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Friday, October 27, 2023

10/27 Links Pt1: Deterring but Not Defeating Hamas Allowed It to Grow Stronger; Hamas is a plague hiding in a hospital; The Evil of "Queers For Palestine"

From Ian:

Deterring but Not Defeating Hamas Allowed It to Grow Stronger
In order to limit civilian loss of life in Gaza, a lot of well-meaning people in the West are calling for a cease-fire or suggesting that Israel should limit its response to Hamas to precision airstrikes and commando raids to take out high-level Hamas operatives and to free hostages. That advice is well-intended but ultimately misguided and futile. If Israel were to declare a cease-fire now, that would be tantamount to rewarding aggression and inviting more of it in the future.

A narrowly focused counterterrorism strategy is being pushed by analysts who warn that Israel should avoid the kind of quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan that the U.S. found itself in after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But there is a big difference in scale between Hamas now and al-Qaeda then. Al-Qaeda in 2001 had only 170 members, according to terrorism expert Peter Bergen. A few thousand other jihadists, who were not formal members, had been trained in its camps in Afghanistan. The 9/11 "planes operation" itself was carried out by 19 terrorists.

The Oct. 7 assault on Israel, by contrast, involved an estimated 1,200 Hamas militants. The organization has 15,000-40,000 fighters in Gaza, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad might have 15,000 more. That makes Hamas closer to a conventional military force than a terrorist cell. It can't be destroyed by a small number of special operations forces, no matter how skilled. Nor can it be defeated from the air: There is no history of air operations proving decisive in warfare absent a ground component.

If Israel were to rely on special operations raids and airstrikes, it would be reverting to the "mowing the lawn" strategy it followed for years of trying to degrade and deter, but not defeat, Hamas. The Oct. 7 attack revealed that policy's failure by showing that Hamas actually grew stronger and bolder after previous Israeli assaults.
Prof. Alan Johnson: Israeli Military Action to Defeat Hamas Is Proportionate to the Threat from Hamas
What is meant by "proportionality" in war? The goal pursued by military action must be proportionate to the ongoing threat faced. Israel's goal of the removal of Hamas as the controlling political and military power in Gaza is proportionate because 7 October made clear that Hamas now poses an existential threat to Israel.

Israel's goal is proportionate to the revelation that the mass slaughter of all the Jews of Israel will be attempted again and again by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad until successful, under the guiding hand and financial support of a nuclear threshold state religiously committed to Israel's destruction, Iran. Although Hamas has declared this eliminationist goal openly, again and again, Western liberal opinion refused to take it seriously. ("No, they can't mean that! No one can mean that!")

7 October 2023 should have brought an end to the games that Westerners play with genocidal Hamas statements, to their clever-clever "translating" of them into mere "rhetoric." But Israel's neighborhood is a bit different from the Modern Languages Association annual conference. In that region, when someone says they intend to kill you, they really intend to kill you. All of you.
Prof. Cary Nelson: If Hamas' Crimes Are Allowed to Stand Unanswered, They Will Be Repeated
Two to three thousand members of highly organized murder squads cross an international border and set about murdering civilians in as gruesome and indiscriminate a manner imaginable. With that barbaric mission completed in a day, some in the international community immediately begin calling for a ceasefire. A ceasefire keeps Hamas in power.

Those urging a ceasefire stand behind what appears to be the most basic humanitarian motive: prevent further loss of life. Meanwhile, no reprisals for murdering men, women, and children are to follow. No sanctions. No punishments. No accountability. We are all to accept what happened and move on. Except that if the crimes are allowed to stand unanswered, they will be repeated or horrifically reinvented within a few years at most.

If Israel fails to demonstrate that organized, wanton, antisemitic murder sprees will not be tolerated, these new forms of Hamas butchery will become Israel's new normal. The Hamas pogrom presents Israel with what really is this time an existential threat. It has to be treated that way. There will need to be a definitive material difference in the status of Hamas if Israelis are to feel safe again. Deterrence regarding Hamas has lost its credibility.

Decades of wishful thinking must come to an end. Hamas is not and never will be a partner for peace. Its charter's call to kill Jews by any means possible has only one meaning: the literal one.
Dennis Ross: I Might Have Once Favored a Cease-Fire With Hamas, but Not Now
For 35 years, I’ve devoted my professional life to U.S. peacemaking policy and conflict resolution and planning — whether in the former Soviet Union, a reunified Germany or postwar Iraq. But nothing has preoccupied me like finding a peaceful and lasting solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

In the past, I might have favored a cease-fire with Hamas during a conflict with Israel. But today it is clear to me that peace is not going to be possible now or in the future as long as Hamas remains intact and in control of Gaza. Hamas’s power and ability to threaten Israel — and subject Gazan civilians to ever more rounds of violence — must end.

After Oct. 7, there are many Israelis who believe their survival as a state is at stake. That may sound like an exaggeration, but to them, it’s not. If Hamas persists as a military force and is still running Gaza after this war is over, it will attack Israel again. And whether or not Hezbollah opens a true second front from Lebanon during this conflict, it, too, will attack Israel in the future. The aim of these groups, both of which are backed by Iran, is to make Israel unlivable and drive Israelis to leave: While Iran has denied involvement in the Hamas attack, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has long talked about Israel not surviving for another 25 years, and his strategy has been to use these militant proxies to achieve that goal.

Given the strength of Israel’s military — by far the most powerful in the region — the aims of Iran and its collaborators seemed implausible until a few weeks ago. But the events of Oct. 7 changed everything. As one commander in the Israeli military said, “If we do not defeat Hamas, we cannot survive here.”

Israel is not alone in believing it must defeat Hamas. Over the past two weeks, when I talked to Arab officials throughout the region whom I have long known, every single one told me that Hamas must be destroyed in Gaza. They made clear that if Hamas is perceived as winning, it will validate the group’s ideology of rejection, give leverage and momentum to Iran and its collaborators and put their own governments on the defensive.


Honest Reporting: How In The World Did We Get Here?
Over the years, media outlets have become islands of ideological conformity, where the need to affirm supersedes the obligation to inform. In the case of Israel, the subordination of Truth to ideology by some of the most revered international news outlets has led to levels of global antisemitism not seen since the Holocaust.

Under the guise of “objective journalism,” journalists frame information in such a way that ignites our confirmation bias while trying to mask their own biases and agendas. Given the constant bombardment of information from these sources, seeking out alternative views requires Herculean discipline, which few of us possess.

Media bias did not light the fuse for recent events, but it certainly fanned the flames. The dangers of media bias cannot be underestimated.

Sadly, bias presumes unconscious intent, and I do not believe the rush to judgment by the BBC, New York Times, and others in blaming Israel for the purported attack on the Gaza hospital, or in CNN’s case, equivocating over the likely culprit, was unconscious. It was malicious and intentional.

Their false reporting based on verifiably false information led to violent global protests and raised the prospect of a world war. It’s only natural to ask, “How in the world did we get here?”

I’ll try to shed light on how we got here by exploring the convergence of four cultural trends in Western nations, most notably the US and the UK, and the ensuing psychological prisons that capture minds.


State Department Email Consoling Employees After Hamas Attack Omits Mention of 'Israel' and 'Jews'
The State Department sent an internal email consoling its employees in the wake of the mass terrorist attacks in Israel that omitted any mention of "Israel" or "Jews," while warning that the war could provoke "antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab prejudice."

The 872-word message, which was sent Wednesday, addressed the "professional and personal effects of a region in crisis," and decried "Hamas’s terrorist attack, the ongoing conflict, and the urgent humanitarian crisis in Gaza." It did not directly mention Israel or the Jewish people.

The email comes as the White House has faced criticism for waving off journalists’ questions about rising anti-Semitism while invoking concerns about the potential for increased Islamophobia. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, for example, drew criticism on Wednesday after she appeared to duck a question about Biden’s "level of concern right now about the potential rise of anti-Semitism."

Richard Verma, the State Department deputy secretary for management and resources, wrote that he had "heard from team members here in Washington and at posts around the world with concerns that horrible acts of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab prejudice could ripple even further." This could make it "feel more dangerous to be who we are, express who we are, or gather at this most important moment with our communities," he added.

Verma included a list of resources, such as mental health counseling, for "those impacted by antisemitism; American Muslims and Arab-Americans; and anyone seeking healthy coping strategies to address the personal, emotional, and mental health impacts of this crisis."

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Jean-Pierre seemed to dismiss concerns of a rise in anti-Semitism following the Hamas terror attack when questioned by reporters on Wednesday.

The press secretary said the administration has "not seen any credible threats," before adding that "Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks."

There have been dozens of high-profile anti-Semitic incidents since the Oct. 7 onslaught, which was the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust. Law enforcement officials have also reported a spike in anti-Jewish attacks in the United States.

The Anti-Defamation League said this week that it has documented 312 anti-Semitic incidents in the three weeks since the war broke out, a 400 percent increase since the same time last year.


How do you justify killing people as they sleep?': Top Hamas spokesman storms out of BBC interview after being confronted about terror group's murder of Israeli families
This is the moment a top Hamas spokesman stormed out of a BBC interview after being asked how the terrorists justified the killing of Israeli families as they slept in their beds.

The deputy foreign minister for Hamas in Gaza, Ghazi Hamad, was being grilled by the BBC's Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega about the barbaric murders of up to 1,500 Israelis.

In the sit-down interview, Mr Hamad suggested there was no command to kill any civilians when Hamas invaded Israel on October 7 which saw the terrorists paraglide into the desert, surround the Nova Festival and slaughter 260 festivalgoers as they fled for their lives.

Footage has since emerged of the massacre of Be'eri Kibbutz where people were slaughtered in their beds. Images shown to MailOnline by the Israel Embassy in London, which are too graphic to publish, show the blood-splattered rooms.

Inside the bedroom of one home, three dead bodies were left to rot by Hamas fighters, who killed at least 100 people in the community. A woman lies face down in a pool of her own blood. Her blonde hair is blood stained and the wall behind her has at least six bullet holes.

While harrowing photos showed the aftermath of a bloodbath caused when Hamas barbarians opened fire at a pre-school - leaving teddy bears riddled with bullets and killing an unknown number of innocents.

But Mr Hamad incredulously suggested 'because the area was very wide' there 'were clashes and confrontations'.

Mr Bachega said it was not a confrontation when they invaded people's homes to which he replied: 'I can tell you we didn't have any intention or decision to kill the civilians.'

He was then asked how he can justify killing people as they slept. Mr Hamad then looks to the side and pulls off his microphone attached to his dark-coloured suit jacket and declares: 'I want to stop this interview.'

He then chucks the microphone onto the floor.

Up to 1,500 Israelis have been killed at the hands of Hamas with at least 200 taken hostage back to Gaza.


Israel Abandoned My Son Out of Fear



US strikes Iranian assets in Syria after attacks on American troops



IDF sends tanks, troops into Gaza for second straight night

How Israel's tanks swooped on Gaza in lightning raid on Hamas: Heavy duty bulldozers and APCs lead the charge smashing through border defences in 'targeted' night attack ahead of IDF's major ground assault

Israel Exposes Hamas for Hiding Headquarters in Hospital
The Israeli military accused Hamas on Friday of using the main hospital in Gaza as a shield for its tunnels and operational centres.

"Hamas has turned hospitals into command and control centres and hideouts for Hamas terrorists and commanders," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel's chief military spokesman, told a news conference.

He showed photographs, diagrams, and audio recordings he said showed how Hamas was using the hospital system and Al Shifa Hospital in particular to hide a variety of command posts and entry points into the extensive tunnel network under Gaza.

"Hamas terrorists operate inside and under Shifa hospital and other hospitals in Gaza," he said.

The Israeli military later posted to X a diagram showing Hamas operation centers within the Shifa hospital complex.

Hamas official Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the movement's political bureau, said on Telegram: "There is no basis in truth to what was reported by the enemy army spokesman," accusing Israel of spreading lies as "a prelude to committing a new massacre against our people." The comments came as Israeli forces have massed outside Gaza and conducted raids into the enclave in preparation for an expected ground offensive in retaliation for the deadly Hamas attack on Israel that killed some 1,400 people.
Hamas HQ Hidden Under Gaza's Largest Hospital
We are the IDF. Our purpose is to preserve the State of Israel, to protect its independence, and to stop its enemies from disrupting everyday life for Israel's citizens and residents.




The truth about the Al-Ahli hospital bombing in Gaza.
On October 17 Islamic Jihad misfired and hit the Al-Ahli hospital parking lot. Hamas claimed an Israeli Air Strike hit the hospital.


Tel Aviv apartment hit by Hamas rocket, four wounded

48 Hours in Hell: Colonel recalls battle to save civilians from Hamas
Avi Yemini hears from an Israel Defense Forces colonel who recalls the 48-hour battle to save civilians after Hamas terrorists attacked Kfar Aza, a border town near Gaza.


The deadly Hamas rocket strike that wiped out three generations of an Israeli family
In southern Israel, where the constant threat of rocket attacks looms large, a strike on October 7th shattered the lives of an innocent family, challenging the mainstream media's narrative on the impact of Hamas rockets.


Israeli Special Forces hero has a warning for Hamas terrorists
The echoes of a brutal attack still linger in Sderot, southern Israel, where Avi Yemini met with a member of the Assam, the Israeli special forces police unit, recounting the intense struggle to reclaim this town from the clutches of Hamas terrorists.




A wave of support: Israelis rally behind soldiers on the front line
In southern Israel, a support surges as volunteers stand tall for their soldiers, epitomising the nation's spirit.




Babylon Bee: Hamas Clarifies They Only Want Israel To Cease Fire (satire)



Pallywood: Richard Landes' examination of "news" created in Palestine





New House Speaker Suggests Republicans Ready To Fund Israel, Not Ukraine

House Lawmaker Wants Full Accounting of US Arms Stockpiled for Israel



The Commentary Magazine Podcast: Going After Jews After Jews Are Slaughtered
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti Today’s podcast is about how the idea that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are two different things has been completely demolished by the targeting of Jews worldwide in the wake of a massacre…of Jews.
The Caroline Glick Show: Victor Davis Hanson: Biden Is Not With Israel, But The American People Are
Where do the American people stand on the Israel/Hamas war? Is the Biden administration out of step with its policies? Should Israel continue listening to the United States on how to conduct the Gaza war?

Caroline Glick's guest this week is historian, commentator and classicist Dr. Victor Davis Hanson.

They discuss
- American public opinion on the Israel/Hamas War
- Biden's policies that have actively weakened Israel and made a mess of the Middle East
- The need for Israel to hit Hamas hard for the sake of peace.




Call Me Back: A brief history of Hezbollah – with Dr. Matthew Levitt
Much like our earlier episode on the history of Hamas, today we look at the history of Hezbollah, an even greater threat to Israel than Hamas. Our guest is Dr. Matthew Levitt.

Matt is the director of the Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. During his tenure at Treasury, he played a central role in efforts to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse and to deny terrorists, weapons proliferators, and other rogue actors the ability to finance threats to U.S. national security. He later served as a counterterrorism advisor to the special envoy for Middle East regional security. Previously, Matt was a counterterrorism intelligence analyst at the FBI, where he provided tactical and strategic analytical support for counterterrorism operations, focusing on fundraising and logistical support networks for Middle Eastern terrorist groups.

He is the author of several books and monographs, including Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale University Press, 2006), Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), and Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God (Georgetown University Press, 2013). He is the host of the podcast series, Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule.
Unpacked: Why Israel Must Destroy Hamas | Explained |
Even as we condemn the atrocities Hamas committed on October 7th, 2023, many are now asking, "Why should the Palestinians of Gaza have to pay?" and "Why is Israel making them suffer?" Gazans have been suffering at the hands of Hamas for decades, and this most recent attack on Israeli civilians forced Israel to commit to destroying Hamas once and for all. This current war, as devastating and ugly as it may be, will ultimately ensure that both Israelis and Gazans can have a future free of terror, destruction, and blood.


The Israel Guys: Joe Biden is ALARMED By So Called “Settler Violence” | Here is What Happened. . .
The world is turning its attention from the massacre of 1,400 Jews to blaming Jewish Settlers as the REAL threat to peace in the Middle East. Even President Joe Biden is now joining the uneducated Jew-haters.

Is there any truth to “extremist Settlers” violently attacking Palestinians in the West Bank?


The Libertarian: Life During War Time: Israel’s Fight For Hearts and Minds | Libertarian: Richard Epstein
Richard Epstein responds to the argument that Hamas’s actions were justified because Israel is a colonizer, an occupier, and an apartheid state.
Richard Epstein: Accusations and Anger Work Against Gaza Peace
There is no question that the struggle in Gaza is as much about words as it is about hostages, guns, and rockets. In my last column, I decried the constant efforts by Western journalists to downgrade the culpability of Hamas terrorists by calling them “fighters” and “militants.” Belatedly, one such offender, the BBC, issued a wishy-washy explanation for its past practice of calling these terrorists “militants” and “gunmen.” But its explanations and its backtracking on one inflammatory story, paralleling a similar weak response in the New York Times, did not undo the untold harm from its sloppy reporting, which sparked additional protests in Arab lands by first saying that an Israeli missile, and not an errant Hamas rocket bound for Israel, damaged a Gaza hospital.

Its act of “speculation,” as the BBC characterized it, was relatively small change compared to the nonstop campaign by Hamas and its supporters to brand Israel an outcast “colonial” nation whose “occupation” and “apartheid” actions justified Hamas “resistance,” even in the form of mass slaughter of innocent Israelis whose only crime is to live in a land that Hamas claims as part of a greater Palestine that runs from “the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea,” an area, which now becomes increasingly clearer, that should in their view be “Judenrein,” that is, free of all Jewish people.

It is wholly illegitimate to treat these political claims, even if true, as any justification for the mass slaughter that took place, which has spurred Israel’s determination to rid Gaza of all elements of Hamas, after which it might be possible to have some responsible discussion of future relationship between the two warring peoples. But that discussion can begin only if the supposed justifications for the “resistance” are decisively laid aside.


Ben Shapiro: The Evil of "Queers For Palestine"
A manhunt is underway after mass shootings occurred in Lewiston, Maine; We examine why America’s university campuses are overrun with Hamas fans; and Republicans finally choose a new Speaker of the House.


Ben Shapiro: The Rise of Anti-Semitism | With Jeff Rabhan
Jeff Rabhan, former chairman of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU, joins the show to discuss the rise of anti-Semitism on college campuses.


Megyn Kelly: Jews Shelter From NYC Anti-Israel Protesters, and Biden's Middle East Fails, with The Fifth Column
Megyn Kelly is joined by Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch of The Fifth Column podcast join to talk about the horrible mass shooting in Maine, guns and mental health conversations after shootings, actual solutions to the problem, how mental health facilities could be used effectively, the horrifying video of Jewish students sheltering in a New York City library while anti-Israel protesters banged on the locked doors, the need for Jews and gentiles alike to help and fight back, the media spinning the story of these anti-Semitic kids and faculty, the statement from Cooper Union President Laura Sparks that barely addressed the fears of Jewish students, an emotional CNN report about one of the young men Hamas took hostage from Israel on October 7, the true scope of Hamas' atrocities, the Biden administration's failures in the Middle East, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's column that needed to be updated after October 7, the stupid and ignorant college students who are pushing anti-Semitic talking points and tropes, protesters who claim to support Palestinians actually calling for the destruction of Israel, the refusal by many to condemn Hamas, a viral social media post featuring a woman telling men all the places she refuses to go on a first date, tips on her suggestions, and more




Evacuation Support in Israel: Dean and Alana Stott - Danger Close with Jack Carr
Today’s guests on this episode of Danger Close are Dean and Alana Stott.

For the last two weeks, Dean has been in Israel helping with evacuations following the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7th. Alana has been coordinating efforts from the United States.

About Dean:
Dean Stott is a security consultant, speaker, author, and former Special Boat Service (SBS) operator. After a parachuting accident in 2011, he began working in the private security sector focusing on high-risk jobs involving extortion campaigns, kidnappings, pirates, military coups, and civil unrest. He led the evacuation of the Canadian Embassy in Libya in 2014.


Doron Keidar: The Frontlines of the Israel-Hamas War - Danger Close with Jack Carr
Today’s guest on this special episode of Danger Close is Doron Keidar.

Doron has served in the Israeli Defense Forces and in the IDF reserves. His unit was mobilized on Saturday, Oct. 7, and he is currently on the frontlines of Israel’s war with Hamas.

He is also a security professional, serving as the Director of International Relations at the BHS Security Defense.




Senate Passes Resolution Condemning Campus Anti-Semitism



Exclusive — Poll: 60% of Voters Want Groups Who Support Hamas Investigated

John Podhoretz: Rather than protecting Jews, we’re being told to hide — again



Hateful teen shouts ‘I will kill you, Jew’ at 9-year-old boy at NYC playground

This 'Grassroots' Anti-Israel Group Is Actually Part of a Left-Wing Dark Money Behemoth



Harvard Israel-Hamas 'doxxing truck' parks outside students' homes

While universities refuse to fire anti-Semites, the private sector holds them accountable

Anti-Israel protesters BURN Stars and Stripes outside City Hall in NYC - after demonstrators marched from Wall Street and accused Biden of 'genocide' for supporting Jewish state after Hamas terror attack



NYC teen, 19, who was filmed carrying anti-Semitic sign is identified - as her high school condemns her 'serious error in judgement'... but doesn't boot her out

Muslim tradie Abdullah Al-Taay who allegedly told four teenagers he would 'kill them' if they did not hide their Israeli flag in Bellevue Hill tries to duck court appearance because of media attention

Hamas in the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Footy legend Bachar Houli ignites controversy with pro-Palestine video - as club bosses beg him to take it down



Bella Hadid breaks silence on Israel-Palestine conflict calling for 'urgent humanitarian' aid in Gaza - and reveals she's been sent hundreds of death threats daily
The supermodel said that 'seeing the aftermath from the air strikes in Gaza, I mourn with all the mothers who have lost children and the children who cry alone, all the lost fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, friends, that will never again walk this earth. 'Regardless of the history of the land, I condemn the terrorist attacks on any civilians, anywhere. Harming women and children and inflicting terror does not, and should not do any good for the Free Palestine movement.' Bella addressed the plight of 'the Israeli families that have been dealing with the pain and aftermath of' the October 7 attack from Hamas, saying she 'mourned' for them. 'I believe deep in my heart that no child, no people anywhere, should be taken away from their family either temporarily or indefinitely,' she said. 'That goes for Israeli and Palestine people alike.' Bella said that 'it’s important to understand the hardship of what it is to be Palestinian, in the world that sees us is nothing more than terrorist resisting peace,' calling the characterization 'harmful,' 'shameful' and 'categorically untrue.' Bella in her statement opened up about her family's 'generational trauma' stemming from the longtime conflict in the Middle East. 'My heart is bleeding with pain from the trauma I am seeing unfold, as well as the generational trauma of my Palestinian blood,' she said. Bella continued: 'My father was born in Nazareth in the year of the Nakba (the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians in 1948). 'Nine days after he was born, he, in his mothers arms, along with his family were expelled from their home in Palestine, becoming refugees, away from a place they once called home. My grandparents, Never being allowed to return.' Bella said her family has 'witnessed 75 years of violence against Palestinian people – most notably, brutal settler invasions, which led to the destruction of entire communities, murder in cold blood and the forcible removal of families from their homes.'
Wikipedia: Nazareth
Nazareth itself was not a field of battle during the 1948 War, which began on 15 May, before the first truce on 11 June, although some of the villagers had joined the loosely organized peasant military and paramilitary forces, and troops from the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) had entered Nazareth on 9 July. The local defense of the town consisted of 200–300 militiamen distributed along the hills surrounding the town. The defense in the southern and western hills collapsed after Israeli shelling, while resistance in the northern hills had to contend with an incoming Israeli armored unit. Not long after the Israelis began shelling the local militiamen, Nazareth's police chief raised a white flag over the town's police station.[86] Most of the fighting around Nazareth occurred in its satellite villages, particularly in Saffuriya, whose residents put up resistance until largely dispersing following Israeli air raids on 15 July.[87] During the ten days of fighting which occurred between the first and second truce, Nazareth capitulated to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel on 16 July, after little more than token resistance. By then, morale among local militiamen was low and most refused to fight alongside the ALA because of their perceived weakness in the face of Israel's perceived military superiority and the alleged maltreatment of Christian residents and clergy by ALA volunteers. The Muslim mayor of Nazareth, Yusef Fahum requested a halt to all resistance put up by Nazarenes to prevent the town's destruction.[86]




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