Shimshon 9

The Tunnel Business is booming so following some facts:

• Rafah straddles the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. It is divided by an 18ft metal wall that stretches more than 2km (1.2 miles)

• An estimated 40,000 people live on the Egyptian side of Rafah, and 150,000 on the Gaza side

• Tunnels have been used to smuggle goods, weapons and people across the border at Rafah since the early 1990s

• As deep as 20 metres, most have ventilation shafts every 200 metres or so, and engineers can dig an estimated 15 metres a day, using a compass to set the direction

• They are dug from the basements of homes along a 9km stretch of the border

• Having a person smuggled across costs about £1,000, A sack of items about £150

• Since January 2003, the tunnels have been used to smuggle large amounts of various types of weapons into the Gaza Strip, including dozens of RPG rockets and launchers, hundreds of kilograms of explosives, hundreds of rifles (mainly Kalashnikov AK47s) and tens of thousands of bullets, cartridges and other types of ammunition

96% of those detained had been beaten, and 94% of them were subjected to sleep deprivation, and 89% were subjected to the spectre of sleep deprivation and food and drink together, and 70% were subjected to extreme cold or heat. (Aljazeera.net)

This happens in Palestinian Prisons in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. Human rights organizations confirmed that Palestinian prisons are turned into centres of torture (hrw.org). I wonder if the UN and all those Human Right organizations  are going to take action…

The government has admitted that it is allowing hundreds of millions of dollars to be transferred to Hamas in Gaza, the watchdog organization Shurat Hadin charged on Thursday. (JP)

In the Middle Ages and other dark periods of Jewish history, scattered Jewish communities  sometimes had to buy their security by taxes or by other payments to the masters of the place. One of the main aims of Zionism was to leave the Jews resident status of a “provider” to make then free and independent, so they didn’t need to curb to its enemies.

Paying money to the Hamas shows that the Israeli leaders are not yet out of the condition of the Jewish Diaspora.

Hamas regards the temporary cease-fire as a tahdiya and not a hudna. A tahdiya - “a period of calm” - is used by Hamas to describe a simple cease-fire. A hudna implies recognition of the other party’s actual existence, without acknowledging its legitimacy.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera (April 26, 2008), Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal clarified that for Hamas, a tahdiya is “a tactic in conflict management.” He added that it “is not unusual for the resistance…to escalate sometimes and to retreat a bit sometimes as the tide does….The tahdiya creates a formulation that will force Israel…to remove the siege…and if it happens it will be a remarkable achievement.”

Official sources in Israel have explained that Hamas’ interest in a lull in the fighting is a result of its “distress.” But the organization did not experience “distress.” Hamas has introduced and maintained law and order in Gaza, strengthened its overall control, suppressed opposition, and achieved
broad popular support for its policies.

(more…)

Proponents of an Israeli-Palestinian accord are praising the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that went into effect this morning. Yet even if the agreement suspends violence temporarily — though dozens of Hamas rockets struck Israel yesterday — it represents a historic accomplishment for the jihadist forces most opposed to peace, and defeat for the Palestinians who might still have been Israel’s partners.

The roots of this tragedy go back to the summer of 2005 and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The evacuation, intended to free Israel of Gaza’s political and strategic burden, was hailed as a victory by Palestinian terrorist groups, above all Hamas.

Hamas proceeded to fire some 1,000 rocket and mortar shells into Israel. Six months later Hamas gunmen, taking advantage of an earlier cease-fire, infiltrated into Israel, killed two soldiers, and captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Hamas’s audacity spurred Hezbollah to mount a similar ambush against Israelis patrolling the Lebanese border, triggering a war in which Israel was once again humbled. Hamas now felt sufficiently emboldened to overthrow Gaza’s Fatah-led government, and to declare itself regnant in the Strip. Subsequently, Hamas launched thousands more rocket and mortar salvos against Israel, rendering parts of the country nearly uninhabitable.

In response, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) air strikes and limited ground incursions killed hundreds of armed Palestinians in Gaza, and Israel earned international censure for collateral civilian deaths and “disproportionate” tactics. Israel also imposed a land and sea blockade of Gaza, strictly controlling its supply of vital commodities such as a gasoline. But the policy enabled Hamas to hoard the fuel and declare a humanitarian crisis.

Israel never mounted the rolling, multi-month operation that the IDF had planned. Traumatized by his abortive performance in the Lebanon War, hobbled by financial scandals, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert balked at a military engagement liable to result in incalculable casualties and United Nations condemnations, but unlikely to halt Hamas aggression.

Like Hezbollah in 2006, Hamas won because it did not lose. Its leaders still walked Gaza’s streets freely while children in Sderot and other Israeli border towns cowered in bomb shelters. Like Hezbollah, which recently wrested unprecedented powers from the Lebanese parliament, Hamas parlayed its military success into political capital.

The European Parliament demanded the immediate lifting of the Gaza blockade, and France initiated secret contacts with Hamas officials. A minister from the Israeli Labor Party, Ami Ayalon, went a step further by calling for Hamas’s inclusion in peace talks — a recommendation soon echoed by Jimmy Carter and the New York Times.

The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire yields Hamas greater benefits than it might have obtained in direct negotiations. In exchange for giving its word to halt rocket attacks and weapons smuggling, Hamas receives the right to monitor the main border crossings into Gaza and to enforce a truce in the West Bank, where Fatah retains formal control.

If quiet is maintained, then Israel will be required to accept a cease-fire in the West Bank as well. The blockade will be incrementally lifted while Cpl. Shalit remains in captivity. Hamas can regroup and rearm.

The Olmert government will have to go vast lengths to portray this arrangement as anything other than a strategic and moral defeat. Hamas initiated a vicious war against Israel, destroyed and disrupted myriad Israeli lives, and has been rewarded with economic salvation and international prestige.

Tellingly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who once declared Hamas illegal, will soon travel to Gaza for reconciliation talks. Mr. Abbas’s move signifies the degree to which Hamas, with Israel’s help, now dominates Palestinian politics. It testifies, moreover, to another Iranian triumph.

As the primary sponsor of Hamas, Iran is the cease-fire’s ultimate beneficiary. Having already surrounded Israel on three of its borders — Gaza, Lebanon, Syria — Iran is poised to penetrate the West Bank. By activating these fronts, Tehran can divert attention from its nuclear program and block any diplomatic effort.

The advocates of peace between Israelis and Palestinians should recognize that fact when applauding quiet at any price. The cost of this truce may well be war.

Wall Street Journal - June 19, 2008

While Hamas English website blames Israel, Hamas Arabic website admits house exploded by Hamas.

#1 Arabic website Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades - the armed branch of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The “Martyr Brigades, Izz al-Din al-Qassam,” the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas”, to live up to its martyrs who Ela Thursday (12 / 6), in an explosion in a house of Beit Lahia, was martyred as they put the final touches on their way to carry out the task of Jihad in particular.

The asphalt “Qassam”, the military statement issued Friday (13 / 6) martyrs and said they are “field commander Shahid Ashraf Naim desired fruit, and field commander Shahid Hassan Mohammed Abu Hqvh, Shahid field commander Magdi Adel Hammouda, the struggling divisions martyr Abu Mohammad Sabri survived , Shahid Mohammed Hamdan divisions struggling Xu, Shahid divisions struggling Munir Ahmed Sobeih, “adding they were” Knights sections of the unit who witnessed the arenas of jihad partnerships with many heroic, “according clarified.

The statement said the Qassam “on the path of Jihad and resistance; goes Qassam Miami men worshipped Zaki and sacrificed their bodies pure bridge crossing and access road to victory and liberation and empowerment, and on this thorny path goes to the heart convoys of innocent martyrs, who pay tax
Jihad from their blood and lives.”

The “Qassam” may also be termed “the hero martyr Mahmoud Attaya, Hamouda, a martyred girl Noor Magdi Hammouda daughter martyr leader Magdi Hammouda,” Treaty of God “on the path of jihad and martyrdom, and the blood of martyrs will not be lost in vain, and remain loyal to them and Palestine and the Aqsa ”

#2 English website Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades - the armed branch of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Zionist war planes destroyed a house completely,7 civilians were martyred.

Palestinian local sources reported that the Zionist war planes shelled a Palestinian house full of children and women.

Palestinian medical sources reported that seven Palestinians were martyred, at least more 40 wounded in the large explosion in northern Gaza on Thursday afternoon.

The incident occurred in the home of Ahmed Hamouda, a member of the Ezzedeen al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Palestinian witnesses confirmed that the explosion was caused by a Zionist airstrike.

The Palestinian medical sources reported that there are women and children among those wounded, five of them are said to be in serious condition.

The explosion resounded throughout the far corners of the city and the house has been completely destroyed. A number of neighboring residential buildings and business establishments were seriously damaged.

The Islamic resistance movement Hamas blamed the Zionist war planes in this attack against the Palestinian civilians.

Polls: Public supports large military operation over ceasefire 44%:33%;
Labor-Likud government 53%:35%

It may not be only Ehud Olmert who is so busy worrying about his legal problems that he does not have enough time to address Israel’s urgent security issues. Many Israeli citizens, except of course residents of the South, are probably also completely engrossed in studying the details of the current investigations and have little time left to worry about what really needs to be worried about - the ongoing war in the South. One can only hope that the Israel Defense Forces and its commander, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, are continuing to take seriously the awesome responsibility with which they are charged - assuring the safety of the people of Israel.

A total of ten Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip Saturday morning landed in various areas of the western Negev damaged buildings in the western Negev.

Terrorists are firing at civilian towns and the world says nothing and the UN says nothing. Israel attacked terrorists where they operate in civilian areas and the world yells.

Enough is enough. What is the justification of attacking civilians in Negev, in Sderot, in Israel cities where no military bases are? IDF doesn’t keep soldiers there so the only reason to fire mortars and rockets is to kill civilians.

Military inquiry into incident which left Palestinian mother, four of her children dead, concludes family was hurt by detonation of weapons carried out by nearby gunman targeted by IAF missile. Army releases footage caught by UAV proving missile did not target Gaza home.

The IDF inquiry presents the following picture:

• At around 8 am, a cell of four terrorists was spotted firing at Givati troops operating in the Beit Hanoun area. IDF officials in the command room followed the cell, confirmed that they were terrorists carrying explosives, and attempted to determine the place where they would be attacked by an IAF aircraft.

• The cell members were spotted moving 400 meters (1,312 feet) away from the forces. At 8:13 am, an aircraft fired at two of the cell members, killing one of the terrorists wounding the other. The army continued to follow the injured terrorist, and about a minute later the aircraft fired another missile at him, identifying an accurate hit.

• Footage released by the IDF on Friday shows that civilians standing several meters away from the terrorist were not hurt, as the missile used to target him was accurate. The location selected by the IDF to target the second terrorist is close to a grape orchard, where not every civilian can be seen, and about 3 meters (9.8 feet) away from the gate of the Palestinian family’s home.

• Seven minutes after the second missile was fired, reports were received about civilians being hit, and several hours later it was reported that the family members were killed. According to estimates, weapons carried by the terrorist caused the heavy damage. The house’s gate is believed to have flown at the family members, who were at the time outside the house, inside the grape orchard.

• A number of sub-blasts took place following the first explosion, as a result of the weapons carried by the terrorists, which were not directly caused by the missile explosion. As part of the inquiry, the IDF examined previous incident in which similar missiles were fired.

See the Video Footage here.

Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin warned the government Tuesday that Palestinian terror organizations are interested in executing a large-scale terrorist attack ahead of Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations. (Haaretz)

Israel needs to defend itself. It cannot always be on the defensive. Its time the IDF goes with force into Gaza. The blockade of Gaza is useless. The responding to each attack with an air strike or sending troops in is useless. This has to be a major operation and break the back of Hamas.

Terror fears in south: Two Palestinians cross Gaza Strip border fence north of Kissufim Crossing Saturday night; infiltrators were apparently armed; soldiers searching for suspects, area residents ordered to stay indoors. (Israel Channel 2)

Hours after Defense Minister Ehud Barak told senior officers at the Israel Defense Forces Gaza Division Saturday that Hamas will pay for the attack on the Kerem Shalom Crossing a series of Israel Air Force strikes killed at least seven Hamas gunmen and injured eight others northern Gaza Strip on Saturday and early Sunday. (Haaretz)