I mentioned in my last post the intention to
return to the issue of ceasefires, and I will do so below. But I begin by
noting that my greatest fear in this very necessary war we are waging now is
that it should be terminated prematurely because of pressure for a
ceasefire. Yet, in spite of that persistent unease, I think not. It’s
simply too blatantly clear that we must do now what should have been done years
ago.
We lost two soldiers today. But not in
combat inside of Gaza. IDF reserve officer, Col. Amotz
Greenberg, 45, of Hod Hasharon, and Sgt. Adar Bersano, 20, of Nahariya, were
killed when a terrorist squad infiltrated from Gaza into Israel through a
tunnel.
Credit:
Israel National News courtesy of the families
There were eight or nine terrorists,
according to reports, who encountered a motorized IDF force on exiting the
tunnel. In the battle that ensued, the two soldiers were killed. One of
the terrorists was shot dead, while the remainder went back into the
tunnel. They carried anesthetics and handcuffs with them, as well as arms,
which meant they were going to attempt a kidnapping.
This, of course, simply reinforces the
conviction that we have a great deal of work to do in Gaza. The IDF has
identified some 36 tunnels, five of which go into Israel. Intensive work
is being done to dismantle them, and to continue to seek out others that still
exist. I’ve picked up a couple of reports regarding plans to dig a trench
that would disable tunnels near the Gaza-Israel border, i.e., those that could
lead into Israel. I’ll follow with more on this in due course.
Now there is talk that the operation will be
stepped up further, and this is as it should be. We need to hit hard, as
quickly as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dismantling the tunnels, while high on the
IDF agenda, is not all that must be accomplished. Today, some 95 rockets
were launched at Israel, and the south is still taking a beating. The IDF is now
saying that about half of Hamas’s supply of 10,000 weapons is gone: Some 17% has
been launched, while we have either hit or otherwise destroyed 30% to 40%.
But that leaves 5,000 rockets still in Hamas hands.
And so, along with the ground assault, we
are continuing to hit hard from the air and by sea.
~~~~~~~~~~
This whole issue of all that must still be
done allows me to segue directly into a report on what the State Department has
had to say in the last couple of days.
On Thursday, Kerry said that he “reaffirmed”
our right to defend ourselves against attacks from tunnels (nice of him) but
called for the ground incursion to be restricted to a precise operation against
the tunnels. In other words, we do not have a right to defend ourselves
against rockets shot against our civilian population by removing caches of
rockets and destroying launchers.
Kerry “emphasized the need to avoid further escalation and to
restore the 2012 ceasefire as soon as possible.” I would simply brush this
off with the greatest of contempt, but I believe there are points that have to
be made here: The US secretary of state is working for the other
side. He would save Hamas’s collective neck here.
On Wednesday, four children playing near a
pier on the Gaza beach were killed by Israeli fire. Israeli officials
immediately termed the incident “tragic” and let it be known that the children
were near a Hamas installation that the Air Force was firing on. One might
ask (should ask) why there were children playing in the open near a Hamas
installation in the middle of a war. Why (this is rhetorical) they were not in
shelters, the way Israeli children are.
State Department spokesperson Jan Psaki told
reporters that the US was “asking for a redoubling
of efforts moving forward to prevent civilian casualties given the
events of the past couple days.”
What is more, she shared the information
that in a phone call to Netanyahu, Kerry had said, “We believe there is
more that can be done” to protect civilians. (Emphasis
added)
This said to the head of state of the nation
that is doing more than any nation in the world has ever done to protect the
lives of civilians during a war. This is beneath contempt, and I say again that
he is working for the other side and happy to give us bad press.
~~~~~~~~~~
Now as to ceasefire issues. First, we are not returning to
the 2012 ceasefire. That is what left Hamas arms intact. If and when a
ceasefire is negotiated, finally, it would have to be a different kind all
together.
Three nations are vying for involvement in mediating that
ceasefire (let it be many days away!): Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar. This is
not only because this role allows a nation to accrue prestige within the Muslim
world - we’re looking at a power issue. Israel wants only Egypt involved
because of inherently anti-Israel positions emanating from Turkey and
Qatar. What must be noted here is that the US is promoting
involvement by Qatar.
The US is saying that it’s time to bring in another party,
since Egypt is not having success. This is likely because Egypt is not
running rings around Hamas (more on this below). While Sisi, president of Egypt, considers the Brotherhood
an enemy, Qatar is blatantly supportive of Muslim Brotherhood. And Hamas is a
spin-off of the Brotherhood.
So what’s with the US?
What is being exposed here – hardly for the first time – is
a predisposition by the Obama administration to support Muslim
Brotherhood. I remind my readers that when Obama delivered
his very first international address, in Cairo, he invited members of the Muslim
Brotherhood to attend, and Mubarak was so incensed he boycotted the talk.
When Morsi – of the Brotherhood - was being overturned, the US was supportive of
him.
Thus, all efforts by the US to be involved here must be
viewed as suspect. The US has just signed an $ 11 billion arms
deal with Qatar.
~~~~~~~~~~
I confess – and I am certainly
not alone here – that I abhor the notion of a “ceasefire agreement” that
includes any demands from Hamas to which we will have acceded. The thought
of it makes me rip-roaring furious. They’ve been launching rockets at our civilian population,
and each rocket launched is a war crime. So we should give these
terrorists something that they are demanding in return for their ceasing their
war crimes?
In the past several days, a
number of their “demands” have made the press. Broadly speaking the focus
is first on the release of terrorists from our prisons – specifically those
released in the trade for Gilad Shalit and recently rearrested. And then on
opening the borders of Gaza, via opening of crossings into Gaza from Israel and,
via Rafah, from the Sinai. There has been talk of international
guarantees, so that the crossings could never be closed again – a proposal that
did not exactly catch Egypt’s fancy. But there have been other demands as well,
such as securing permission for the people of Gaza to pray on the Temple Mount –
which was rejected out of hand by Israel, as was the idea of a prisoner
release.
~~~~~~~~~~
Earlier this past week one
ceasefire proposal put forth by Hamas actually had me laughing. They
suggested a ten year cease fire, if we would fully lift the blockade of Gaza at
sea. On the face of it, both aspects of this proposal are
ridiculous. A ceasefire with an end: In ten years and one day they can,
per agreement, start launching rockets again. Of course, they’d have about
half a million cutting edge rockets by then, because they would have been
bringing them in by sea for ten years.
Yea. Right. They cannot think us
that stupid. They’re playing games.
But wait! This is
quintessentially Muslim. It was a Hudna – a temporary period of quiet –
they were offering, which in truth is all they offer. And it was modeled
right after the Treaty of Hudaibiya, which was negotiated by their prophet. In
623 CE, Muhammad made a ten-year peace pact with the Quraysh tribe, which
controlled Mecca. After two years, he saw that his strength had
increased sufficiently to move on Mecca. And so he devised a pretext for
attacking the Quraysh, who had their guard down because, after all, they had a
treaty with Muhammad’s people. He defeated them and took Mecca. This
sequence of events is so thoroughly engraved in Muslim consciousness that even
Arafat referred to it after signing at Oslo (which tells us what Oslo was worth
from the start).
So that’s the other factor: a
ten year ceasefire would not last ten years. Or, put differently,
Hamas would break any deal it signed as it was to its benefit to do
so. This is something that should never be
forgotten.
~~~~~~~~~~
Originally, Netanyahu has been
talking about disarming Hamas, with international support, as part of any
ceasefire agreement. I would have much to say about this, but will bide my time
now. If we do what needs to be done in Gaza, this issue may become
moot.
~~~~~~~~~~
Mentioned in closing here (with
more to follow on this): Abbas is also seeking to be involved in ceasefire
negotiations. To that end he will be meeting with Hamas’s politburo here Khaled
Mashaal. And where is Mashaal quartered for many years now? In Doha,
Qatar.
~~~~~~~~~~
A correction: The video I shared
last time that showed little children being given a demonstration of rocket
launchings may have come from Syria and not Gaza. (With thanks to Bennett
R. for this alert.)
~~~~~~~~~~
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