel attacked.

Nasrallah said Sunday that Hizbullah is ready to confront any Israeli "aggression" against Lebanon in light of Israel's assault on Gaza.

"Since the beginning of the Zionist attack on Gaza, Israeli officials have issued threats about another front, and they mean Lebanon," Nasrallah said.

He warned that Israel has taken measures on its borders that might or might not be defensive, and "might take advantage of the situation to launch an attack on Lebanon."

Nasrallah said that Israel needed such action on "an electoral level and to salvage the image of the Israeli army." But, he added, "We are not concerned or afraid... We are ready to face any attack on our country."

Nasrallah was speaking from a secret location through a giant screen to hundreds of supporters who gathered in Hizbullah's stronghold of Beirut's southern suburbs.

Elsewhere across the Middle East, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on Sunday for the second day in a row to protest Israel's air assaults on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

From Ramallah to Lebanon to Iran and Iraq, crowds of protesters called for an end to Israel's attacks, which began Saturday and have claimed more than 280 lives in the Hamas-controlled Strip.

Several of the protests turned violent.

"We have a disaster here... the number of people dying, the number of wounded, the number of houses and buildings destroyed, which is carried by almost 700 Arabic satellite stations," said Dr. Abdel Monem Said Ali, director of the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies.

"I think it is mobilizing the Arab public in a way that for sure will push their governments" to take diplomatic and political action, he said.

Arab foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Cairo on Wednesday under the auspices of the Arab League to "formulate the Arab position to deal with Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip," Arab League Chairman Amr Moussa said Saturday night.

The urgent meeting was initially going to take place on Sunday but was delayed to accommodate members who had meetings scheduled with other Arab regional groups.

On Sunday, Moussa said that the UN Security Council action passed earlier in the day expressing serious concern at the escalating situation in Gaza and urging an immediate halt to all violence was "not enough."

At the upcoming Arab League meeting, the members will "have to balance a very strong message of support to the Palestinians with keeping the road open to negotiations," Ali said.

"Some will call on Egypt and Jordan to cut diplomatic relations with Israel."

Already on Saturday, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir told Al-Jazeera that those nations which have normal relations with Israel should cut their ties in light of the Gaza operation, Ali said. Jordan, Egypt and Mauritania are the only three Arab League states that have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Both Egypt and Jordan are receiving internal pressure from syndicates, trade unions and political parties to sever their relations with Israel.

Jordanian deputies burnt an Israeli flag during a parliamentary session on Sunday in a rare protest against the Jewish state's raids on the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.

Delaying the Arab League meeting by a few days could be a wise choice to let things cool off a bit, Ali said.

"The initial position of Arab countries in such a meeting is usually to take an extreme position," he said. "After two days, their nerves will be much better, particularly if they work out a cease-fire in the next few days."

Meanwhile, in Iraq, a suicide bomber on a bicycle targeted a crowd of more than 1,000 demonstrators in Mosul, killing one protester and wounding 16, Iraqi police said.

In Lebanon, police fired tear gas to stop dozens of demonstrators from reaching the Egyptian Embassy. Some in the crowd hurled stones at the embassy compound. It was unclear if anyone was hurt.

Egypt has been criticized for not doing enough to allow aid to pass through its border with Gaza.

Earlier in the Lebanese capital, a Hamas official roused a crowd of about 1,000 people topped by fluttering Lebanese and Palestinian flags, promising victory, resistance and ruling out surrender. His speech was met with cries of "death to Israel" from the crowd.

The demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations office in downtown Beirut. After an all-night emergency session in New York, the UN's Security Council expressed serious concern at the escalating situation in Gaza and called on both Israel and the Palestinians to immediately halt all violence.

Protesten van Israelische Arabieren tegen Gaza offensief

 

Enerzijds zijn deze protesten natuurlijk begrijpelijk, men identificeert zich met de Palestijnen en sommigen hebben ook familie in Gaza. Anderzijds zijn Israelische Arabieren Israelische staatsburgers, en is Israels veiligheid ook in hun belang. De qassam- en katjoesja raketten maken geen onderscheid tussen Joden en Arabieren, en een van de doden die vandaag viel in Israel was een Arabier. Het feit dat sommigen van hen openlijk de kant van Hamas kiezen, is niet bevorderlijk voor de moeizame verhoudingen tussen Joden en Arabieren in Israel.

 

RP

----------

The Jerusalem Post
Dec 28, 2008 21:18 | Updated Dec 29, 2008 8:57

Protests flare up in Arab Israeli sector over Gaza
By BRENDA GAZZAR AND YAAKOV LAPPIN
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456503064&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Israeli Arabs closed their schools and shops on Sunday in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and some rioted as the IDF operation in the Strip continued for a second day.

The general strike was called late Saturday night by the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, which includes political representatives from the national and local levels.

"We are part of the Palestinian people as well and our people are going through a tough time. There is a lot of suffering because of the casualties there," said MK Hanna Sweid (Hadash), a member of the committee. "It's our way of showing our sympathy with them and our solidarity. It is also an objection to the policies of Israel, which is pursuing the issue with force and not by negotiations."

As they did on Saturday, police in the North dealt with a series of rock-throwing attacks and demonstrations held by Arabs against the IDF operation in Gaza.

Forty-one Israeli Arabs were arrested by Sunday afternoon across northern Israel, police said. Two Jews who entered Umm el-Fahm were reportedly attacked by a mob on Monday evening and lightly wounded. There were also reports of rock-throwing and tire-burning in Wadi Ara.

In addition to calling for demonstrations throughout the country, the monitoring committee has decided to send letters to diplomats worldwide asking them to intervene and is requesting that people donate blood on behalf of those injured in Gaza, said committee member Ayman Odeh, who is also Hadash general-secretary.

Members of the committee also met on Sunday night in Haifa.

The committee has called for an immediate halt to the IAF attacks and believes that negotiations are the only way to resolve the conflict, Sweid said.

Otherwise, "shelling will continue on both sides."

Demonstrations were held in several cities on Sunday, including in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Umm el-Fahm.

In Umm el-Fahm, Ayman Igbaria, who lectures on education at the University of Haifa, said that as far as he could tell, everything was shut down in the city, including small stores not on the city's main thoroughfare.

Sunday's strike, he said, did not necessarily reflect an acceptance of Hamas policies or behavior, but rather was a call for Palestinians to resolve their political differences and unite to oppose the Israeli military operation as well as the blockade of Gaza.

"People are showing solidarity with the Palestinian people because they don't think that it is only Hamas that is being targeted, it's also the entire Palestinian people," Igbaria said.

In the Galilee, youths threw rocks at passing vehicles at the Deir el-Asad junction on Route 85, near Karmiel. Two cars were lightly damaged, though no injuries were reported. Police closed off the road in both directions as officers brought the disturbance under control. The road was reopened after a few hours.

Also in Umm el-Fahm, one man fired a gun during a rally, accidentally injuring two children aged 10 and 11. The children were evacuated to the Emek Medical Center in Afula with light injuries to their legs.

In Daburiya, east of Nazareth, youths burned tires during a demonstration.

Police have launched a dialogue with village elders across the Arab sector in an effort to prevent youths from rioting.

 

Israelische actie tegen Hamas gerechtvaardigd

 

In tegenstelling tot wat sommigen graag beweren, zijn wij geen spreekbuis of verlengstuk van het CIDI. In onderstaand persbericht kunnen we ons echter wel vinden.

 

Het was van meet af aan duidelijk dat Hamas het staakt-het-vuren gebruikte om zich sterker te bewapenen voor een volgende ronde van gewelddadigheden, zoals ook Israel haar voorbereidingen trof. Er is een logische reden dat Israel maar mondjesmaat goederen de Gazastrook binnenliet, niet als collectieve straf, maar om een vijand tegen te houden die zich probeerde te bewapenen om haar opnieuw en versterkt te kunnen aanvallen. Israel sloot de grenzen ook in reactie op Palestijnse schendingen van het bestand, en opende ze dan de volgende dag weer.

 

Hamas en de andere 'verzetsgroepen' hebben altijd de keus gehad om of vrede na te streven of de strijd tegen een overmachtige vijand voort te zetten, en ze hebben vrede consequent afgewezen. De huidige gevechten zijn het logische en te verwachten vervolg op het staakt-het-vuren en het beëindigen - door Hamas - daarvan. Zoals in elke oorlog zijn er ook onschuldige slachtoffers te betreuren, maar de verantwoordelijkheid daarvoor ligt in de eerste plaats bij Hamas.

 

Wouter

__________

 

 

PERSBERICHT

CIDI: Israelische actie is een gerechtvaardigd antwoord


"De Israelische actie in Gaza is een gerechtvaardigd antwoord op de voortdurende beschietingen van Israelische civiele doelen door Hamas", stelt het CIDI. "De door Hamas gebruikte raketten hebben aangetoond dat de organisatie de recente wapenstilstand (tahdia) heeft misbruikt voor het opbouwen van een voorraad sterkere en agressieve wapens.

De Israelische actie was niet nodig geweest als Hamas de vijandelijkheden niet had hervat en afziet van zijn heilloze doel de staat Israel te vernietigen. Hoewel de Israelische actie is gericht tegen militaire doelen en politieposten van Hamas, vallen in dit dichtbevolkte gebied ook burgerslachtoffers. CIDI betreurt dit en doet een beroep op beide partijen de burgers te ontzien. Als Israel zou overgaan tot een grondactie, dan mag dit niet leiden tot een herbezetting van de Gazastrook.

Een oplossing van het Palestijns-Israelisch conflict kan immers alleen worden bereikt door het tot stand komen van een onafhankelijke Palestijnse staat op de Westelijke Jordaanoever en de Gazastrook die in vrede leeft naast Israel, waardoor burgers nooit meer angst hoeven te hebben voor terrorisme en militair geweld."

 

 

Israelische luchtaanval op wapencentrum Hamas

 

Dit zijn het soort doelen dat Israel bombardeert, met gerichte acties, waar vaak maandenlange verzameling van inlichtingen aan vooraf is gegaan.

 

RP

---------

IDF Spokesperson

Dec 29th, 2008

Aerial Strike on Weapon Research and Development Center

 

The Israeli Air Force attacked a number of Hamas targets during the night, including Hamas outposts, weapon manufacturing facilities and a center for weapon research and development.

The center, located in the Rimel neighborhood of Gaza City, was targeted in a combined IDF and the ISA operation, the IAF struck buildings that were used as meeting places for senior leaders of Hamas.

One of the structures struck housed explosives laboratories that were an inseparable part of Hamas' research and development program, as well as places that served as storage facilities for the organization. The development of these weapons took place under the auspices of senior lecturers who are activists in Hamas.

Among the weapons that have been developed and manufactured at this site are Qassam rockets. Hamas has been working tirelessly to extend the range of the rockets, as has been shown during the past few days.

In February 2007 the Fattah Presidential Guard raided the facility and uncovered many weapons including approximately 100 Qassam rockets, 250 RPG launchers, hundreds of assault rifles, lathes, and materials used for rocket manufacturing.

Angela Merkel wijdt geweld Gaza aan Hamas

 

Gelukkig veroordeelt niet iedereen het Israelische geweld, maar de felste en meest eenzijdige veroordelingen worden in onderstaand artikel niet genoemd.

Tony Blairs opmerking is welhaast ironisch:

 

"We need to devise a new strategy for Gaza," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is serving as the Mideast Quartet's special envoy representing the US, Russia, the United Nations and the EU, said on Saturday. One "which brings that territory back under the legitimate rule of the Palestinian Authority in a manner which ends their suffering and fully protects the security of Israel."

 

Denkt hij dat Hamas er vrijwillig mee instemt om de macht in Gaza aan de Palestijnse Autoriteit over te dragen? Juist het Israelische offensief kan zo'n machtsovername dichterbij brengen. Als hij andere ideeën heeft, zou ik zeggen, bel Olmert en Barak even op.

 

RP

-----------

Merkel Blasts Hamas for Middle East Violence
12/29/2008 05:02 PM
www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,598724,00.html

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday said the blame for renewed violence in the Middle East can be pinned on Hamas. Others, though, say Israel's response with mass air strikes has been disproportionate.

Domestically, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has often been criticized for trimming her positions to take advantage of whichever direction the political wind might be blowing. On Monday, though, she was very clear about where the blame should lie for the renewed Palestinian-Israeli violence in the Middle East.

Speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by phone, she said responsibility for the three-day-old Israeli air offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip lies "clearly and exclusively" with Hamas, according to government spokesman Thomas Steg. A statement on the Chancellery Web site referred to Israel's "legitimate right" to defend its people and territory.

Merkel's comments joined a chorus of voices slamming Hamas for its decision to allow a cease-fire to elapse on Dec. 19 and to resume firing rockets from the Gaza Strip across the border into Israel. Dozens of homemade Qassam missiles have slammed into Israel in the last several days, killing two and wounding several. Israel has responded with massive air raids that began on Saturday. At least 300 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed in the bombings.

The US has likewise pointed at Hamas as being responsible for the renewed violence. "The United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the cease-fire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a statement.

Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, was even more direct. "These people are nothing but thugs, so Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas that indiscriminately kill their own people," he said.

Still, much of the global and European reaction has also been critical of Israel's forceful response. In a statement released on Monday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said "I am deeply concerned by continuing missile strikes from Gaza on Israel and by Israel's response."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was even more critical of Israel, calling the air raid campaign against the Gaza Strip "disproportionate force." Sarkozy spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by telephone on Sunday and also condemned "the provocations which have led to this situation."

Javier Solana, chief of foreign policy for the European Union, said "the EU has repeatedly condemned rocket attacks against Israel," before adding "the current Israeli strikes are inflicting an unacceptable toll on Palestinian civilians."

Despite the protest from capital cities around the world, it seems unlikely that the violence will stop anytime soon. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has indicated that a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip may be the next step and Israeli tanks are amassing on the border. Hamas, for its part, has denied a government statement from Senegal which claimed that Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal had told the Senegalese president he was ready to sign a cease-fire.

The Palestinians themselves also seem split on how to react to the Gaza Strip raids. An aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that Abbas "demands that the Israeli government stop this aggression immediately." But on Sunday in Egypt, he also seemed to place some of the blame with Hamas. "We talked to them (Hamas) and we told them 'please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop' so that we could have avoided what happened," Abbas said on Sunday in Cairo during a visit for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Abbas' Fatah Party holds power in the West Bank, but has had no leverage in the Gaza Strip since June 2007, when Hamas violentally wrested power away from Abbas' Fatah party in the area. Since then, the two Palestinian factions have been deeply divided with the European Union and Americans both classifying Hamas as a terrorist organization.

The split is likely to make it even more difficult to find a resolution to the current crisis. Egypt has long been attempting to negotiate a settlement between Hamas and Fatah, but has found little success so far. Such a settlement though, is necessary before the Israeli-Palestinian peace process can continue, say many.
"We need to devise a new strategy for Gaza," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is serving as the Mideast Quartet's special envoy representing the US, Russia, the United Nations and the EU, said on Saturday. One "which brings that territory back under the legitimate rule of the Palestinian Authority in a manner which ends their suffering and fully protects the security of Israel."

cgh -- with wire reports

Twee nieuwe doden in zuid-Israel door raketten uit Gaza

 

Genegeerd door het nieuws en NOVA: bij raketaanvallen door de Hamas zijn vandaag verschillende doden en gewonden gevallen. In tegenstelling tot Israel, is Hamas bewust uit op het doden van burgers, ook vrouwen en kinderen.

 

RP

---------------

2 killed as rockets, mortar shells slam into southern Israel
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Dec. 29, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456508070&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Two people were killed on Monday night as Gaza terrorists continued to pound southern Israel with rockets and mortar shells.

One of the fatalities was a woman who had run to a bus stop in Ashdod for cover as a rocket hit the city.

The Grad-type rocket killed her and wounded four others - one seriously and three lightly - when it impacted near the bus stop.

The casualties were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

It marks the first time a rocket has hit Ashdod. The city is Israel's fifth largest, with a population of some 250,000. It is located approximately 35 kilometers from Gaza.

The rocket was one of over 70 fired at southern Israel Monday.

In the second attack Monday night, one person was killed when a mortar shell fired by Gaza terrorists struck the Nahal Oz area, in the western Negev.

Five other people were wounded in the attack, one seriously, one moderately and three lightly.

In another attack earlier Monday, Hanni Al-Mahdi, 27, of the Beduin town of Aroer in the Negev, was killed and at least 14 people were wounded when a Grad-type missile hit a construction site in Ashkelon's center.

Of the wounded, five were reported to be in moderate-to-serious condition and the rest were lightly wounded. Several people were sent into shock by the attack.

According to Channel 2, the missile hit the top floor of the building, which did not yet have a roof.

Magen David Adom ambulances evacuated all the casualties to the city's Barzilai Hospital.

Most of the people at the site were Arab construction workers from Rahat and the Manda village in the Galilee.

Following the attack, Hamas's military wing called on Egyptian and Jordanian citizens working in Israel to leave all Israeli cities, Army Radio reported.

Hamas took responsibility for firing the missile and reported that a "Zionist" was killed in the attack.

Moussa, a construction worker from Kfar Manda who was lightly wounded in the Ashkelon attack, told Army Radio that there were about twelve workers at the site at the time of the attack.

Moussa said a public library was being constructed there, and added that the work at the site had been underway for several years.

In Sderot, several people suffered from shock after their house sustained a direct hit from a rocket.

The IDF on Monday morning declared the area along the Gaza border a closed military zone, denying entrance to all but local residents.

The ban included journalists. However, it was not clear how effectively the order was being upheld, as a correspondent for the British Sky News network was seen reporting from the border in the late morning.

 

Yaakov Katz contributed to this report

Israelische luchtmacht gebruikt 'slimme' Amerikaanse bunker-busters

Uit het gebruik van dit soort precisie bommen en ander high-tech materiaal blijkt dat Israel er op uit is het aantal onschuldige slachtoffers te minimaliseren. Ook de waarschuwingen die Gazanen op hun telefoons ontvingen wijzen daarop.

 

RP

------------

IAF uses new US-supplied smart bomb
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Dec. 29, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456505080&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday.

The missile, called GBU-39, was developed in recent years by the US as a small-diameter bomb for low-cost, high-precision and low collateral damage strikes.

Israel received approval from Congress to purchase 1,000 units in September and defense officials said on Sunday that the first shipment had arrived earlier this month and was used successfully in penetrating underground Kassam launchers in the Gaza Strip during the heavy aerial bombardment of Hamas infrastructure on Saturday. It was also used in Sunday's bombing of tunnels in Rafah.

The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world. The 113-kg. bomb has the same penetration capabilities as a normal 900-kg. bomb, although it has only 22.7 kg. of explosives. At just 1.75 meters long, its small size increases the number of bombs an aircraft can carry and the number of targets it can attack in a sortie.

Tests conducted in the US have proven that the bomb is capable of penetrating at least 90 cm. of steel-reinforced concrete. The GBU-39 can be used in adverse weather conditions and has a standoff range of more than 110 km. due to pop-out wings.

Also Sunday, Military Intelligence's Psychological Warfare Department broke into radio broadcasts in Gaza and warned Palestinian civilians not to cooperate with Hamas terrorist activity.

Palestinians reported that they received phone calls to their cellular phones and landlines from the IDF. The phone call, the Palestinians said, conveyed a recorded message ordering the immediate evacuation of homes that were next to Hamas infrastructure or being used by the terrorist organization.

On Sunday, head of the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration Col. Moshe Levy was interviewed by several Arab news outlets during which he stressed that Israel was not against the Palestinian public in Gaza but was operating against Hamas.

Defense officials said Sunday that Israel would, however, not hesitate to target the homes of civilians who protected Hamas terrorists throughout the operation.

"We will go after every Hamas operative, no matter where he is," one official said. "We urge the Palestinians not to cooperate with terrorists."

Israel bombardeert 40 smokkeltunnels, Gazanen breken grens met Egypte open

 

Nieuwsberichten van de afgelopen 2 dagen over het Israëlische offensief in de Gazastrook:

 

Hamas commandant mogelijk onder doden Gazastrook

Waarom Hamas het staakt-het-vuren niet verlengde

Hamas dreigt met aanslagen op Livni en Barak

VN Veiligheidsraad roept Israel en Palestijnen op geweld te staken

Abbas verwijt Hamas beëindiging staakt-het-vuren

Tweede dag Israelisch offensief in Gazastrook

VN Secretaris-Generaal Ban Ki-Moon over Gaza operatie

Israelische Arabieren kwaad om IDF operatie Gazastrook

Voorbereiding van het Gaza offensief

Ruim 200 Palestijnen en 1 Israeli omgekomen

Israel kan geen staakt-het-vuren met Hamas accepteren

PA klaar om macht in Gazastrook weer over te nemen van Hamas

Soedan veroordeelt Israels 'slachting' in Gaza Strook

Israelische aanval op Gaza strook is voor 'shock and awe'

___________________________

 

Last update - 00:07 29/12/2008

Gaza residents breach Egypt border; Israel bombs 40 smuggling tunnels
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050618.html

Gaza residents on Sunday breached the border fence with Egypt in several places and hundreds have crossed the frontier prompting Egyptian border guards to open fire, said officials and witnesses on both sides of the border.

The breach came one day after Israel launched the largest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip since it captured the territory in 1967, leaving some 286 people dead and scores wounded.

An Egyptian security official said there were at least five breaches along the 9 mile (14 kilometer) border and hundreds of Palestinian residents were pouring in.

At least 300 Egyptian border guards rushed to the area to reseal the border, the official added on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

A resident of the Gaza Strip side of the border, Fida Kishta, said that Egyptian border guards opened fire to drive back the Palestinians. Residents also commandeered a bulldozer to open new breaches.

Egyptian state television reported that Hamas security forces shot an Egyptian border guard and killed him. An Egyptian security source said Hamas forces had also shot an Egyptian policeman in the leg.

The border breach came shortly after Israel Defense Forces aircraft bombed more than 40 tunnels linking the blockaded Gaza Strip with Egypt's Sinai desert.

"The air force just attacked over 40 tunnels found on the Gaza side of the border. Those tunnels, we believe, were used for smuggling weapons, explosives and sometimes people," an IDF spokeswoman told reporters.

Palestinian sources reported that two people had been killed in the strike. Witnesses said that fires raged in the area and that dozens of explosions were heard.

Meanwhile Sunday, the IDF announced its intention to call up 6,700 reservists to duty, as the operation in Gaza continued.

"The Israel Defense Forces will, in the coming days, call up more reservists," Cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel told reporters after ministers met for a special session Sunday to discuss the operation.

Defense officials said some reservists had already been mobilized to help in protecting communities on the Gaza border from retaliatory Palestinian rocket salvoes. New reservists would help complete the armed forces' preparations for a possible escalation of the fighting, an official said.

Earlier Sunday, hundreds of IDF infantry and armored corps troops headed for the Gaza Strip border in preparation for a possible ground invasion, military officials said.

Israel Air Force warplanes struck at least 60 Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip early Sunday. The death toll had climbed to 286 by Sunday afternoon, according to Al-Jazeera. The targets of the strikes on Sunday included a mosque and a TV station.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, ordered the Rafah crossing to Gaza partially opened to allow in medical supplies and basic humanitarian aid.

"Operation Cast Lead" began around 11:30 A.M on Saturday as 64 aircraft delivered over 100 tons of explosives on 50 to 100 Hamas targets in the Strip, and was the largest Israeli operation on Gaza since 1967.

Barak told Sky News on Saturday that he would not rule out widening the offensive in the Gaza Strip to include a ground invasion.

"There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight," he said.

Barak on Saturday also said Israel "cannot really accept" a cease-fire with Hamas, rejecting calls by the United Nations and the European Union for a truce.

"For us to be asked to have a cease-fire with Hamas is like asking you to have a cease-fire with Al-Qaida," Barak said in an interview with Fox News. "It's something we cannot really accept."

Asked whether Israel would follow up the air strikes with a ground offensive, Barak said, "If boots on the ground will be needed, they will be there."

"Our intention is to totally change the rules of the game," he added.

In the first attack early Sunday, Palestinians said Israeli aircraft bombed a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, destroying it. Two bodies were retrieved from the rubble. The blast, just after midnight, blew out windows at the hospital, hospital officials said. The military said the mosque was a base for terrorist activities.

Another target early Sunday was the Al Aqsa TV station used by Hamas. Its studio building was destroyed, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit. Palestinians counted about 20 airstrikes in the first hours of Sunday.

The massive offensive was launched in response to the unceasing rocket and mortar attacks that have traumatized southern Israel, despite a six-month truce intended to halt cross-border violence.

Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets at southern Israel on Sunday, even as the IAF continued to bomb the coastal territory.

In Israel, Netivot resident Bebert Vaknin was killed and six other Israelis were wounded when Palestinian rockets struck the western Negev.

Three Hamas officers among 230 killed in IAF strikes

Twelve hours after the strike was launched Saturday morning, at least 230 people had been killed and 780 wounded, bringing hospital services to the brink of collapse.

Of the Palestinians killed on Saturday, most were militants. The fatalities included three senior Hamas officers: Tawfik Jabber, the commander of Hamas' police force in Gaza; his adjutant, Ismail al-Ja'abri, commander of the defense and security directorate; and Abu-Ahmad Ashur, Hamas' Gaza central district governor.

Hamas vowed harsh retaliation for the attacks. "The Israeli occupation needs to know that it has cast itself into the fire," said Abu Ubeida, spokesman for the organization's military wing, the Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The unprecedented assault sparked protests and condemnations throughout the Arab world, while many of Israel's Western allies urged restraint, though the U.S. blamed Hamas for the fighting.

But there seemed to be no end in sight. Israel obliquely threatened to go after Hamas' leaders, and militants kept pelting Israel with rockets.

In a televised statement Saturday evening, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the goal was to bring about a fundamental improvement in the security situation of the residents of the southern part of the country. He added, "It could take some time."

At least 15 civilians killed in Saturday strikes

The Israeli air strikes caused widespread panic and confusion, and black plumes of smoke billowed above the territory, ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas for the past 18 months. Some of the Israeli missiles struck in densely populated areas as students were leaving school, and women rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children. At least 15 civilians were killed, officials said.

"My son is gone, my son is gone," wailed Said Masri, a 57-year-old shopkeeper, as he sat in the middle of a Gaza City street, slapping his face and covering his head with dust from a bombed-out security compound nearby.

He said he had sent his 9-year-old son out to purchase cigarettes minutes before the airstrikes began and could not find him. "May I burn like the cigarettes, may Israel burn," Masri moaned.

Militants often operate against Israel from civilian areas, and that has led to steep civilian casualties in the past when Israel has retaliated. Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language voice mails on their cell phones from the Israel Defense Forces, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons.

The offensive began eight days after a six-month truce between Israel and the militants expired. The Israeli army says Palestinian militants have fired some 300 rockets and mortars at Israeli targets over the past week, and 10 times that number over the past year.

In Gaza City's main security compound, bodies of more than a dozen uniformed Hamas police lay on the ground. Civilians rushed wounded people in cars and vans to hospitals because there weren't enough ambulances to transport all the dead and wounded.

"There are heads without bodies.... There's blood in the corridors. People are weeping, women are crying, doctors are shouting," said nurse Ahmed Abdel Salaam from Shifa Hospital, Gaza's main treatment center.

Military officials said aircraft released more than 100 tons of bombs in the first nine hours of fighting, focusing initially on militant training camps, rocket-manufacturing facilities and weapons warehouses that had been identified in advance.

A second wave was directed at squads who fired about 80 rockets and mortars at Israeli border communities. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Hamas' political leaders could soon be targeted. "Hamas is a terrorist organization and nobody is immune," she declared.

 

Hamas commandant mogelijk onder doden Gazastrook

 

Een van de weinige berichten waarin concrete aantallen gesneuvelde burgers en strijders worden genoemd. Anonieme 'mensenrechtenactivisten' worden aangehaald wat betreft het aantal gesneuvelde burgers, en wat zij zeggen klinkt meer naar schattingen dan naar harde cijfers. Het merendeel van de slachtoffers waren leden van Hamas, vooral politieagenten en gewapende strijders.

 

RP

-----------

'Hamas chief of staff may be dead'
YAAKOV KATZ and KHALED ABU TOAMEH , THE JERUSALEM POST

Dec. 29, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456505069&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Conflicting reports emerged Sunday regarding the fate of top Hamas military commander Ahmed Ja'abri, who may have been killed in one of the hundreds of Israeli air strikes against Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday, the air force has flown over 300 sorties over the Strip, bombing close to 280 different targets. Palestinian and Israeli sources said that Ja'abri, the overall commander of Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, may have been killed in an air strike on a mosque which he frequented.

Sources close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip said they could neither confirm nor deny the report. They said that the bodies of many of the victims had yet to be identified and that several bodies were still under the rubbles of demolished buildings.

Defense officials said that at least 50 percent of Hamas's underground rocket launchers had been bombed during the air campaign, as well as a significant number of weapons warehouses. In addition, almost all of the Hamas bases and headquarters in the Gaza Strip were completely destroyed.

On Sunday, IAF aircraft bombed a top Hamas security installation, a mosque, a TV station and dozens of other targets.

But despite the bombings and the relatively low number of Kassam rockets fired into Israel throughout the day - some 30 in comparison to the earlier predictions of over 100 - senior officials said that Hamas was still capable of firing barrages of rockets into Israel.

"Hamas's operational capabilities were damaged, but the group still has underground launchers as well as the capability to launch attacks along the security fence and into Israel," said one official.

Officials said that Hamas was believed to still have thousands of Kassam rockets as well as a significant number of Grad-model Katyushas. Top officers would not rule out the possibility that Hamas may also have rockets with ranges greater that 40 kilometers. Hamas is also believed to have advanced anti-tank missiles as well as a number of shoulder-to-air missiles capable of downing Israeli aircraft.

The majority of the Palestinians killed in the IDF air raids that began Saturday were policemen and militiamen belonging to Izaddin Kassam, human rights activists and medical sources said Sunday.

They revealed that about 160 blue-uniformed policemen were killed in the first day of the operation. Most of the cadets were attending a graduation ceremony at the main police headquarters in Gaza City on Saturday. The IDF said that in total, over 280 Palestinians were killed, most of them Hamas operatives.

Among the victims: Tawkif Jaber, the director-general of the Hamas-run "civil" police force in the Gaza Strip, and Ismail Ja'bari, commander of one of Hamas's most-feared security forces. The two are the most senior Hamas officials who are known to have been killed since the beginning of the IDF operation.

A human rights activist estimated that so far at least 60 civilians had been killed, including nine children under the age of 14 and 20 women. Another human rights activist said he knew about "fewer than 45" civilian casualties.

By Sunday night, the Palestinians reported that about 300 people had been killed and 1000 wounded since the beginning of the operation.

Palestinian journalists in Gaza City said they were facing many difficulties in collecting information about the casualties because of restrictions imposed by Hamas and because many of the victims' relatives had buried the bodies quickly.

Waarom Hamas het staakt-het-vuren niet verlengde

 

Dit artikel was geschreven voor de Israelische bombardementen op Gaza begonnen. Ik heb mij ook meermaals afgevraagd waarom Hamas het staakt-het-vuren heeft beëindigd, en waarom het maar door ging met raketten afvuren, ondanks de vele Israelische en Egyptische waarschuwingen dat dit tot confrontatie zou leiden.

 

RP

------------

Liar, liar, pants on cease-fire

By Barry Rubin

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1208/rubin122208.php3

 

 

If you can understand why Hamas is ending its cease-fire with Israel, you can comprehend Middle East politics. And if you can't, you can't.

 

From of a Western moderate pragmatist standpoint, Hamas's decision makes no sense for several reasons:

    * Hamas cannot defeat Israel militarily. Thus, fighting won't improve Hamas's strategic situation or bring victory.

    * Israeli counterattacks will cause both injuries and material damage in the Gaza Strip, inflicting big costs on Hamas's domain and subjects.

    * Returning to warfare will ensure Hamas remains politically isolated and blocks international recognition or aid that would help its cause or end economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip.

    * Going back to fighting makes certain that the Gaza Strip faces continued, even heightened, reductions in the material let in, thus ensuring more Palestinian suffering there.

 

And Hamas is seemingly making three additional mistakes regarding timing.

 

The first is that it is ending the cease-fire while George W. Bush is president. Certainly Israel feels freer to hit back at Hamas now than after Barack Obama is inaugurated simply because the new administration would want to avoid a crisis before it consolidates its plans and team. Also, the US is likely to prefer quiet as it begins withdrawing from Iraq.

 

Second, the cease-fire is being suspended on the eve of a major Palestinian crisis as Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas announces a self-extension of his term in office. One might think Hamas would prefer to keep the Israel front quiet for a while to focus on battling Fatah and the PA.

 

Finally, there's the Israeli election campaign. While this doesn't make large-scale retaliation inevitable, such a move would make the current government more popular with the electorate.

 

Therefore, Hamas's behavior, an outside observer can easily conclude, seems stupid. But having built a mass movement, sizable army, seized the Gaza Strip and built broad support throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hamas may be composed of genocide-oriented fanatics but not fools. What then explains this apparently silly behavior?

 

Here's a case study of how Middle East politics really work:

 

• Hamas really believes its own propaganda, expecting victory despite the odds. Costs and casualties are irrelevant. The battle will go on until total victory even if that takes decades. This indicates Hamas will not moderate - the same applies to Hizbullah, Syria and Iran.

 

• At the same time, Hamas is not only indifferent to its own people's welfare, it actually seeking to inflict suffering on them as a political strategy. The worse off Palestinians are, Hamas believes, the more likely they will fight and die. This "the worse things are, the better they are" is the exact opposite of Western perspectives.

 

But Hamas goes even further. It knows suffering can be blamed on Israel. Western pragmatists reason that obviously the Palestinians must prefer peace, prosperity and statehood. Rejectionism must then be due to desperation and the lack of a good offer or faith in the West. In fact, though, the situation is not due to our mistakes but to their deliberate choices.

 

Thus, Hamas can well conclude that the best way to put pressure on Israel and - in its own mind at least - gain Western help is to be more radical, not more moderate.

 

To cite one example, what is considered America's leading newspaper recently reported that both sides violate the cease-fire: Hamas fires rockets at Israel; Israel retaliates by closing the border. By this definition, the fact that Hamas and its allies fire rockets at civilians doesn't allow any Israeli response, military or otherwise. This is the kind of thinking Hamas seeks to promote.

 

Then, too, setting off a crisis, Hamas expects, will draw peacekeepers like hardworking ants, giving press conferences in which they will insist that "something must be done to defuse the crisis." That "something" usually seems to be unilateral Israeli concessions. In short, the international community may rush in to save Hamas or the Palestinians in spite of themselves.

 

At the same time, though, Hamas believes that its intransigence and aggressiveness will increase support in the Arab and Muslim worlds. As with Hizbullah, waging a war and portraying it as victory - even though the facts are otherwise - makes one a hero and attracts financing. This is also a judgment regarding Palestinian responses. More popular support can be garnered by producing martyrs than by producing higher living standards. Thus, Hamas will do better in its rivalry with the PA by fighting Israel than by fighting poverty.

 

I am not saying this strategy will work completely, but it does succeed in part. If one believes the short run is irrelevant and the deity is on one's side, reality looks rather different. In addition, macho militancy in the Middle East does bring popularity, both domestic and international. The last quarter-century has also shown that Western sympathy can be manipulated by increasing violence and blocking solutions to the conflict in a way that will be blamed on Israel.

 

Yet this world view is also illusory. Impoverishing one's people and destroying the infrastructure over which one rules makes such groups weaker rather than stronger, especially as Israel focuses on material gains. Western patience with the Palestinians has waned; Arab states are not so eager to help. A strategy depending on suicide bombers is also ultimately suicidal.

 

Ironically, too, regarding the West, Islamists cannot get away with what radical Arab nationalists can. Too many Western intellectuals, journalists, leftists and even politicians might have been carried away with revolutionary romanticism for Fatah - seeing Yasser Arafat as merely an ugly version of Che Guevara. Far fewer see radical Islamists as heroic liberators.

 

The bottom line is that Hamas will remain isolated and weaker than it could be if it kept things quiet, consolidated its hold on the Gaza Strip, built up its armies and base of support and had more patience.

 

But Hamas will also survive, ideology undiluted, able to utter war cries about wiping Israel off the map and intoxicated with the belief it is following divine will. That's enough for Hamas's leadership and followers.

 

_________________

 

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading."

 

JWR contributor Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, Interdisciplinary Center, and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs. His latest book is "The Truth About Syria".

 

Hamas dreigt met aanslagen op Livni en Barak

 

Hamas roept op tot een derde intifadah en dreigt nu om Livni en Barak te doden. Zaterdag dreigde Hamas Israel dat het de prijs voor dit geweld zal betalen. Hamas heeft nu, maar ook al herhaalde malen in het verleden, gedreigd met de hervatting van zelfmoordaanslagen. Het ontbreekt Hamas duidelijk niet aan grootspraak, die moet verhullen dat men compleet werd verrast door Israel.

Dat neemt niet weg dat het verre van zeker is of deze operatie in Israels ogen zal slagen, of het met andere woorden zal lukken om een einde te maken aan de raketbeschietingen, die ook tijdens het staakt-het-vuren doorgingen.

 

RP

-----------

Last update - 00:42 29/12/2008    
In response to Gaza raids, Hamas threatens to assassinate Livni, Barak

 

By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050681.html

 

 

Hamas on Sunday threatened to respond to an ongoing Israel Defense Forces assault on the Gaza Strip by assassinating senior Israeli officials. Senior Hamas official Fatah Hamad specifically threatened Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

 

He also threatened that Hamas would go after senior Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank, as well as "those in the Arab world who have conspired against us," - an apparent reference to Egypt.

 

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, however, said that Hamas could have prevented Israel's assault had it only agreed to extend the cease-fire, and he urged it to do so now.   
 
Late Sunday Israel Air Force warplanes attacked a building in the Jebaliya refugee camp next to Gaza City, killing a 14-month-old baby, Gaza Health Ministry official said.

 

Early Monday, Israel bombed the Islamic University and government compound in Gaza City, centers of Hamas power. Witnesses saw fire and smoke at the university, counting six separate airstrikes there just after midnight.

 

Earlier Sunday, the IDF massed troops near the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground operation against Hamas. In parallel, the cabinet approved a relatively small call-up of the reserves - some 6,700 soldiers - in case they are needed for the operation.

 

Defense sources said, however, that additional reservists may be called up as the fighting continues.

 

By comparison, only a few thousand reservists were called up in the first days of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. By the end of the war, however, some 62,000 reservists had been called up.

 

The air force struck more than 100 targets Sunday, the second day of Israel's aerial bombardment of Gaza. According to Palestinian sources, the bombings killed 43 people, bringing the death toll for the two-day operation to 294.

 

Among the targets were 40 smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, which Israel bombed in an effort to shut down Hamas' main conduit for arms. That operation took exactly four minutes.

 

Most of the targets, however, were in Gaza City, including Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's office and the offices of various Palestinian security services. The air force also hit several targets in northern Gaza, the main launching pad for Palestinian rocket strikes on Israel.

 

Palestinians fired about 30 rockets at Israel on Sunday, bringing the number of rockets and mortars fired at the country over the last two days to about 150. That is far fewer than the army had predicted, though defense sources expect the number to increase in the coming days.

 

For the first time, however, Sunday's launches included two enhanced Katyusha rockets with a 40-kilometer range. Both landed near Ashdod.

 

Due to the fighting, southern Israel resembled a ghost town on Sunday. The only vehicles on the roads belonged to journalists, the police and, mainly, the army.

 

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the foreign media that Israel does not seek to reoccupy Gaza, and government sources said the Foreign Ministry is already working on an exit strategy - though this strategy would not involve stationing an international force in Gaza.

 

Israel also promised representatives of international aid organizations that it would continue allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza even as the fighting continued. On Sunday, for instance, the Kerem Shalom crossing was opened to let through 26 trucks carrying food and medical equipment.

 

By the end of Monday, the third day of Operation Cast Lead, Israel will be close to exhausting its target bank for aerial bombing. At that point, it will have to either launch a ground operation or bring the campaign to a speedy conclusion. Thus far, however, Israel has been sending conflicting messages about where the operation is headed.

 

On the one hand, despite its stated goal of a limited operation ending in a new and improved cease-fire, Israel has so far not sent Washington its outline of an acceptable formulation and asked it to begin mustering the requisite international support. And since that process is likely to take several days, if the goal were to end the fighting quickly, Israel's diplomatic initiative should have been ready to go at the same time as its military initiative.

 

This is especially the case because, unlike in the Lebanon war, it does not have the excuse of having been caught by surprise.

 

On the other hand, the military mobilization so far is not nearly enough for a major ground operation - and even if the requisite several divisions were called up, they would need a few days of training before they were ready to enter Gaza.

 

At the moment, therefore, neither a full-scale invasion of Gaza nor a quick diplomatic solution seems in sight.

__._,_.___

VN Veiligheidsraad roept Israel en Palestijnen op geweld te staken

 

Zoals gebruikelijk komt de VN in aktie als Israel reageert op beschietingen op haar grondgebied vanuit vijandelijk terrein, niet als Israel zelf beschoten wordt. Die beschietingen zijn geen escalatie, als Israel reageert is dat per definitie een escalatie, en uiteraard buitenproportioneel.

 

Zou Israel proportioneel kunnen reageren? Het IDF zou een paar lichte raketten ongestuurd richting Gaza kunnen afvuren. Dat zou ook niet goedgekeurd worden door de VN, want die zouden de facto op Palestijnse burgers gericht zijn. Bovendien zouden ze geen enkel effect hebben, want het doel van de operatie is het stoppen van de Qassam beschietingen en het ontmantelen van de Hamas infrastructuur.

 

De oproep van de Veiligheidsraad is loos, pro forma en symbolisch. Een meer dwingende resolutie blijft nog even uit.

 

De VN mist geloofwaardigheid, met haar buitenproportionele retoriek tegenover Israel, dat een legitieme militaire aktie onderneemt maar evengoed van oorlogsmisdaden en schending van mensenrechtenconventies wordt beschuldigd. Het is duidelijk dat de operatie van Israel tegen Hamas en niet tegen de burgers in Gaza is gericht, en volgens het oorlogsrecht is het (uiteraard) geoorloofd om militaire doelen en zelfs civiele doelen die door de vijand worden gebruikt, aan te vallen. Als Hamas leden zich in burgerdoelen ophouden veranderen die daarmee dus in een militair doel.

 

Uit hun nek pratende VN functionarissen worden graag geciteerd door Dries van Agt en co.

 

Wouter & Ratna

__________________
 

Security Council calls on Israel, Palestinians to end violence immediately
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29427&Cr=Palestin&Cr1=


28 December 2008 – The Security Council on Sunday called on Israel and the Palestinians to immediately end all violence, as Israeli airstrikes in response to rocket attacks by militants in Gaza reportedly killed 270 people and wounded more than 600 in the Strip.

"The Members of the Security Council expressed serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza and called for an immediate halt to all violence," according to a statement issued to the press following emergency closed-door talks late last night.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a similar call yesterday in a statement in which he voiced his deep alarm at the "heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel."

In its statement, the Council called on the parties to "stop immediately all military activities," and stressed the need for the restoration of calm "which will open the way for finding a political solution to the problems existing in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement."

The 15-member body also called for all parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures, including opening of border crossings, to ensure that the 1.5 million Palestinians living there can get the food, fuel, medicine and other critical supplies that they need.

Some supplies did manage to get into Gaza on Friday, for the first time in almost ten days, after Israel opened a few of the crossings which it had kept closed citing rocket and other attacks by militants from Gaza.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay also called on Israel to lift the air, sea and ground blockade imposed on Gaza, while voicing her grave concern about the escalating violence there and the enormous loss of life.

"While condemning the rocket attacks by Hamas that led to the death of one Israeli civilian, she also strongly condemned Israel's disproportionate use of force resulting in the reported death of more than 270, a large number of which were civilians, and the wounding of over 600 persons," according to a news release issued today by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Ms. Pillay called on Israel's leaders to uphold the principles of international humanitarian law, especially those relating to proportionality in the use of military force and the prevention of collective punishment and the targeting of civilians.

Likewise, UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories Richard Falk said the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza represent "severe and massive violations" of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions.

"Certainly the rocket attacks against civilian targets in Israel are unlawful," he noted in a statement. "But that illegality does not give rise to any Israeli right, neither as the Occupying Power nor as a sovereign State, to violate international humanitarian law and commit war crimes or crimes against humanity in its response."

General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto, in a statement issued last night, said that "the behaviour by Israel in bombarding Gaza is simply the commission of wanton aggression by a very powerful State against a territory that [it] illegally occupies."

He stated that "the time has come to take firm action if the UN does not want to be rightly accused of complicity by omission."


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Abbas verwijt Hamas beëindiging staakt-het-vuren

 

Volgens World Net Daily (een niet noodzakelijk betrouwbare en behoorlijk rechtse website) had Abbas Israel al maanden gesmeekt om een militaire campagne tegen Hamas in Gaza te starten:

 

The sources, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity, said Abbas and his top representatives have waged a quiet campaign for months asking the Israeli government to target Hamas in Gaza just before his term in office is scheduled to expire on Jan. 9.

Hamas leaders have repeatedly warned they will not recognize Abbas after the 9th, and that they will launch a major campaign to delegitimize the PA president and install their own figures to lead the Palestinian government.

Abbas hopes a large-scale Israeli military campaign in Gaza would distract Hamas from attempting to undermine his rule, the diplomatic sources told WND.

"It's an open secret among the diplomatic and military brass," one Israeli diplomatic source said. "The campaign from Abbas for us to attack Hamas in Gaza has been intensive."

 

 

Wouter

_____________

 

'Hamas could have prevented massacre'

Dec. 28, 2008
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Hamas could have prevented the "massacre" in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday in Cairo.

"We spoke to them and told them 'Please, we ask you not to end the cease-fire. Let it continue,'" Abbas said during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "We want to protect the Gaza Strip. We don't want it to be destroyed."

Abbas called on Hamas to renew the cease-fire with Israel to avoid further bloodshed in Gaza.

Aboul Gheit also attacked Hamas, saying the group had prevented people wounded in the Israeli offensive from passing into Egypt to receive medical attention.

"We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to reach Egypt. They aren't being allowed to go through," he said.

Asked who was to blame for the dire situation in Gaza, the foreign minister replied: "Ask the party that controls Gaza."

He added that the meeting of Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo Wednesday should call on Hamas to extend the truce.

 

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456495581&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

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Tweede dag Israelisch offensief in Gazastrook

 

Het Palestijnse Ma'an nieuws meldde vanochtend al 271 doden en meer dan 900 gewonden.

Claims over aantallen doden - laat staan burgerdoden tegenover Hamas activisten - zijn moeilijk te verifiëren bij gebrek aan betrouwbare bronnen. Israel lijkt wel zeer gericht te schieten op Hamas instellingen, op basis van maandenlange voorbereidingen en 'intelligence gathering'. Palestijnen ontvingen zelfs waarschuwingen op hun mobieltjes van het IDF, om uit de buurt te blijven van Hamas lokaties en munitiedepots.

 

Wouter

_____________

Israel pounds Gaza for second day

 

Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:41am EST

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSLS69391620081228

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

 

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched air strikes on Gaza for a second successive day on Sunday, piling pressure on Hamas after 229 people were killed in one of the bloodiest 24 hours for Palestinians in 60 years of conflict with the Jewish state.

"Palestine has never seen an uglier massacre," said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his Islamist group, which has controlled the coastal territory since June 2007, vowed revenge including suicide bombings in Israel's "cafes and streets."

Israel bolstered armored and infantry forces along the Gaza Strip border, and a military spokesman said on Sunday: "The (Gaza) operation is continuous. It is still taking place."

The Jewish state said it was responding to "intolerable" almost daily rocket and mortar fire by Gaza militants that intensified after Hamas ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.

The militant attacks caused some injuries, raising the stakes for Israeli leaders ahead of a February 10 election which surveys show the right-wing opposition Likud party may win.

Israel said its warplanes mounted about 100 strikes on Saturday and that Palestinian militants had fired some 70 rockets at the Jewish state, killing one Israeli man.

"There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on television. He later ruled out any new truce with Hamas.

Black smoke billowed over Gaza City after Israel bombed more than 40 security compounds, and uniformed bodies lay in a pile and the wounded writhed in pain at a graduation ceremony for new recruits hosted by Hamas.

Some rescue workers beat their heads and shouted, "God is greatest." A wounded man quietly recited verses from the Koran.

More than 700 Palestinians were wounded in Saturday's attacks, said medical staff.

Israel said the operation was aimed at "terrorist infrastructure," and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it "may take time." Officials said Hamas leaders could be targeted.

HAMAS DEFIANT

In Damascus, top Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a new Palestinian uprising against Israel. "We will not leave our land, we will not raise white flags and we will not kneel except before God," said Haniyeh.

Two Palestinians were killed when a mosque was bombed in Gaza City, Hamas and medical staff said. Israel said it targeted the mosque because it was used for "terrorist activities."

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a leading candidate to become the next prime minister, called for international support against "an extremist Islamist organization ... that is being supported by Iran," Israel's arch-foe.

U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, in its final weeks in office, put the onus on Hamas to prevent more violence.

"The United States ... holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.

The United Nations and the European Union called for an immediate halt to all violence.

The U.N. Security Council met late on Saturday to discuss the situation in Gaza but it was not immediately clear whether the 15-nation body would take any formal action.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah forces were routed in Gaza when Hamas won control last year, said Israel's action was "criminal" and urged world powers to intervene.

Egypt said it would keep trying to restore the truce.

Saturday's death toll was the highest for a single day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948, when the Jewish state was established.

Hamas estimated at least 100 members of its security forces had been killed, including police chief Tawfiq Jabber, along with at least 15 women and some children.

The group, which won a 2006 parliamentary election but was shunned by Western powers over its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel, said all its security compounds in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or seriously damaged.

Aid groups said they feared the Israeli operation could fuel a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished coastal enclave, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, half of them dependent on food aid.

Gaza hospitals said they were running out of medical supplies because of an Israeli-led blockade.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams, Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Douglas Hamilton and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Ari Rabinovitch in Tel Aviv and Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Peter Millership in London, Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

 

VN Secretaris-Generaal Ban Ki-Moon over Gaza operatie

 

Het probleem is natuurlijk dat Israel niks tegen de raketaanvallen en de Hamas kan ondernemen zonder dat daar ook burgers bij omkomen, want Hamas heeft haar faciliteiten en wapenfabrieken in burgergebied staan en Hamas leiders verschuilen zich onder de burgerbevolking.

 

Dat weten Ban Ki-Moon, Verhagen, de VS en de EU, die allemaal Israel opriepen burgerdoden te vermijden, ook wel, maar toch zeggen ze dat Israel het recht heeft de raketaanvallen te stoppen zolang daarbij geen burgerdoden vallen. Niemand durft eerlijk te zeggen dat die burgerdoden de schuld van Hamas zijn, dat vorige week het staakt-het-vuren verbrak en sindsdien zo'n 200 raketten en mortiergranaten op Israel heeft afgevuurd, en dat meermaals is gewaarschuwd een einde aan de raketaanvallen te maken omdat Israel anders zal aanvallen.

 

RP

--------
 

Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the situation in Gaza and southern Israel
27 December 2008
www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp

 

The Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by today's heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel.

He appeals for an immediate halt to all violence.

While recognizing Israel's security concerns regarding the continued firing of rockets from Gaza, he firmly reiterates Israel's obligation to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law and condemns excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians. He condemns the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants and is deeply distressed that repeated calls on Hamas for these attacks to end have gone unheeded.

The Secretary-General reiterates his previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population. He is making immediate contact with regional and international leaders, including Quartet principals, in an effort to bring a swift end to the violence.


--------------------------------------------
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Israelische Arabieren kwaad om IDF operatie Gazastrook

De titel in de Haaretz lijkt van het kaliber "Israel klapt voor Wilders", althans volgens de omschrijving valt het geweld nogal mee. De rellen zijn vooral in Oost-Jeruzalem en op de Westoever. Zelfs de retoriek over 'oorlogsmisdaden' is niet anders dan een Van Agt of de talloze pro-Palestijnse organisaties in het westen bezigen, terwijl het evident een operatie tegen legitieme militaire doelen in een oorlogssituatie betreft. Hamas heeft intussen (niet voor het eerst) tot een Derde Intifada opgeroepen.

Wouter
______________

Last update - 22:48 27/12/2008

Israeli Arabs react with violence to IDF operations in Gaza
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050412.html
By Haaretz Service 


Israeli Arabs on Saturday protested Israel Defense Forces attacks in the Gaza Strip, with demonstrations and clashes with police breaking out in communities throughout Israel.

In East Jerusalem, a police officer was lightly hurt by an Israeli Arab who hit him with his car. The driver, who has a criminal record, was arrested by police shortly thereafter.

On Salah-a-Din Street in East Jerusalem, dozens of youths lit dumpsters and hurled stones at police. One assailant was arrested by police at the scene.

In the Shuafat refugee camp, hundreds of Palestinian protestors threw rocks at security forces.

In the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, a three-year-old boy was lightly hurt after he was hit in the eye by a rock thrower.

In the Bedouin village of Rahat in the Negev, around 400 residents protested the attacks, while mosques throughout the town broadcast prayers of mourning.

Hadash, the predominantly Arab leftist party, will stage a demonstration on Saturday in Nazareth to protest the IAF operations in Gaza. Hadash chairman Mohammed Barakeh called on the government "to immediately halt the crime in the Gaza Strip."

"Escalation will not bring quiet and calm," Barakeh said. "It is inconceivable for the Palestinian people in Gaza to live between starvation and bombardment. The government and the defense minister are trying to gain political capital in an election period on account of the bloodletting of the Palestinian people."

MK Jamal Zahalka, who is the chairman of the Balad faction, called for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to be tried for "war crimes" in Gaza.

"Barak is trying to win votes in exchange for Palestinian blood," he said.

 

Voorbereiding van het Gaza offensief

 

Een precieze beschrijving van hoe het Gaza offensief tot stand kwam.

------------

 

Haaretz Wed., Sat., December 27, 2008
Last update - 22:42 27/12/2008 

Disinformation, secrecy, deception: How the Gaza offensive came about
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050426.html

 

Long-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public - all these stood behind the Israel Defense Forces "Cast Lead" operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, which began Saturday morning.

The disinformation effort, according to defense officials, took Hamas by surprise and served to significantly increase the number of its casualties in the strike.

Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well.

Barak gave orders to carry out a comprehensive intelligence-gathering drive which sought to map out Hamas' security infrastructure, along with that of other militant organizations operating in the Strip.

This intelligence-gathering effort brought back information about permanent bases, weapon silos, training camps, the homes of senior officials and coordinates for other facilities.

The plan of action that was implemented in Operation Cast Lead remained only a blueprint until a month ago, when tensions soared after the IDF carried out an incursion into Gaza during the ceasefire to take out a tunnel which the army said was intended to facilitate an attack by Palestinian militants on IDF troops.

On November 19, following dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar rounds which exploded on Israeli soil, the plan was brought for Barak's final approval. Last Thursday, on December 18, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the defense minister met at IDF headquarters in central Tel Aviv to approve the operation.

However, they decided to put the mission on hold to see whether Hamas would hold its fire after the expiration of the ceasefire. They therefore put off bringing the plan for the cabinet's approval, but they did inform Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the developments.

That night, in speaking to the media, sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said that "if the shooting from Gaza continues, the showdown with Hamas would be inevitable." On the weekend, several ministers in Olmert's cabinet inveighed against him and against Barak for not retaliating for Hamas' Qassam launches.

"This chatter would have made Entebe or the Six Day War impossible," Barak said in responding to the accusations. The cabinet was eventually convened on Wednesday, but the Prime Minister's Bureau misinformed the media in stating the discussion would revolve around global jihad. The ministers learned only that morning that the discussion would actually pertain to the operation in Gaza.

In its summary announcement for the discussion, the Prime Minister's Bureau devoted one line to the situation in Gaza, compared to one whole page that concerned the outlawing of 35 Islamic organizations.

What actually went on at the cabinet meeting was a five-hour discussion about the operation in which ministers were briefed about the various blueprints and plans of action. "It was a very detailed review," one minister said.

The minister added: "Everyone fully understood what sort of period we were heading into and what sort of scenarios this could lead to. No one could say that he or she did not know what they were voting on." The minister also said that the discussion showed that the lessons of the Winograd Committee about the performance of decision-makers during the 2006 Second Lebanon War were "fully internalized."

At the end of the discussion, the ministers unanimously voted in favor of the strike, leaving it for the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister to work out the exact time.

While Barak was working out the final details with the officers responsible for the operation, Livni went to Cairo to inform Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, that Israel had decided to strike at Hamas.

In parallel, Israel continued to send out disinformation in announcing it would open the crossings to the Gaza Strip and that Olmert would decide whether to launch the strike following three more deliberations on Sunday - one day after the actual order to launch the operation was issued.

"Hamas evacuated all its headquarter personnel after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," one defense official said, "but the organization sent its people back in when they heard that everything was put on hold until Sunday."

The final decision was made on Friday morning, when Barak met with Chief of Staff General Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the Shin Bet Security Service Yuval Diskin and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Amos Yadlin. Barak sat down with Olmert and Livni several hours later for a final meeting, in which the trio gave the air force its orders.

On Friday night and on Saturday morning, opposition leaders and prominent political figures were informed about the impending strike, including Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Yisrael Beuiteinu's Avigdor Liebermen, Haim Oron from Meretz and President Shimon Peres, along with Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.

Ruim 200 Palestijnen en 1 Israeli omgekomen

 

Hamas voor een tijdje vleugellam maken door het uitschakelen van infrastructuur en wapenvoorraden, is waarschijnlijk het beste wat Israel met deze akties kan bereiken.

 

Niet alleen uit humanitair oogpunt probeert Israel zo weinig mogelijk burgers te raken; bij grote aantallen burgerdoden aan Palestijnse kant zal Israel door de internationale gemeenschap worden gedwongen de militaire campagne voortijdig te beëindigen, zoals in het verleden meermaals gebeurde.

 

Hamas van haar kant streeft naar zo veel mogelijk burgerslachtoffers aan Israelische kant: ze wil zo zuid-Israel onleefbaar maken voor Joden.

 

 

Wouter

_______________

A year's intel yields 'alpha hits'
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 26, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111714969&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

A year of information-gathering by Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) paved the way Saturday for Operation Cast Lead. 
 
At 11:30 a.m., more than 50 fighter jets and attack helicopters swept into Gazan airspace and dropped more than 100 bombs on 50 targets. The planes reported "alpha hits," IAF lingo for direct hits on the targets, which included Hamas bases, training camps, headquarters and offices.

 

Thirty minutes later, a second wave of 60 jets and helicopters struck at 60 targets, including underground Kassam launchers - placed inside bunkers and missile silos - that had been fitted with timers.

 

Their locations were discovered in an intensive intelligence operation. The goal: to strike at Hamas's ability to fire rockets into Israel.

More than 170 targets were hit by IAF aircraft throughout the day. At least 230 Gazans were killed and over 780 were wounded, according to Palestinian sources. Officials said at least 15 civilians were among the dead.

 

The IDF released a list of some of the targets hit: the Hamas headquarters and training camp in Tel Zatar; the "Palestinian Prisoner Tower" in Gaza City that was turned into a Hamas operations center and armory; the Hamas police academy, which was bombed during a graduation ceremony, killing 70-80 people; training camps in southern and central Gaza; the former office of Yasser Arafat in Gaza City that is now used by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh; and the Izzadin Kassam Brigades headquarters in the northern Gaza Strip. 

Throughout the initial stages of the air operation, the IDF Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration transmitted messages to civilians in Gaza to stay away from Kassam launch sites and Hamas buildings and infrastructure.

 

 

AP contributed to this report

 

-------------------------

One Israeli killed, 4 hurt as Palestinian rockets hit Negev home

 

By Fadi Adayat and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Last update - 17:36 27/12/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050399.html

 

Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired at least 25 Qassam and Grad rockets into southern Israel on Saturday after Israeli air strikes killed more than 195 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Palestinian sources.

One of the rockets directly struck a home in the town of Netivot, causing extensive damage. One person was killed in the attack and four suffered moderate to serious injuries.

One rocket struck just outside Kiryat Gat, some 20 kilometers from Gaza. The strike marked the first time in the eight years since Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel that a rocket has struck the southern Israeli city.

The Israel Defense Forces had put communities near the border on alert, anticipating massive rocket barrages from Gaza in response to the Israel Air Force offensive in the territory.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak had ordered a state of emergency in all communities that lie within a radius of 20 kilometers of the Gaza Strip.

Defense officials anticipate a massive Palestinian bombardment of Israeli communities following the IAF strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza.

A short time following the IAF strikes, seven rockets exploded in the western Negev.

The IDF Home Front Command has issued directives to residents of towns adjacent to the Gaza border, including Sderot, requiring them to remain indoors. Authorities are forbidding residents from gathering in crowds.

Israelis residing in communities within a radius of 10 kilometers from Gaza are required to enter bomb-proof shelters within 15 seconds of hearing the siren warning of an incoming projectile.

Residents in towns which lie within a radius of 20-30 kilometers from the Gaza fence - areas which include Ashdod, Ofakim, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, and Rahat - are to enter shelters within 45 seconds of hearing the sirens

Israel kan geen staakt-het-vuren met Hamas accepteren volgens Barak

 

Deze reactie van Barak is een beetje vreemd nadat Israel een half jaar een staakt-het-vuren overeenkomst had met Hamas, en deze ook wilde voortzetten. Eerlijker was het geweest als hij had geantwoord dat het daar nu te laat voor is, dat Hamas en ook de internationale gemeenschap genoeg zijn gewaarschuwd dat Israel de raketaanvallen niet langer kan en wil tolereren en dat men toen niet heeft gehandeld.

 

RP

-------

 

Israel "cannot accept" ceasefire with Hamas says Barak
Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:13pm GMT
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE4BQ1V120081227

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israel "cannot really accept" a cease-fire with Hamas, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a U.S. television interview on Saturday, rejecting calls by the United Nations and the European Union for a truce after Israeli air strikes killed 227 people in Gaza.

"For us to be asked to have a cease-fire with Hamas is like asking you to have a cease-fire with al Qaeda. It's something we cannot really accept," Barak told Fox News from Tel Aviv.

Asked whether Israel would follow up the air strikes with a ground offensive, Barak said, "If boots on the ground will be needed, they will be there."
"Our intention is to totally change the rules of the game," he said.

(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; editing by Chris Wilson)


--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

PA klaar om macht in Gazastrook weer over te nemen van Hamas

 

Op de TV was een zeer bezorgde Abbas te zien die Israels aanvallen hard veroordeelde, maar blijkbaar denken sommige mensen in de Palestijnse Autoriteit daar anders over. Het zou natuurlijk mooi zijn als de PA de macht weer kan overnemen in Gaza na de Israelische operatie, en als daarmee de scheiding tussen Gaza en de Westoever wordt opgeheven. Dat zou ook de kans op succes van het vredesproces aanzienlijk vergroten. Of de internationale gemeenschap Israel zal toestaan om door te vechten totdat Hamas is verslagen of ernstig verzwakt, is echter de vraag.

RP

-------

 

PA 'ready' to take Gaza if Hamas ousted

 

Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST

Dec. 28, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111721802&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah said Saturday that they were prepared to assume control over the Gaza Strip if Israel succeeds in overthrowing the Hamas government.

"Yes, we are fully prepared to return to the Gaza Strip," a top PA official told The Jerusalem Post. "We believe the people there are fed up with Hamas and want to see a new government."

Another PA official said Fatah had instructed all its members in the Gaza Strip to be prepared for the possibility of returning to power.

"We have enough men in the Gaza Strip who are ready to fill the vacuum," he said. "But of course all this depends on whether Israel manages to get rid of the Hamas regime."

The two officials voiced hope that the current IDF operation would end Hamas rule in Gaza. They said that the PA was also prepared to dispatch security forces from the West Bank to replace the Hamas militiamen.

However, they denied Hamas allegations that the PA had urged Israel to launch a massive attack to overthrow the Hamas government.

Also Saturday, Fatah called on its supporters in the Strip to storm Hamas-controlled prisons to release Fatah detainees. The call came as most of Hamas's security installations were demolished by IAF planes.

Fatah representatives in the West Bank said that Hamas was holding more than 250 Fatah men in its various prisons throughout the Gaza Strip. They expressed fear that Hamas would use the detainees as human shields against the Israeli air strikes.

 

Soedan veroordeelt Israels 'slachting' in Gaza Strook

 

Het is moeilijk dit soort zaken serieus te nemen. Waarschijnlijk veroordeelt de Mensenrechtenraad met zijn meerderheid aan dictaturen het Israelische optreden eveneens, terwijl de Soedanese regering met honderdduizenden doden in Darfoer vrijuit gaat...

 

RP

--------

Sudan strongly condemns Israel's massacre against Gaza Strip
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1963075&Language=en 

12/27/2008 5:40:00 PM

 

KHARTOUM, Dec 27 (KUNA) -- Sudan on Saturday strongly condemned the Israeli brutal raids against the Palestinian people in Gaza, which killed more than a hundred of innocent people.

Sudanese foreign undersecretary Mutrif Siddiq said in a statement that his country calls for an emergency meeting at the level of the leaders of the Arab and Muslim countries to address this barbaric act of terrorism against civilians in the Gaza Strip.

 

He denounced the international silence over the killing of children, women, the elderly in addition to the unprecedented siege.

 

Israel blitzed Hamas targets in Gaza on Saturday with a wave of air strikes that killed at least 155 people in the besieged enclave in retaliation for ongoing rocket fire. (end)

hha.tg KUNA 271740 Dec 08

Israelische aanval op Gaza strook is voor 'shock and awe'

 

Hieronder een betere analyse dan het geraaskal van Van Agt op NOVA of het orakel van Sander van Hoorn, die het geweld vooral verklaarde in het kader van de naderende Israelische verkiezingen.

 

RP

------

Last update - 21:41 27/12/2008
ANALYSIS / IAF strike on Gaza is Israel's version of 'shock and awe'

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050405.html

The events along the southern front which commenced at 11:30 on Saturday morning are the closest thing there is to a war between Israel and Hamas. It is difficult to ascertain (geographically) where and for how long the violence will reach before international intervention forces a halt to the hostilities. However, Israel's opening salvo is not merely another "surgical" operation or pinpoint strike. This is the harshest IDF assault on Gaza since the territory was captured during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Palestinian sources in Gaza report that 40 targets were destroyed in a span of three to five minutes. This was a massive attack much along the lines of what the Americans termed "shock and awe" during their invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Simultaneous, heavy bombardment of a number of targets on which Israel spent months gathering intelligence. The military "target bank" includes dozens of additional targets linked to Hamas, some of which will certainly come under attack in the coming days.

Like the U.S. assault on Iraq and the Israeli response to the abduction of IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser at the outset of the Second Lebanon War (the "night of the Fajr missiles," a reference to the IAF destruction of Hezbollah's arsenal of medium-range Fajr missiles), little to no weight was apparently devoted to the question of harming innocent civilians. From Israel's standpoint, Hamas, which persistently fires rockets while using the civilian population as cover, had plenty of opportunities to save face and lower their demands. In stubbornly continuing to launch rockets during the course of recent weeks, it brought this assault on itself.

A final decision on the precise timing of the operation was made on Saturday morning during consultations between the prime minister, the defense minister, the IDF chief of staff, and army generals. The cabinet approved the assault in its last meeting on Wednesday. Since that day, the government has waited for the opportunity to strike. Apparently, an intelligence tip indicating that members of the Hamas military wing were convening for a meeting expedited the decision-making process on giving the go-ahead to act. According to initial reports from Gaza, a number of senior Hamas officials were hit, yet the scope of the harm done to the group's leadership has yet to be precisely determined. The Israeli objective is clear: deal as serious a blow as possible to the Hamas chain of command in order to throw its operating capabilities off kilter. Ostensibly, it will not prevent heavy rocket fire on the Negev towns, but it will likely make it more difficult for Hamas to carry out more damaging attacks against Israel.

Since Saturday afternoon, the IAF has maintained a significance presence in the skies over Gaza in hopes of intercepting rocket-launching cells belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. But the rocket barrage which rained down on Netivot (where one Israeli was killed by a Grad rocket which directly struck a house), Ashkelon, and the communities abutting the Gaza Strip is only the appetizer. The defense establishment is girding for a daily round of rocket fire that is expected to exceed 100 projectiles, some of which are likely to reach the maximum range currently within Hamas' capability - 40 kilometers, a distance that extends to the outskirts of Be'er Sheva and Ashdod.

It would be reasonable to assume that Hamas is preparing to spring another operational surprise a la Hezbollah: from attempting to shoot down IAF aircraft to the targeting of key strategic sites, like the Ashdod port. The IDF Home Front Command has already launched a massive deployment of its forces who are tasked with instructing the residents of the Negev to remain in their homes (the urgency of the instruction is proportional to the residents' proximity to the Gaza Strip). In addition, a few hundred reservist soldiers have received call-up notices.

Israel's continued hesitation in taking action against Hamas is rooted in the trauma it suffered in the wake of the Second Lebanon War. The major x-factor, of course, is not related to the operational capabilities of the air force, but whether or not to launch a ground invasion. Will the government resolve to do so and is the IDF capable of successfully carrying out a mission which it failed to accomplish against Hezbollah? It is reasonable to assume that the picture will become more clearer within three to four days. Until then, the IAF is expected to continue its assault which will be complimented by limited activity from relatively small ground units.

As the situation appears now, Israel has assigned modest goals for itself: weakening Hamas rule in Gaza and restoring a prolonged lull along the border under terms that are more convenient for us following an internationally imposed compromise. Hamas, in its continued strikes on the Negev in recent weeks, erred in judging Israeli intentions and has been dragged into a war that it doubtful wanted. Now, Israel needs to be careful in not falling into a trap of its own.