Doc's Talk: Operation Cast Lead

Friday, January 16, 2009

Operation Cast Lead – Update No. 14

The Situation on the Ground

Ground combat

IDF forces continued expanding the ground operation, reaching the outskirts of Gaza City , exposing and destroying terrorist infrastructure facilities. The IDF encountered Hamas squads, killing several dozen armed terrorists and detaining a number of suspects. An anti-tank missile was fired at IDF forces in the southern Gaza strip. An Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked the missile-launching squad with the help of the ground force and four terrorist operatives were hit. Later the force identified armed terrorists inside a building, and with armored support shot at them; the hit was verified.

During searches conducted on the night of January 13, terrorists near the force opened fire, and two officers sustained serious wounds. Another officer and two soldiers sustained minor injuries. The force returned fire; the hit was verified. In another event, an IDF soldier sustained minor injuries and was also evacuated for medical treatment.

Israeli Air Force attacks

The Israeli Air Force continues supporting the forces on the ground. In one instance the ground force identified a number of terrorists armed with anti-tank missiles and light arms, and the aircraft attacked the terrorists; the hit was verified.

During the past 24 hours the IAF attacked more than 100 targets , among them:

• About 40 tunnels in the southern Gaza strip used to smuggle weapons.

• About ten weapons storehouses and sites for manufacturing weapons, including a store of vehicles and weapons in the house of a Hamas operative in the Gaza City zone.

• A Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City .

• IEDs meant to be used to attack IDF forces.

• A rocket launcher ready for firing. ( Click for video )

• A mortar shell launching squad in the Jabaliya zone. Three armed terrorist operatives were hit.

• About ten armed terrorist squads.

Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire into Israeli Territory

The scope of rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel continues to decline . On January 13 , nine rocket and ten mortar shell hits were identified . Most of the rockets fell close to the Gaza Strip. No long-range rockets were fired. Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead 485 rockets and 183 mortar shells have been fired.

During the afternoon one of the rockets fell near a school in the city of Ashqelon at a time when children were studying in a fortified area inside. There were no injuries. Note : It was the ninth educational institution hit since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. In all the attacks on schools no students were injured, but in several instances the buildings were damaged.

Rockets and Mortar Shells Fired at Israel during Operation Cast Lead

Rockets and Mortar Shells Fired at Israel during Operation Cast Lead

Humanitarian Aid Delivered to the Gaza Strip

Israel

At 0900 hours on January 13 there was a three-hour pause in the fighting to make it possible to open a humanitarian corridor for Gaza Strip residents to stock up on food and repair the infrastructure. Hamas fired three rockets and four mortar shells into Israel during the pause . During the day 102 trucks carrying humanitarian aid and two fuel tankers entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. In addition, the Erez crossing was opened for the passage of Palestinians with urgent humanitarian problems. Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead nearly 1,000 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip. On January 14 the humanitarian corridor opened between 1300 and 1600 hours.

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip

On January 13, Dr. Jacob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, entered the Gaza Strip as part of a three-day visit to the region, during which he is supposed to meet with senior Israeli and Palestinian figures. He is expected to visit Shifa hospital in Gaza City (Agence France Presse, January 13, 2009 ). The UNRWA director of operations in Gaza said that on January 14, 40 foreign doctors would be integrated into the staff of Shifa, and denied that senior Hamas figures were using the hospital. He said that so far, 35,000 Palestinians had taken shelter in UNRWA schools and that his organization was working to open other centers (Filastin al-Yawm, January 13, 2009 ).

The UNRWA general representative said that the organization received considerable help from the IDF in getting the largest possible number of trucks into the Gaza Strip, but complained that only one crossing was open (AP, January 13, 2009 ); the trucks use the Kerem Shalom crossing. Note: On January 12 the Karni crossing was also opened and 12 trucks passed through, but during searches in the area a tunnel was discovered, dug in the direction of the crossing, apparently for the purpose of carrying out a terrorist attack . The crossing was subsequently reclosed and has not yet been reopened for fear that additional tunnels have been dug.

Additional humanitarian aid

Deliveries of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip continue through the Rafah crossing. It also serves to evacuate wounded Palestinians to Egypt : on January 14, about 40 wounded Palestinians and their attendants were taken by Egyptian ambulances to hospitals (Middle East News Agency, January 12, 2009 ).

The Iranian ship which set sail on January 9 and passed through the Suez Canal on its way to the port of Gaza changed course after the Israeli Navy used the international naval communication channel to order it not to approach the shore. Ahmed Musawi, secretary general of the Iranian Red Crescent, said that various ways of delivering the ship's cargo to Gaza were being examined. He said that if the ship was unable to unload its cargo in the Gaza port in the next two days, it would unload at an Egyptian port and the cargo would be transferred from there to the Gaza Strip (Mehr News Agency, January 13, 2009 ).

The boat of the organization calling itself Free Gaza, which was supposed to set sail for the Gaza Strip from Larnaka on January 12, returned to home port following technical difficulties. It is expected to set sail again on the morning of January 14 (Agence France Presse, January 13, 2009 ).

Judea and Samaria

The Israeli security forces continue counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria . On the night of January 13, eight rabble-rousers were detained at demonstrations against the border security fence at Beit Awa, west of Hebron . Another Palestinian was detained after an IDF force found a gun, 20 bullets and an IDF uniform in his house. The weapons and equipment were confiscated.

On January 13 a Palestinian terrorist tried to steal the weapon of a force patrolling near the village of Tarqumia , south of Hebron . The force responded by shooting at the terrorist, who later died of his wounds.

The Egyptian Initiative to Stop the Fighting – Update

On January 14, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon arrived in Egypt as part of a one-week flying tour to the Middle East . He came to support contacts for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He expressed hope that the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire would shortly be implemented, and called on the international community to take steps against smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip. He also said the Gaza Strip crossings had to be fully opened. He said he hoped the Egyptian-Hamas meetings would achieve an immediate, comprehensive ceasefire (CNN, January 12, 2009 ). Ban Ki-Moon is supposed to visit Israel , Jordan and Syria , and said he would not hold direct talks with Hamas (Ynet, January 14, 2009 ).

Responses of Senior Hamas Figures to the Egyptian Initiative

The Hamas delegation to the talks in Cairo returned to Damascus . The Hamas political bureau in Damascus met to consult about the Egyptian initiative. The bureau confirmed five principles for a solution: the end of the Israeli “aggression,” the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, the lifting of the “siege,” the opening of the Rafah crossing and the refusal to agree to a permanent lull arrangement . It also mentioned that Hamas was not committed to negotiations concerning the prevention of smuggling and that it agreed to a temporary ceasefire which would make it possible to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and leave time for negotiations. Palestinian sources reported that one reason for Hamas's frigid response was the way Egypt blamed it for “every failure” and “responsibility for the holocaust in Palestine ” (Al-Watan, January 13,2009 ).

Hamas spokesmen continued commenting on the Egyptian initiative:

• Usama Hamdan , Hamas representative in Lebanon , said that Hamas refused to agree to a long-term lull , since such an agreement would harm the “resistance” [i.e., the continuation of Palestinian terrorism against Israel ]. He added that Hamas would not let political methods be used to give Israel what it had failed to achieve on the battlefield (Al-Hayat, January 13, 2009 ).

• Muhammad Nizal , member of Hamas's political bureau, denied that there was an argument between the Hamas “internal” and “external” leaderships regarding the Egyptian initiative. He said that there was agreement on every issue of the general framework of the political moves, and that in principle Hamas had no objection to the deployment of European monitors at the crossings (Al-Shark Radio, January 13, 2009 ).

• Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that there were other initiatives besides Egypt 's (Palestine-info website, January 13, 2009 ). He also said that if the Egyptian initiative remained in its original form, Hamas would not be able to accept it (Quds Press Agency, January 13, 2009 ).

• Musa Abu Marzuq , deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, said that the Egyptian initiative was a good opportunity to reach an arrangement, but that Hamas still had not abandoned its basic reservations (Al-Manar TV, January 13, 2009 ).

Other Responses

Hamas

Abu Usama Abd al-Mu'ti , Hamas representative in Iran, appealed to the Islamic countries to send military equipment to the Gaza Strip to support it, since every “observant Muslim” had to help and send weapons to the fighters in Gaza. He said the United States had established an airlift to support Israel and that Muslims also had to support the Palestinians. He also said that more pressure had to be exerted to open the borders to deliver the aid (Islamic Republic News Agency, January 13, 2009 ).

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas administration attempts to send a message of “business as usual,” and issued an announcement regarding the normal functioning of the administration ministries and the security apparatus, and the services they provide for the civilians. According to another announcement, workers would be paid for December (Palestine-info website, January 13, 2009 ).

Hezbollah

According to an article in the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar, senior Hezbollah figures are proud of having transferred their “resistance” {i.e., terrorism] perception to the Gaza Strip. They do not hid the fact that the contacts and supply lines to the Gaza Strip are direct, and say that the contact with the Gaza Strip continues. According to the paper, one particularly prominent example of aid was the ship Karin A, which transported weapons to Fatah . 1 One of them even boasted that Hezbollah knows what was happening on the ground, “perhaps even more than what some of the [Palestinian] factions do” (Al-Akhbar, January 13, 2009 ).

Appendix

Hamas Makes Massive Use of the Civilian Population as
Human Shields, Causing Them Harm
(Update, January 14)

For an article in the Israeli Arab paper Kul al-Arab , a telephone survey was held among Gazans asking their opinion about what was happening in the ground. “Khaled” from the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City said “we are young children, [we go around] in small groups wearing civilian clothing , and carry out support missions for the men of the resistance. We report information about movements of army forces or bring them ammunition and food.” 2 Sending children and adolescents on operational missions is both immoral and violates international law.

Using Mosques as Firing Positions and Weapons Storehouses

During the ground operation in the Shati refugee camp on January 13, a mosque was discovered with large quantities of weapons, including an anti-tank missile launcher.

Weapons found in a mosque
Weapons found in a mosque. Above: An anti-tank missile launcher (IDF Spokesman, January 13, 2009). IDF Spokesman, January 13, 2009

1 The ship was purchased in Lebanon at the end of August 2001. It sailed from Lebanon to Sudan and anchored outside Port Sudan for 12 days while its name was changed to Karin A. From Sudan it sailed to the Yemenite port of Hodeidah , a journey of four days. In December 2001 it sailed to Iran where it took on many different types of weapons brought from Iranian army warehouses. The weapons were supposed to upgrade the military capabilities of the terrorist organizations. They were loaded into 83 containers which could be dropped into the water and were invisible on the surface, an Iranian innovation . The ship left for the Suez Canal to unload its cargo, which was consigned to the naval headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, on the shores of El-Arish and Gaza . On January 1, 2002 , it was identified by the Israeli Navy which boarded and took control before it could enter the Suez Canal . The ship was brought to the port of Eilat with crew and cargo intact.

2 For the use made of children, see pp. 61-64 of “Hamas Exploitation of Civilians as Human Shields” at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_e028.pdf .

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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