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6:55 AM
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Major General Israel Tal (res.), one of the Israel Defense Force's most prominent commanders and military theorists, died Wednesday, after suffering from a prolonged illness.
Tal, who was a week shy of his 86th birthday, is known as the "father" of Israel's main battle tank, the Merkava, and served as the commander of the IDF's Armored Corps during Israel's "War over the Water" in the 1960s, as well as the commander of the armored division which broke through the northern Sinai in the Six Day War.
The former Major General eventually reached the portion of deputy IDF chief of staff and the commander of Israel's southern front against Egypt in the final stages of the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
In one famous incident Tal, as commander of the southern front, refused an order by then IDF chief of staff David Elazar and defense minster Moshe Dayan to engage Egyptian forces after the war had ended, insisting on receiving authorization from then prime minister Golda Meir and the Supreme Court.
While Tal eventually won the argument, the incident virtually eliminated Tal's chances of being nominated chief of staff after Elazar stepped down in the wake of the report by the Agarnat commission, which investigated the conduct of Israeli political and military officials during the war.
Upon his release, Tal was nominated deputy minister of defense under Shimon Peres, and remained in that position even after returning to active duty during Ezer Weizman's stint as defense minister.
During this period Tal, following Weizman's request, prepared plans for central ground forces command, an offer which was intercepted by two chiefs of staff, Mordechai Gur and Rafael Eitan, fearing Tal would be named chief of staff following the command's establishment.
Later, defense minister Moshe Arena erected a downsized version of Tal's command, which was later restructured as the GOC Army Headquarters.
In 1999 Tal suffered from a stroke, following an argument over the Yom Kippur War with Maj. General Doron Almog. Following a rehabilitation process the former top IDF officer partially regained his health, only to fall ill again a few months ago.
Tal left a wife, daughter, son, and grandchildren. His military funeral is expected to take place on Sunday.
President Shimon Peres said in response to Tal's passing on Wednesday that regardless "of which rank he bore on his shoulders he was, and will remain, a man above others. In his eyes, moral considerations were equally important to technological advances."
"The tank he designed, was meant to be the best in the world, and it seems that it so regarded," Peres added, saying that Tal, above anyone else, was able to articulate a "strategy that distinguished between the need to save the country and to fortify it."
The president added that the former IDF officer knew that "there wasn't an alternative to victory, but he also believed that the alternative to war is the sought-after peace, which was at hand."
"He was Israel's inexhaustible dew ['Tal,' in Hebrew]. May his memory be blessed," Peres said.
The wall, created by the Armor Association and the Patton Museum Foundation, recognizes the boldest and most innovative Armor leaders. It bears witness to their courage, skill and tactical genius, and recognizes the contribution to the art of war reflected in operations of modern mechanized forces – armor and cavalry of the 20th Century.When asked which tank would win in battle General Tal replied: "The one with the best tank crew." Thus summing up his philosophy and that of the IDF.
These leaders are recognized simply by name, and while they fought many battles, one of the most noteworthy for each appears on his print. They are: General Field Marshall Erwin Rommelat the 1942 siege of Tobruk; Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr. at the 1943 battle of El Guettar; Lieutenant Colonel Creighton W. Abrams, Jr. at the 1944 battle to relieve Bastogne; Major General Israel Tal, Israeli Defense Force, as commander of the “Steel Division” in the 1967 Six Day War; Major General Moshe “Musa” Peled, Israeli Defense Force, leading his division attack along “The Road to Damascus” in defense of the Golan Heights, in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
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10:54 AM
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Sderot, Israel (31.12.09): Hours before the new year, as hundreds of pro-Palestinian and Arab demonstrators gathered at the Erez Crossing chanting "Katyushas on Ma'alot, Qassams on Sderot," while Israeli demonstrators at another Gaza viewpoint a few meters away gathered together to communicate a very different message.
A group of Israelis singing songs of peace versus a group of Arabs calling for the bombing of these people. And the idiots on the left (especially the ones in the White House, Speaker's Office and the Senate Majority Leader) all have concluded that Israelis don't want peace, only Arabs do.
And black is white, good is bad, up is down. Nothing to see here folks...just move along.
"Last week 20 rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Government's policy is clear: Any firing at our territory will be responded to strongly and immediately."Will someone please explain the meaning of the word CEASE-FIRE to Hamas! In a cease-fire both side stop shooting at each other. If one side starts shooting again, then the cease-fire is over, battle begins anew.
Both Netivot and Ashkelon were hit by Grad rockets in the recent rocket escalation. On New Years' eve, two Russian-made Grad artillery rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and struck Israel, with one hitting the southern town of Netivot, a city of about 26,000.
The Color Red system did not go off at the time of attack, and Netivot residents had no warning of the incoming rocket attack. No damages were reported but one woman suffered shock.
The last Grad rocket to strike Netivot had exploded near a synagogue nine months ago, causing heavy damage to the building.
A week later, on Thursday, January 7, a Grad-type Katyusha rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a field south of Ashkelon, causing no damage or injuries. Air sirens, however, did sound, sending Ashkelon residents into panic.
Ashkelon, a coastal city with over 100,000 residents, has been a target of Palestinian-fired Katyusha rockets for nearly four years.
Since the start of 2010, tens of Iranian-supplied mortar rockets have also hit southern Israel. Terrorists also fired an anti-tank missile at IDF troops on the Gaza border.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for the recent firing of the rockets.
Hamas boasted on Friday Jan. 8, that it had managed to smuggle new types of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, published photographs on its website of the new weapons. The weapons include missiles with a double warhead, 107-mm caliber missiles that are designed to penetrate fortified structures and a new type of armor piercing RPG missile.
Abu Ubeida, the Hamas spokesman stated that the group "has thousands of fighters and good weapons capable of harming Israel."
Former OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samia predicted on Sunday that another war with Hamas was inevitable.
"We are before another round in Gaza," Samia told Army Radio in an interview.
"I am very skeptical about the possibility that Hamas will suddenly surrender or change its ways without being hit much more seriously than it was during Cast Lead."
A new rocket-proof daycare center was inaugurated in the southern city of Sderot on December 27. The money for the furniture, equipment, and toys was donated by 13 year-old Thomas Cole of Toronto on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah.Young Thomas Cole of Toronto not only is on his way in life to becoming a man of good character, but has shown to the world the true meaning of becoming a man. The unselfish giving unto others. In Master Cole's case, his generosity will help many children to have a better life.
United Israel Appeal of Canada’s website reported that the dedication ceremony was attended by 35 members of Cole’s family, including his parents and grandparents, as well as by Sderot Mayor David Buskila, who unveiled a plaque of recognition and affixed the mezuzah together with Thomas.
The daycare center was built to withstand rocket attacks and contains three classrooms. It will serve approximately 45 infants ranging in age from three months to four years. The center will specifically serve the Reut community, a group of 150 young families who have made Sderot their home over the last decade.
Eran Shmueli-David, director of UIAC’s Israel Emergency Campaign, said that “this gift was implemented thanks to the tireless efforts of Eddy Azran, UIAC’s local coordinator in Sderot. It was his persistence and determination that pressed the municipality to open the new building as soon as construction was completed.”
Thomas Cole personally chose to dedicate the money to the Sderot Daycare Centre out of several options given to him by the B’nei Tzedek program of UJA Federation.
Read the full story here.
The Children of Sderot sent out messages of peace and hope.Yet Hamas screams bloody murder whenever the Israelis strike back at them.
The Children of Gaza send out rockets to destroy them.
The time is coming when the people of Israel will have had enough. When they will attack in retaliation, and not stop until Hamas is fully destroyed. This next time nothing will be able to stop the IDF from achieving their directive. Not the UN, not the EU, and definitely not Barack Hussein Obama. Let Hamas and their anti-Semitic allies on the left cry all they want. They will cry, scream, and throw a temper tantrum like they did last year. But things are different now. Europe is fed up with their antics. The US isn't buying their lies. And there will be elections this year. Now Hamas will have to contend with that.
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10:54 AM
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Text of the speech
Thank you, Mr. President.
I am the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan. I served with NATO and the United Nations; commanded troops in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia; and participated in the Gulf War. I spent considerable time in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and worked on international terrorism for the UK Government’s Joint Intelligence Committee.
Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.
Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population.
Hamas, like Hizballah, are expert at driving the media agenda. Both will always have people ready to give interviews condemning Israeli forces for war crimes. They are adept at staging and distorting incidents.
The IDF faces a challenge that we British do not have to face to the same extent. It is the automatic, Pavlovian presumption by many in the international media, and international human rights groups, that the IDF are in the wrong, that they are abusing human rights.
The truth is that the IDF took extraordinary measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas, dropping over 2 million leaflets, and making over 100,000 phone calls. Many missions that could have taken out Hamas military capability were aborted to prevent civilian casualties. During the conflict, the IDF allowed huge amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza. To deliver aid virtually into your enemy's hands is, to the military tactician, normally quite unthinkable. But the IDF took on those risks.
Despite all of this, of course innocent civilians were killed. War is chaos and full of mistakes. There have been mistakes by the British, American and other forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, many of which can be put down to human error. But mistakes are not war crimes.
More than anything, the civilian casualties were a consequence of Hamas’ way of fighting. Hamas deliberately tried to sacrifice their own civilians.
Mr. President, Israel had no choice apart from defending its people, to stop Hamas from attacking them with rockets.
And I say this again: the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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12:14 AM
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GOC Southern Command Daily Orders, 23 Jan 2009, 11:11 IST
Fighters and Commanders of the IDF in the Southern Front,
For the last month, IDF forces, both in reserve and regular service, together with forces of the ISA, operated in a concentrated campaign against terrorism in the Gaza Strip. Operation Cast Lead was initiated on December 27th, [the sixth day of the Holiday of Chanukah], when an aerial attack was directed against central terrorist command centers and outposts. The operation continued in the weeks to follow in a ground campaign aimed at terrorist sites throughout all of Gaza.
After years of continuous intentional terror attacks on Israeli civilians in southern Israel, the operation brought forth a new security situation, making clear that Israel will not allow its existence in this region to be doubted or questioned.
IDF fighters on the ground, in the air, and at sea, operated out of a strong belief
in the righteousness of our way and demonstrated a steadfast fighting spirit,
ambition, and a maintenance of the goal of this mission, while operating with a
sense of comradeship and brotherhood in arms.
The cooperation between the various operating forces, as well as the presence of commanders in the front lines, were central factors behind the operation’s success.
The defense of our right to a safe and peaceful life in Israel had once again come at a high cost. 13 of Israel’s finest - fighters, commanders and civilians - were lost in the campaign for the security of Israel’s south. We lower our heads and our flag in honor of their memory, and mourn with their families. We extend a wish of full recovery to the wounded, and once more emphasize that we will do our utmost to return the kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit, to the warmth of his family.
The battle for the security of the state of Israel is yet to be over. We shall look onward, to the challenges of the future, knowing that we will successfully engage them, thanks to the righteousness of our way and our courageous spirit.
The Southern Command expresses its appreciation to the corps of the IDF for defending Israel and its people.
Yoav Galant,
Major General GOC Southern Command
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12:36 PM
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Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al, which aired on Al-Quds TV on January 21, 2009:
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"This Is The First War That Our People Has Won On Its Land... Therefore, The Gaza War is a Turning Point in the Struggle With The Zionist Enemy"
Khaled Mash'al: "Yes, Gaza emerged victorious. Yes, the enemy has failed, and the resistance has emerged victorious, and with it, our people and our nation have emerged victorious. Allah be praised, our victory in Gaza was greater and clearer than the false claims of the aggressors, and than the doubts cast by the collaborators, and by those who have forsaken us. Does it not suffice that the goals of the enemy have not been accomplished? It has failed on the ground, just as it has failed politically. Ultimately, after three weeks, it was forced to declare a unilateral cease-fire and withdrawal, without any agreement or terms that bind or limit the resistance.
[...]
"This is the first war that our people has won on its land - the first
real large-scale war. Therefore, the Gaza war is a turning point in the struggle with the Zionist enemy. With its significance, its accomplishments, its timing, and its greatness, it serves as a cornerstone for an effective and serious strategy for liberation, which begins in Palestine, and will continue everywhere, with the support of the nation." [...]
"Compensation For Your Blood And Souls You Will Get From Allah... In Paradise"
"We will bear our responsibility vis-Ã -vis the displaced. Allah willing, we will give you
all shelter. We will compensate you with what we can, but compensation for your blood and souls you will get from Allah, in the World to Come, in Paradise.
"Your brothers in the Hamas movement, and in the government of my brother Haniya, as well as all the honorable national and Islamic leaders, have already begun working to accomplish this project – the project of rebuilding, housing, compensating, and treating the wounded. We have contacted several countries, some of which we even visited. Everybody is working like in a beehive for your sake.
"There are two tracks with regard to our role in this plan. In the urgent track – to the families of the martyrs and the wounded, and to the displaced families who have lost their homes, we will give specific sums of money, the details of which I leave to the government of my brother Haniya.
We will also treat the wounded. This is the urgent track. The subsequent track will include a reconstruction plan, with which we will compensate you for all that has happened, and rebuild what was destroyed." [...]
"I Say to [The Arab Countries], Regarding the Money [Donated]...: Scrutinize Carefully Into Whose Hands You Place It"
"I say to [the Arab countries], regarding the money [donated] on behalf of your countries and good peoples: Scrutinize carefully into whose hands you place it. Do not place it in the hands of the corrupt people. There are two options: Either give it to the legitimate government of my brother Ismail Haniya in Gaza – an honest government with proven experience in serving the people – and they will lead the reconstruction
under your supervision, or carry it out yourselves, through companies from your own countries, funds and institutions from your own countries, or any method you
choose. You yourselves take over the reconstruction plans. But today, no Palestinian – and I believe that no none among your own peoples – will accept that this money be placed in the hands of the corrupt people. You know the truth. You have vast experience in that." [...]
"Some Say: What Kind Of Victory Is This, With All The Destruction... To Them, We Say: Was There Ever A People That Was Liberated Without Casualties?"
"Some say: What kind of victory is this, with all the destruction? Some people have emerged from the holes in which they hid during the war. They were afraid of the war, so they lowered their voices, fearing the rage of the Arab, Islamic, and Palestinian masses. Today, they have begun croaking like ravens, saying: Hamas should see what has befallen our land.
"To them, we say: Was there ever a people that was liberated without casualties? Take a look at history. This is important, and should reach the whole world. Large cities in the world were destroyed and rebuilt. These cities suffered great destruction. What happened to London in World War II? What happened to Paris? What happened in Hanoi, in Leningrad, and in Stalingrad? What happened to you, my brothers from the factions that have a history in Lebanon? What happened to Beirut? Beirut was not your land. You were guests there. Nevertheless, you fought for 88 days. So why do you pin your opposition to the steadfastness in Gaza on the destruction, the killings, and the massacres, even though you allowed yourselves to go on for all those days in Beirut in 1982?" [...]
"Who Does the British People Respect More – Churchill, Who Fought the Nazis, or Chamberlain, Who Appeased Hitler?"
"Who does the British people respect more РChurchill, who fought the Nazis, or Chamberlain, who appeased Hitler? Does the French people respect De Gaulle, who from London continued his resistance to the Nazis in France, or General P̩tain, the leader of the Vichy government, which resembles more than anything the [Palestinian] 'Autonomy' Authority. Only the honorable are recorded in history in letters of light.
"To those who appease [the enemy], under the pretext of avoiding casualties, we say that victory can only be achieved through blood. In 1940, Churchill, who is not considered a terrorist by today's criteria, because he had European blood in his veins, said to British people as soon as he took power in 1940: I can only promise you sweat, blood, tears, and toil. This is what leaders should be like. Leaders should not be like beggars on the negotiations track.
"In Stalingrad... In Leningrad, there were 600 casualties... Sorry, there were 600,000 casualties in Leningrad, and there were one million displaced people. This rule applies to us, just as it applies to any other nation."
"We Want a Palestinian Reconciliation – But After the Lesson of Gaza, What Will Be The Basis For The Reconciliation?"
"My beloved [brothers] in the West Bank – your day has come. I know that you waged an Intifada in the past, but the oppression has prevented you from waging a great Intifada, as you did in the past. However, we cannot place the entire national burden on Gaza.
[...]
"We want a Palestinian reconciliation. But after the lesson of Gaza, what will be the basis for the reconciliation? We want it to be based on the resistance, and on adherence to our national rights, and not on these futile negotiations, or on concessions regarding Jerusalem, the Right of Return, or the land.
[...]
"Yes, we support internal Palestinian dialogue, but in order for it to be a serious and successful dialogue, it must be preceded by certain steps. The detainees must be released, and the security cooperation with the enemy must be stopped."[...]
"The International Community... the Quartet, and... Obama's New Administration... Should Stop Israel... The Time Has Come For You to Deal With Hamas"
"This was a lesson to the reasonable people in the international community, to the Quartet, and to Obama's new administration and his allies in Europe. They should stop Israel, and they should know that Israel is incapable of defending itself, and that the occupation and aggression have no future. The second lesson that needs to be learned is that three years of attempting to rule out Hamas are enough.
[...]
"The time has come for you to deal with Hamas, which has gained legitimacy from its struggle, from the ballot boxes, from its incorruptibility, from its service to its people, and now it has gained legitimacy from its victory over the strongest power in the region. The time has come for you to deal with Hamas properly – not because we have something to gain from this. By no means. This is a national demand. We do not force ourselves on anybody."
For some reason I don't quite understand, how can you call something a victory when your leadership is either dead or hiding in tunnels like rats. When your population is subjected to bombings and shootings, and your troops threw down their weapons and ran. Your crack troops, the one's trained by your masters in Iran, were slaughtered to a man. It didn't even take the IDF an hour to defeat them.
How strange it is to see him quote Sir Winston Churchill. But here is a better quote from Sir Winston. One that shows exactly how he felt and would feel about Hamas and its leadership today."How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property‹either as a child, a wife, or a concubine‹must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science‹the science against which it had vainly struggled‹the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."
~~ Sir Winston Churchill
"In Stalingrad... In Leningrad, there were 600 casualties... Sorry, there were
600,000 casualties in Leningrad, and there were one million displaced people.
This rule applies to us, just as it applies to any other nation."
Doesn't seem like much of a mistake until you read this report from the Jerusalem Post:
Maximum 600 Palestinians died in Gaza
The number of Palestinians killed in Operation Cast Lead did not exceed five or six hundred, Lorenzo Cremonesi, a correspondent for Italy's Corriere della sera reported on Thursday.
Cremonesi based his report on tours of hospitals in the Gaza Strip and on interviews with families of casualties. He also assessed the number of wounded to be far lower than 5,000, the number quoted by Hamas and repeated by the UN and the Red Cross in Gaza.
"It is sufficient to visit several hospitals [in the Gaza Strip] to understand that the numbers don't add up," he wrote.
In the European hospital in Rafah, one of the facilities which would presumably be filled with wounded from the "war of the tunnels," many beds were empty, according to Cremonesi. A similar situation was noted in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and in the privately-run Amal Hospital Cremonesi reported that only five out 150 beds were occupied.
Cremonesi interviewed Gazans who echoed Israel's insistence of how Hamas gunmen used civilians as human shields. One Gazan recalled civilians in Gaza shouting at Hamas and Islamic Jihad men, "Go away, go away from here! Do you want the Israelis to kill us all? Do you want our children to die under their bombs? Take your guns and missiles with you."
"Traitors, collaborators with Israel, spies of Fatah, cowards! The soldiers of the holy war will punish you. And in any case you will all die, like us. Fighting the Zionist Jews we are all destined for paradise. Do you not wish to die with us?" the religious fanatics of Hamas reportedly responded.
Other Palestinians told Cremonesi of Hamas operatives donning paramedic uniforms and commandeering ambulances. A woman identified as Um Abdullah, 48, spoke of Hamas using UN buildings as launch pads for rockets.
Cremonesi reported that he had difficultly gathering evidence as the local population was terrified of Hamas.
Civilians scared of their government. Terror coming not from Israel, but from Hamas. And a big slip of the tongue from Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al all adds up to one thing:
Hamas if fighting for its existence and is vulnerable.
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2:39 PM
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Courtesy of Power LineYes, Israel has gotten their groove back! Gone are the days of concession after concession without anything in return. Gone are the days of humiliation at the hands of her enemies, and gone is the idea of the Saudi Peace Plan. A plan by Saudi Arabia to destroy the Jewish Nation.
Dan Diker is a foreign policy analyst with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He writes from Jerusalem today with an optimistic assessment of Israel's current offensive:
Israel may have reached a deterrent moment in its war in Gaza against Iranian-backed Hamas. I spoke with a senior Arab diplomat last night. He told me that the Arab street is afraid that "the Jews have gone crazy."
Yes, it's true. He noted, "Israel has begun to restore its deterrence" in the Arab world. "Hamas miscalculated," he added. They had thought Israel would not attack, but would merely accede to tougher Hamas demands for an improved "Tahdiya," their version of a temporary calm.
This is perhaps one of the more optimistic assessments I have heard from Arab colleagues recently. There is supporting documentation. Hizbullah's immediate public denial yesterday of the Katusha rocket attack from Southern Lebanon against Israel's North and the reports on Lebanese TV of convoys of Lebanese (read: Hizbullah) vehicles moving north in expectation of a major Israeli reprisal strengthens this sense.
It's also notable that Al Jazeera's reportage yesterday avoided interviewing ordinary Gazans. Arab sources in Gaza confided that the public anger is not directed at Israel any more than it is at Hamas. Al Jazeera, doing a superb job as PR agents for Iran's proxies, likely wanted to avoid risking those types of reactions from the battlefield.
The source also said that Hamas is "doing very bad things" to Fatah activists in Gaza both as revenge against claims that Fatah leadership provided intelligence to Israel, and as a warning to Fatah to avoid the temptation of being convinced by Egypt, the US and the West that they reassert control in Gaza.
Fatah officials in the West Bank are also demoralized. Nasser Juma'a, a Palestinian Legislative Council Member from Nablus told a well known British reporter yesterday that the "Hamas are insects" and noted that the Palestinians would likely "not see a Palestinian state in his lifetime." Qadura Fares, a Fatah senior, said that the PA would not succeed either in the West Bank or Gaza without "tackling the privileges of the Fatah elite," who he said "have become like princes."
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11:43 AM
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A senior IDF officer estimated Saturday that roughly 300 Hamas men have been killed since the army launched its ground incursion in the Gaza Strip. The military official said IDF troops were able to wipe out whole battalions belonging to the Gaza terror group.I see that even the promise of 72 virgins isn't enough to make these thugs fight like soldiers. It is easy to march around, shout slogans and fire rockets at civilian centers. It is quite harder to attack a target that is well armed and well trained.
"Hundreds of people were killed in the various combat sectors," the officer said. "Some Hamas companies and battalions were simply wiped out. We also see cases of desertions and unauthorized leaves, while some terror activists are scared to undertake moves that would jeopardize them vis-Ã -vis IDF troops."
Earlier Saturday, the IDF killed Hamas' rocket chief in the Gaza City area, Amir Mansi. The senior officer said that shortly before his death Mansi clashed with his subordinates, who refused to come out of their hideouts. The rocket chief was left with no choice but to launch mortar shells himself, and was killed after being identified by the army.Now the thugs are too afraid of firing their rockets. The IDF is actively searching for them and destroying the enemy. Jihad isn't any fun when those you are trying to destroy fight back.
The IDF official said that Hamas fighters had no qualms about exploiting civilians in the war.We have seen this time and time again. In videos that are surfacing from Gaza. From the fact that al Jazeera is no longer interviewing the average Gazan.
"Hamas is attempting every possible tactic against us – in psychological terms as well," he said. "Yet the day it comes out of its trenches and see the destruction and price it paid, it will understand the extent of the blow it suffered."
Deuteronomy 28:7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.Sphere: Related Content
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1:41 PM
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From the Sderot Media CenterIf the world thinks that forcing Israel into a truce with Hamas will stop the rockets, they are very wrong. It will only embolden Hamas and lead to the destruction of Israel.
Since early Tuesday morning, over 34 rockets and mortar shells were fired from northern Gaza Strip at Israel. In one Palestinian rocket attack on Gedara, rocket shrapnel lightly wounded a three-month-old girl in a residential building where the rocket struck.
In Sderot, a Palestinian rocket fell on a busy main street, right beside several main bus stops, located a few meters away from the pharmacy and theater. A taxi driver on scene, told Sderot Media Center that he was pulling out of the bus stop on the way to Tel Aviv, when he heard the Tzeva Adom alert sound. The eight passengers in his vehicle immediately got off and ran into the shelter. He followed through, and a few seconds later, he heard a tremendous explosion. The Palestinian rocket landed only a couple of meters away.
The rocket explosion caused damage to vehicles parked in the area and several people experienced shock. The window in the taxi driver's vehicle completely shattered upon impact of the rocket explosion.
Earlier in the day a Palestinian rocket slammed nearby the Sderot Peretz Shopping Mall Center. The Tzeva Adom set off at least 10 times throughout the day as rocket explosions vibrated throughout the city.
Over 40 Palestinian rockets struck southern Israel on Monday, hitting civilian populated areas in the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba. One Palestinian Grad rocket slammed into an empty kindergarten in Ashdod, causing heavy damage to the buildings in the vicinity of the rocket explosion.
The Ashdod kindergarten was closed thanks to instructions from the Israel Home Front Command to keep schools and kindergartens within 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip closed.
Ashkelon was also struck by rockets on Monday, as five Grads slammed into the city, damaging several structures and sending several people into shock. Another Gaza rocket struck Be'er Sheva, two others hit Kiryat Malachi, seven landed in Netivot and seven others in Ofakim.
This is already starting with Muslims all over the world calling for a second Holocaust against the Jews in every nation of the world. Muslims in Europe, Great Britain, Canada and the US are compiling lists of Jews in their nations. Jews to murder. And they will have a carte blanche from the nations they are in. It will become public policy in all their nations.
Some of Israel’s most blatant critics have written that for every Israeli killed, about a hundred Palestinians were killed. A half-truth is worse than a lie, but this is not even a half truth. This is deception. Because months and years of rockets fired at a civilian population are not a matter for bloody accounts. It is a nuisance that no country, neither Syria nor Sweden, would tolerate. It is a provocation that requires a tough response. And if we are already going for bloody accounts, we should do the overall math. We can suffice with just the accounting in the Arab-Muslim world.
So, since the establishment of the State of Israel, close to 12 million Arabs and Muslims have been butchered, most of them by Arabs and Muslims. Israel’s “contribution,” since its establishment, is 60,000, and that includes all the wars and the two Intifadas. In other words, half a percent.
And more importantly, the confrontation is not between Hamas with its rockets and Israel. The confrontation is between Hamas, as one of the entities that compose radical Islam, and the free world. Its declared goal is to establish a world Islamic caliphate as part of an anti Semitic ideology that also calls for the annihilation of the Jews. Explanations will follow. And since political Islam has already annihilated millions without any announcement, we should take it seriously when there is an announcement about annihilation.
Is Hamas part of the global Jihad? Section 7 of the organization’s manifesto explains that it is not a local movement, nor even a national movement. The heading is “The global nature of the Islamic resistance movement.” And later, “Because the Muslims are spread throughout the entire world, the movement is global.”
Is this a movement that calls for the annihilation of the Jews? That is what is written in a continuation of the same section. “The messenger (Mohammed) said, “The Muslims will fight the Jews and the Muslims will kill them, until the Jew hides behind the stones and the trees, and then the stones and the trees will say, ‘Oh, Muslim, Abd Allah, there is a Jew who is hiding, come and kill him.” And this is in addition to blaming the Jews for all the wars in the world, for world domination, etc.
Sheikh Muhsin Abu Ita stated on the Al Aktza channel that “The annihilation of the Jews is a wonderful blessing.” Dr. Ahmed Bahar, acting chairman of the Palestinian parliament stated that “the Jews are cancer, and they and the Americans should be destroyed to the last person.”
According to the Palestinian constitution, this man, Bahar, will become the head of the Palestinian Authority if Abu Mazen ceases to function. Dr. Yunis Al Astal, a member of the Palestinian parliament, one of the senior Hamas officials, who served as dean of the faculty are of Shariyah and chairman of the Islamic Law Department at Islamic University, stated that the annihilation order is a matter for our time and not for the future.
The book by Dr. Matthias Kuntzel, “Jihad and Jew-Hatred,” elaborates on the annihilation ideology of radical Islam, including among Hamas. We have not yet succeeded in imparting this awareness to the world. It is still not too late.
Try to check what happens to the money sent to the Palestinians and you will see most is siphoned off to Swiss bank accounts and the rest is used to fund terrorism. Hamas and the PA don't recognize the 2-state solution. They want only one state, free of all Jews, Druse, Baha'i and Christians. They will rape, murder and rob to get what they want.
By Noam Bedein
In early September, I was invited to take part in a press conference in Oslo, along with the Israeli ambassador to Norway, members of the Norwegian media and members of the Norwegian parliament. The title of the press conference was "Iran: At Sderot's Back Door."
It was at that press conference that "rocket reality" was presented before Norwegians for the first time, showing the Western Negev as the only place in the Western world where rockets and missiles are fired at citizens on almost a daily basis. Of these attacks, 97 percent are launched by Palestinian militias from the convenient cover of civilian homes in Gaza. Their weapons come directly from Iran, with their delivery to Gaza facilitated by Syria and Egypt. This is how Hamas became Teheran's "third arm," after Hizbullah in Lebanon.
While Norwegian parliament members showed sympathy and said that they more clearly understood Sderot and Gaza, they also rationalized the Gaza rocket reality with the commonly held illusion that "if the Palestinians would be able to have their own independent state - in the West Bank and Gaza - this would bring peace and security to both sides and the firing on Israel would stop." In other words, firing missiles at Israel is justified because of the lack of a Palestinian state, since the West Bank is still "occupied."
From an Israeli perspective, then, promoting the "two-state solution" gives Europeans and their parliamentarians a way to justify ongoing rocket fire. This also gives nations around the world a justification to continue to aid the Palestinian Authority, which now receives the largest proportionate aid compared with any people of a similar sized population.
Indeed, the Norwegian government provided $100 million to the PA over the past year, even after it was proven that much of this budget reaches the hands of Hamas, which openly uses these allocations to finance terrorism.
The two-state solution is mistakenly used by Israel's advocates to justify Israel's approach to peace - pursued even under fire as a political solution. But when Israel's advocates support a two-state solution while Sderot and the Western Negev remain under constant missile threat - especially after Israel pulled out all Jewish communities and IDF bases from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 - they are simply ignoring the fact that 7,000 missiles have been fired at Israel from the de facto Palestinian state spawned in Gaza over the past three years.
THAT IS what a two-state solution means - giving the country's enemies a convenient base from which they can terrorize the civilian population, in defiance of international law. The Western world's media, and even the Israeli media, refer to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, taken in 1967, as the territories that are in dispute, while Hamas, all of the other Palestinian terror groups and the PA itself define Sderot and the Western Negev as "occupied territory." They do not recognize the territory that Israel acquired in 1948, an integral part of the sovereign state of Israel.
In the words of the press statement that Hamas issued on November 26, 2006, the day before the last cease-fire commenced (a six-month cease-fire in which more than 300 missiles were fired at Israel): "We will not stop firing on the Zionist settlement Sderot until the last citizen of Sderot leaves." Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority's "Palestine Map," which can be purchased in any PA office, replaces Sderot with pre-1948 Najd; Ashkelon is replaced by al-Majdal and Ashdod by Isdod.
The Palestinian "right of return" refers to the return of Palestinian refugees to all of Israel. Meanwhile, the PA schools books show no rights for Jews living in the land of Israel, no mention of the history of the Jews in the land of Israel.
By what right was the State of Israel established? What were the historical and legal rights of the Jewish people to the land of Israel? And why has the Palestinian refugee problem persisted, like no other in the world? It is the responsibility of anyone who speaks for Israel to emphasize that during the late 1940s, more than 40 million refuges around the world were resettled, except for one people. They remain defined as refugees, wallowing 60 years later in 59 UNRWA refugee camps, financed by $400 million contributed annually by nations of the world to nurture the promise of the "right of return" to Arab neighborhoods and Arab villages from 1948 that no longer exist.
No nation would tolerate even one rocket being launched toward its territory; but that is what Israel is asked to accept as an integral part of its existence, since the supposed root of the problem is that the Palestinian Arab people do not have a state of their own.
Yet the regime in Gaza let the ceasefire lapse and resumed its rocket attacks - provoking the current Israeli military operation - not to facilitate a two-state solution, but to "liberate" the rest of Palestine.
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10:29 AM
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IAF planes have recently targeted dozens of tunnels used by the Hamas terror organization, located along the Rafah border. The Hamas tunnel network is used for the smuggling of weapons, for the movement of Hamas terror operatives from the Gaza Strip and back, and is an integral part of the operations in which Hamas purchases and is supplied with weaponry. During the operation, IDF forces hit dozens of terror operatives.
The aerial and artillery forces also assisted the Ground Forces by attacking armed gunmen approaching the Ground Forces and striking launching areas from which Hamas fired rockets at the IDF and at Israeli civilians.
In addition, the IAF attacked over forty additional targets throughout the Gaza Strip. These targets included a tunnel rigged with explosives, a number of weaponry storage facilities, among them houses of Hamas terror operatives– one of which housed an underground tunnel, a number of weapons manufacturing sites, rocket launching areas, and a rocket launcher itself.
Also today (Jan.4), 80 trucks with humanitarian aid were transferred into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
More than 30 rockets have been launched at Israel since this morning, landing in heavily populated areas and damaging a number of structures, including a kindergarten in Ashdod, which was closed at the time by the Home Front Command due to the rocket attacks perpetrated over the past week by Hamas.
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5:27 PM
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In the Hadith, Mohammed emphasizes the same concept. From "Ehiaa Oloum al-Din," by the famous Islamic scholar al-Ghazali, Vol. 3: PP.284-287:And Hamas claims it has been at war with Israel (whom they call the evil Zionist entity) since their foundation.
One of Mohammed's daughters, Umm Kalthoum, testified that she had never heard the Apostle of Allah condone lying, except in these three situations: 1) For reconciliation among people. 2) In war. 3) Amongst spouses, to keep peace in the family.
The Hamas terrorist organization announced Sunday that it had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in the first stage of the ground invasion of IDF troops into Gaza.Why am I not surprised to see that Reuters not checking out a story. The once noble news agency has sullied itself down to a mockery of its earlier self. In 2006 it published a faked photograph by Lebanese freelancer Adnan Hajj. Not only was that photograph was faked, but it turned out that the majority of his photographs and stories were all faked.
The statement, made to foreign television stations, is totally untrue, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, as was the statement Saturday night that 10 IDF soldiers had been killed in the first assault.
Propanganda and disinformation is an inherent part of the psychological warfare used by Hamas to weaken the Israeli resolve, said Israeli officials. It is gamble used in the hope that news services will pick up the report and disseminate it before the truth becomes known. The goal is to confuse and frighten the Israeli readers and break their determination to continue the operation.
The Reuters news agency apparently did not bother to check the facts before its initial publication of the Hamas statement, nor did it include a counter-statement from the IDF confirming or denying the veracity of the claim.
During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, a Reuters staffer was caught faking a photograph of damage from IDF bombing in a Beirut suburb to make it appear as though Israel has massacred the neighborhood instead of using pinpoint surgical strikes as it had. The staff member was reportedly dismissed.
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Golani troops and IAF helicopters foiled an attempt by Hamas to kidnap a solder in a tunnel near Gaza City Sunday morning. The IDF refused to comment on the report.But we should expect the lies. The lie of the Siege of Gaza. The lie of the starving children. The lie of thousands of civilians killed. 51 dead is not thousands. Pretty soon Hamas will be claiming that hundreds of thousands have died, they have captured a whole company (including their support personal), and that none of their
The incident was said to have occurred after Golani troops entered a Hamas command center in a house on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City and discovered smuggling tunnels underneath. A clash broke out between the troops and Hamas terrorists, who began to drag away one soldier, according to Israeli and foreign media.
Helicopter cover and efforts by his comrades forced the terrorists to release the solider. The IDF refused to discuss the incident, saying it would not comment on "rumors," but its spokesmen on Sunday denied a Hamas claim to the media that it had kidnapped two soldiers. The denial was issued after Reuters published the report, and the source of the claim may have been the clash that was not reported until Monday morning.
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12:48 PM
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Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army.Israel relinquished all control over Gaza in 2005. It was also given assurance by President Bush and leaders of the Palestinian Authority that there would be no further attacks made on Israel.
The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.
The objective is very simple, not the complete take over of the Gaza Strip, but the elimination of the launch pads from Gaza.For the first time since the start of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF sent ground troops into the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening.
The IDF said that the purpose of the ground operation was to eliminate launching pads in northern Gaza from which specific long-range rockets had been fired into southern Israel.
Large forces from the army's infantry, tanks and artillery units are among those participating in the mission.
Several hours earlier, the army began to fire artillery shells into the northern part of the Strip.
According to reports, the artillery units were attacking targets in northern Gaza from where Palestinian terrorists had been firing rockets at southern Israel.
Warplanes, gunboats and artillery units blasted more than 40 Hamas targets throughout Saturday, including Hamas's central intelligence headquarters in Sha'ati, weapons storage facilities, training centers and Hamas leaders' homes.
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3 senior officials in as many days. Already Hamas is boasting that they killed an Israeli soldier, but reports from the field show that fighting is light to moderate with the IDF losing no men. It seems that Hamas is waiting, biding its time, choosing the place it will actually fight, praying that the
The IAF also hit the home of senior Hamas commander Abu Zacharia Al-Jamal. A Hamas spokesman announced that al-Jamal was killed in the attack, which would make him the third senior operative in the group to be targeted in the past three days.
In addition, Palestinians reported four dead in an IAF strike in the Rafah area.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Channel 2 Saturday night, "We will do all that is necessary to provide a different reality for southern Israel, which has been under constant attacks for the past eight years."
In Saturday morning attacks, the army struck the homes of two Hamas operatives, saying the buildings were used to store weapons and plan attacks. Hamas outposts, training camps and rocket launching sites also were targeted, it said.
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1:27 PM
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The IAF destroyed 40 tunnels that connected the Egyptian and Gazan sides of Rafiah (Rafah) in a bombing sortie that lasted 270 seconds Sunday afternoon. Plumes of black smoke mushroomed into the air one after the other as the IAF cast bombs at the tunnels which line the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza.Strange war this is. The enemy calls up the civilians in Gaza and tells them to take cover. When did Hamas ever do that for the people of Sderot.
The Corridor is supposed to be guarded by Egyptian forces but these have proven unable or unwilling to prevent large-scale smuggling of weapons and other supplies into Gaza.
A high ranking military source said that all of the tunnels which have been used by Hamas to smuggle weapons have been destroyed. Observers said the IAF may have used U.S.-supplied "bunker buster" bombs to destroy some the tunnels.
As part of the psychological warfare against Gaza, hundreds of residents of Gaza received recorded telephone calls in which they were warned: "You are in danger. In order to save your life and that of your family you must leave this place. This is a message from the Israel Defense Force."
The top source said that the IAF has carried out 213 sorties over Gaza since Operation Cast Lead began, 56 of them by combat helicopters. Most of the sorties were carried out Sunday.
He said that some of the tunnels were buried deep in the ground and their demolition was made possible thanks to accurate information supplied by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
The source said that the fighting would go on for a long time and warned that we would see "difficult days" in the course of the operation.
Gaza terrorists continued firing rockets at the western Negev Sunday afternoon, although the pace of the attacks had slowed by 4:00 p.m.Three people, including a 12-year-old boy, suffered shrapnel wounds and several others suffered traumatic shock Sunday afternoon when the missiles bombarded the coastal city of Ashkelon at mid-day.
The terrorists are using 122-mm Grad-type Katyusha missiles, of the type that can reach a range of up to 40 kilometers. Several cars were also damaged after one of the missiles struck the southern end of the port city. The second missile landed in an unidentified location. Less than an hour later, two rockets exploded in the Eshkol region. No one was injured and no damage was reported.
And the usual noise is coming out of Lebanon. Again the people of Lebanon will suffer for the actions of Hizbollah.
Hizbullah terrorists have vowed to open a second front against Israel in the north in retaliation for the IDF military operation against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.In 2006 the world saw the dead children but not the dead Hizbollah fighters. Reports say that Hizbollah was decimated with losses of over 60%. I believe those reports since Hassan Nasrallah ordered that no funeral for any fighter be shown on the news, only those for civilian casualties. Thus the world got an distorted view of the war.Terrorist chief Hassan Nasrallah issued a statement on Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station Sunday, vowing that "northern Israel will burn as Gaza is burning." Nasrallah rarely appears in person; he speaks via a video hook-up from his hideout due to fears of assassination by Israeli agents, following the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Hizbullah officials were quoted in a number of Arabic-language publications on Saturday warning that they would not permit Israel to attack Gaza without retaliating.
Last week seven Katyusha rockets were discovered primed and ready for launching in southern Lebanon, located near the northern border of Israel. All seven were aimed at targets in the Jewish State.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert -- anticipating such a reaction -- warned Hizbullah Saturday night in his speech informing the nation about the military operation in Gaza that any "others who may seek to take advantage of the situation would be wise not to."
This time it is different. This time the Israeli people are 100% behind this action. This time the media is showing more pictures of dead and wounded Hamas fighters (I will not give them the honorific of soldier). And this time Israel will prevail.
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12:36 PM
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