Doc's Talk: Operation Cast Lead

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Operation Cast Lead – Update No. 17

IICC

The Situation on the Ground

Overview

On January 18 at 0200 hours, a unilateral ceasefire went into effect as Israel held its fire. On January 19, IDF forces began exiting the Gaza Strip. Some of the forces remained in place in commanding positions, especially around the areas in the northern Gaza Strip from which rockets were launched. During the afternoon of January 18, Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations announced they were ceasing their fire in the Gaza Strip. In its announcement Hamas demanded a withdrawal of IDF forces from the Gaza Strip within one week , and a simultaneous opening of the crossings for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gazans. Even after the announcement, rocket fire continued on January 18. As of 1700 hours, January 19, the arena has remained quiet, for the first time since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead.

The situation on the ground since Israel has held its fire

IDF forces have been redeployed since the shooting stopped and have not carried out any offensive action. Some of the forces began leaving the Gaza Strip on January 18. The Israeli Air Force does not carry out offensive attacks and has only struck points from which rockets were launched at Israel , including after the ceasefire. The main events of January 18 were the following:

• The Israeli Air Force attacked a launching point from which a Grad rocket was fired at the city of Kiryat Gat . The strike was identified as successful.

• The Israeli Air Force attacked a terrorist squad which launched a rocket at the city of Sderot . The strike was identified as successful.

• During the morning terrorists opened fire on an IDF force in the northern Gaza Strip. The source of the fire was identified and armored vehicles and aircraft attacked the terrorists. No Israeli casualties were sustained.

In a shooting incident which took place after the ceasefire, the Israeli Air Force identified a rocket launcher which had been used to fire at Israel . It was positioned between two school buildings in the Saja'iya neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City . The air force did not attack the launcher because of its proximity to the school buildings.

Click for Video

IDF Spokesman, January 18, 2009
Launcher used to fire rockets at Israel, positioned between two school buildings in the
Saja’iya neighborhood of eastern Gaza City (IDF Spokesman, January 18, 2009).

Rocket and Mortar Shell Fire into Israeli Territory

Although Israel announced it was holding its fire, on January 18 rocket and mortar shell fire continued into Israeli territory. Sixteen rocket and two mortar shell hits were identified. Six rockets and one mortar shell fell in the on January 18 after Hamas announced all the terrorist organizations had agreed to a ceasefire.

At approximately 0915 hours on the morning of January 18, a barrage of six rockets was fired at the city of Sderot . There were no casualties and no property damage was reported. At 1404 hours a long-range rocket hit a house in the city of Ashdod . Two civilians were seriously wounded, two sustained minor injuries and three were treated for shock. The house suffered extensive damage. On January 19, as of 1700 hours, the arena has remained quiet, for the first time since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead .

A rocket hit in Ashdod
A rocket hit in Ashdod
(Photo: Edi Israel, used courtesy of NRG, January 18, 2009).

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

On January 18, humanitarian aid continued to be delivered from Israel into the Gaza Strip, in greater volume than on previous days. Forty trucks passed through the Karni crossing and 92 through the Kerem Shalom crossing. In addition, 60,000 liters of diesel fuel were delivered for Gaza 's power plant. Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead approximately 1,500 trucks delivering humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip. The Erez crossing was open for Palestinians with urgent humanitarian problems, and eight correspondents used it to enter the Gaza Strip.

Egypt and other countries

On January 18 wounded Palestinians continued crossing into Egypt through the Rafah crossing and doctors from various countries entered the Gaza Strip to help in hospitals. Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, several hundred sick and wounded Palestinians left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing for Egypt . Some of them were transferred to other Arab and Western countries for medical treatment (Middle East News Agency, January 18, 2009).

Humanitarian aid continues being delivered into the Gaza Strip through Israel and Egypt via the Rafah crossing: on January 18, ten tons of medical equipment and 13 ambulances entered. Al-Jazeera TV reported that the Egyptian authorities refused to set up a field hospital for wounded Palestinians in Rafah or El-Arish, despite the fact that various countries had sent Egypt suitable equipment (Al-Jazeera TV, January 18, 2009).

Various countries continue contributing funds to aid and rehabilitate the Gaza Strip. The British minister for international development said that Britain would donate £20 million in addition to the aid it had already given. He added that the unilateral ceasefire made it possible to use the money for food, water and shelter for the Palestinians (Ma'an News Agency, January 18, 2009).

The Iranian ship with its cargo of humanitarian aid which was prevented by the Israeli Navy from reaching the Gaza shore is anchored in international waters near Egypt . Its captain expressed hope that negotiations between the Iranian consul in Egypt and senior Egyptians would make it possible to deliver the aid through one of Egyptian's ports or to Gaza (Press TV website, January 18).

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip

On January 18, as IDF forces began a gradual withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian civilians began showing the first signs of returning to their routine lives. Some of those who had left their houses during the fighting began returning. Al-Arabiya TV described Gazans leaving their houses to see what had happened to Gaza City , and Palestinians went to hospitals to visit the wounded (Al-Arabiya TV, January 18, 2009). After three weeks, Gazan banks are expected to reopen on January 19 (Ramattan News Agency, January 18, 2009).

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported 1,300 dead and more than 5,400 wounded . They also reported the evacuation of dozens of bodies found after the ceasefire. The Palestinian media make no mention of the hundreds of operatives belonging to Hamas and the other terrorist organizations who were killed , part of Hamas's propaganda effort to paint the false picture that Israel killed only civilians during the operation.

The Egyptian Initiative

Conference at Sharm el-Sheikh

In his opening speech at the summit meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak said that Egypt 's primary objectives were to guarantee the ceasefire, remove the IDF forces from the Gaza Strip, institute a new lull arrangement and open the Gaza Strip crossings. He appealed to the international community, asking for their cooperation and support of Egypt 's efforts to ensure its objectives, and moreover, to put the peace process in motion (Al-Arabiya TV, January 18, 2009). He also reiterated that Egypt would not agree to the deployment of an international force on its territory.

The world leaders who participated in the conference (among them the German chancellor, the Czech prime minister, the UN secretary general, the king of Jordan, the British prime minister and the presidents of Egypt and France) expressed their support for implementing the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. They also called for Hamas to stop firing rockets and mortar shells into Israeli territory and expressed their hope that the next phases of the arrangement would include the withdrawal of IDF forces and the opening of the crossings. French president Nicholas Sarkozy expressed his support for Israel , saying it had the right to defend itself. The British prime minister said that Britain , France and Germany would cooperate to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip. The Italian prime minister proposed sending Italian forces to the Gaza Strip to oversee the border crossings.
Conference at Sharm el-Sheikh
Left: Press conference held after the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh (Al-Jazeera TV in English, January 18, 2009). Right: After the conference European leaders visited Jerusalem (Israeli Government Press Office, January 18, 2009).

Talks with Hamas representatives

The Hamas delegation left Cairo for Damascus after two days of talks about the Egyptian initiative. The five-man delegation headed by Muhammad Nasr, a member of Hamas's political bureau, deliberated with senior Egyptian officials about developments following the Israel announcement that it would hold its fire. The talks also dealt with the implications of the Israeli attacks and the way Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip (Kuwaiti News Agency, January 18, 2009).

A spokesman for the Egyptian foreign minister said that Egypt had invited Israel and the Palestinian organizations to Cairo for separate talks with Egypt . He said the objective of the talks was to discuss the steps necessary for bolstering the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to agree on a series of steps to implement the Egyptian initiative, including lifting the siege and opening the crossings (Middle East News Agency, January 18, 2009).

Economic summit meeting in Kuwait

Hosni Mubarak, in his opening speech at the Arab economic summit meeting in Kuwait , again discussed the details of the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire. He said that Egypt 's most important goal was to put the peace process in motion immediately and in a serious way (Middle East News Agency, January 18, 2009).

Summit meeting participants discussed a proposal to support the Egyptian initiative for an arrangement in the Gaza Strip. They said that they considered the initiative one of the ways to complement UN Security Council 1860. The proposal is supposed to stress the need to work to open the crossings according to the agreement of 2005. It also calls for an reexamination of the ties with Israel and the implementation of a decision to impose economic sanctions on Israel in a way that will serve the Palestinian people “as long as Israel continues its aggression in the Gaza Strip” (Middle East News Agency, January 18, 2009).

Hamas contests Mahmoud Abbas's legitimacy as president of the Palestinian Authority

Immediately after announcing its ceasefire, Hamas rushed back to the mudslinging of the internal Palestinian arena, putting the legitimacy of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian Authority president back on the agenda. As far as Hamas is concerned, his term of office ended on January 9, 2009, but because of having to focus on the fighting in the Gaza Strip, Hamas preferred to not to deal with the issue. Faraj al-Ghoul , justice minister in the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, said that all actions taken by “ former president Mahmoud Abbas ” and the commitments he made did not obligate the Palestinian people. Al-Ghoul demanded that Mahmoud Abbas be investigated and tried for his “crimes” ( Al-Bayan Center website, January 18, 2009).

Bashar Assad delivers belligerent speech

Syrian president Bashar Assad delivered a belligerent, anti-Israeli speech with anti-Semitism motifs at the Arab summit meeting in Doha on January 16. His main points were the following (Al-Jazeera TV, January 16, 2009):

• Israel has based its existence on slaughter, robbery and destruction, and the premise of its future is genocide. Israel is an enemy which understands only the language of bloodshed. The Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip is not only a response to rocket fire but a link in a chain of steps toward the establishment of a purely Jewish state from which anyone who is not Jewish will be expelled or destroyed.

• The Arab countries must stand at the side of the residents of Gaza and the “resistance” [i.e., the terrorist organizations]. The Israeli leaders should be tried so that history will record that they are “racists more dangerous than the Nazis in modern history.”

• Israel will never return the land and “rights” of the Arabs unless it is forced to. Therefore, “restoring territory and rights” is the essence of the “resistance” [i.e. terrorism] and it is the way to achieve peace.

• Israel has not learned the lessons of history, because “he who has no land has no history.” Thus there will be no compromise, no surrender and no withdrawal, and in the end peace will be achieved by force.

• The Arab peace initiative is dead . All the Arab countries must sever relations with Israel , close Israel 's embassies and impose a boycott on it.

• Israel 's “war crimes” will give birth to fiercer hatred for Israel in coming generations. For every Arab child killed in the Gaza Strip, dozens of “resistance” [activists] will be born who will hate Israel .

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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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