Wednesday, August 06, 2014
Jeffrey Goldberg: What Would Hamas Do If It Could Do Whatever It Wanted?
Hamas is an organization devoted to ending Jewish history. This is what so many Jews understand, and what so many non-Jews don’t. The novelist Amos Oz, who has led Israel's left-wing peace camp for decades, said in an interview last week that he doesn't see a prospect for compromise between Israel and Hamas. "I have been a man of compromise all my life," Oz said. "But even a man of compromise cannot approach Hamas and say: 'Maybe we meet halfway and Israel only exists on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.'"Caroline Glick: Fighting without silver bullets
In the years since it adopted its charter, Hamas leaders and spokesmen have reinforced its message again and again. Mahmoud Zahar said in 2006 that the group "will not change a single word in its covenant." To underscore the point, in 2010 Zahhar said, "Our ultimate plan is [to have] Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognize the Israeli enemy."
In 2011, the former Hamas minister of culture, Atallah Abu al-Subh, said that "the Jews are the most despicable and contemptible nation to crawl upon the face of the Earth, because they have displayed hostility to Allah. Allah will kill the Jews in the hell of the world to come, just like they killed the believers in the hell of this world." Just last week, a top Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, accused Jews of using Christian blood to make matzo. This is not a group, in other words, that is seeking the sort of peace that Amos Oz—or, for that matter, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas—is seeking. People wonder why Israelis have such a visceral reaction to Hamas. The answer is easy. Israel is a small country, and most of its citizens know someone who was murdered by Hamas in its extended suicide-bombing campaigns; and most people also understand that if Hamas had its way, it would kill them as well.
The UN is institutionally committed to delegitimizing and ultimately destroying Israel.David Horovitz: Israel might have won; Hamas certainly lost
Fatah can only come into Gaza after Hamas has been destroyed completely and driven from leadership by Israel.
Under any other circumstance, Fatah will collaborate with Hamas against Israel, as it has always done. And if Hamas is routed and destroyed Fatah would only destabilize the situation.
The time has come for us to recognize that there are no easy answers for Israel. IDF operations in Gaza in recent weeks have dealt a harsh blow to Hamas. Perhaps the terror commanders have been deterred. Perhaps not.
Whatever the case may be, if Israel and Egypt are able to continue to block US attempts to open the borders for Hamas resupply until Kerry gets swept up in another major crisis, then Hamas can be defeated through attrition.
If not, then Israel will have no choice but to retake control of Gaza while maintaining enough forces in reserve to respond to a second front in the North, and finally end Iran’s dream of becoming a nuclear power.
There are no silver bullets. The price of freedom is hard work and vigilance.
Ten thoughts at the (possible) end of the Israel-Hamas war.
1. Hamas lost. Whether or not Israel “won” — by which I mean attaining the “sustained calm” for its people that was the limited goal of the war — will be determined by the negotiations now taking place in Cairo, or the failure of those negotiations. But Hamas certainly lost. Three weeks ago, with its rocket capacity largely intact, its fighting forces completely intact, the tunnel network it had spent seven years building intact, and most of the Gaza it claims to represent intact, it rejected an unconditional ceasefire which Israel accepted and instead issued a long list of arrogant preconditions.
On Tuesday, with most of its rockets used to relatively little effect, hundreds of its gunmen dead, 32 of its major tunnels smashed, and Gaza devastated, its “military wing” in Gaza overruled its fat-cat political chief Khaled Mashaal in his Qatar hotel, waved a metaphorical white flag, and pleaded for the very same unconditional ceasefire. That does not constitute evisceration. Hamas aims to live to fight another day. But it does constitute defeat.
8. Challenges faced by the ground forces. Israelis are deeply impressed with how the IDF ground forces tackled Hamas. The troops faced gunmen in civvies, gunmen in IDF uniforms, snipers, IEDs, booby-trapped homes, suicide bombers, sophisticated weaponry, gunmen popping out of tunnels, holes in walls, cupboards. They learned to their cost that even areas that had been theoretically rendered safe were not — that gunmen could appear out of nowhere and shoot them dead. When soldiers fell in battle, thousands upon thousands of Israelis came to some of their funerals. Few Israelis doubt that the IDF could and would have “smashed” Hamas and retaken Gaza if ordered to do so. Had the IDF been told to go get the bunkered Hamas leaders, “we would have gone to Shifa [hospital] and pulled them out by their ears,” Lt.-Col. (res.) Ori Shechter, the deputy commander of the Nahal Brigade, said on Army Radio on Wednesday. But there’s been no vocal criticism from the IDF about the political direction, and nor is there likely to be.
Alan Dershowitz: The empty spaces in Gaza
How many times have you heard on television or read in the media that the Gaza Strip is "the most densely populated area in the world"? Repeating this statement, however, does not make it true. There are dense parts of Gaza, especially Gaza City, Beit Hanoun and Khan Younis, but there are far less dense areas in Gaza between these cities. Just look at Google Earth, or this population density map.False alarm sends southerners scrambling, but truce holds
The fact that these sparsely populated areas exist in the Gaza Strip raise several important moral questions: First, why don't the media show the relatively open areas of the Gaza Strip? Why do they only show the densely populated cities? There are several possible reasons. There is no fighting going on in the sparsely populated areas, so showing them would be boring. But that's precisely the point—to show areas from which Hamas could be firing rockets and building tunnels but has chosen not to. Or perhaps the reason the media doesn't show these areas is that Hamas won't let them. That too would be a story worth reporting.
Second, why doesn't Hamas use sparsely populated areas from which to launch its rockets and build its tunnels? Were it to do so, Palestinian civilian casualties would decrease dramatically, but the casualty rate among Hamas terrorists would increase dramatically.
The Times of Israel is liveblogging events as they unfold through Wednesday, the 30th day since the start of Operation Protective Edge and the second day of a truce intended to lead to a long-term ceasefire. An Israeli delegation is in Cairo to discuss the terms of a long-term ceasefire with Hamas. The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into force on Tuesday morning, and Hamas fired a salvo of rockets minutes before, and then fell quiet. Israeli military chiefs said they had delivered a “serious blow” to Hamas, including destroying all its known cross-border tunnels, and would restart military action if needed.Netanyahu's 'Long War' Doctrine
As Netanyahu's recent speeches have indicated, the Israeli prime minister is deeply aware that the immediate interests of Egypt and Saudi Arabia are largely coterminous with those of Israel.A balancing act
All three countries are hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood and to the ambitions of Iran and its allies. All three are deeply dismayed at the current U.S. administration's softness toward and accommodation of these forces. It is an alliance of the coldest, most pragmatic and most hard-headed type. Precisely for this reason, it works.
So for now, Israel is redeploying its forces outside Gaza, with the option and possibility of strikes back inside if a renewed ceasefire continues to prove elusive. The IDF will continue to maintain the pressure on Hamas, even as the rulers of Gaza participate in ceasefire negotiations managed by Sisi in Cairo. There are reports of Israel establishing a de facto buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip, to reduce the ability of Hamas to fire short-range rockets at southern Israeli communities.
All this forms part of an effort to undertake the containment and incremental weakening of the Islamist entity in Gaza, in cooperation with whoever, for his own reasons, is willing to cooperate.
Netanyahu's vision is a chilly one, though it is not ultimately pessimistic. It aims to provide firm, durable walls for the house that the Jews of Israel have constructed. Within those walls the energies of Israeli Jews will ensure success — provided that the walls can be kept secure, thus believes the Israeli prime minister. It is from the point of view of this broader strategic picture that the current actions of Israel need to be understood. Operation Protective Edge — like Cast Lead and Orchard and Lebanon 2006 and the others — is intended as a single action in a long and unfinished war.
Despite biased portrayals overseas, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government has proved its mettle by not being gung ho or trigger happy. Despite carping protests at home, it is not weak or irresolute.Elliott Abrams: Hamas' war for cash
It has been adroitly performing a tricky balancing act between the desirable and the doable despite unavoidable battlefield mishaps, calumnies from implacable foes and insincere slurs from injudicious allies.
After the last month of warfare, we should take solace from the fact that Israel has consistently sought to do the right thing, even though the results have sometimes been tragic due to Hamas’s endemic use of civilians as human shields. Given the enemy’s repeated war crimes and total disregard for its own civilians, that is no mean feat.
So what did Hamas do to change this situation? First it tried to get the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to pay the salaries, by entering into a sort of nonparty or "technocratic" government with the Fatah party in the PA. This failed: The PA, which is paying its own civil servants in Gaza, refused to take on the additional burden. So Hamas turned to war. That such a war would be a disaster for the people of Gaza, would surely result in hundreds of dead and thousands of wounded, would destroy many homes and public facilities, must have been clear to the Hamas leadership. They had spent years planting their rockets and tunnels in and under hospitals, schools, and homes, which predictably would be hit during the war. No matter. That was a price the people of Gaza would have to pay.Hamas - A cruel and cynical enemy
And then would come the payments to Hamas. The goal of the war was to shake things up, to get Hamas out of its fiscal crisis, by getting the world, the "international community," to get money moving. Perhaps Qatar would agree to pay those salaries. Perhaps the United States would pressure Egypt and Israel to open more passages more hours, and without undue inspections of what was going through. Perhaps the Americans and the EU and the wealthy Arab oil producers would go for as "Marshall Plan" for Gaza, sending hundreds of millions of dollars.
And all the while, Hamas would remain in charge. As Guy Bechor pointed out in Gplanet, it's as if all the Marshall Plan funding directed at Germany had been sent with the Nazi Party still in charge in Berlin rather than after the destruction of the Nazi regime and while American troops were stationed in Germany.
The accounts all point to a cruel and cynical enemy that is willing to use kindergartens, schools and hospitals as rocket bases and tunnel covers, and which actively seeks to get Gazan civilians killed and injured.What Hamas Believes, and Why It Must Be Delegitimized and Fought
One source on Tuesday spoke of how the army uncovered the Gazan shaft of a cross-border tunnel. It surfaced in a hothouse located right next to a Palestinian kindergarten. It led directly to Kibbutz Netiv Ha’asara, where Hamas gunmen planned to massacre civilians.
Other units found rocket launch tripods in school playgrounds.
“At the entrance to Beit Hanun, there were more homes with booby-traps than not,” said another army officer.
“Much of the destruction of homes in Gaza was because of Hamas’s booby traps.”
Today, in a pathbreaking and revealing interview, Nic Robertson of CNN sat down in Qatar — Hamas’ protector — with Hamas’ political leader, Khaled Mashaal. Robertson did not mince words, and asked Mashaal the tough questions he obviously did not expect.Israel Kept Hezbollah out of the War
Both the Israeli and American narrative, Mashaal said, was a “lie.” Hamas’ leader actually said with a straight face that Hamas did not fire rockets from schools, mosques and other populated areas, and never put the people of Gaza in harm’s way. Israeli rockets, he said, were purposefully aimed at civilian inhabitants. Moreover, he continued to claim that the thousands killed in Gaza by Israel’s forces, when compared to the relatively few Israeli deaths, is proof enough that it is Israel alone that was guilty of intentionally killing civilian non-combatants.
Robertson stood out from all his media counterparts in not letting Mashaal get away with such drivel. He pointed out that if there were not as many Israeli casualties, it was not for the lack of Hamas trying. The “Iron Dome” has saved Israeli lives, and Hamas seeks to fire so many rockets in the hope that some will get by Iron Dome’s capabilities and explode in civilian areas.
To borrow a phrase from Sherlock Holmes: the "dog that didn't bark" in the Gaza conflict (thus far, anyway) was Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia has rockets and tunnels that equal or surpass the Hamas arsenal, and in 2006 was able to open a second front after Israel attacked Gaza in response to the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. But aside from a few bombastic press statement, Hezbollah stayed out of this latest round.Bennett: If Israel leaves West Bank, we'll have terror tunnels leading into our heartland
The main reason, no doubt, is that Hezbollah is deeply mired in the Syrian civil war, where it is doing the Assad regime's dirty work. The atrocities carried out by Hezbollah or with its active support have all but destroyed its image in the Arab world, where it was once seen as heroic for its decades-long "resistance" to Israel. Moreover, it has suffered casualties and strain to its supply and personnel. It is not in shape to take on Israel at this time.
There are other possible reasons, too, that Hezbollah stayed out. Iran has been able to use the presence of two terror armies on Israel's border--Hamas and Hezbollah--as deterrents to a possible Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. With Israel taking the punch out of one of those deterrents, there was no way Iran was going to risk losing the other. A weakened Hezbollah would not be able to protect Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Regardless, the fact that Israel has been able to operate in Gaza without a significant challenge from Lebanon is one of the most revealing gains of the conflict. It also suggests that the Second Lebanon War, widely viewed as something of a loss for the Israeli military, was more successful than previously understood in helping Israel establish a deterrent to protect the home front. That, and Iron Dome, have shifted the balance in Israel's favor.
In a statement he released marking nine years since Israel's rooting out of its settlements in Gaza, Bennett said that the disengagement had taught us that "he who runs from terror has terror chase after him. Those who chase after terror, will live in security."IDF Blog: Operation Protective Edge by the Numbers
Bennett said that the the disengagement from Gaza and its consequences, as seen in Israel's Operation Protective Edge, shed light on the implications of the founding of a Palestinian state in the West Bank.
"I learned that a Palestinian state will destroy the Israeli economy," Bennett claimed. "It will destroy tourism, business and commerce," he said, adding that a Palestinian state would not only hurt Israel's security, but also isolate the Jewish state diplomatically.
Bennett gave the example of the United States deciding to cancel air travel to Israel during Operation Protective Edge as a scenario that could repeat itself should Israel give up control of the West Bank.
Everything you need to know about Operation Protective Edge, from destroyed terror tunnels to rocket attacks on Israel. Just the facts.IDF’s ‘Protective Edge’ Numbers: 475 Hamas Rockets Struck Within Gaza; Up to 1000 Terrorists Killed
The IDF initiated Operation Protective Edge to put an end to the terror attacks emanating from Gaza. In the three weeks leading up to July 8, terrorists fired 250 rockets capable of reaching Israel’s largest population centers and endangering 3.5 million Israeli lives. More than half a million Israelis had less than 60 seconds to find shelter after hearing a rocket siren. Tens of thousands had only 15 seconds.
In the wake of the Israeli army’s pullout from Gaza on Monday and Tuesday, the IDF has released a stat list on its four-week-long Operation Protective Edge.Israel Says Gaza Death Toll 1:1 Combatant-Civilian Kill Ratio, Same as in Previous Hamas Wars
The overall mission was aimed at thwarting both incessant rocket fire and mortar shelling into Israel, as well as sending out search and destroy missions against terror tunnels that led into Israeli territory.
Sixty-four soldiers and officers were killed and 463 were wounded in the 29-day operation.
Three Israeli civilians were killed during the fighting from rocket hits, and 83 residents and foreign nationals sustained various injuries while running for safety, and from complications connected with seeking shelter during salvos of rockets fired at Israel totaling 3,356.
In its summation, the IDF said, it targeted 750- 1,000 militants of which at least 253 were Hamas operatives, 147 were Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives, 65 operatives were from various other organizations, and at least 603 operatives were not identified by affiliation.
The army said 82,201 IDF reservists were called up for the operation.
The army said that 2,303 projectiles slammed down within Israel, 116 of which hit populated areas (3.45%). 578 were intercepted by the Iron Dome Tamir interceptor missiles, and 475 landed within the Gaza Strip.
The Army said 69.4% were fired from the northern Gaza Strip, 12.9% were fired from the central Gaza Strip, and 17.3% were fired from the southern Gaza Strip. 597 of the rockets were launched from civilian facilities (18%), approximately 260 were launched from educational facilities (schools), 127 from cemeteries, 160 from religious sites, and 50 were launched from hospitals, according to the IDF,
A senior military source told Times of Israel that the Army counted 900 Hamas militants of the 1,800 Gazans believed to have been killed, meaning a 1:1 kill ratio of civilians to combatants, which would be in-line with Israel’s previous two wars against Hamas in Gaza.Hamas tells Gazans over Facebook: Stop Exposing Terrorist Deaths
Blogger Elder of Ziyon, who flagged the reports, noted that during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, in 2009, the number of dead was inflated by including natural deaths during the period to increase the body count in the “martyr” category.
Hamas’ latest Facebook post has a clear purpose: to exaggerate civilian deaths and hide the organization’s use of human shields.Hamas: By the Numbers
Hamas has posted a Facebook message urging Gazans to stop publishing photos of terrorists killed by IDF forces. The post appeared yesterday (Aug. 5) on the official page of Hamas’ Ministry of the Interior and National Security. It instructs Palestinians to “refrain from disseminating photographs of martyrs of the resistance” in Gaza.
IDF Releases More Video of Hamas Human Shield Use
Despite the current ceasefire, the IDF released additional video Wednesday showing Hamas rockets being fired from spots next to civilian homes. Israel has charged countless times that Hamas has a policy of using its own populace as human shields. It purposely fires from among civilians, in the hope that Israel is deterred from striking the missile launcher, or that it does strike and causes collateral damage that hurts civilians.Caught on Camera: Hamas Terrorists Fire from Populated Areas
How Israel Prevented a Rosh Hashanah War
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the two holiest days on the Jewish calendar, will now forever be linked as the two most crucial moments in Israel’s military history – one for a surrender to foreign pressure, one for a bold defiance of foreign pressure.Hamas TV: Dress up like Jews to execute suicide bombings
In the days leading up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, some officials in both the United States and Israel came to suspect that Egypt and Syria might be planning to attack. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger telephoned Israel’s acting ambassador in Washington, Mordechai Shalev, and relayed to him a “presidential entreaty” – that is, a direct demand by the White House – that Israel refrain from launching a preemptive strike.
This was revealed in the book ‘The Secret Conversations of Henry Kissinger,’ by Matti Golan, chief diplomatic correspondent for the left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The chief of staff of the Israeli Army, General David Elazar, later testified before an Israeli government commission of inquiry that he had recommended a pre-emptive strike, but Prime Minister Golda Meir turned it down, on the grounds that Israel would lose America’s support if it struck first. For the same reason, Meir rejected Gen. Elazar’s request for a full mobilization of Israel’s reserve troops.
During the Gaza war, Hamas repeatedly broadcast a video promoting suicide attacks on Israeli civilians. The Hamas video shows a terrorist putting on a suicide belt and dressing up as a stereotypical, bearded Orthodox Jewish civilian, who is then sent to commit a suicide bombing.Egyptian Initiative Won, Hamas Lost, Says Diplomat
PA TV likewise broadcast a video during the war which could also be interpreted as encouraging suicide bombing. The video was based on a poem written by Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian national poet. While some literature analysts say the deeper meaning of the poem is a critique on suicide bombings, the words PA TV chose to include in its video clip seem to present suicide bombing positively - literally as an expression of life:
“Hamas has suffered a military beating, in terms of the rocket array and the tunnels, and has arrived in Cairo with its demands no longer on the agenda,” a diplomatic source said Tuesday. “Hamas could have received the same thing in the first ceasefire that was offered, but it refused the Egyptian initiative and in the end surrendered to what the Egyptians dictated. The blockade has not been lifted. In the end, the Egyptian initiative has won and therefore Hamas has lost.”As Cairo Talks Begin, Hamas Vows Never to Disarm
Egypt has reportedly made clear to the Palestinian delegation that the construction of an international airport in Gaza and the opening of the sea port are not on the agenda of the talks. As for the crossing between Egypt and Gaza at Rafah – one report said that Egypt refuses to talk about that too, and another says it will only talk about the possibility if control of the crossing's Gazan side is placed in the hands of Mahmoud Abbas, and not Hamas.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, in a BBC interview, called for a sustained ceasefire but stressed that the crucial wider issues would need to be tackled.Report: Egypt to Open Rafah Crossing - If PA Takes Control
The Palestinians demand an end to the eight-year Israeli blockade of Gaza and the release of convicted terrorists.
Israel has demanded that Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the United States, EU and Israel, disarm its militia.
A senior Hamas official in Cairo said on Tuesday the terrorist group would not even consider laying down its weapons, which include an arsenal of unguided rockets and anti-tank missiles, and issued a stern warning to those who would try to disarm it.
"Whoever tries to take our weapons, we will take his life," said Ezzat al-Rishq on Twitter.
Arab news sources reported Wednesday that Egypt has agreed to open the crossing between it and Gaza at Rafah, on the condition that the Gazan side be supervised by the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas, and not by Hamas.IDF Treating Abandoned Elderly Gazan Lady
Hamas has reportedly agreed to this, mostly because the it is now a part of the PA government, since joining Abbas's Fatah in a unity coalition.
Abbas is supposed to serve as the link between Egypt and Israel regarding Gaza, according to the reports.
It was also agreed that a conference would be held next month in Norway, to collect funds for rehabilitating Gaza.
Last week, we posted photos of the IDF helping a chained and malnourished palestinian man.With Gaza war ostensibly over, Israelis ask what’s next?
Now comes this video of IDF soldiers in Gaza finding an abandoned elderly palestinian woman needing medical treatment.
As the woman is coming out of the ambulance, the officer says to a cameraman “Do not take embarrassing photos [of the woman], with all due respect to our PR”.
Note also how she thanks them.
A Channel 2 poll published Tuesday showed that 42 percent thought Israel had won the war, versus 44% who said it had lost.As fighting halts, IDF chief promises help to rehabilitate Gaza
Those sentiments are likely to be shared not only by right-wing politicians, who advocated for a full-scale ground invasion and the reoccupation of Gaza, but also by the residents of the South. Thirty-two cross-border terror tunnels have been destroyed, but the prevailing feeling is that Hamas will use the next days, weeks and months of quiet to rearm and prepare for the next round of violence if it can.
“Best case scenario: Time-out!” tweeted Channel 2’s chief foreign editor Arad Nir on Tuesday morning, as the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire went into effect.
The architects of Operation Protective Edge can cite several significant accomplishments, beyond the mere cessation of rocket attacks: Hamas’s arsenal of rockets was depleted; and the 32 tunnels — which Hamas planned to use for deadly terror attacks against Israeli civilians — were destroyed. Eleven soldiers were killed by Hamas gunmen rushing to use the tunnels before the IDF found and demolished them.
And yet, Netanyahu will have to work hard to explain why this month-long war, during which 64 IDF soldiers and three Israeli civilians were killed, was a success. The operation’s official objectives may turn out to be met – restoring quiet to the South, and dealing a harsh blow to Hamas’s terror infrastructure. But the prime minister knows that he needs to deliver more than that.
Israel and the IDF will do everything in their power in order to help rehabilitate the Gaza Strip and assist civilians in the Palestinian enclave, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Tuesday, as four weeks of fighting appeared to grind to a halt.Don’t Rebuild Gaza
“We are entering a complex period of assistance and rehabilitation,” Gantz said. “We will assist [the people in Gaza] not because of a strategic consideration, but because of the humanitarian aspect,” he added.
Israel has allowed transfers of humanitarian goods into Gaza throughout the conflict, but officials in the Strip and the United Nations have warned of a humanitarian disaster, as 28 days of bombing raids have left homes destroyed and vital infrastructure crippled.
And as long as evil like Hamas exists, an evil that vows to destroy Israel, this cycle will simply play out again.To My Soldiers and the Jewish People: We Have Won!
It’s time to acknowledge what has been published on these pages before – two states on this side of the Jordan river is a recipe for unending war.
Take your foreign aid money, use it to relocate the people from Gaza.
As we end a month's battle in Gaza, and I hear questioning noises about its outcome, it is important to me to tell all of the Jewish People that we have won. Victory is ours from both a military and a civilian point of view.Strength in the face of missiles
As far as the military results are concerned, we can be holding victory celebrations. Hamas is on the rocks, at best he can stick his head out of his hiding places for a second and signal a "V" with his hands - until he gets a welll-aimed rocket, that is.
Hamas cannot bring in more missiles via the Egyptian border, as it did freely during the Muslim Brotherhood's rule.
It took years for Hamas to build tens of tunnels to attack from within our communities and we have destroyed them all.
Everything they attempted to do to fight us has failed, from the air, land and sea.
It will take more than a few missiles and tunnels to dislodge us from this part of the world, but it is still tragic and devastating how many of our young soldiers must make the ultimate sacrifice for the people of Israel to live in peace. Israel is the only country in the world in which people wake up every morning wondering who will try to wipe them from the face of the earth today.U.S. State Department Lectures Israel on How to Fight Terrorists
Terrorists are people you don’t negotiate with, and the western world, led by the US, refuses to understand this. It is surprising how strongly US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are pushing for a cease-fire with Hamas – great support for the enemies of your so-called “best friend in the Middle East.” I wonder how President Obama would react if Israel attempted to pressure the US into signing a cease-fire with al-Qaida while al-Qaida was bombarding nearly every city in the United States.
The State Department has announced new rules for when the Israeli Army may, and may not, target Hamas terrorists. This might come as a surprise to the Israeli public, which has grown accustomed to its army being led by career military officers with decades of terrorist-fighting experience.Israel Defines the Empowerment of Women, Even During Wartime
The State Department’s new decree was handed down in the wake of an August 3 incident, in which an Israeli missile eliminated three Hamas killers riding on a motorcycle in the Gaza city of Rafah.
That the Israelis are able to pinpoint such a small, moving target is itself a remarkable achievement and a testimony both to Israel’s doctrine of avoiding civilian casualties as well as its admirable technological prowess.
The Electronic Intifada recently published a piece that claims ending Zionism is a feminist issue, as a disproportionate number of women and children are being killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Electric Intifada got only one thing right—it is true that women and children are at great risk during wartime. But the true offender of who creates that vulnerability was completely left out of the article.Turkish Hackers Deface Arutz Sheva Hebrew Site
It did not mention that the United Nations found rockets hidden by Hamas in schools.
It did not mention that Hamas launches rockets from inside and around mosques, hospitals, and children’s playgrounds.
It did not mention that Hamas uses women and children as human shields to take advantage of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) restraint.
It did not mention that Israel was by far the highest-ranked country in the Middle East with the smallest gender gap by World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap survey of 2013.
Muslim hackers temporarily downed Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language website Tuesday, and defaced it with anti-Israel slogans.Christians United for Israel to Bring Pastors From All 50 States to Israel
The attack was claimed by Turkish hacking group Turkguvenligi, which claims to have previously hacked websites belonging to NATO, Interpol, Nasa and the Pentagon, among other high-profile targets.
In a message addressed to "all the Muslim Peoples", the group singled out US, Israeli and German leaders "Obama, Merkel, Netanyahu" as well as the United Nations and NATO, vowing that they would "pay for your disgusting cruelty against muslim people."
On the heels of announcing a national pro-Israel ad campaign, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the largest pro-Israel organization in the U.S., announced Monday that the group is taking 51 pastors – one from each state and the District of Columbia – to Israel for a four-day solidarity trip.Fatah official threatens 'settlers' with death
The group, which departed Monday, plans to meet with senior Israeli officials, offer encouragement to Israeli soldiers defending the Jewish State, and donate blood to help the wounded.
Church leaders joining the trip include Todd Burpo, author of Heaven is for Real and senior pastor of Nebraska’s Crossroads Wesleyan Church, Dr. James Garlow, senior pastor at Skyline Church in San Diego, Billye Brim, head of Missouri-based Billye Brim Ministries, Lynne Hammond, senior pastor of Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, and Waxer Tipton, senior pastor of One Love Ministries in Honolulu.
A senior Fatah official tacitly threatened the lives of Israelis travelling through the West Bank, also warning Palestinian merchants to rid their shops of “occupation” products or have them smashed.US-Israel ties at new low after Netanyahu-Kerry phone 'disconnect'
Speaking at a rally in Nablus organized by Fatah — in solidarity with Gaza — Monday evening, Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muheisen warned Israel “not to forget that its settlers wander the streets among us and are an easy target for [Fatah's] al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank,” the movement’s official website and Facebook page reported.
Kerry's spokesperson, Jen Psaki, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the two men have not spoken since a brief phone call over the situation in Gaza ended because of "communications problems."Washington: Burden is on Hamas to Keep Ceasefire
Psaki said Kerry has held discussions over the course of the last day with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and UN official Robert Serry.
Netanyahu's relations with the Obama administration have historically been rocky, but the disagreements over how to approach the Palestinian issue came into sharper focus during the recent Gaza crisis.
The United States welcomed the declaration of a ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hamas on Monday but warned that the onus was on Hamas to maintain the truce, AFP reports.Jordan Pushes for UN Security Council Action for 'Lasting Truce'
"This is a real opportunity. We strongly support the initiative," Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told CNN, when asked about an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour pause in hostilities.
Jordan has presented a new resolution on the Gaza crisis to the UN Security Council and hopes for action on the measure in the coming days, its ambassador said Tuesday.Jordanian PM refuses to withdraw ambassador in Israel
The draft resolution backed by Arab countries calls for a lasting ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, as well as an international effort to rebuild Gaza after four weeks of fighting killed at least 1,867 Palestinians, at least half of them terrorists, and 67 Israelis.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour chaired a cabinet session on Sunday to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, saying that despite calls to withdraw Jordan’s ambassador to Israel, it would keep him in place.Fidel Castro Calls Israel 'Fascist' Over Gaza Operation
Ambassador Walid Obeidat would stay in Israel so he could continue to serve its citizens in the West Bank, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Jordanian Petra News Agency reported.
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro compared Israel's military operation in Gaza on Tuesday to a "disgusting form of fascism" that its ally, the United States, is unable to control.Hungary: Fascists Stage Mock 'Hanging' of Israeli Leaders
"I think that a new and disgusting form of fascism is emerging with considerable force at this moment in human history," Castro wrote in a column in the newspaper Granma titled "Palestinian Holocaust in Gaza."
Mihaly Zoltan Orosz, mayor of Erpatak, was filmed ordering the hanging of effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former president Shimon Peres in protest against the Gaza conflict on Sunday.Deputy British PM: Suspend Arms Exports to Israel
"Israel's leadership is in the service of the Antichrist," Orosz can be heard telling onlookers in a video available online.
"The government of Hungary must act now in order to stop these very dangerous acts," Ilan Mor, Israel's envoy to Budapest, said in a statement.
Clegg’s call came after Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a British minister who was the first Muslim woman to sit in the Cabinet, resigned over the British government's policy on Gaza.Poll: US attitudes on Gaza conflict unchanged from 2002
"I think the question marks that Sayeeda Warsi has raised about the arms export licenses which we issue to arms exporters selling to Israel are very serious ones and I share her concerns”, the Liberal Democrat leader said in a statement on his website.
"It’s obvious to me that however much Israel has every right to defend itself from those rocket attacks from Hamas, nonetheless the Israeli military operation overstepped the mark in Gaza,” he continued.
The poll published Tuesday and conducted Aug. 2-3 found that Americans’ views of the conflict have changed little over the past 10 days — or the past 12 years. Respondents are about evenly divided over whether Israel’s actions in Gaza are justified, and respondents viewed Hamas’ actions mostly critically.Poll: Americans Favor Israel over Hamas 3:1
Opinion is “little different” than during a similar Israel-Gaza conflict in 2002, Gallup noted.
The report found that those “paying closest attention to the conflict” are more likely to say that Israel’s actions are justified and that American attitudes “have remained remarkably unchanged,” compared with two weeks ago and also 12 years ago.
A Gallup poll has found that 42% of the adult population in the US think the Israeli actions in Gaza are “mostly justified,” while 14% thought the same about Hamas's actions.Poll: 50% Disapprove Obama’s Handling of Israel-Hamas Conflict
Americans' views of the military actions of Israel and Hamas in the current conflict in Gaza have changed little over the past 10 days. The public remains closely divided over whether Israel's actions have been justified, but is mostly critical of Hamas' actions.
Six in 10 Americans say they are following the conflict "very" or "somewhat closely."
According to a new CBS news poll Americans aren’t pleased with President Obama’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.CNN's Blitzer grills MK Feiglin over whether he called for 'Gaza concentration camp'
55% of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the situation, while just 33% approve.
The poll also finds a majority of Americans continue to disapprove President Obama’s overall job approval.
When pressed by Blitzer as to whether Feiglin had urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to establish "concentration camps" for Palestinians, Feiglin said that he had pushed for a plan that would create "sheltered areas" for civilians in Gaza so as to provide a "humane" option that would allow Israel to more effectively crush Hamas rocket-launchers.The UNRWA is Hamas
"I want to give the Arabs in the Gaza Strip three choices," Feiglin said. "Those who are fighting against us should be killed. Those who are launching rockets from kindergartens should be shot. Those who wish to leave the Gaza Strip – and our surveys indicate that 80 percent want to leave – should get the support from us and the international community to find a better place."
"Those who want to stay can stay," Feiglin said. "This is a plan [that allows] Israel to win this war."
When Blitzer asked Feiglin whether he supported "tent encampments" for Gazans before they are "helped along to another destination," the Likud MK replied: "Definitely."
The UNRWA is on the front lines of the Hamas War in Gaza. In the headlines, its schools are forever being fired on or found to be stockpiling rockets. If individual Gazans are being used as human shields, the UNRWA often seems as if it is one big organizational human shield.White House: We Can’t Fix The Middle East
But the UNRWA isn't Hamas' human shield. The UNRWA is Hamas.
The "UN" part of the UNRWA, the blue logos and symbols, fool us into thinking of it as an international humanitarian organization. But the UNRWA in Gaza functions as a large Palestinian Arab organization with a smattering of foreign supervisory staff.
And those foreign staffers often tend to leave during a conflict.
The White House stated Tuesday that efforts by the United States to mediate negotiations between Israel and Hamas will not be the determining factor in ending the violence, despite multiple previous efforts.New York’s Jewish institutions step up security
“Its important to understand that extending the cease-fire is going to require a decision that’s made by Palestinian leaders and Israeli leaders. As much as the United States and other countries around the globe, even international organizations like the U.N. would like to impose a cease-fire, that can’t successfully occur,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during Tuesday’s press conference.
“Jewish institutions have expressed concerns, particularly about securing events from protests and other possible disruptions. We have also responded to hate crimes related to the conflict,” national director of the ADL Abraham H. Foxman said in a statement.Gaza: Genocide fail
However in spite of increased tension, people shouldn’t stop going to their synagogue, or taking classes at their JCC, according to the SCN.
“You don’t form relationships during a crisis, you need to form them before,” Mt. Sinai’s Potasnik said. “We have to make sure that whatever happens there [in Israel] shouldn’t affect us here. We can have strong disagreements but no one should take security lightly during these tense times.”
The 2104 life expectancy for Gaza is 74.64 years. Thats higher than Malaysia 74.52. Its higher than the left’s current darling, Venezuela. (74.39) . Its higher than Gaza’s neighbors in Jordan (74.10 years) and Egypt ( 73.45 years). Its even higher than Turkey (73.29 years).Google removes 'Bomb Gaza' game from online app store after public outrage
Gaza’s low rates of Infant mortality also belie any accusation of "genocide".
Infant mortality rate compares the number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year, and is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country
Gaza has a lower rate of infant mortality (15.46) than its neighbors in Egypt. (22.41 deaths per thousand births), Syria (15.79), Jordan (15.73). Turkey (21.43 )
In spite of these objective quantatative measurements, the Palestinians are still the highest per capita recipients of aid in the world. And in spite of all evidence to the contrary, the enemies of Israel and the enemies of truth continue to bandy about spurilous accusations of "genocide".
A cell phone game which simulates the IDF bombing Gaza was removed from the Google app store on Monday following a massive public outcry, The Guardian reported.Australia: Anti-Semites Attack School Bus, Shout 'Kill the Jews'
The game "Bomb Gaza" was developed by PLAYFTW for Android phones and tablets had been downloaded up to 1,000 times since its release on July 29 of this year. Its stated aim was to “drop bombs and avoid killing civilians,” according to the Guardian.
A group of drunken anti-Semites terrorized a school bus filled with Jewish students in Australia, shouting Nazi slogans and threatening to murder everyone on board on Wednesday.South African President Criticizes Israel Over Gaza
Speaking to Australia's Daily Telegraph, mother Jackie Blackburn said her 12, 10 and eight-year-old daughters, who were on their way home from Mount Sinai, Mariah and Emanuel kindergarten in Bondi, were left "traumatized" by the attack.
She said she was alerted to the incident after her daughter called her hysterical with fear.
South African President Jacob Zuma voiced outrage Monday over civilian deaths in Israel's campaign in Gaza but distanced himself from calls to expel the Israeli ambassador, AFP reported.Meet The Eight Members of Congress Who Voted Against the Iron Dome Bill
"We are outraged by the killing of civilians by Israel, some in United Nations shelters," Zuma was quoted as having told a news conference in Washington where he was attending a U.S.-Africa summit.
"We call upon all sides to lay down arms and work towards a negotiated solution that will lead to an internationally recognized and supported two-state solution," he said.
Last week, Congress expedited a bill that gave $225 million to Israel for their missile defense system known as the Iron Dome. The bill passed through the House with a vote of 395-8 and was quickly passed through the Senate.PA Continuing with Efforts to Join International Criminal Court
Yet not everyone voted for the bill to provide funding to Israel’s missile defense system. Eight members of Congress voted against the bill, four Republicans and four Democrats.
According to the report, the PA’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, met with ICC officials to discuss the Israeli operation in Gaza.Italy Expels Muslim Cleric Who Called to 'Kill Jews'
During his visit, Al-Maliki inquired about the legal procedures necessary for the PA to join the ICC and sign the Rome Statute in order to take action against possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza, according to the report.
Al-Maliki said he would consult members of the Palestinian Authority government on the matter after his visit.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said he had ordered the expulsion of Raoudi Aldelbar "for seriously disturbing public order, being a danger to national security and for religious discrimination," after experts carried out a thorough examination of the footage.Why is Latin America Coddling Hamas?
Aldelbar, an imam in the town of San Dona di Piave in northern Italy, appeared in the video to launch into a diatribe against the Jews, in which he said: "Oh Allah, bring upon them that which will make us happy. Count them one by one, and kill them one by one."
Alfano said the speech was "unacceptable" as it was "of clear anti-Semitic tone, containing explicit incitements to violence and religious hate".
Five countries — Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador and Peru — have recalled their ambassadors from Israel, a harsh step rarely taken in the diplomatic world. When was the last time they pulled their envoys from any other nation, including serial abusers of human rights such as Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria?Hamas Terrorists were on Psychoactive Drugs
Moreover, all but one of the Mercosur member states — Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela — issued a stinging statement condemning Israel’s conduct in Gaza. To its credit, Paraguay did not join them.
The irony of such a statement is striking. Venezuela has championed Syrian President Bashar Assad — “Venezuela is with Syria,” President Nicolás Maduro declared one week after Damascus used chemical weapons on its own people — in a war that has resulted in nearly 200,000 victims and millions of refugees. Surely, Caracas has no claim to pass itself off as a defender of anyone’s human rights. The fact that the other four nations allowed themselves to be associated with the thuggish Maduro regime speaks for itself.
An IDF officer reported that a number of Hamas terrorists in Gaza were hyped up on psychoactive drugs, according to a report on Rotter.net.Baby Björn Launches Ergonomic Human Shield Carrier (satire)
Soldiers noticed that some of the Hamas terrorists they captured in Gaza were acting very “weird”.
Examinations indicated that they had been given drugs to make them “not afraid” to fight the IDF.
The report claims that a side effect of the drug is that it made it easier for the IDF to interrogate them.
In the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, it was reported a number of times that Hamas terrorists ran away as soon as the IDF approached.
The Hamas leadership may have given their fighters the drugs to stop that rational behavior.
Solna, Sweden, August 6 – The manufacturer of one of the world’s most prominent baby carriers has announced a line of products to cater to newly emerging demand in the Middle East, a carrier to serve as a back-friendly way of wearing one’s infant human shield.
Babybjörn, Ltd. will release the Baby Achmed carrier, a special variation of its award-winning Baby Björn product, specifically targeting the burgeoning human shield market in the Gaza Strip. Company executives hope demand will increase in other areas soon, such as the West Bank, where Hamas, the chief prospective customer, has been working to expand its influence recently.
Babybjörn Creative Designer Lillemor Jakobson told reporters today that the company foresees robust sales in the target market, as Baby Achmed brings what she called “synergy” to two important needs. “Our new product solves two problems at once: it offers a convenient way for the noble freedom fighters of Hamas to maintain constant protection on their persons, and it allows them to do so in a way that places minimal stress on the lower back and shoulders,” she explained, joints and muscles already under strain from carrying weapons.
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