Nasrallah Incites Rebellion

Maayana Miskin Nasrallah Incites Rebellion

Hizbullah head Hassan Nasrallah made an unprecedented speech on Sunday calling on Arabs, particularly Egyptians, to protest government policy and force their governments to stand with Gaza. On Monday Egypt responded, accusing Nasrallah of inciting chaos in Egypt.. n his Sunday speech, Nasrallah accused Egypt and Jordan of putting down popular support for Gaza Arabs. “There is true and full collaboration between certain Arab regimes, especially those who have already signed peace deals with Israel, to crush any form of resistance,” he said in a speech televised and broadcast to supporters in Beirut.

Nasrallah criticized Egypt in particular, and called on the Egyptian government to open the Rafiah crossing between Gaza and northern Sinai. Egypt does not need to fight Israel, but must help those who are fighting, he ruled. “If you do not open the crossing, then you are partners in the crime,” he warned.

Egypt has kept the crossings on its border with Gaza closed despite many attempts by Gaza Arabs to break through. Egyptian soldiers fired on those who tried to force their way through the border, wounding several.

If Egypt and other Arab countries do not assist Gaza terrorists in their fight against Israel, Nasrallah said, residents of those countries must create a popular uprising and force their governments to help Gaza. “Governments that don't lift a finger—their people must force them to act... During the Lebanon War I did not request this of the Arab world, but now in the Gaza war I say everyone must help. I call for hundreds of thousands to go out and demand that their governments act and take responsibility,” he told his listeners.

"We turn to the Egyptian people. The people must take to the streets by the millions. Can the Egyptian police kill millions of Egyptians? Of course not. You, the Egyptian people, go and open the border... I'm calling for a revolution in Egypt,” Nasrallah continued. He advised Egyptian soldiers and commanders to refuse to guard the Gaza border.

Aboul-Gheit: Our army protects us against your kind

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit responded on Monday and said the Egyptian people would not take Nasrallah's side. Nasrallah “declared war on Egypt via a few satellite stations. The Egyptian people rejects and opposes his speech,” Aboul-Gheit said at a news conference in Ankara.

Hizbullah is hoping to create chaos in Egypt “like they created in their own country,” Aboul-Gheit said. Nasrallah spoke of the Egyptian armed forces and asked them to turn against the government, he told his listeners, adding, “I tell him, 'No! No! The armed forces are capable of protecting this land from people like you. You want to create chaos in this region in order to serve interests that are not good for the region.'”

Egypt has condemned and continues to condemn the Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, Aboul-Gheit continued. Egypt was responsible for the six-month ceasefire that temporarily ended Israeli counterterrorism operations in Gaza, he added.
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IDF Preparing Ground Offensive

Hillel Fendel IDF Preparing Ground Offensive

Large Israeli forces – tanks, infantry, engineer corps, artillery and more – are waiting just outside Gaza for the order to enter. It is felt that the great successes of the three-day air campaign have begun - or are soon to begin - yielding diminishing returns, and that a ground offensive will be necessary.

The precise objectives of such an attack have not been publicized, however, other than the neutralization of rocket-launching sites. Strategic terror points, including mosques that shelter weapons and ammunition, will also be targeted.

“We will reach places [in Ga that the Palestinians never expected,” an unidentified senior IDF officer told NRG-Maariv. .
“We do not intend to bring in masses of forces,” the officer said, “which would become targets within [enemy territory The objective is rather to activate forces that will quickly and constantly move from one place to another. We have artillery, precise-fire weapons, and other surprises.” The IDF carried out a practice run for a ground offensive of this type two weeks ago.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak implied on Monday, however, that the offensive might not happen if Hamas stops firing rockets at Israel. Hamas fired some 60 rockets yesterday, including about a dozen in the evening hours.

The area around Gaza was declared a closed military zone on Monday evening – largely to prevent journalists from entering. In the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hizbullah learned much about Israel’s deployment from media reports.

A source in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said that a ground operation in Gaza would be limited in time and would have “clear and focused objectives.” These apparently do not include a total stoppage to rocket attacks – which is considered nearly impossible – and the toppling of the Hamas regime. Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who is taking part in Israel's public relations efforts, said that these are precisely the two issues that should be the declared objectives of the current fighting.

The IDF is well aware that the terrorists' fighting forces in Gaza have utilized the past two years, and particularly the six-month ceasefire that Hamas ended earlier this month, to become practically a full-fledged army. Numbering some 20,000 fighters, the terrorist army is divided into regions – northern Gaza, Gaza City, central Gaza, Khan Yunis, and southern Gaza – and has a clearly-defined chain of command. It also has infantry units, a naval force, bomb-placing and rocket-launching teams, an intelligence unit and more. Hamas has also benefited from training in Iran, as well as a steady influx of heavy weapons and ammunition from Iran and Lebanon over this period.

In preparation for an IDF ground operation, the terrorists have filled tunnels with explosives, hidden large bombs on travel routes, booby-trapped homes and more.
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Long-Range Rocket Fired at Yavne

Hana Levi Julian Long-Range Rocket Fired at Yavne

Military censors cleared for publication Tuesday the news that Gaza terrorists for the first time unleashed long-range Grad-type 122-mm. Katyusha rockets a day earlier in attacks on the cities of Ashdod and Yavneh.

According to an IDF spokesperson, one of the missiles exploded on the southern outskirts of the city of Yavneh, approximately 9-10 km north of the port city of Ashdod, and "the furthest a missile has reached from Gaza."
Yavneh, which is more than 40 kilometers from Gaza, is only 15 kilometers south of Tel Aviv.

Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a second missile of the same type was also used in the attack on Ashdod, home to the nation's second-largest port.

"The rockets were advanced Grad-type missiles," Rosenfeld said, "the longest-range rockets that have been fired to date as far as we are concerned." Until this point, Hamas terrorists have launched medium-range Grad-type Katyusha rockets at Israel, which have had the capability of reaching only as far as the port city of Ashkelon.

Western Negev under Siege

Rocket barrages continued Tuesday on the western Negev city of Sderot, located less than one kilometer from Gaza.

A house in the center of the city sustained a direct hit from a Kassam rocket during the late morning hours. One man suffered shrapnel wounds in the face during the attacks, and three other people were treated for severe emotional trauma.

Sderot residents again raced for cover about two hours later as two short-range Kassam rockets exploded in open areas around the city. A third rocket landed near a kibbutz in the Sha'ar HaNegev region, and a fourth slammed into an open area next to a kibbutz in the Sdot Negev region as well. Kassams also fell near Ofakim and a community in the Eshkol region.

Gaza terrorists also managed to shoot themselves as well; a rocket launched by Hamas operatives fell short and exploded inside the terrorist-controlled region. No Israeli citizens were injured in the attacks, and no damage was reported.

The Battle of Gaza and The Real War

Michael Ledeen

It was only a matter of time before Israel lashed out at Hamas in Gaza. Even the appeasers in Israel, of whom there are many, could not indefinitely accept thousands of rockets landing in civilian centers, especially after the battle against Hezbollah in 2006, which was widely viewed as a fiasco for the Israeli Army and for the leaders in Jerusalem who are facing an election in two months. Defense Minister Barak says it's "all-out war," which suggests ground operations. The usual rule in these cases is that Israel doesn't have much time to accomplish its objectives; the "international community" rallies to the side of Israel's enemies, and Israel's leaders invariably convince themselves that if they play ball, they'll be rewarded for it. But that never happens. So far the Brits and the Vatican have already demanded an end to operations against Hamas, and by the time I finish typing this there will be more.

Israeli leaders say they want to bring an end to the rocket and missile attacks from Gaza. But, as opposition leader Netanyahu said, that can't be done without regime change.

Our goal should be twofold - stopping the attacks on our cities and eliminating the threat of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip…Stopping the attacks can be done within a short period of time, while eliminating the threat of rocket attacks from Gaza will entail toppling the Hamas rule over the Strip and uprooting the Iranian base there.

The last five words are key, because, as others have said, this is one more battle in the terror war in which we have been engaged since 2001. The Battle of Gaza cannot be understood as a thing in itself, but only as part of a broader whole: the war against the terror masters. And Iran is the most lethal, the most dangerous, and the most aggressive terror master in the world today.

Step back from the Gaza battle for just a second, and look at the war itself: it extends from Afghanistan to Pakistan and India, to Somalia, to Gaza/the Palestinian Authority/Israel, to Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia, with occasional skirmishes in the vast Kurdish domain (which embraces areas of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran), across Europe, into the United States and Canada and down to South America, including Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, with attendant terror/narcotics mafias that in turn operate in West Africa. Iran is present in all these theaters, primarily via its proxies Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards (Quds Force).

Like the global totalitarian movements and regimes that threatened Western civilization in the last century, the Iranians come with a messianic ideology that admits no compromise with its enemies. This war will only end with a winner and a loser, not with two contented negotiators. We can win this war–we've delivered a stunning defeat to Iran and her proxies in Iraq, for example–and our most powerful weapons are political, not military. Had we taken the war to Tehran, the terror forces in Gaza would, at a minimum, be a lot weaker today, as they would be in Afghanistan and Lebanon. But we continue to dither, and the new American leaders are fooling themselves when they say that vigorous diplomacy can induce the mullahs to retreat. It won't happen, any more than the Israelis got the terrorists to retreat from all-out war against the Jews when the Oslo Agreement was signed, or when Rabin shook hands with Arafat. It only delayed the days of reckoning, at the cost of many lives, mostly of innocents, on both sides.

There is a disgusting conceit that underlies the "realist" position that negotiations will solve these problems: the conceit that tyrants will be easier to deal with than free peoples. Rabin and Peres actually said this, once upon a time, with their smug statements to the effect that Arafat and the others would control the terrorists because they didn't give a damn about the Geneva Conventions or other legal niceties. They, and those who think the same applies to the Iranians, forget that our enemies want us dead or dominated, they don't want a world at peace in which they will have to deal with real problems of governance. They are waging jihad, not diplomacy.

It follows from this that you cannot "solve" Gaza by fighting in Gaza alone, you have to win the terror war. And to do that, you must accomplish regime change, just as Netanyahu said. But the crucial regime change must be accomplished in Iran. Whatever Israel accomplishes in Gaza (and the same holds for our battles in Iraq and Afghanistan), it is only a matter of time before the mullahs reorganize, rearm, and return to battle. And the next battle may involve nuclear weapons.

Paradoxically, those people who fume at the very idea of challenging the Iranian regime are actually making a truly terrible war more likely, not less. Those few of us who believe that support for Iranian democratic dissidents could bring down the mullahs are almost universally scorned, and even accused of seeking war. It is just the opposite. The same accusations were directed against us when we supported Soviet dissidents, and called for regime change in Moscow. And yet the Soviet Empire came down. The Iranian regime is far weaker than the Soviet state. An overwhelming number of Iranians oppose the regime, and are dreaming of the day when we finally embrace their cause. Perhaps there are still some brave men and women in the Democratic Party who understand that America is a revolutionary country, and that we are bound by our honor, our principles, and our national interest to support the democratic forces in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, the three leading terror masters, along with those in Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia, now scurrying to jump on the bandwagon of Islamic tyranny.

Finally, if I am right, it is impossible to address the Arab/Israeli conflict by itself, for the context is all wrong. Nobody in Gaza or the West Bank, nor in Amman or Cairo, can guarantee peace for Israel. Today, that decision rests in the hands of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Until there is a different government in Tehran, there cannot be peace between Arabs and Israelis, any more than there can be peace in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Lebanon.

It's a big war, but we're a big country with enormous capacities. Time to fight the real war.

Faster, Please.

UPDATE: David Horovitz in the Jerusalem Post gets it: http://www.jpost.com
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Tsafrir Ronen z'l, the Pride of Zionism & a Jewish Hero‏

Simply put, Tsafrir Ronen was the most passionate Zionist I have ever met. Tsafrir's life mission was to protect and defend all of the Land and People of Israel; especially, in the vulnerable Jewish heartland of Judea & Samaria. He did this, in part, by exposing the insidious Arab campaign of lies and deception intended to falsely de-legitimize and ultimately destroy Eretz Yisrael.. I was introduced to Tsafrir Z'L in Israel in August, 2006 by a mutual friend and fellow activist. Some introduction – we spent the next eleven hours together, driving south from Tel Aviv to the many places where the past residents of Gush Katif were displaced after the 'Disengagement'. (Tsafrir had been a fierce and publicly vocal opponent of the Israeli Government's plan to expel 10,000 Jews from their homes, synagogues, schools, communities and livelihoods in Gaza and northern Samaria, and, unlike most mainstream Jewish leaders in America and Israel, he did not neglect our fellow Jews once the senseless destruction had been executed…rather, he embraced their cause as his own.) Tsafrir's true Zionistic and Jewish spirit glowed in pride as we witnessed the re-birth of a Gush Katif organic vegetable greenhouse farm far from its former home, just one year after the 'Disengagement', and, despite it. The long day was topped off by watching the Gush Katif championship basketball game in Ashkelon, the first one held outside the beautiful, once-thriving communities of Gush Katif.



A few days later I went with Tsafrir to the Lebanese border and back, enjoying falafel in Afula, seeing the devastating aftermath of Hezbollah missiles in Kiryat Shmona and meeting his brother, Gil – a member of the Israel active reserves – along with some of his fellow reservists. At the beginning of our adventure, I was immediately struck by Tsafrir's honesty, sincerity and exuberance for life. Of course, his favorite topic of conversation was his Homeland. Tsafrir was extremely knowledgeable about ancient and modern Israel, and spoke about the Jewish State with love and tremendous passion – similar to the manner in which a devoted son talks about his parents. If only the leaders and media in Israel expressed such devotion and pride for their Homeland!



Tsafrir was an activist par excellence who reached out across religious lines and commanded the respect, love and support of the secular and ultra-Orthodox communities, alike. He worked tirelessly on behalf of his fellow Jews whose civil rights had been violated or were threatened.



For the past seven months, Tsafrir had been working on the fulfillment of one of his dreams – the production of a documentary that would 'expose' the truth about Palestine and the 'Palestinians'. Entitled, "Hadrian's Curse," the purpose of Tsafrir's far-reaching, critically-needed project may be explained in the following brief excerpts:



If Palestine is the name of the land, than Israelis are the occupiers.

If Eretz Israel is the name of the land, then the Arabs are the occupiers.

The fight for Israel is a fight for the identity of the land.

The identity of the land will determine who has the right to that land.



The accepted narrative in much of the world today is that Israel is an occupier of Arab land – that Israel stole the land from the Palestinians. But who are these Palestinians? If there are Palestinians, there must have been a Palestine somewhere. There never was. There is no such thing as a Palestinian. Palestine is the name of the land given to the Jewish people. The Arabs stole the name Palestine in order to accomplish their goal of eliminating the State of Israel.



Let us hope that Tsafrir's dream is soon experienced by citizens throughout Israel and that his work is then translated into all of the world's languages and aired in every country around the Globe.



I was extremely fortunate to get together with Tsafrir on several occasions in the United States, and I looked forward to each meeting. His spirit and optimism were contagious and always made me feel happy. In addition to speaking about Israel, Tsafrir spoke lovingly and often about Judy and his three daughters (even though I almost never got them right on the phone), and he was always quick to show me photos of them. Girls, you had one great Dad. And he was extremely proud of each of you!



Everyone who had the great fortune of brushing up against Tsafrir Ronen in his tragically-shortened, but oh-so-productive life was blessed to have known a modern Jewish hero and tzadik (righteous one). Tsafrir will be greatly missed, but his spirit and positive impact on Israel and the Jewish People will far outlive us all.



Buddy Macy

December 30, 2008


Ted Belman

How Palestinian TV is Covering the War

Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
FrontPageMagazine.com | 12/29/2008
As events in Gaza unfold, Palestinian Media Watch monitors the incitement and hatred pouring forth on Hamas Television. Below are several dispatches from the front, which tell a much different story than the one reported in the Western media. -- The Editors.

Hamas Celebrates Targeting Israeli Civilians

Along with today's TV propaganda in which Hamas depicts itself as a victim, Hamas continues to portray itself as the heroic killer of Israelis.

A video on Hamas TV this morning blended pictures of Hamas fighters shooting at Israel with pictures of injured Israelis and medical evacuation scenes.

In addition, the visuals include pictures of skulls dripping with blood, captioned: "Let them taste violent death."

Other narrations and texts include:

* "Send them to Hell! Tear them to pieces!"
* "Send them to Hell, Qassam missile!". Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Dec. 28, 2008.

Hamas TV: 180 Killed are from Hamas Armed Forces

Hamas TV acknowledged this morning that the vast majority of those killed are from the Hamas military. A news ticker running repeatedly from 10:00 AM announced:

More than 180 Palestinian policemen were killed including the [Police] Commander, General Tawfik Jaber.

In the background Hamas TV is repeatedly broadcasting the same scenes of dozens of bodies of the uniformed Hamas soldiers who were killed in Israel's first attack yesterday when Israel hit the Hamas officer's course graduation ceremony.

Hamas TV, Dec. 28, 2008.

Hamas TV: Ahmadinejad Threatens Israel Over Gaza Events

Hamas TV reported that Iranian President Ahmadinejad threatened Israel in response to Israel's attack on Hamas. The Hamas TV news ticker reported numerous times:

The President of Iran [Ahmadinejad]: These crimes will not change the Zionist entity's condition. Rather, its situation will be even blacker and its fate even worse.

Iran's support of the Hamas is not surprising as Hamas is a major supplier of weapons for Hamas and Hamas military units have undergone training in Iran.

Hamas TV, Dec. 28, 2008.

Mahmoud Abbas: Hamas Responsible for Violence

In a news conference today from Cairo, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas placed the blame for the violence in the Gaza Strip squarely on the shoulders of Hamas. He described how he repeatedly made contact with Hamas and implored them not to break the ceasefire. He lamented that the violence in the Gaza Strip could have been avoided had Hamas not broken the ceasefire.

The following is Mahmoud Abbas's statement at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit.

I say in all honesty, we made contact with leaders of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. We spoke with them in all honesty and directly, and after that we spoke with them indirectly, through more than one Arab and non-Arab side... We spoke with them on the telephone and we said to them: We ask of you, don't stop the ceasefire, the ceasefire must continue and not stop, in order to avoid what has happened, and if only we had avoided it.

PA TV Dec. 28, 2008.

Itamar Marcus is the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch. He was appointed by the Israeli government to be the Israeli representative (communication specialist) to the Trilateral (Israeli-American-Palestinian) Anti-Incitement Committee established under the Wye Accords. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Marcus served as research director of the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, writing reports on PA, Syrian, and Jordanian schoolbooks. He holds a BA in political science from City College of New York and an MA in Hebrew culture from New York University. Barbara Crook is associate director and North American representative of Palestinian Media Watch. She teaches at the School of Journalism and Communications at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She holds an Honors BA in English literature from Queen's University, an MA in journalism from the University of Western Ontario, and is a Southam Fellow at the University of Toronto.

Fighting and Defeating Hamas

Ely Karmon

December 29, 2008

In my previous op-ed of December 23, "Needed, A strategy against Hamas", I advocated that Israel's main strategic goal in a future military operation should be the prevention of Hamas' increased military and political strength and the shattering of the organization's exclusive control of the Gaza Strip. A secondary critical goal of the operation should be to stop the shelling of citizens in southern Israel, which was potentially spreading from Shderot to Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beeer Sheva and threatening Tel Aviv and Israel's most populated area. The bombing of our cities by Hamas rockets since the operation begun clearly show that this threat is immediate and was on the way to multiply

After almost three days of the military operation against Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli government has not made yet clear its final goal or exit strategy.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking to the Israeli people stated that "we were compelled to take action in order to halt the aggression against our citizens..[that] the operation in the Gaza Strip is designed, first and foremost, to bring about an improvement in the security reality for the residents of the south of the country…. to restore the quiet and the tranquility." Olmert made it clear to the residents of Gaza that Israel is not acting against them and has no intention of punishing them for the actions of Hamas.
Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak declared the country is engaged in a "war to the bitter end" against Hamas in Gaza and that the operation's goal is to force Hamas to stop its hostile actions directed at Israeli civilians. Barak warned that the offensive in the Gaza Strip would be further expanded and widened as much as required.

Israeli Deputy Chief if Staff, Brig. Gen. Dan Harel said today that "this operation is different from previous ones…We have set a high goal and are hitting not only terrorists and launchers, but also the whole Hamas government and all its wings….After this operation there will not be one Hamas building left standing in Gaza, and we plan to change the rules of the game."

On the third day of the massive air campaign against Hamas' military and civilian infrastructure and its leadership the results seem quite impressive: the surprise attack, the sheer magnitude of the human losses among its security personnel and the destruction of 40 – 50 missile pre-prepared positions have destabilized the organization's command and control system and minimized the first "portion" of rockets ready to retaliate for an Israeli attack.

At this moment it seems that a ground military operation is on the move and practically inevitable, if Israel wants to ensure the attainment of its strategic goals. The question arises again, what kind of ground operation is necessary or feasible in the challenging operational conditions of the Gazan urban environment and the complex regional situation.

The destruction of Hamas' infrastructure and even the successful targeting of its leaders in hiding, will not convince them to give up their goal to achieve a military balance of power and a deterrent capability in the future vis-à-vis Israel, even if they will be compelled to accept a shameful cease-fire. The example of Hizballah, which has tripled and enhanced its military arsenal since the Second Lebanon War of summer 2006, is speaking for itself.

This author's opinion has not changed: in order to achieve its strategic goal, Israel should cut the oxygen pipeline - the tunnels permitting the smuggling of advanced rocket, anti-tank and other advanced weapons - by re-occupying and widening the Philadelphi Road on the Egyptian border.

Following the destruction of most of the arsenal in possession of Hamas during the present campaign, the control of a 1 km wide strip of land on the border will permit the progressive drying of the organization's military capability, which has a direct influence on its ability to control politically Gaza.

The control of the Rafah border passage should progressively return to the Palestinian Authority and the international European team and thus give the PA a foothold for future political comeback to Gaza.

The Israeli government has rightly acted by speaking directly to the Palestinian population in Gaza explaining the reasons of the military operation, and by continuing to provide it with the basic humanitarian needs. This policy should continue and even be expanded.

Some forgotten facts

Hamas is not responsible only for the present violence and destruction.

During the years 1994-96 its suicide bombings derailed the Oslo peace process and in the end changed the positive political mood of the Israeli society towards this process.

During the bloody years of the second intifadah (2000 – 2005), Hamas was responsible, together with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, for some 70% of the 150 suicide bombings which killed more than 1000 Israeli citizens, the great majority civilians.

During the military coup of June 2007 Hamas has assassinated in cold blood some 150 – 200 Fatah militants, while in the past the PA only arrested Hamas members for short periods of time.

Arab and Muslim protesters' hypocrisy and double standard

Arab and Muslim movements in the Middle East are trying to subvert their regimes and compel them to act politically and diplomatically against Israel and even instigate to open war against the Jewish state.

Here are a series of violent events in the Muslim world in recent days:

- in Mosul, Iraq, a suicide bomber targeted a manifestation of protest condemning Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip, killing one civilian and wounding 16;
- in Afghanistan, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a weekend suicide car bombing that killed 14 children and two adults;
- in Pakistan a suicide car bomber set off an explosion outside a polling station in northwest Pakistan, killing up to 30 people, including several children.

Where are the massive protests of Arabs and Muslims against these indicriminate killing of Muslims? Where are the Arab and Muslim protests against the Mumbai killings in November of this year? And where are the protests for the genocide in Darfour?

Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hizballah, is now pushing Hamas, through his inflamatory speeches, to a brinkmanship strategy of martyrdom, ready to fight to the last Palestinian. He is also threatening the Egyptian government and President and other moderate Arab leaders.

This is the man responsible for the death of some 1000 Lebanese citizens and the destruction of the Dahya neighbourhood in Beirut and the villages in southern Lebanon during the Second Lebaneon War; the man who recoginzed that if he new the results of the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers he woudn't start the operation; the leader who solemnely promised never turn the weapons "of the Resistance" against his fellow citizens but is responsible for the killing of several dozen Lebanese during the bloody events in Beirut in May 2008; who two years and a half after the war with Israel is speaking to his followers and the besieged Hamas leaders from his bunker in Beirut!

Hopefully, the moderate responsible leaders in the Middle East and the international community will understand that Hamas in power in Gaza will thwart any peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians and threaten the rule of the moderates in the West Bank and beyond.


Dr. Ely Karmon is Senior Research Scholar at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzlyia.

Patriots and anti-patriots

Caroline Glick , THE JERUSALEM POST

Two years ago, the North was a war zone. Fields and forests, homes and hospitals were set ablaze by Hizbullah missiles. But on Sunday afternoon, as a tireless patriot was laid to rest in the Jezreel Valley, the ground was not burning with missile fire, it was exploding with fecundity. It filled the air with the aroma of its promise of spring harvests. A multitude of mourners from all over the country crowded into Moshav Moledet's small cemetery to pay their final respects to 53-year-old Tzafrir Ronen, who died of a heart attack on Friday night. The man they mourned had dedicated his life to defending the country. In recent years, Tzafrir spent nearly every waking moment fighting for its soul. He sought to educate his fellow Israelis about the threats facing the country generally, and specifically about the existential danger to its viability presented by the Left's defeatist and post-Zionist narrative.

For this son of the Jezreel Valley, who grew up with the land, that narrative - which argues that Israel has neither the ability nor the right to defeat its enemies and to settle its land - was the single greatest threat to the long-term well-being of the country. Over the years, as Tzafrir's frustration at the direction the country was taking grew, his message became angrier and more urgent. As each of his successive warnings - about the fraudulent Oslo peace process, the withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the criminalization of Jewish building in Judea and Samaria, the refusal to enforce laws in the Israeli Arab sector, the expulsion of the Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria and the establishment of the Hamas terror state in Gaza - were ignored by successive governments, by the media and, inevitably, by voters, Tzafrir, like so many others in his position felt he was shouting into the wind.

MARGINALIZING AND silencing voices like Tzafrir's is one of the Israeli Left's greatest achievements. By consistently ignoring or demonizing voices like Tzafrir's - who have been correct about every major strategic issue facing the country - while steadfastly legitimizing and lionizing men and women like Amos Oz, Shulamit Aloni, Yossi Beilin and Haim Ramon - who not only have been wrong about every major issue in the past generation, but have also often taken leading roles in our enemies' propaganda campaigns - the Left has managed to remove our most vibrant thinkers and bravest builders and fighters from the national debate.

But the hundreds who crowded into the cemetery on Sunday are proof that the Left's success has been far from complete. The mourners at his funeral included Israelis from all walks of life -- religious, secular, farmers, city dwellers, Jews, non-Jews, new olim and sabras. The fact that people from such diverse backgrounds and traditions have found the way to work with one another shows that in spite of the demonization of the Right, people are still interested in defending and building the country. They are still are drawn to voices in the wilderness, like Tzafrir's, which say that we must fight, and win, and that we deserve to win and should feel privileged to fight for what is right.

On the face of it, Tzafrir, his colleagues and friends could feel vindicated by the Olmert-Livni-Barak government's decision to launch Operation Cast Lead against Hamas's regime in Gaza. Since Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni first began advocating the surrender of Gaza in late 2003, Tzafrir and his colleagues were at the forefront of the protest movement against the giveaway. Not only did they argue that the forcible expulsion and destruction of communities in Gaza was a moral outrage, they warned that a withdrawal would transform Gaza into the jihadist hub it has become.

AND OF course, they were right. Far from bringing peace and stability, as they warned the likes of Olmert and Livni, withdrawal from Gaza started the countdown to the war we are now fighting. And as they warned would happen, withdrawal from Gaza allowed Hamas to become an Iranian proxy and build the Iranian-supplied army that now assaults the South with missiles and rockets.

Moreover, the international outcry which has greeted the IDF operation, and the tepid US support it has enjoyed, shows clearly that by "ending the occupation" of Gaza, (which actually ended with the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994), Israel weakened rather than strengthened its international supporters. Today Israel is being condemned more harshly than it was in 2004 when the IDF nearly destroyed Hamas in Gaza by decapitating its leadership.

On the face of it, Tzafrir and his colleagues could pat themselves on the backs and say that by waging Operation Cast Lead, Livni and Olmert and the architect of unilateral surrenders of land to terrorists himself - Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who handed South Lebanon to Hizbullah in 2000 - have finally seen the light. They understand that terrorists have to be defeated and that the country is better off controlling hostile territories than allowing its enemies to control them.

BUT THIS is not the case. Olmert, Livni and Barak have made clear that they haven't changed their defeatist and post-Zionist view of Israel's prospects at all. Their current operation in Gaza is not aimed at defeating Hamas. They have uttered no call for victory. To the contrary, as Olmert made clear in his speech on Saturday evening, the goal of the current campaign is simply to "change the situation" in the South. The question is what "change" they have in mind.

For her part, Livni has called for installing the Fatah terror group in Gaza instead of Hamas. But Fatah has been rejected not only by Gazans, but by the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria as well. Bringing Fatah into Gaza would do nothing to stabilize the situation. It would simply be an invitation for Fatah to conduct war against Israel and seek an accommodation with Hamas and Iran.

Barak has claimed that we can no more negotiate a settlement with Hamas than the US can negotiate a settlement with al-Qaida. And this is true in principle. Just as al-Qaida will never live at peace with America, so Hamas will never accept peaceful coexistence with Israel. But Barak has never been one to abide by principles.

He didn't adhere to that principle six months ago when he convinced Livni and Olmert to accept a cease-fire that enabled Hamas to build its army and its missile arsenal without fear of IDF attack. And Barak did not adhere to this principle when as late as last Tuesday he was calling for a renewal of the failed, one-sided cease-fire.

THE FACT of the matter is that the change that the Olmert-Livni-Barak government seeks today has more to do with the public's perception of its competence than with any interest in changing the situation in Gaza in any fundamental way. During the Second Lebanon War, the government showed that it could not be trusted with the defense of the country and with the proper deployment of IDF soldiers. And in the aftermath of that war, the government lost its moral right to send its forces into battle.

Now it uses its campaign in Gaza as a means of winning back its moral authority. But the problem is that despite its protestations of cunning competence, the government's aims today are the same as they were in 2006. As was the case with Hizbullah, the Olmert-Livni-Barak government is signaling that it seeks a new negotiated settlement with Hamas. The hoped-for settlement, which has been telegraphed to the public through the pro-government media, will leave Hamas in power in Gaza. Although the government claims that the postwar Hamas will be more peaceful than the prewar Hamas, there is no reason to believe this will be the case.

Just as has been the case with Hizbullah since the government failed to destroy the terror army in 2006, so if Hamas remains in control of Gaza after the current war, no matter what its condition, it will be perceived as the winner.

HERE IT is important to make a sharp distinction between the IDF's clear military successes in Gaza and the political leadership's problematic management of this campaign. In the former case, it is inarguable that by destroying Hamas's military installations, killing its military commanders and incapacitating its weapons smuggling infrastructure, the IDF is weakening Hamas as a military organization. And this is a great and long-awaited achievement.

In contrast, the Olmert-Livni-Barak government's refusal to reconsider its defeatist political philosophy makes it apparent that in the longer term, any strategic advantage enjoyed from the IDF's success will be marginal. Like Hizbullah, Hamas - which enjoys Iranian and Syrian state sponsorship and authentic popularity throughout the Islamic world - does not have to defeat Israel to be perceived as the victor. It merely needs to survive. That is the great difference between jihadist organizations and Western democracies. And by surviving, it will expand its international cachet.

JUST AS the Bush administration seeks to accommodate Hizbullah by selling advanced weapons to the Lebanese government it dominates, so too, in the aftermath of the current campaign, Hamas will be accepted by the West.

Tzafrir Ronen, and his colleagues whose strategic wisdom caused them to be banished from the public square, can always depend on hapless, defeatist governments like that of Olmert, Livni, and Barak to remember them in times of crisis. Like a Swiss clock, whenever leaders who preach nothing but defeat and retreat to their countrymen find themselves in a position of having to fight our enemies, they know they can count on men like Tzafrir to fight for them. And to date, men like Tzafrir, who served in the IDF's elite combat units, and whose sons and daughters continue to bear the greatest burdens in our defense, have answered their calls without hesitation.

Looking at the faces of the mourners on Sunday afternoon and listening to the many eulogies of Tzafrir that repeatedly praised his Zionism, there was no room for doubt that again today these people will answer the call. But how long will this state of affairs continue? How long can failed and strategically blind politicians continue to expect the men and women they demonize to save the country after they fail, and then hand it back to them to endanger again?

caroline@carolineglick.com
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456521586&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

"As We Progress"

Arlene Kushner

How are we doing? To this point, thank G-d, very well.

The original prediction when this war started had been that, after our first day of attack. hundreds of rockets per day would rain down on the south. There have been rockets -- some serious attacks -- but the volume of launchings has been less than had been expected, although it is increasing. This is said to be both because Hamas leaders are in shock and disarray, and because we took pains to hit hidden launchers. They still have thousands of rockets, and there is expectation that as they regroup the attacks will yet become more numerous. (Although I do mention that Khaled Abu Toameh of the Post says Hamas is crumbling -- more on this below -- and suggests we might not see the rocket fire that had been expected.)

~~~~~~~~~~

In order to take out launchers hidden in bunkers, as well as in destroying tunnels near Rafah yesterday, we utilized high precision bunker buster missiles, called GBU-39, that we recently acquired from the US. These missiles, which can penetrate through 90 cm of steel-reinforced concrete, do little collateral damage.

~~~~~~~~~~

Today we hit ammunition stocks and further tunnels. In the Khan Yunis area in the south of Gaza we took out Ziad Abu-Tir, a senior member of Islamic Jihad, along with his brother, nephew and two others. We also hit targets in the north of Gaza, as well as a government compound in Gaza City and buildings in Islamic University near Khan Yunis -- all Hamas strongholds.

Two laboratories in the university were bombed because they were research and development centers for Hamas's military wing. It is important to assimilate this information in order to understand what we're dealing with: development of weapons was done under the supervision of university professors. There are no lines drawn between the military and the civilian in this authoritarian, militaristic system, yet someone unaware of this might be horrified that we bombed an educational institution.

~~~~~~~~~~

We have been engaging in some psychological warfare: breaking into radio broadcasts to warn civilians not to cooperate with Hamas.

We've also been sending recorded messages to phones in Gaza telling people to immediately evacuate homes near Hamas infrastructure. This strikes me not as psychological warfare but an attempt to save civilians.

~~~~~~~~~~

With all of this, I say, with a trembling heart, that the hardest part of this war is yet to come. We have not amassed thousands of troops and tanks and artillery at the border of Gaza just to sit there. The next stage of the fight is imminent. In Hebrew we say ein breira -- there's no choice. Once our boys go in on the ground, I can only ask that each and every one of you pray for them. Ask everyone to pray for them. And don't stop until they've come home.

~~~~~~~~~~

The response of the world to our operation has, to this point, been gratifyingly moderate. There are several reasons for this -- including the PR work being done and the degree to which the terrorist Hamas is blatantly out of line.

There had been concern from the time there was first talk of an operation in Gaza that we'd likely have to deal with a second front in the north. Yesterday Nasrallah made threats with regard to this. But so far the north is quiet. It occurs to me that the force of our attack on Hamas has given him pause.

And it seems that Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Abul Gheit, and Nasrallah are at bitter odds.

~~~~~~~~~~

Defense Minister Barak addressed a special session of the Knesset today. "This operation will be extended and deepened as we find necessary," he declared.

"I would like to remind the world that Israel withdrew from the entire Gaza Strip more than three years ago. We gave a chance for a new reality, and all we've seen is Hamas firing rockets and missiles on our citizens and carrying out attacks against Israel...we must fight against the Hamas leadership. We are making great efforts to prevent civilian casualties."

~~~~~~~~~~

Foreign Minister Livni also spoke. She said:

"To all those criticizing us we say that Hamas is an extremist terror group that does not represent the Palestinians...We have decided to hold a peace process with those who are truly committed to living in peace, side by side."

Well. I've been monitoring our leadership in the last few days, and until now I have found nothing to criticize. It has seemed to me they were saying what needed to be said.

But, even if Livni made this statement simply to show the world how peaceful we are, it cannot pass without notice. First, because Mahmoud Abbas and the PA are most decidedly not committed to living in peace side by side. This is a myth that has gotten us into a great deal of trouble. No, Abbas is not Maashal. But neither is he a man of peace committed to a "two state" solution. Abbas heads a party, Fatah, whose charter to this day calls for our destruction. The PA he heads produces textbooks that teach jihad. There is map in his office of "Palestine," from the river to the sea, without Israel.

Then it is erroneous to say that Hamas does not represent Palestinians. Has everyone forgotten? Hamas was victorious in the last PA legislative election and to this day has popularity in Gaza in spite of everything. (Abu Toameh has something to say about this, as well.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Today over 60 rockets have been launched from Gaza. Earlier, a Grad Katyusha struck a building undergoing construction in the center of Ashkelon, killing Hanni Al-Mahdi, of the Bedouin town of Aroer, and wounding at least 14 others, five moderately to seriously. Most of the wounded were Arab construction workers from villages in the Galilee.

A Grad rocket also hit in Ashdod -- the first direct hit in this city -- killing one woman at a bus stop and wounding others.

A house in Sderot sustained a direct hit.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are conducting their own psychological warfare -- speaking in dire terms of the suicide bombings they will carry out, and the kidnappings of soldiers.

An Egyptian paper and Al-Jazeera have carried reports saying that Gilad Shalit was wounded in one of our air attacks. The IDF is dubious because Shalit is valuable to Hamas, as they hope to trade him for some of their prisoners. It is considered unlikely that he would have been left in a vulnerable location.

~~~~~~~~~~

Now to Khaled Abu Toameh: He wrote a piece today regarding a viable successor to Hamas in Gaza. The government has not declared taking out Hamas to be a goal of this war. (It is possible that Barak and company think they might do so, but are refraining from saying so in order to avoid being over-ambitious in their stated goals.) Abu Toameh seems to think this is a possibility because Hamas has been hit exceedingly hard -- with almost all of its security and civil institutions destroyed. "The general feeling on the streets of the Gaza Strip on Sunday night was that the countdown to the collapse of the Hamas regime had begun."

But, asks, Abu Toameh, what happens if Hamas does collapse?

I have been uneasy about Abbas's eagerness to take over; the thought of our having fought for him being rather obscene. But Abu Toameh says this is not possible: "Judging from the reactions of the Palestinian and Arab masses, it's highly unlikely that Abbas and his forces would be allowed to regain control under the current circumstances."

Says Ramadan Shallah, secretary-general of Islamic Jihad: "...who dares to return to the Gaza Strip aboard an Israeli tank would be condemned as a traitor." And a Hamas representative said that "the majority of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip would revolt against any Palestinian officials who returns with the help of Israel."

According to Abu Toameh, "...Hamas appears to be as popular as ever."

What he says next is something that should make everyone -- most notably Tzipi Livni -- sit up and take notice.
"Even if Hamas is totally crushed, there is no reason to believe that those who would succeed the Islamist movement would be any better or less radical. These are days when only the voices of the extremists...are being heard..."

~~~~~~~~~~

This is precisely what I found in my research on Fatah this past year: With the growing influence of Hamas, Fatah had radicalized further. Scholars were even writing about how Fatah was no longer secular nationalist but, rather, increasingly using Islamic symbols. Hamas was setting the tone of political discourse.

Until we grab hold of this reality, and disabuse ourselves of the notion that we have a "moderate" Palestinian entity to deal with, we are going to be in trouble.

Whether Hamas is quite as weak as Abu Toameh thinks, or not, the points he raises are of huge significance.

There seems to be an aversion to our going into Gaza and staying there, but at the end of the day, sooner or later, this may be necessary.

~~~~~~~~~~
see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

CNN is at it again!

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- The death toll from a weekend of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza has topped 300, Palestinian medical sources said Monday as a third day of air raids hit the Hamas-ruled territory.
Fires rage overnight in Gaza, where Israel has been bombing what it says are Hamas targets.

Fires rage overnight in Gaza, where Israel has been bombing what it says are Hamas targets.

Another 650-plus people have been wounded in the strikes, the sources said The U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate end to the airstrikes, which began Saturday. But Israel says its objective is to stop an ongoing stream of rockets fired by Hamas militants into southern Israel, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Cabinet ministers Sunday that the situation "is liable to continue for some time."

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, pledges it will defend its land and people in the face of what it calls continued Israeli aggression. Each side blames the other for violating an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, which formally expired Friday, December 19, but in reality had been weakening for months. Video Watch as Gaza endures third day of attacks »

Israel has struck more than 300 Hamas targets since Saturday, its military said. The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that more than 150 rockets have been launched into Israeli territory from Gaza since the campaign began. One of those hit a home in southern Israel on Saturday, killing one man inside. Video Watch parts of Gaza reduced to rubble »

Palestinian security and medical sources said airstrikes hit the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza early Monday, and a home near Hamas leader Ismail Haniya's residence was hit overnight. Hamas security sources said that raid targeted the home of a senior leader in the group's military wing.

The Jebaliya raid left five children dead in a home that was damaged when a nearby mosque was targeted, said Dr. Mu'awiya Hassanein. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on that claim.

And a few minutes after midnight, an Israeli F-16 fired rockets into at least one building at the Islamic University of Gaza, a Gaza-based journalist at the scene -- whose name was withheld for security reasons -- told CNN. There were no immediate reports of casualties from that strike, which the IDF said targeted "a center for weapon research and development."

The Palestinian television station Ramattan showed firefighters trying to put out a fire at a building identified by the Palestinian network as part of the university, while others sifted through large piles of debris and rubble. Read reactions to Israel's strike on Gaza »

"There was a loud series of explosions ... the entire apartment I'm in was shaking," said Sami Abdel-Shafi, a Palestinian business consultant in Gaza City. "It was scary and a very disappointing position to be in for the 'nth' time."

An Israeli military statement said the targets of the raid were "buildings that were used as meeting places for senior leaders of Hamas." Video Watch an ambassador say Israel is only defending itself »
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"One of the structures struck housed explosives laboratories that were an inseparable part of Hamas' research and development program, as well as places that served as storage facilities for the organization," the IDF statement said. "The development of these weapons took place under the auspices of senior lecturers who are activists in Hamas. Among the weapons that have been developed and manufactured at this site are Qassam rockets."

There was no immediate response from Hamas to the IDF statement.

Guest Comment:The "plight" of the palestinians.

Is it me or is CNN infering that it is civilans that are targeted and
really not mentioning that it is terrorists that are the targets?
Why have they not given the same coverage to the rocket attacks on Israel for the last 5 years?

Time to let CNN know that this slant bias is unacceptable.
Make them docuement the claims of Palestinians instead of publishing the false claims like Jenin and south Lebanon.

CNN's phone number is (404)827-2600.
It will take about 3 minutes, just hold on and let them know in a polite and organized way.
Then pass this on to your list

Did Israel Use "Disproportionate Force" in Gaza?

Dore Gold
JCPA

Israeli population centers in southern Israel have been the target of over 4,000 rockets, as well as thousands of mortar shells, fired by Hamas and other organizations since 2001. Rocket attacks increased by 500 percent after Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. During an informal six-month lull, some 215 rockets were launched at Israel. The charge that Israel uses disproportionate force keeps resurfacing whenever it has to defend its citizens from non-state terrorist organizations and the rocket attacks they perpetrate. From a purely legal perspective, Israel's current military actions in Gaza are on solid ground. According to international law, Israel is not required to calibrate its use of force precisely according to the size and range of the weaponry used against it.
Ibrahim Barzak and Amy Teibel wrote for the Associated Press on December 28 that most of the 230 Palestinians who were reportedly killed were "security forces," and Palestinian officials said "at least 15 civilians were among the dead." The numbers reported indicate that there was no clear intent to inflict disproportionate collateral civilian casualties. What is critical from the standpoint of international law is that if the attempt has been made "to minimize civilian damage, then even a strike that causes large amounts of damage - but is directed at a target with very large military value - would be lawful."
Luis Moreno-Orampo, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, explained that international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court "permit belligerents to carry out proportionate attacks against military objectives, even when it is known that some civilian deaths or injuries will occur." The attack becomes a war crime when it is directed against civilians (which is precisely what Hamas does).
After 9/11, when the Western alliance united to collectively topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, no one compared Afghan casualties in 2001 to the actual numbers that died from al-Qaeda's attack. There clearly is no international expectation that military losses in war should be on a one-to-one basis. To expect Israel to hold back in its use of decisive force against legitimate military targets in Gaza is to condemn it to a long war of attrition with Hamas.


Israel is currently benefiting from a limited degree of understanding in international diplomatic and media circles for launching a major military operation against Hamas on December 27. Yet there are significant international voices that are prepared to argue that Israel is using disproportionate force in its struggle against Hamas.



Israeli Population Centers Under Rocket Attack

There are good reasons why initial criticism of Israel has been muted. After all, Israeli population centers in southern Israel have been the target of over 4,000 rockets, as well as thousands of mortar shells, fired by Hamas and other organizations since 2001.1 The majority of those attacks were launched after Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. Indeed, rocket attacks increased by 500 percent (from 179 to 946) from 2005 to 2006.

Moreover, lately Hamas has been extending the range of its striking capability even further with new rockets supplied by Iran. Hamas used a 20.4-kilometer-range Grad/Katyusha for the first time on March 28, 2006, bringing the Israeli city of Ashkelon into range of its rockets for the first time. That change increased the number of Israelis under threat from 200,000 to half a million.2 Moreover, on December 21, 2008, Yuval Diskin, Head of the Israel Security Agency, informed the Israeli government that Hamas had acquired rockets that could reach Ashdod, Kiryat Gat, and even the outskirts of Beersheba.3 The first Grad/Katyusha strike on Ashdod, in fact, took place on December 28. There had been no formal cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but only an informal six-month tahadiya (lull), during which 215 rockets were launched at Israel.4 On December 21, Hamas unilaterally announced that the tahadiya had ended.



Critical Voices

On December 27, 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesmen issued a statement saying that while the Secretary-General recognized "Israel's security concerns regarding the continued firing of rockets from Gaza," he reiterated "Israel's obligation to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law." The statement specifically noted that he "condemns excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians [emphasis added]."5

A day later, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights "strongly condemned Israel's disproportionate use of force." French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, also condemned Israel's "disproportionate use of force," while demanding an end to rocket attacks on Israel.6 Brazil also joined this chorus, criticizing Israel's "disproportionate response."7 Undoubtedly, a powerful impression has been created by large Western newspaper headlines that describe massive Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, without any up-front explanation for their cause.



Proportionality and International Law: The Protection of Innocent Civilians

The charge that Israel uses disproportionate force keeps resurfacing whenever it has to defend its citizens from non-state terrorist organizations and the rocket attacks they perpetrate. From a purely legal perspective, Israel's current military actions in Gaza are on solid ground. According to international law, Israel is not required to calibrate its use of force precisely according to the size and range of the weaponry used against it (Israel is not expected to make Kassam rockets and lob them back into Gaza).

When international legal experts use the term "disproportionate use of force," they have a very precise meaning in mind. As the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Rosalyn Higgins, has noted, proportionality "cannot be in relation to any specific prior injury - it has to be in relation to the overall legitimate objective of ending the aggression."8 In other words, if a state, like Israel, is facing aggression, then proportionality addresses whether force was specifically used by Israel to bring an end to the armed attack against it. By implication, force becomes excessive if it is employed for another purpose, like causing unnecessary harm to civilians. The pivotal factor determining whether force is excessive is the intent of the military commander. In particular, one has to assess what was the commander's intent regarding collateral civilian damage.9

What about reports concerning civilian casualties? Some international news agencies have stressed that the vast majority of those killed in the first phase of the current Gaza operation were Hamas operatives. Ibrahim Barzak and Amy Teibel wrote for the Associated Press on December 28 that most of the 230 Palestinians who were reportedly killed were "security forces," and Palestinian officials said "at least 15 civilians were among the dead."10 It is far too early to definitely assess Palestinian casualties, but even if they increase, the numbers reported indicate that there was no clear intent to inflict disproportionate collateral civilian casualties.

During the Second Lebanon War, Professor Michael Newton of Vanderbilt University was in email communication with William Safire of the New York Times about the issue of proportionality and international law. Newton had been quoted by the Council on Foreign Relations as explaining proportionality by proposing a test: "If someone punches you in the nose, you don't burn down their house." He was serving as an international criminal law expert in Baghdad and sought to correct the impression given by his quote. According to Newton, no responsible military commander intentionally targets civilians, and he accepted that this was Israeli practice.

What was critical from the standpoint of international law was that if the attempt had been made "to minimize civilian damage, then even a strike that causes large amounts of damage - but is directed at a target with very large military value - would be lawful."11 Numbers matter less than the purpose of the use of force. Israel has argued that it is specifically targeting facilities serving the Hamas regime and its determined effort to continue its rocket assault on Israel: headquarters, training bases, weapons depots, command and control networks, and weapons-smuggling tunnels. This way Israel is respecting the international legal concept of proportionality.

Alternatively, disproportionality would occur if the military sought to attack even if the value of a target selected was minimal in comparison with the enormous risk of civilian collateral damage. This point was made by Luis Moreno-Orampo, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, on February 9, 2006, in analyzing the Iraq War. He explained that international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court "permit belligerents to carry out proportionate attacks [emphasis added] against military objectives, even when it is known that some civilian deaths or injuries will occur." The attack becomes a war crime when it is directed against civilians (which is precisely what Hamas does) or when "the incidental civilian injuries would be clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage."12 In fact, Israeli legal experts right up the chain of command within the IDF make this calculation before all military operations of this sort.



Proportionality as a Strategic Issue

Moving beyond the question of international law, the charge that Israel is using a disproportionate amount of force in the Gaza Strip because of reports of Palestinian casualties has to be looked at critically. Israelis have often said among themselves over the last seven years that when a Hamas rocket makes a direct strike on a crowded school, killing many children, then Israel will finally act.

This scenario raises the question of whether the doctrine of proportionality requires that Israel wait for this horror to occur, or whether Israel could act on the basis of the destructive capability of the arsenal Hamas already possesses, the hostile declarations of intent of its leaders, and its readiness to use its rocket forces already. Alan Dershowitz noted two years ago: "Proportion must be defined by reference to the threat proposed by an enemy and not by the harm it has produced." Waiting for a Hamas rocket to fall on an Israeli school, he rightly notes, would put Israel in the position of allowing "its enemies to play Russian Roulette with its children."13

The fundamental fact is that in fighting terrorism, no state is willing to play Russian Roulette. After the U.S. was attacked on 9/11, the Western alliance united to collectively topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan; no one compared Afghan casualties in 2001 to the actual numbers that died from al-Qaeda's attack. Given that al-Qaeda was seeking non-conventional capabilities, it was essential to wage a campaign to deny it the sanctuary it had enjoyed in Afghanistan, even though that struggle continues right up to the present.



Is There Proportionality Against Military Forces?

And in fighting counterinsurgency wars, most armies seek to achieve military victory by defeating the military capacity of an adversary, as efficiently as possible. There clearly is no international expectation that military losses in war should be on a one-to-one basis; most armies seek to decisively eliminate as many enemy forces as possible while minimizing their own losses of troops. There are NATO members who have been critical of "Israel's disproportionate use of force," while NATO armies take pride in their "kill ratios" against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Moreover, decisive military action against an aggressor has another effect: it increases deterrence.14 To expect Israel to hold back in its use of decisive force against legitimate military targets in Gaza is to condemn it to a long war of attrition with Hamas.

The loss of any civilian lives is truly regrettable. Israel has cancelled many military operations because of its concern with civilian casualties. But should civilian losses occur despite the best efforts of Israel to avoid them, it is ultimately not Israel's responsibility. As political philosopher Michael Walzer noted in 2006: "When Palestinian militants launch rocket attacks from civilian areas, they are themselves responsible - and no one else is - for the civilian deaths caused by Israeli counterfire."15

International critics of Israel may be looking to craft balanced statements that spread the blame for the present conflict to both sides. But they would be better served if they did not engage in this artificial exercise, and clearly distinguish the side that is the aggressor in this conflict - Hamas - and the side that is trying to defeat the aggression - Israel.

* * *

Notes

1. For numbers of rockets, see Dore Gold, "Israel's War to Halt Palestinian Rocket Attacks," Jerusalem Issue Brief, Vol. 7, No. 34, March 3, 2008, Institute of Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=2049&TTL=Israel's_War_to_Halt_Palestinian_Rocket_Attacks. See also December 2008 publications on www.intelligence.org.il.

2. Robert Berger, "Israeli Official Warns of Growing Hamas Military Threat," Voice of America News, voa.com, May 17, 2008, http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-05/2008-05-17-voa23.cfm?CFID=85151341&CFTOKEN=44257801.

3. "News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC), December 16-23, 2008, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/ipc_e006.pdf.

4. "Intensive Rocket Fire Attacks Again Western Negev Population Center and the Ashqelon Region after Hamas Announces the End of the Lull Agreement," IICC, December 21, 2008, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_e018.pdf,

5. "Secretary-General Urges Immediate Halt to Renewed Israeli-Palestinian Violence," UN News Service, December 27, 2008, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=2425&Cr=Palestin&Cr1=.

6. "World Reacts to Israel Strikes in Gaza," Deutsche Welle, dw-world.de, December 28, 2008, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3905288,00.html.

7. Brazil Criticizes Israeli Attack on Gaza: Special Report: Palestine-Israel Relations," China View, http://www.chinaview.cn/, December 28, 2008, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/28/content_10570016.htm.

8. R. Higgins, cited in "Responding to Hamas Attacks from Gaza - Issues of Proportionality Background Paper," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, March 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Law/Legal+Issues+and+Rulings/Responding%20to%20Hamas%20attacks%20from%20Gaza%20-%20Issues%20of%20Proportionality%20-%20March%202008.

9. Abraham Bell, "International Law and Gaza: The Assault on Israel's Right to Self-Defense," Jerusalem Issue Brief, Vol. 7, No. 29, January 28, 2008, Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=2021&TTL=International_Law_and_Gaza:_The_Assault_on_Israel's_Right_to_Self-Defense.

10. Ibrahim Barzak and Amy Teibel, "Israeli Assault on Hamas Kills More than 200," Associated Press, December 28, 2008, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians/print.

11. William Safire, "Proportionality," New York Times, August 13, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/magazine/13wwln_safire.html.

12. Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Hague, February 9, 2008, http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/organs/otp/OTP_letter_to_senders_re_Iraq_9_February_2006.pdf.

13. Alan Dershowitz, "The Hamas Government Has Declared War Against Israel: How Should Israel Respond?" Huffington Post, March 14, 2008, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/the-hamas-government-has-_b_91630.html.

14. Richard Cohen, "...No, It's Survival," Washington Post, July 25, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072400808.html.

15. Michael Walzer, "How Aggressive Should Israel Be? War Fair," The New Republic Online, July 31, 2006.

* * *

Dr. Dore Gold, Israel's ambassador to the UN in 1997-99, is President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and author of Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism (Regnery, 2003) and The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City (Regnery, 2007).

Operation Cast Lead – Update No. 1

IICC

Overview

1. At 11:30 on December 27 Israeli Air Force planes struck a number of targets of Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations in an operation dubbed “Cast Lead.” The attack came in response to a long period of rocket and mortar shell fire targeting populated areas in the western Negev , causing casualties and property damage, and seriously disrupting the daily lives of the residents. Hamas and the other organizations responded to the Israeli attack with rocket and mortar shell fire into Israel . The IAF strikes and the terrorist organization attacks continued into December 28 and 29. Objectives

2. The objective of Operation Cast Lead is to protect the quarter of a million Israelis living in the western Negev from the continual rocket and mortar shell fire and other terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The operation intends to strike a severe blow to the terrorist networks of the various organizations and make it difficult for them to carry out rocket and mortar shells attacks, abductions and other types of lethal attacks originating in the Gaza Strip.

3. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the action was intended primarily to improve the security of the residents of southern Israel , although it was liable to take time and patience would be required to complete the mission (announcement by the prime minister to foreign and local correspondents, December 27). On December 27 Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel would strike a strong blow against Hamas to make fundamental changes in the security situation and ensure that no more rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and that no other attacks were carried out. He said it would not be easy and the operation would not be short, but as deep and broad as required (Haaretz, December 28).

Background

4. Since 2001 the residents of the western Negev have lived under the threat of rocket fire, which gradually became one of the central means of attack employed by the Palestinian terrorist organizations. Since 2001, 3984 rockets and 3,943 mortar shells have been launched at Israel , 2 seriously disrupting the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of western Negev residents, and causing personal injury and property damage. 3

5. The Egyptian-brokered lull arrangement which went into effect on June 19, 2008 , was supposed to bring quiet to the residents of the western Negev and the Gaza Strip. However, in reality, using a variety of excuses, from its inception the terrorist organizations violated the arrangement . During the six months of the lull, the terrorist organizations fired 223 rockets and 139 mortar shells , most of them during the six weeks between November 4 and December 19. 4

6. In addition, Hamas and the other terrorist organizations exploited the lull to build up their military capabilities, including smuggling vast amounts of weapons into the Gaza Strip through tunnels dug under the border with Egypt (including rockets with a range long enough to reach the outskirts of the city of Beersheba). They ramped up their military training, prepared an extensive underground network of tunnels and developed weapons of their own (See the Appendix for a list of Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Bulletins dealing, among other things, with the terrorist organizations' military buildup).

7. The lull arrangement, which was continually subjected to gross violations, finally expired on December 19, when Hamas and the other terrorist organizations formally announced it had ended. Once it was over, the terrorist organizations began attacking Israel with rocket and mortar shell fire. The attacks peaked on December 24, when at least 60 rockets and mortar shells were fired, most of them by Hamas, at the cities of Ashqelon , Netivot and Sderot, and at the populated areas close to the Gaza Strip. Hamas spokesmen also threatened to widen the range of the missile fire and to initiate suicide bombing attacks in an attempt to limit Israel 's freedom of action and ability to respond, and to force it to open the Gaza Strip crossings even as rocket and mortar shell fire continued.

8. To realize its terrorist policy, Hamas repeatedly demonstrated it was ready to sacrifice the basic interests of the Gaza Strip Palestinians . That was manifested on December 24, when the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings were shelled, the former vital for delivering supplies from Israel into the Gaza Strip and the latter for the passage into Israel of Palestinians with humanitarian needs. In recent years the crossings, which are lifelines for the Gazans, have been attacked, contributing to the difficulties in managing them and leading to the shortages and hardships in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Air Force Attack on the First Day of Operation Cast Lead

9. At around 11:30 on December 27, the Israeli Air Force attacked many targets of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The targets had been marked by intelligence collected during the months preceding the attack. Fighter planes and attack helicopters carried out approximately 180 sorties, targeting Hamas headquarters, command posts, training camps and weapons stores. During the day launching squads on their way to fire rockets and mortar shells were also attacked, as were rocket launching sites (IDF Spokesman, December 27). According to the Palestinian media, on December 27, 250 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 injured . Information about some of the targets follows:

Headquarters and Bases

10. On December 27 headquarters, bases, training camps and weapons stores belonging to Hamas's military-terrorist wing and its security services were attacked:

i) Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and Executive Force headquarters in the northern Gaza Strip : Hamas commandeered the compound after it took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. It served to store weapons and equipment, as well as housing Russian BRDM armored patrol cars (confiscated from the Palestinian security services operating in the Gaza Strip before the Hamas takeover). Hamas used two of the vehicles in the attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing on April 19, 2008, during which seven IDF soldiers were wounded. The headquarters also served as Hamas's main interrogation facility and a holding place for Fatah prisoners. In addition, it was a base from which terrorist attacks were dispatched (IDF Spokesman, December 27).



ii) Headquarters and weapons store of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades at Tel Zaatar, in the Jabaliya area : Hamas took control of the compound during internal confrontations, and used it for military training (IDF Spokesman, December 27).



iii) Hamas's Al-Islam post in the northern Gaza Strip : In the past it served the Palestinian Preventive Intelligence. Hamas commandeered the building when it took over the Gaza Strip, and it serves as a base for the Executive Force (which was integrated into the police). It also served as a post for senior members of Hamas shore patrol and a facility for detaining and interrogating Fatah activists and individuals suspected of collaborating with Israel (IDF Spokesman, December 27).



iv) Hamas's main headquarters compound in Gaza City : In the past it was Yasser Arafat's office in Gaza , and is currently Hamas's Gaza City headquarters. The office of Ismail Haniya, head of the Hamas administration, is located in the compound. The headquarters also served as a point for Executive Force patrols to gather before they went out into the city. In addition, there were police cars and armored patrol cars confiscated by Hamas when it took over the Gaza Strip.



v) Hamas post and training camp in the central Gaza Strip : The building was used to store weapons (IDF Spokesman, December 27).



vi) Hamas training camp : The camp also served as a central post for Hamas's auxiliary force in the southern Gaza Strip, and included a prison facility and weapons store (IDF Spokesman, December 27).



vii) Headquarters and weapons store belonging to the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the Special Force : In the past it was called the “ Palestinian Prisoner Tower ” at Tel al-Hawa, south of Gaza City , and was used as living quarters for Fatah prisoners who had been released. After Hamas took over the Gaza Strip it served as headquarters for its security services, housing a weapons store and offices. No ordinary civilians currently live there. During fighting snipers were positioned in the building and rocket launchers were located on the roof (IDF Spokesman's website, December 27).



Rocket Launching Sites and Squads

11. On December 27 a number of squads on their way to launch rockets were attacked. An underground rocket launching site located in a residential area was also hit.


Left: Underground pit from which rockets were launched, located near residential buildings.
Right: The attack exploded a rocket in the pit (Photos: Israeli Air Force, December 27).

Weapons Manufacturing Facilities

12. The Israeli Air Force attacked facilities used for the manufacture and storage of weapons , including lathes for producing rockets. The Palestinian media reported that a lathe belonging to the Barke family in Khan Yunis and two others, one in Gaza City and one in Rafah, were attacked on the night of December 27.

Communications

13. Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV : Before dawn on December 28, Al-Aqsa TV station was attacked, Hamas's main propaganda tool . According to reports in the Palestinian media, no one was injured and only the building suffered damage. Broadcasting stopped for a short time and was later resumed. The station's CEO appeared in a broadcast to say that the station had moved to another location (Al-Aqsa TV, December 28). Al-Aqsa TV broadcasts propaganda and incitement against Israel and is often used by the terrorist organizations to claim responsibility for attacks against Israel .

Palestinian Casualties

14. According to the Palestinian media, on December 27 more than 250 Palestinians were killed in IAF air strikes and more than 750 were wounded . Most of those killed belonged to Hamas, its internal security services and to other terrorist organizations. A number of senior figures were also killed:

i) Tawfiq Jabber , chief of the Hamas police in Gaza City . In the past a trusted colleague of Arafat, during the past two years he was often attacked by Fatah for making it possible to suppress Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip.


Tawfiq Jabber (December 27, PALDF)

ii) Ismail al-Ja'abari , responsibility for Hamas's security and police defense services in Gaza . His role consisted mainly of providing protection for senior Hamas figures. He held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was appointed to his post by his brother, Ahmed al-Ja'abari, commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza , in June 2007 (Hamas's PALDF Forum, Al-Zeituna and Al-Jazeera TV forum website, December 28).


Ismail al-Ja'abari (Al-Jazeera TV forum website, December 28).

iii) Ten Popular Resistance Committees operatives, among them Muhammad al- Adgham, commander of the artillery unit . On December 28 the PRC website reported that he died in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City .

iv) Police officers' course cadets.

v) Ahmed ‘Ashur , governor of the Central Gazan District.

15. Most of the casualties either wore Hamas uniforms and carried its weapons or worked for it. According to Palestinian media reports, a small number of civilian were also injured because Hamas headquarters and bases were located in populated areas. UNRWA's commissioner general for the Palestinian Authority, Karen Abu Ziyyad, announced the death of one of the organization's employees, who was in a police station in Gaza at the time. She made it clear that the organization was no connection between UNRWA and Hamas. When asked by CNN on December 27 why the civilian population had been harmed, she said that many civilians had been killed because of the density of the population and the fact that civilian buildings were close to strategic targets .

Massive Rocket Fire into Israel

16. Hamas responded to the IDF attack with intensive rocket fire , most of it long-range, and mortar shells. On December 27, 61 rocket hits were identified in Israeli territory and 33 mortar shells were fired . 5 Dozens of rockets hit the cities of Sderot, Ashqelon and Netivot, as well as villages near them. One Israeli civilian was killed, 11 were wounded and 11 went into shock :

i) Netivot : Bebert Vaknin, 58, was killed when his house suffered a direct rocket hit. Four civilians were wounded, two critically and two seriously.

ii) The village of Mivtahim in the southern Gaza strip : Two rockets hit the village of Mivtahim in the northern Gaza Strip, one of them directly striking the synagogue. One civilian was seriously injured, and an 80-year old man was slightly wounded.

17. Hamas claimed responsibility for most of the rocket fire and threatened to continue it.

The Gaza Strip Crossings into Israel and Egypt

18. Despite the massive attacks against Israel before and during Operation Cast Lead, the Israel government authorized the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on the eve of the operation. On December 26, Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorized the passage of trucks carrying medical equipment, fuel and cooking gas, as well as a wide variety of other goods, through the Kerem Shalom, Nahal Oz and Karni crossings. A spokesman for the UN secretary general told a press conference that more than 100 trucks had passed through the crossings, including 40 for relief agencies operating in the Gaza Strip (website of the French Embassy in the United States , December 27).

19. On December 28, the second day of Operation Cast Lead, additional trucks carrying humanitarian aid were permitted to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. On December 28, 23 trucks passed through (IDF Spokesman, December 28).

20. Egypt , which had recently criticized Hamas, said it would open the Rafah crossing to allow wounded Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to receive medical treatment in Egypt , and that it would send ambulances, equipment and drugs to the Gaza Strip (Palestinian media, December 27).

Public Disturbances in Judea and Samaria , and among Israeli Arabs

21. Operation Cast Lead led to public disturbances in Judea and Samaria and in East Jerusalem to protest the IDF action in the Gaza Strip. Dozens of Palestinians demonstrated on Salah Al-Din street in East Jerusalem , setting fire to dumpsters and confronting police. In one incident a Palestinian tried to run over a policeman, who was not seriously injured; the attacker was detained. Near the village of Beitar Illit a child was injured when Palestinians threw stones.

22. Israeli Arabs also protested the IDF action in the Gaza Strip, marching in protest in a number of cities with mixed Jewish-Arab populations (Acre, Nazareth , Jaffa ). In some instances stones were thrown at cars.

First Reactions to Operation Cast Lead

Hamas

23. Khaled Mashal , head of Hamas's political bureau in Damascus , said that Hamas would not surrender or let Israel enforce a lull arrangement on Israeli terms. He said the Palestinians would not compromise on two basic demands: an immediate stop to the attacks in the Gaza Strip, and the lifting of the “siege” forever. He called on Egypt and Saudi Arabia to meet their commitments to the Palestinians. He claimed Hamas was not a threat to Egypt , and praised its efforts to open the crossings and deliver aid to the Gaza Strip (Al-Jazeera TV, December 28). ( Note : as opposed to other Hamas spokesmen, who continue attacking Egypt ).

24. Khaled Mashal also called on the residents of the West Bank to rise up against Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite the fact that he was aware they were “exhausted.” He exhorted them to go out into the streets and ignite a military intifada against Israel , waging a jihad and carrying out suicide bombing attacks (Al-Quds TV and Al-Jazeera TV, December 28).

25. Other senior Hamas figures said the following on December 27:

i) Ismail Haniya, head of Hamas administration , said that between 250 and 300 Palestinians had been killed in the Israel attack and more than 750 wounded. He said Hamas was determined to continue its path to victory or death for the sake of Allah, calling for the unity of the Palestinian people. He called on the Arab countries to do something to end the “siege” and open the Rafah crossing, and to stop their “crime” of collaborating with Israel (“the enemy”) (Al-Aqsa TV, December 27).

ii) Taher al-Nunu, Hamas administration spokesman , said that the IAF strikes had damaged all the headquarters of the security services. He claimed that Israel had attacked mosques and other places which had no relation to the “resistance” [i.e., the terrorist organizations]. He repeatedly stated that Hamas had no intention of renewing the lull arrangement or surrendering to the Israel attack (Al-Quds TV, December 27).

iii) Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesman , claimed that Israel had received a green light for its attack from various elements around the world and the Middle East, including Egypt , mentioning the meeting of the Israeli foreign minister and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He called on the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (and the other military-terrorist wings) to launch rockets “wherever they could reach, and as many as possible,” at to carry out every sort of terrorist attack against Israel (Al-Aqsa TV, December 27).

iv) Musa Abu Marzuq , deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, claimed that the real objective of the Israel attack was to end the Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. He added that the “resistance” [the terrorist organizations] would carry out suicide bombing attacks and launch rockets, saying that the “resistance” in the West Bank was standing firm, as it was in the Gaza Strip (Al-Arabiya TV, December 27).

v) Talal Nasser, Hamas spokesman , called for suicide bombing attacks and rockets falling on Ashqelon , Beersheba and every other place (Al-Alam TV, December 27).

26. Although the IDF attack was precise, and those killed were mainly terrorist organization military and security operatives, Hamas, as usual, initiated a deceptive propaganda campaign intended to vilify Israel and represent it as attacking civilians. The attacks were described using the Arabic terms for “slaughter,” “holocaust” and “genocide.” The campaign was echoed by the popular TV station Al-Jazeera, which, as usual, acted as a mouthpiece for Hamas, showing pictures of parts of dead bodies and the wounded, and using the term “holocaust.”

The Palestinian Authority

27. On December 27 Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas was in Saudi Arabia , and on December 28 in Egypt . He met with the Saudi Arabian king Abdallah and with Egypt President Hosni Mubarak to discuss the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina criticized the Israeli “aggression” and demanded that the international community put an end to it (Wafa News Agency, December 27). Mahmoud Abbas called for stabilizing a new lull, saying that Egypt would renew its efforts to effect one (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, December 28). The Salam Fayyad government announced an emergency medical service situation and three official days of mourning.

28. The Palestinian media reported that there were strikes and protest demonstrations in cities in Judea and Samaria . In Ramallah there were a number of demonstrations, and at one of them, in the northern part of the city, demonstrators confronted IDF soldiers. In Nablus there were three protest marches attended by hundreds; in Bethlehem there was a demonstration attended by a few dozen people; in Tulkarm there was a widely-attended protest march; in Hebron there was a protest march of hundreds of people. Hatem Abd al-Qader , chairman of the Fatah Jerusalem committee, announced a general strike of all the Palestinian workers in Jerusalem .

Lebanon

29. Senior Hezbollah figures condemned the IDF attacks, claiming that it was the result of an American decision and an Arab “conspiracy.” Hezbollah spokesmen encouraged the Gazans to adhere to their positions and to refuse all concessions, and called on the Arab world, the UN and the Security Council to stop the “crimes” being carried out in the Gaza Strip. Omar al-Musawi , a member of Hezbollah's political bureau, accused Egypt and the Palestinian Authority of colluding with Israel , and said they were responsible for the events in the Gaza Strip (Al-Jazeera TV, December 27).

30. In the southern (Shi'ite) suburb of Beirut there was a protest demonstration attended by hundreds of Lebanese in front of the Egyptian embassy. In the Ein al-Hilweh, Nahr al-Bared and Al-Badawi refugee camps Palestinians held protest demonstrations. At the demonstration at Ein al-Hilweh the demonstrators yelled “Hosni Mubarak, agent, traitor to the [Arab] nation.”

31. On December 25, two days before the Operation Cast Lead began, the Lebanese army dismantled eight rockets , with delay mechanisms, aimed at Israel . They were north of the town of Nakura in the western sector; their location was reported by a local resident. Four of the of them were 122mm Grad rockets, and four 107mm rockets.


One of the rockets aimed at Israel , dismantled by the Lebanese army
on December 25 (Reuters, December 25).

32. So far it is unclear which terrorist organization tried to attack Israel with rockets and violate the quiet in place along the Lebanese border since the end of second Lebanon war. The Hezbollah headquarters in south Lebanon said that the organization did not customarily place “anonymous rockets” and that “when [Hezbollah] wants to shell places in the enemy country it will make an announcement taking responsibility” (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, December 27). The Lebanese media suggested that Fatah al-Islam , a radical Sunni Islamist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, was responsible (Al-Safir, December 27), or possibly a “well-organized” Palestinian network (Al-Hayat, December 27).

Responses from the Arab-Muslim World

Egypt

33. Egyptian Foreign Minister Abu al-Ghait attacked Hamas at a press conference broadcast by Egyptian television ( December 27, 1300 hours). He said that Egypt had repeatedly warned Hamas about “the situation,” and that if [Hamas] did not listen it would have to bear responsibility, and could not blame others. He added that Israel had publicly warned Hamas that if the rocket fire continued, Israel would employ a military response. He angrily noted that before Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni came to Egypt on Thursday, 60 rockets had been fired into Israeli territory, an attempt to sabotage the Egyptian efforts to reach a lull and a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.

34. Other Egyptian spokesmen criticized the IDF action but some of them pointed the finger of guilt at the Palestinians. For example, a presidential announcement stated that Egypt had warned against military escalation and the effect it would have on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the stability of the Middle East . The Israelis and Palestinians, according to the announcement, had not cooperated with Egyptian efforts, but nevertheless Egypt would continue pressing for a new lull arrangement (Middle East News Agency, December 27). Abu al-Ghait said that Egypt still called for all the organizations to come to Cairo to deliberate, and for the Palestinians to close ranks (Middle East News Agency, December 27).

35. The Egyptian media also reported on Egyptian activity through various diplomatic channels : Egypt protested the IDF action to Israeli foreign minister and the Egyptian foreign minister sent urgent messages to the UN Secretary General, the Quartet and the members of the Security Council to stop the IDF action. An “Egyptian source” said that Egypt had informed Hamas in the Gaza Strip that it was willing to accept Gazans wounded in the Israeli attack and would send convoys of medical aid to the Gaza Strip (Middle East News Agency, December 27). An Egyptian security source said that the Egyptian security forces had deployed additional men along the Gaza Strip border lest the Palestinians try to break through (Agence France Presse, December 26).

Syria

36. Syrian President Bashar Assad held telephone conversations with Arab leaders and called for an exceptional Arab summit to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and ways of stopping the “Israeli aggression” (Syrian News Agency, December 27). Syrian presidential aide Butheina Shaaban called the events in the Gaza Strip “slaughter and merciless murder.” She criticized the international silence and said that Hamas was the legitimate government and leadership of the Palestinian people (Al-Jazeera TV, December 27).

37. A protest march was held in Al-Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus , attended by supporters of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations. There were also protest marches in Aleppo and a mass march was expected to be held in Damascus on December 28.

38. During the days the preceded the Israeli attack the Syrian media supported Hamas's decision to end the lull arrangement, as well as the escalation in rocket and mortar shell fire initiated by Hamas and the other terrorist organizations. Their support was part of a vicious anti-Israeli propaganda campaign, accompanied by anti-Semitic references, waged by Syria against Israel . 6

Iran

39. Hassan Qashqawi , a speaker for the Iranian foreign ministry, and other Iranian spokesmen, harshly criticized the Israel attack and demanded that the international community and the Security Council intervene to prevent Israel from continuing its “crimes” and “terrorism” in the Gaza Strip. In Tehran and Qom students held protest demonstrations (December 27 and 28).

40. There were also reports that an Iranian aid ship was supposed to leave the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran and set sail for the Gaza Strip on December 27 with a cargo of 2,000 tons of medical equipment and food. A team of Red Crescent workers and a number of correspondents are also on board. The trip is supposed to take two weeks (Al-Alam TV, December 25). The Iranian foreign minister Mottaki said that Iran had received authorization from Egypt to transfer the aid to Gaza (Islamic Republic News Agency, December 27).

Jordan

41. King Abdallah of Jordan appealed to the international community to exert pressure on Israel to stop its attack on the Gaza Strip immediately. He also contacted other Arab leaders to promote an Arab effort which would end the Israeli action and bring about a return to the negotiating table (Jordanian News Agency, December 27).

42. On December 27 a solidarity rally attended by thousands was held in Amman ; it turned into a march. A number of Islamic Movement activists gave speeches criticizing the Arab world for its position vis-à-vis the events. The crowd shouted “Death to Israel .” Jordanian security forces prevented the march from reaching the Egyptian embassy. There were other rallies throughout Jordan in support of the Palestinian people.

Appendix

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Bulletins about Hamas, 2008

1. December 21: Intensive rocket fire attacks against western Negev population centers and the Ashqelon region after Hamas announces the end of the lull arrangement, at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e018.htm .

2. December 18: Escalation in attacks from the Gaza Strip as Hamas announces the end of the lull arrangement, at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e016.htm .

3. November 16: Significant erosion of the lull arrangement in the Gaza Strip

4. November 6: Escalation in the Gaza Strip – Update, November 6 .

5. November 5: Escalation in the Gaza Strip: the IDF operated inside the Gaza Strip near the security fence to prevent the abduction of soldiers.

6. November 4: Society and politics in the Gaza Strip

7. October 28: Hamas has lately regulated the flourishing tunnel industry in the Gaza Strip, at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_e009.htm .

8. September 7: As part of the Gaza Strip military buildup, women are trained for combat and for suicide bombing attacks.

9 . August 18: Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations are taking advantage of the lull in the fighting to promote their military buildup, at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e003.htm .

10. July 27: One month into the lull in the fighting: an interim report (as at July 23) .

11. June 22: Using civilians as human shields, at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/gaza_120608e.htm .

12. May 5: The Egyptian initiative for a lull in the fighting .

13. April 22: On Passover Eve IDF forces prevented a combined mass-casualty attack at the Kerem Shalom Crossing, at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_210408e.htm .

14. March 3: Five days of escalation in the Gaza Strip .

15. February 10: Renewed escalation of Hamas rocket fire at western Negev towns and villages (Summary of events, February 5-7) .

16. February 3: Suicide bombing attack in the Dimona commercial center kills one city resident and wounds many .

17. January 29: With the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Egypt breached, Hamas and other terrorist organizations can freely smuggle operatives and weapons into the Gaza Strip and dispatch terrorists to Israel through Sinai.

18. January 23: Crowds of Gazans streamed into Egypt after the border fence was breached .

19. January 22: Closing the crossings into the Gaza Strip and renewing the fuel supply – the situation on the ground as of noon, January 22, 2008.

20. January 16: Two days of hard fighting in the south: Israeli counterterrorist activities and Hamas rocket attacks (January 15-16) .

1 Until further notice, updates on Operation Cast Lead and its implications will replace the weekly Wednesday bulletins.

2 The data are updated to December 27 and afternoon hours of the first day of Operation Cast Lead. On the morning before the operation began, one rocket and two mortar shells were fired.

3 For further information see our December 14, 2007 Bulletin entitled “ Rocket threat from the Gaza Strip, 2000-2007 ,” and our May 25, 2008 Bulletin entitled “ Anti-Israeli Terrorism in 2007 and its Trends in 2008 .”

4 The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Bulletin “The Anatomy of Six Months of the Lull Arrangement “ is available on the Hebrew website and will be shortly translated into English..

5 As of 1600 hours, December 28, 12 rocket hits were identified in Israeli territory and 10 mortar shells were fired. This Bulletin does not include attacks carried out on December 28.

6 Ghazi al-Dada wrote an anti-Semitic column for the Syrian newspaper Tishrin, saying that “the Israeli appetite for Palestinian blood is never satisfied…That is because [bloodthirstiness] is a basic component of Zionist ideology, which believes that Palestinian blood is necessary for making Zion matzot (a political use of the ancient blood libel against the Jews). Anyone who reads history closely knows that…”(Tishrin, December 23). The Syrian media occasionally inserts anti-Semitic motifs into its attacks on Israel .