News roundup (UPDATE 2)

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that "victory is near."

Israel plans to open up Kerem Shalom tomorrow yet again, sending some 90 trucks filled with food and medicine.

A new website called Aid2Gaza is trying to keep track of all aid sent to Gaza; my earlier estimates of the number of tons a truck holds was way low. The trucks that Israel has been sending hold 30 tons each, which means that Israel has sent about 4500 tons of aid so far this week alone. The 3 tons that Free Gaza was trying to bring sure doesn't sound that impressive, does it?

The IDF bombed a mosque that had been used to store weapons and hide terrorists. Before it did so, it gathered data about the mosque for days, checked with international law experts, and got specific permission from the highest levels. Seems a bit...disporportionate.

Here's the video. Although clouds get in the way, you see the explosion from the IAF bomb followed by a secondary explosion and then a HUGE secondary explosion.


Iran announced it is shutting down a newspaper for publishing an article critical of Hamas. Free speech!

Hamas announced it will try to assassinate Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak.

Arabs are disappointed that Hezbollah has not done anything to help Gazans - meaning they expected Hezbollah to open up a second front against Israel. Apparently, Nasrallah responded to this criticism by saying that it is not true that Israel could not fight on two fronts; in fact it has fought on three and four fronts in the past and won them all! Instead he instructed his fighters to be on the lookout for "treacherous plots" and he also criticized Egypt for its anti-Hamas stance.

Firas is reporting that Hamas policemen have stopped wearing their uniforms and khakis, and that Hamas members are all trying to lie low, not using cell phones - even Hamas' leadership in Damascus.

UPDATE: Commenter smoke_and_mirrors notices this from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

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 Programme 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.

From starvation to overstuffed in only four days?