Doc's Talk: IDF will destroy terror tunnels 'with or without cease-fire

Thursday, July 31, 2014

IDF will destroy terror tunnels 'with or without cease-fire

IDF calls up additional 16,000 reservists • Three IDF troops killed in booby-trapped UNRWA clinic in Khan Younis, raising IDF death toll to 56 • Defense minister: We will reach all tunnels, even if it means going into areas not previously entered.

Lilach Shoval, Yael Branovsky, Daniel Siryoti, Yoni Hirsch, Shlomo Cesana, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies

An Israeli soldier inside a tunnel in southern Gaza, Wednesday

Photo credit: Ziv Koren

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the Israel Defense Forces will dismantle the Hamas tunnel network in the Gaza Strip "with or without a cease-fire."

Speaking at the start of an emergency cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv as Operation Protective Edge entered its 24th day, Netanyahu said that "the IDF will continue to operate in Gaza with full force. The soldiers are completing their mission to neutralize the terror tunnels."

"Using their tunnel capability, Hamas could have kidnapped and murdered civilians and soldiers by simultaneously attacking from multiple tunnels. It is this capability that we are destroying," the prime minister said.

"As I said at the start of the operation, there are no 100 percent guarantees, but our forces are making impressive gains in the field. The operation is moving ahead at full speed as we speak. So far we have neutralized dozens of terror tunnels and we are determined to complete this mission, with or without a cease-fire.

"I will not agree to any proposal that would prevent the IDF from completing this important mission. Hamas has sustained tough blows from the IDF and the Shin Bet security agency, which are working in close coordination with one another. We have debilitated thousands of terror targets.

"These gains are only the first step in the demilitarization of Gaza. The United States, the European Union and others in the international community have now accepted our position, but I have to say that it wasn't easy to do. It took a lot of hard work, but we achieved it," Netanyahu said.

On Wednesday, the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet approved continuing the military operation in Gaza. The IDF is calling up an additional 16,000 reservists, joining around 70,000 reservists already mobilized.

Meanwhile, three Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 others were wounded in an explosion in a booby-trapped building in the Khan Younis neighborhood of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The incident raised the IDF death toll in Operation Protective Edge to 56.

The soldiers, from the elite Maglan unit, had discovered a tunnel shaft inside a building used as a United Nations Relief Works Agency health clinic. They were inside the building when there was an explosion, which caused the building to collapse onto the soldiers.

Those killed were identified as Staff Sgt. Matan Gotlib, 21, from Rishon Lezion, Staff Sgt. Omer Hay, 21, from Savyon, and Staff Sgt. Guy Algranati, 20, from Tel Aviv.

"They were on the second floor of the building when they heard an explosion and the floor simply collapsed. After the collapse, there was also an exchange of fire. It is unclear what caused the explosion, but apparently the terrorists knew they were there," the father of one of the wounded soldiers said.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, an anti-tank missile was fired at an Israeli tank in the Nahal Oz area near the Gaza border. One soldier was lightly wounded.

Also on Wednesday, two Combat Engineering Corps soldiers were lightly wounded in Gaza when an anti-tank missile struck an IDF D9 bulldozer.

Over the past day, the IDF has blown up five tunnels in Gaza. The IDF also struck around 100 other targets in Gaza and ground forces advanced into a number of areas that had not been entered previously.

From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the IDF observed a humanitarian truce in areas of Gaza where no operational activities were taking place. Nevertheless, Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israel during the four-hour truce.

GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman said on Wednesday, "We're nearing the completion of the task. We're only a few days away from destroying the tunnels we knew about before the operation and I promise that we will destroy the tunnels we've uncovered during the operation."

Turgeman said it had taken the IDF two weeks to destroy tunnels that Hamas has worked on for four years.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Wednesday that the military operation in Gaza was continuing "at full strength."

"We are both continuing to make satisfactory progress in dealing with the terror tunnels and we are adding to the very heavy price exacted from Hamas," Ya'alon said.

Ya'alon said hundreds of Hamas terrorists have been killed and much Hamas infrastructure -- weaponry, institutions, command centers, tunnels and terrorists' homes -- has been destroyed.

"We're not limiting ourselves in terms of time or place, we're reaching every place where we know there are tunnels or shafts, even if this requires us to go into areas we have not previously entered. All operational options are on the table. The operation is being carried out and managed responsibly and judiciously, with the purpose of restoring quiet and security to the south in particular, as well as the other parts of Israel."

The Palestinian death toll in Operation Protective Edge has risen to more than 1,300. On Wednesday, IDF tank fire killed at least 16 Palestinians at a UNRWA school in the Jabaliya neighborhood of Gaza. The facility had been turned into a shelter for Gaza residents who have fled their homes due to the fighting in recent weeks.

Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the White House's National Security Council, condemned the shelling, saying, "We are extremely concerned that thousands of internally displaced Palestinians who have been called on by the Israeli military to evacuate their homes are not safe in U.N. designated shelters in Gaza."

Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed at least 17 Palestinians at a market in the Shujaiyya neighborhood of Gaza.

The IDF said both incidents were being investigated.

Meehan also condemned "those responsible for hiding weapons in the United Nations facilities in Gaza," a reference to the repeated incidents during Operation Protective Edge in which rocket caches have been found at U.N. schools in Gaza.

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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.

Doc's Talk