Israel calls up 40,000 reservists for Gaza operation as intense Palestinian rocket blitz injures first Israelis - http://www.debka.com/article/24078/Israel-calls-up-40-000-reservists-for-Gaza-operation-as-intense-Palestinian-rocket-blitz-injures-first-Israelis
The IDF called up another 40,000 reservists Tuesday, July 8, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered Operation Solid Rock expanded against mounting Palestinian rocket assaults - 100 by mid-afternoon. This was after Israel carried out dozens of air strikes Monday night, culminating during the day in raids that killed five leading Hamas operatives: Hamas Naval Commando chief Mahmoud Shaaban, 24, and three passengers were killed when their car was hit from the air. Another airborne raid bombed the Rafah home of Abdul Rahman Juda which served as a command and control center. Thirty Palestinians were injured.
Magen David Adom has treated nine people for minor injuries and anxiety attacks from emergency call centers in the southern and central Israeli regions under rocket attack.
The high-intensity rocket offensive from Gaza, now in its fourth week, has seriously disrupted normal life for millions of Israelis in the rocket-blasted regions - especially within a 40km radius from Gaza. Ashdod port has stopped working, major transport routes like the Ashkelon-Sderot railway halted, end-of-term exams in colleges postponed, children sent home from summer camps and social events called off.
debkafile reported earlier Tuesday: Israeli finally launched its military operation Solid Rock against Hamas Monday night, July 7, after the Palestinians directed a steady stream of 100 rockets from Gaza to expanded targets as far as Rehovot, 50 km away. Most of the 50 IDF strikes were conducted from the air and two from the sea. Ten destroyed Hamas infrastructure facilities plus 4 private buildings which, according to the Palestinians, included the homes of the Hamas commander and a Democratic Front operative in Khan Younes, after Israel gave them advance warning. Hamas reported 17 injured - but kept on shooting rockets through the night and early Tuesday, threatening to further expand the range of their rocket fire.
The government and the IDF have billed the operation as a long-term, staged offensive to destroy Hamas' logistical and strategic infrastructure, to be escalated stage by stage as needed, up to a limited ground incursion, which would require additional reserve call-ups, as well targeted assassinations. This progression will be adjusted to the enemy's response and how quickly "quiet is restored to the South."
The population has been forewarned that the contest may be protracted and asked to refrain from public events within a 40km radius from Gaza.
Iron Dome batteries are in place.
Israel's security cabinet and the IDF command are counting on the prospect of losing its infrastructure deterring Hamas and persuading it to halt its rocket war on Israel.
But Hamas has its own game book and is unlikely to play by the rules dictated by Israel.
Both sides have therefore entered a dark corridor in which the two adversaries will try and outdo each other in damage. Israel began by limiting itself to air strikes. Hamas hit back with a mighty barrage of 100 missiles and expanding its range of targets.
The rules of Operation Solid Rock now require Israel to scale its response up to the next stage, in response to which Hamas will no doubt go for Tel Aviv. No one seems to know how this tit-for-tat duel will end.
The inherent weakness of the thinking behind Israeli military operation is that it requires the IDF to catch up with and undo the damage caused by Israel's passivity after the three boys, Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, were kidnapped and murdered on July 12. The IDF's campaign against its facilities on the West Bank left Hamas more confident than ever. In the space of a month, the Palestinian Islamists have maneuvered Israel into launching not one but two major operations - Brother's Keeper to find the kidnapped boys and their abductors (who are still at large) and now Solid Rock - and they still hold the initiative against Israel, as well as the whip hand in the Palestinian movement.
They certainly owe their advantage in part to the atrocious murder by a handful of Israelis of the Palestinian boy Muhammad Abu Khdeir from Shuafat, Jerusalem. This was a gift which Hamas had never dreamed of. The Islamists have been able to assert control over and calibrate Palestinian fury across the board, in Gaza, the West Bank and the Israeli Arab community - a second front against Israel.
With all these cards stacked against Solid Rock, the IDF will have its work cut out to repair the damage and bring its operation to a successful conclusion.
On the diplomatic front, Israel suffered another letdown when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi disappointed the hopes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had vested in him to intercede powerfully with Hamas for a ceasefire. El-Sisi decided that the Israeli-Hamas conflict was a minor episode in regional terms and no real threat to Egypt's national interests and dropped his role as peace broker.
This was a bitter disappointment to Jerusalem. It left Israel facing the Palestinian aggressor alone, but for the Europeans. They are willing to assume this role, but they are seeking the restoration of the short-lived Palestinian reconciliation and a unity government, which is the direct opposite of Netanyahu's most fervent objective.
Hamas has several hundred Syrian-made M-302 rockets of type that reached Hadera - http://www.debka.com/article/24081/Hamas-has-several-hundred-Syrian-made-M-302-rockets-of-type-that-reached-Hadera
The long-range Hamas rockets that reached Hadera 110km north of Gaza Tuesday, July 8, have been identified as the Syrian-made M-302 Khaibar missile, that was used by Hizballah against Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war to pound Haifa. This weapon uses Iranian technology deriving from the Chinese WS-1 which has a 175 kilo warhead. Hizballah engineers posted in the Gaza Strip have since helped Hamas improve the M-302 and extend its range and accuracy. But still, even after improvements, the M-302's main shortcoming is its lack of precision.
This was demonstrated Tuesday night when it missed substantial targets in Hadera and also, it now appears, Jerusalem, which took three rockets.
Last March, Iran tried to smuggle into the Gaza Strip an arms shipment including M-302 rockets under a cargo of cement aboard the Klos C. The ship was intercepted by Israel and the weapons seized. But other shipments must have made it through to Gaza and evidently topped up the missile arsenals of Hamas and Jihad Islami.
The Israeli government and army chiefs failed to heed this strategic increment to the Islamists' tools of war - until Tuesday, when it emerged as a key weapon of Palestinian aggression. Hamas may be expected to continue to use the M-302 to hit Israeli targets.
debkafile's military sources note the striking differences in the war tactics pursued by Israel and Hamas. The IDF has at this stage based its military operation in Gaza on air strikes for knocking out as much as possible of the Hamas military and logistical infrastructure as well as targeting its commanders.
Hamas, lacking an air force, has launched a well-planned campaign based on heavy, escalating rocket fire which indiscriminately targets the Israeli population and was meant to be supported by limited commando raids. But the Islamists have failed to cause damage and casualties - not just because the Israelis are well prepared with shelters - because of the imprecision of their rockets, and their inability to mount more than isolated, small-scale raids, which are nowhere near the scale for tipping the balance in the contest.
Israel steps up Gaza offensive after surge in rocket fire - By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller - http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/08/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKBN0FC0JP20140708
Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in strikes that Palestinian officials said killed at least 11 people, stepping up what threatens to become a long-term offensive against Islamist group Hamas after scores of rockets hit Israeli towns.
After the worst outbreak of violence along the Gaza frontier since an eight-day war in 2012, the Israeli military said a ground invasion of the enclave was possible, though not imminent, and urged citizens within a range of 40 km (24 miles) of the coastal territory to stay close to bomb shelters.
"We are preparing for a battle against Hamas which will not end within a few days," Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement. "We will not tolerate missiles being fired at Israeli towns and we are prepared to extend the operations with all means at our disposal in order to keep hitting Hamas."
The Israeli military said it targeted about 90 sites in aerial and naval assaults overnight and resumed air strikes on Tuesday.
The attacks killed at least six people in a house, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said. Four others died in a car struck in Gaza City, medical officials said, one of whom a pro-Hamas website identified as Mohammed Shaaban, a commander in the movement's armed wing.
There were no reports of deaths from rockets fired out of Gaza.
A source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office quoted the Israeli leader as saying: "The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) must be ready to go all the way. All options are on the table, including a ground invasion."
The Israeli military said it had received provisional government approval to call up as many as 40,000 reserve soldiers, but had not done so yet. Some 1,500 other reservists have already been mobilized.
Violence flared on the Israel-Gaza border last month after Israel arrested hundreds of Hamas activists in the occupied West Bank following the disappearance there of three Israeli youths on June 12.
Palestinians have launched more than 200 rockets at Israel from Gaza, the military said, since Israel mounted the dragnet while searching for the teens, who were found dead last week.
Israel has accused Hamas militants of killing them. In a suspected revenge attack, a Palestinian teen was abducted in East Jerusalem last Wednesday. His charred body was found in a forest and six Israeli suspects have been arrested.
The Israeli military said that in the past 24 hours, more than 100 rockets had been fired at Israel, a sharp increase. Some were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system and none that landed caused fatalities, although two people were wounded by shrapnel.
The heavy barrage followed the deaths, in disputed circumstances on Monday, of six Hamas men in a tunnel which the Israeli military said the militant group had built under the border to carry out an attack in Israel.
Palestinian officials said other targets in the Israeli bombardment included militants' training facilities.
RACING FOR COVER
Explosions echoed across the densely populated enclave on Tuesday, shaking buildings and sending smoke rising from targets hit by Israeli fire. In residential areas, the sounds of crying children could be heard as ambulance sirens wailed.
Some people took to rooftops to watch for Israeli aircraft and rockets streaking toward Israel.
In the Israeli port city of Ashdod, motorists scrambled out of their vehicles and raced for the relative safety of apartment house entrances as a siren sounded. The scene was repeated in other towns near the Gaza Strip. Workers at Ashdod seaport, a main Israeli commercial gateway, suspended operations.
Hamas' armed wing, the dominant force in Gaza, threatened an "earthquake" in response to Israel's attacks. But a Palestinian source close to the group said it was ready to restore calm if Israel met conditions, including a prisoner release.
The Israeli military said it launched the air strikes - dubbed "Operation Protective Edge" - after rockets were fired at southern Israeli towns, and that further Israeli reservists could be called up beyond the 1,500 mobilized to date.
Warning sirens, which police described as false alarms, sounding as far away as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some 70 km (40 miles) from Gaza.
In one Israeli attack overnight that destroyed a Gaza home, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said the family received a telephone call from an Israeli officer telling them to leave. But the ministry said nine neighbors were wounded.
At least one of the targeted homes belonged to a Hamas militant, according to a neighbor. Locals said the house in which six died belonged to the family of a Hamas member, and that people had been urged to congregate there as "human shields" to deter a second attack after it was targeted earlier in the day.
Setting out terms for a ceasefire, the source close to Hamas said Israel had to "stop all forms of aggression", recommit to a 2012 Egyptian-brokered truce and free prisoners it detained in the West Bank last month.
Hamas has been reeling over an Egyptian security crackdown on most of the estimated 1,200 cross-border smuggling tunnels run by the group, which Egypt says are used to take weapons into its Sinai Peninsula where Islamist insurgents are active.
A further weakening of Hamas could lead to more radical Islamist groups in Gaza becoming stronger, a scenario that could alarm the Jewish state.
Israel Watch: ISIS - Jim Fletcher - http://www.raptureready.com/rap15.html
Hard as it is to believe, there seem to be degrees of brutality among jihad groups. For the longest, Hamas has been the "worse" option among Palestinian leadership cadres. The Palestinian Authority, as the quasi government of the Arabs who live in Israel, were the suits and "diplomats," while Hamas favored homicide bombings and on-the-ground operations.
Now, we see the Middle East burning (due in large part to the feckless American president. Debates arise as to whether he is helping his Muslim brethren or merely sympathetic to their cause) and the astonishing lack of leadership in the West has directly contributed to this cauldron.
Obama's hands-off attitude as the worst jihadists rampage across North Africa and the Middle East is a central problem. It has emboldened formerly rag-tag fighters into more cohesive units. Splinter groups off the mother ship Muslim Brotherhood are now beheading and crucifying Christians all across the Middle East.
Obama plays golf.
Now comes the chilling word that ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is operating in the Gaza Strip. What this means is that the barbaric gangs literally slaughtering people elsewhere are wresting control from...Hamas.
Israel has always had to contend with cross-border terrorism and, in recent decades, homegrown terrorism since the Arabs are so populous in the tiny country. Yet I believe groups like ISIS present a higher challenge.
In a piece for Gatestone Institute, journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, paints a picture:
"Hamas seems to be losing control of the dozens of terror cells in the Gaza Strip.
"Hamas prevented local journalists from covering the ISIS rally in the Gaza Strip last month as part of its effort to deny the existence of ISIS in the Gaza Strip. But Hamas seems to be trying to cover the sun with one finger.
"The Gaza Strip is no longer only a threat to Israel, but also to Egypt. The only way to confront this threat is through security cooperation between Israel and Egypt."
Not only Palestinian but also Israeli security forces believe ISIS is responsible for some of the rocket attacks into Israel. And get this, according to the Toameh report, ISIS considers Hamas "too moderate"!
These developments will bear watching, obviously, in the coming months. The idea that the most extreme of the jihad groups operating globally are in Israel is a mind-bender.
Stay tuned.
jim@prophecymatters.com
Hamas flatly spurns a ceasefire - Israeli air strikes kill 7 of its operatives in Gaza - http://www.debka.com/article/24076/DEBKAfile-Hamas-flatly-spurns-a-ceasefire-Israeli-air-strikes-kill-7-of-its-operatives-in-Gaza
There is not the slightest chance of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas halting its three-week barrage of rockets against Israel in the foreseeable future, high-placed sources in Cairo, Washington and the IDF told debkafile's military sources Sunday night, July 6. They all agreed that Israeli-Gaza border tensions would continue to escalate in the absence of serious Israeli military punishment for cutting Hamas down
Following this assessment, the Israeli Air Force went into its first serious action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip during Sunday night - not just bombing empty buildings, but hitting Hamas operatives. Seven were killed in Rafah and another two in Al Bureij.
The Hamas spokesman said that this was the biggest single Israeli hit against the Islamist group since the 2012 Pillar of Defense operation and "The enemy would pay dearly."
A senior US intelligence official familiar with the sector offered the view that, so long as Israel did not show it was serious about a military reprisal - like for instance positioning two whole IDF armored divisions right up to the Gaza border - Hamas would not feel pressured enough to stop firing rockets and accept a truce. Every passing day without real punishment for kidnapping and murdering the Israeli teenagers, Gil-Ad Shear, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, leaves the Islamists certain they have got away with it and in no mood to talk terms.
The source reported that, as far as he knew, Cairo had given up on its earlier effort at brokering a Gaza ceasefire. Cairo sources confirmed that Hamas had made unacceptable demands of the Egyptian government as its price for halting rocket attacks on Israel. The list was presented to Gen. Mohammed Farid el-Tohamy, head of Egyptian intelligence, who had been acting as the intermediary between Hamas and Israel in the truce effort.
One of those demands was for Egypt to reverse its six-month crackdown for reducing Hamas' aggressive capabilities for terror in and from Sinai, including the reopening of the smuggling tunnels Sinai which long furnished the Hamas regime with arms, smuggled goods and revenue.
Cairo lashed out against Hamas as a terrorist group harmful to Egyptian security and a helpful offshoot of the proscribed Muslim Brotherhood.
There is no sign that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has any intention of meeting Hamas demands.
Indeed, all the parties following the conflict agree that the ball is now in Israel's court and not, as it is presented by Israeli officials, up to Hamas to take the initiative. The Islamist group has already made its decision, which is to continue shooting rockets, in line with its unswerving commitment to fight Israel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz must decide if and how to fight back.
Contrary to Israeli media reports, the chief of staff and the high IDF command have clearly informed the government that they are fully prepared to undertake any military operation without delay if so ordered. The elimination of seven Hamas members of its fighting army Sunday night may be the first step.
Hamas flatly spurns a ceasefire - Israeli air strikes kill 7 of its operatives in Gaza - http://www.debka.com/article/24076/DEBKAfile-Hamas-flatly-spurns-a-ceasefire-Israeli-air-strikes-kill-7-of-its-operatives-in-Gaza
There is not the slightest chance of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas halting its three-week barrage of rockets against Israel in the foreseeable future, high-placed sources in Cairo, Washington and the IDF told debkafile's military sources Sunday night, July 6. They all agreed that Israeli-Gaza border tensions would continue to escalate in the absence of serious Israeli military punishment for cutting Hamas down
Following this assessment, the Israeli Air Force went into its first serious action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip during Sunday night - not just bombing empty buildings, but hitting Hamas operatives. Seven were killed in Rafah and another two in Al Bureij.
The Hamas spokesman said that this was the biggest single Israeli hit against the Islamist group since the 2012 Pillar of Defense operation and "The enemy would pay dearly."
A senior US intelligence official familiar with the sector offered the view that, so long as Israel did not show it was serious about a military reprisal - like for instance positioning two whole IDF armored divisions right up to the Gaza border - Hamas would not feel pressured enough to stop firing rockets and accept a truce. Every passing day without real punishment for kidnapping and murdering the Israeli teenagers, Gil-Ad Shear, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, leaves the Islamists certain they have got away with it and in no mood to talk terms.
The source reported that, as far as he knew, Cairo had given up on its earlier effort at brokering a Gaza ceasefire. Cairo sources confirmed that Hamas had made unacceptable demands of the Egyptian government as its price for halting rocket attacks on Israel. The list was presented to Gen. Mohammed Farid el-Tohamy, head of Egyptian intelligence, who had been acting as the intermediary between Hamas and Israel in the truce effort.
One of those demands was for Egypt to reverse its six-month crackdown for reducing Hamas' aggressive capabilities for terror in and from Sinai, including the reopening of the smuggling tunnels Sinai which long furnished the Hamas regime with arms, smuggled goods and revenue.
Cairo lashed out against Hamas as a terrorist group harmful to Egyptian security and a helpful offshoot of the proscribed Muslim Brotherhood.
There is no sign that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has any intention of meeting Hamas demands.
Indeed, all the parties following the conflict agree that the ball is now in Israel's court and not, as it is presented by Israeli officials, up to Hamas to take the initiative. The Islamist group has already made its decision, which is to continue shooting rockets, in line with its unswerving commitment to fight Israel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz must decide if and how to fight back.
Contrary to Israeli media reports, the chief of staff and the high IDF command have clearly informed the government that they are fully prepared to undertake any military operation without delay if so ordered. The elimination of seven Hamas members of its fighting army Sunday night may be the first step.
Hamas boasts that all Israeli cities are within its reach - By Ilan Ben Zion and Itamar Sharon - http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-boasts-that-all-israeli-cities-are-within-its-reach/
As rockets rain down on southern Israel, Bennett says Israel's strategy is hurting its deterrence; IDF chief: Soldiers prepared for any action needed
Hamas on Saturday evening threatened to reach "all" of Israel's cities with its rockets, several hours after targeting the city of Beersheba and as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered a tougher response to the attacks.
A digital image uploaded to the terror group's Arabic language website Saturday night showed a Grad rocket launcher engulfed in flames with a Hebrew caption reading "All cities are close to Gaza."
Meanwhile Economics and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett heavily criticized Israel's policy of restraint in the face of continued rocket barrages from the Gaza Strip.
"The strategy of 'quiet for quiet' is hurting Israeli deterrence and is enabling Hamas to gain power," Bennett said in a statement Saturday night, several hours after three rockets were launched at the city of Beersheba for the first time since November 2012.
"Restraint in the face of attacks on women and children is not strength. Restraint in the face of the execution of three children is weakness," the minister said, referencing the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank on June 12.
"The residents of the south are not second grade citizens, and we must respond to the rocket-fire at Beersheba just as we would respond to an attack on Tel Aviv, and not wait for an attack on Tel Aviv," he said.
Hamas has hundreds of rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv and Beersheba, former IDF Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said Saturday, adding that the fact that the Islamist group was not utilizing that capacity underlined Israel's ongoing deterrent capability.
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz on Saturday told troops that the Israeli military would retaliate with force if rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continued. He said Hamas was responsible for the rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians, and that IDF forces were prepared for any eventuality in order to restore calm to southern Israel.
https://twitter.com/LTCPeterLerner/status/485514344092823552
Bennett's comments Saturday mirrored those made Friday by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who said during a visit to Sderot that "the idea that 'quiet will be answered with quiet' is a serious mistake."
"It cannot be that after the kidnapping and murder of three teenagers and two consecutive weeks of rockets fall, the approach of Israel will be 'quiet is answered with quiet,'" he said. "There can not be an agreement with Hamas. Ignoring the problem or being afraid to deal with it will lead us to a situation in which thousands of missiles are fired at us, not hundreds.
Over 20 rockets were fired into Israel on Saturday, with three targeting Beersheba. Several of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, while others fell in open areas and did not cause damage, though a soldier was lightly wounded by mortar fire.
Israeli aircraft targeted three Hamas terror targets in the southern Gaza Strip early Saturday evening, as well as a militant the army said was preparing to fire a rocket.
The previous IDF strikes had taken place on Friday evening, also restricted to three Hamas targets with no casualties. The seemingly limited Israeli response to the continuing rocket salvos appeared to indicate that Jerusalem was still waiting to see whether Hamas would curb the rocket-fire as part of a possible ceasefire agreement.
However, with the attack on Beersheba, Israeli patience could now be wearing thin.
The attack on the city, which has a population of 200,000, marked a significant escalation in the Gaza rocket attacks, and could lead to a severe Israeli response.
Netanyahu held urgent consultations Saturday evening with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, and the heads of the security services. He said Israel was hitting Hamas targets in response to the rocket fire, and would use additional force if necessary.
After ordering increased Israeli forces to the Gaza border on Thursday, Netanyahu had warned: "One possibility is that the fire will stop and the quiet continues. The other is that the fire continues and then the increased forces that are in the south will act forcefully. The safety of our citizens is first and foremost."
The last time Beersheba was targeted was during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, which the IDF launched in order to curb persistent rocket fire from Gaza. Many Israeli cities including Ashkelon, Ashdod and even Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were targeted with rockets during that conflict. Over the course of eight days, some 1,500 airstrikes were carried out against terrorist installations and other targets. Six Israelis and 167 Palestinians were killed during the operation.
IDF tells 100,000 Gaza civilians to move back from Israeli border - sign of impending ground incursion -
Thursday afternoon, July 10, the IDF advised 100,000 Palestinian civilians to leave their homes in the northern Gaza villages of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, Greater Ibsen and Smaller Ibsen and head west to the coast or south to remove themselves from danger. This order, issued shortly after a special Israeli cabinet meeting, suggested that an Israel military incursion is impending. During the day, Hamas kept up its barrage. By firing 100 rockets, the Islamists demonstrated that their rocket capability had not been impaired by three days of massive Israeli air strikes.
debkafile reported earlier Thursday: Early Thursday, July 10, two more rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Tel Aviv. Iron Dome intercepted one. By 9 am, 10 more landed in Negev sites. Between Wednesday midnight and Thursday morning, the Israeli Air Force and Navy had carried out 108 strikes in the Gaza Strip - 322 in 24 hours. Targeted were a weapons store, 5 arms manufacturing plants, 5 military compounds, 58 tunnels, 2 surveillance posts, 217 buried rocket launching pads, one command and control base and 46 homes of Hamas and Jihad Islami commanders.
In this time span, the Palestinians fired 234 rockets.
On Wednesday July 9, the second day of Operation Protective Edge, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he had ordered its expansion "until the [Palestinian] shooting stopped."
debkafile's military sources say that the IDF high command replied that expansion would necessitate adding a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip to complement the air strikes. Enough equipment is present around the enclave but not enough troops. The call-up of 10,000 reservists did not meet requirements.
Since the prime minister had not yet provided them with specific orders, the air force continued to bomb rocket-related targets in Gaza, tallying strikes and publishing video clips of exploding targets and pillars of smoke.
But the facts in the field speak for themselves.
Despite the smoke and thunder, no senior Hamas commander or key command center has been hit - for lack of a clear directive. The Hamas chain of command is therefore still functioning.
This situation is fast developing into a standoff. Hamas leaders are perfectly aware of Israel's dilemmas and quick to exploit them. They hear Netanyahu's solemn words, but see for themselves that the concentration of IDF ground strength on the Gaza border is short of the numbers needed for an incursion and mobilizing them will take time.
Hamas is also listening to President Shimon Peres, who assured CNN that if Hamas holds its rocket fire, the IDF won't go through with a ground incursion.
The Hamas rocket blitz has so far caused no Israeli fatalities thanks to a highly effective home defense system. On the Palestinian side, they are mounting, which they are beginning to use as a propaganda tool accompanied by vivid footage.
This situation decided Hamas Wednesday night to save its rockets, especially the more valuable ones with the longest range, and so confound Israeli predictions of another massive rocket blitz in store that would again widen out to reach Haifa.
Israel's indecision about the next stage of Operation Protective Edge has given Hamas the time and breathing space it needs. Meanwhile, its most effective rockets for longer distances can be reserved for major confrontations.
And, meanwhile too, the perceived weakening of the government's resolve and its reluctance to fix on a clear final objective have become fertile ground for self-doubts and unfounded rumors. The most damaging in circulation claimed that IDF and Air Force chiefs were complaining of a shortage of good intelligence for continuing their operations.
Our military sources confirm, without going into details on how much Israel knows about Hamas' field setup, that the air force has all the intelligence it needs to carry on. What is lacking is not intelligence but a clear decision by Prime Minister Netanyahu about the operation's ultimate goal and correlatively whether to go through with the ground operation necessary to complement the aerial operation. Until that is settled, Israel's military operation against Hamas will continue to tread water.
Hamas Just Attempted To Create A Horrific Nuclear Disaster In The Heart Of Israel
- By Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/hamas-just-attempted-to-create-a-horrific-nuclear-disaster-in-the-heart-of-israel
After the horrors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, how insane do you have to be to fire missiles directly at a major nuclear facility? No matter what side you are on in the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, everyone should be able to agree that it is utter madness for Hamas to fire rockets at the Dimona nuclear installation in the Negev. The intent, of course, was to destroy the Dimona facility and create a horrific nuclear disaster in the heart of Israel. Fortunately, the area is heavily protected by the Iron Dome missile defense system and none of the rockets did any damage. And it is questionable how much damage to the facility that Hamas missiles could actually do. But that is not the point. What matters is that Hamas is trying to do it. With each passing year, Hamas rockets are becoming more advanced, more accurate and more powerful. And when Hamas fires some of their best rockets at a major nuclear facility, they are committing an act of all-out war. If Hamas continues to do this, it could spark a major regional war in which countless numbers of people could die. Is that what they want?
There has been a lot of criticism of Israel in the mainstream media in recent days, but much of it is quite hypocritical. Just imagine what would happen in the U.S. if another country fired just one missile at New York City or at one of our nuclear reactors. If that happened, "glass parking lot" would suddenly be on the lips of tens of millions of Americans all over the country, and the U.S. military would rapidly be preparing for an absolutely devastating response.
Well, it isn't just one missile that has been fired at Israel.
In recent days, dozens of rockets were fired at Israel before there was any response from the Israeli military at all.
And more than 225 rockets have been fired at Israel since Operation Protective Edge started on Monday night.
At one point, an average of about one rocket was being fired into Israel every ten minutes.
And many of these rockets are being shot directly at Israeli population centers with the intention of killing civilians. It is a miracle that we have not seen many casualties so far.
But where Hamas has really stepped over the line is by firing at the Dimona nuclear facility. The fact that Hamas is attempting to create a nuclear holocaust is essentially an act of genocide. The following is how the Jerusalem Post described the attack...
Three rockets were launched at Dimona in southern Israel on Wednesday afternoon. The Iron Dome intercepted one rocket before it could land, while two other rockets landed in open areas.
Dimona is the location of Israel's nuclear reactor. There was no indication that rockets damaged any part of the reactor.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the rockets, stating that it had been attempting to hit the nuclear reactor.
Militants from Hamas's Qassam Brigades said they had launched long-range M-75 rockets towards Dimona.
And as Breitbart has pointed out, what Hamas has just done is actually an act of nuclear terrorism as defined by the United Nations...
Article 2 (1) of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism states:
1. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person unlawfully and intentionally...(b)...uses or damages a nuclear facility in a manner which releases or risks the release of radioactive material: (i) With the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or (ii) With the intent to cause substantial damage to property or to the environment; or (iii) With the intent to compel a natural or legal person, an international organization or a State to do or refrain from doing an act.
Let us hope that future Hamas missile strikes will not do any damage to Dimona either.
In the end, it is questionable how much of a threat Hamas rockets actually are to an extremely well defended facility such as Dimona, but let us not completely underestimate their capabilities either.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, Hamas rockets are stronger and more accurate than ever and are now even capable of hitting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem...
Hamas has emerged from a 19-month cease-fire stronger, savvier, and more effective at hitting Israel where it will hurt the most.
Hamas's arsenal, estimated at 10,000 rockets, is only marginally bigger than it was heading into its last conflict with Israel, in November 2012. But its mid-range rockets are much more accurate, and it has acquired long-range missiles that reach beyond Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, putting as many as 5 million of Israel's 8 million citizens at risk.
If Hamas wants Israel to stop attacking, they need to stop lobbing missiles into Israel.
If Hamas keeps launching rockets, it could spark a major regional war. Just consider what Shimon Peres is saying about the conflict...
"We didn't start the war today, they started it already several days ago," he told CNN. "We asked them to stop it... We waited one day, two days, three days and they continued, and they spread their fire on more areas in Israel."
He also said that a ground offensive on Gaza "may happen quite soon". Referring to rockets being fired from Gaza, he added: "If they will stop for example tonight, there won't be any ground entrance - but if they will continue, sooner or later this will be the response."
And there are news reports today that Israel has already warned 100,000 Gaza residents living in cities near the border with Israel to leave their homes.
That means that a ground invasion could be imminent.
Let us pray for peace because every human life is extremely valuable.
Every Israeli life is extremely valuable, and every Palestinian life is extremely valuable.
Nobody should want to see a major war between the Israelis and the Palestinians, because if one does happen it will be extremely bloody.
The Middle East is a powder keg that could erupt at any moment.
A single wrong move could bring about a nightmarish conflict that results in countless deaths.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY PROPHECY WEBSITES...............................
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.