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JPost Middle East- Analysis: Why has the West Bank been quiet? January 6, 2009
- Lebanon doubts Hizbullah will open second front January 6, 2009
- Jordan, Egypt strike balance between Israel ties, angry public January 6, 2009
- Doctors stuck at bottleneck on Egypt-Gaza border January 6, 2009
- Analysis: Hamas desperate for lull January 6, 2009
- ynet - Updates for RSS
- Egypt calls on Hamas, Israel to discuss weapons smuggling into Gaza January 6, 2009
- Venezuela expels Israel envoy over Gaza attacks January 6, 2009
- UN chief slams shelling of UN schools January 6, 2009
- Egypt seeks immediate ceasefire followed by talks January 6, 2009
- Cabinet considers filing complaint over Hamas' use of UN facilities January 6, 2009
- Haaretz.com - News
- IDF shell kills 30 in Gaza UN school; Israel mulls appeal over Hamas fire from UN facilities January 6, 2009Israel is considering submitting a complaint to the United Nations of Hamas' use of the world body's facilities for terror purposes, after 30 people were killed when an Israeli army artillery shell struck a UN school in Gaza. Israeli troops say that they were fired on from the building. ...
- Obama breaks silence on Gaza, calls civilian deaths 'a deep concern' January 6, 2009Barack Obama, who takes over as U.S. president from George W. Bush on January 20, broke his silence about the violence in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, calling the loss of civilian lives in Gaza and in Israel a "source of deep concern for me." ...
- Turkey-Israel basketball game canned after pro-Gaza protesters storm court January 6, 2009A basketball game between a Turkish and an Israeli team was suspended on Tuesday after Turkish fans erupted in protests against the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, Turkish media reported. ...
- French TV airs photos billed as damage from Cast Lead, actually from 2005 January 6, 2009French public television network France 2 on Tuesday revealed they had aired photographs that allegedly showed destruction caused by the Israel Air Force during Operation Cast Lead, which were in fact taken during a different incident in 2005, one in which Gaza civilians were killed by an explosion caused by militants in the Strip. ...
- French President Sarkozy: Deal on Gaza truce 'not far away' January 6, 2009French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday a deal for a cease-fire between Israel and the Gaza Strip was "not far" away. ...
- IDF shell kills 30 in Gaza UN school; Israel mulls appeal over Hamas fire from UN facilities January 6, 2009
Gaza operation Are we save in the North?
Smoke rises from the Gaza town of Rafah after Israeli air strikes on Saturday. AFP
What will happen in the North of Israel?
Is the Hezbollah willing to back the Hamas and are they going to send rockets to Galilee?
And the latest news.
As the IAF launched its attack, Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared the Gaza vicinity communities under a “special situation in the home front,” giving security forces special jurisdiction over the area and allowing them to make municipal decision the likes of how the local schools and industries will operate.
We are looking carefully to the news to find out what is next. The TV is reporting that 1 woman is killed and 4 others injured due to rocket attacks on Israel after the strike.
- Sources from friends in the Army: Tanks are seen close to the crossings with the Gaza and moving.
- Israel will continue to attack the terrorists
- Parts of Gaza without electricity
- Gaza on the Phone: People running and in panic. (some places without Internet.
- Prominent Hamas leader killed.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, initially said at least 40 people had been killed when a missile hit security headquarters in and around Gaza City.
That figure quickly rose, Hamas saying 120 were killed and some 400 people injured, the BBC Katya Adler reports from Jerusalem.
Breaking news Gaza!
Israeli aircraft launch air attacks across Gaza, causing many deaths and injuries, according to CNN journalist.
Peres told the world that israel will not enter the Gaza.
They will go and attack from the air.
Hamas: At least 40 dead, 70 wounded in IAF Gaza strikes
Reuters reports the full story
Reportedly, a “limited operation” will begin within days that will combine an air attack with some ground operations against Hamas and other Gaza terror groups.
The cabinet has given the go-ahead for an operation of a few days’ duration with clearly defined goals. Haaretz
Just days after the cabinet gave the military final approval to counter ongoing Palestinian rocket fire against communities in the western Negev, the IDF launched an operation, striking Hamas installations throughout the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
Gaza reporter said attacks appeared to be biggest he has seen in decades!
So this is the respond of Israel on the ongoing rocket attacks on the citys around the Gazastrip. Lets pray for Israel and the people in The Gaza strip!
The question is now will the hezbollah respond in the North of Israel? Discuss it on our forum.
Israel has launched air strikes on Hamas installations in Gaza City, killing at least 40 people and causing heavy damage, according to witnesses.
At least 30 missiles were fired at targets on Saturday, with initial reports saying that there were at least 100 casualties.
“I’m afraid we have at least 40 dead,” Islam Shahwan, Hamas police spokesman, said.
Shahwan said that a police graduation ceremony was hit as it was being held in Gaza City.
The simultaneous strikes were described as “massive” by the AFP news agency.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
However, it follows the decision by the Israeli security cabinet to increase reprisals for cross-border rocket attacks against Israel, and the breakdown of a six-month-old Israel-Hamas truce earlier this month.
Several Hamas police compounds were said to have been hit.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza, said: “A series of explosions were heard over Gaza City.
“From where we are there are at least seven different clouds of smoke from the strikes.
“We are seeing some casualties being evacuated in cars.”
Mohyeldin said that Hamas, who rule the Gaza Strip, was being held responsible by Israel for any attacks from the territory into Israel, even if they are undertaken by other Palestinian factions.
Xmas Peace? No Rockets and death people!
WHERE IS GAZA?
* The Gaza Strip is a sliver of towns, villages and farmland at the southeast end of the Mediterranean, 45 km (25 miles) long and at most 10 km (6 miles) wide. It is wedged between Israel to the north and east, and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to the south.
HISTORY OF THE TERRITORY:
* Gaza city has been continuously inhabited for more than 3,000 years and was a crossroads of ancient civilisations. It is believed to be the burial place of the Prophet Mohammad’s great grandfather.
* Four centuries of rule by the Ottoman Empire were briefly interrupted by Napoleonic France and also saw growing Egyptian influence until Britain took control of Gaza and the rest of Palestine in World War One. Egypt took control of the Strip during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
* The Strip’s population tripled in 1948-49 when it absorbed about a quarter of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees displaced from areas that are now part of Israel.
* Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the 1967 war.
* Israel pulled Jewish settlers and soldiers out of the territory in September 2005.
* Israel conducted large-scale ground operations in June 2006 after militants tunnelled across the Gaza border and captured an Israeli soldier, who is still being held.
* A year later, Hamas Islamists took control of the Gaza Strip after routing President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah forces.
* Israel tightened the closure of its borders with Gaza, curbing fuel supplies and limiting movement of people. International organisations have condemned the blockade, which Israel says is meant to curb rockets fired by militants.
* Under an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in June, Hamas agreed to halt rocket fire in return for Israel easing the blockade. Hamas declared the end of the truce on Dec. 18.
WHO LIVES THERE?
* About 1.5 million Palestinians live in Gaza, more than half of them refugees from past wars with Israel. Gaza has one of the highest population densities and demographic growth rates in the world.
* Most Gazans live on less than $2 a day and up to 80 percent are dependent on food aid, according to aid groups.
The Region: Israel’s grand strategy
I’ll bet you didn’t know that Israel has a strategy. After all, given politicians’ maneuvering, the difference between what is said in public and private, the partisan sniping and so on, it’s easy to miss the underlying coherence of policy. This is not to suggest that politicians are thinking great ideas and putting them into effect; rather it is the set of interests, threats and opportunities that push people into a coherent structure.
There is no solution; the enemy is not going away, nor will it moderate. The world wants to hear that Israel is seeking peace and doing everything possible, and it will.
Yet the fact that these expectations are wrong is also an essential part of the idea package.
Total military triumph is also not a way to solve the problems, as far as ending them is concerned. Attacks can be deterred, reduced in number and made less effective, but actual peace is beyond reach.
If, however, the threats and their effect can be minimized, life goes on and the country does well. So far this year, unemployment has hit a 20-year low, the economy is doing incredibly well and tourism has hit an all-time high. Morale is high despite contempt for the current prime minister. Things are pretty good.
This does not mean people are naïve, even compared to the levels of hope in the 1990s. Lessons have been learned. So here’s what underlies what’s happening.
ISRAEL IS facing threats on four fronts. In each case, there is an effort under way to neutralize, or rather reduce, those problems.
# To the north is Hizbullah. The Lebanese radical Islamist group will never accept Israel’s existence. If it thinks such actions are profitable Hizbullah will attack, at least through cross-border raids. The prisoner exchange has not sated its appetite; instead, it has produced more bragging. But it has also contributed to undercutting one of its most compelling means of incitement.
Hizbullah’s main problem, however, is two-fold. Its top priority is securing the bulk of power within Lebanon and at least doing well in next May’s election. Fighting Israel right now is a distraction from that goal. In addition, Hizbullah reduced its popularity in 2006 with just such a war and has not been able to rehouse many of its supporters after two years, despite lavish promises.
Aside from the cost of the attack, Israel’s tactic is to warn Lebanon that now with Hizbullah back in the government, any aggression will result in all of Lebanon being a target. Israel’s deterrence on this front should not be underestimated, and it is likely to remain relatively quiet for a while.
# To the northeast is Syria, with whom the government is currently negotiating. Virtually no one in the leadership expects an agreement. But aside from domestic politics, the immediate goal is to give Syria an incentive to keep Hizbullah on a leash. The attack on Syria’s nuclear installation, probable involvement in assassinating a high-ranking Hizbullah official allied to Syria and a possible part in killing a Syrian general also signalled Damascus that Israel can hit it hard if necessary.
A key aspect is the humiliating nature of these three incidents. The IAF showed its planes could attack anywhere in Syria. and that a high-ranking terrorist was not safe even in Damascus’s most secure area. That sent a clear message.
So Syria is constrained from attacking directly or indirectly. But there is another element of Israeli policy towards that country that is little understood: the looming confrontation with Iran over nuclear weapons. If Israel some day attacks Iran, it wants to minimize the extent to which Syria or Hizbullah would retaliate. By providing them incentives to remain quiet - reinforced by deterrence power - these two forces are less likely to attack, or would do so at a lower level. A similar pattern exists on the eastern front, with the Palestinian Authority, and southern one, with Hamas.
# Regarding the PA, Israel wants to see Fatah remain in power: Hamas would be worse, and the PA does do a bit to block terrorism. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are eager either to reach an agreement in principle with the PA (nowadays called a shelf agreement) or pretend to have done so to claim great success. At the same time, though, there is little illusion about possible peace and no better real alternative than maintaining the status quo.
# In the short term, the Hamas front is the most potentially volatile. Through the cease-fire, Hamas has been given incentive not to go to all-out war if its patron Iran is attacked. Of course, Hamas frequently violates the cease-fire, either directly or by tolerating attacks - but at a low level. For Israel, the decision posed is what amount of violations (or in the longer run, Hamas military buildup) should trigger an offensive. There are also few illusions about a military attack “ending” the problem or stopping rocket firing completely. Virtually nobody thinks Hamas will make peace or even a long-term, reliable cease-fire. Yet again the status quo is about the best that can be accomplished.
THE EFFORTS on these four fronts will not necessarily diminish the response to a future attack on Iran, but they could and are - for other reasons as well - basically worth trying. This doesn’t mean all politicians would implement this strategy the same way or that the current government’s actions are brilliant - in general terms, the current leadership gives up more than is advisable or necessary - but the gap isn’t huge.
The bottom line is that being prepared to focus on the Iranian front, the relatively good domestic situation, internal politics, the lack of attractive alternatives, the intransigence of opponents, the weakness and doubtful moderation of potential negotiating partners and international passion for the mirage of peace have created a strategy based on a relative consensus across the political spectrum. It looks messy and certainly poses a range of problems, yet is neither terrible nor irrational.
Lebanese government: Hizbullah can keep arms
Lebanese unity government authorizes policy draft affirming right of ‘the resistance’ to liberate territories under Israeli control. Pleased with achievement, veto-wielding Hizbullah already sets sights on new goal – ending IAF sorties
Roee Nahmias
08.05.08, 02:15 / Israel News
The Lebanese unity government unanimously approved the draft of its future policy statement, voting in favor of allowing Hizbullah to retain its weapons arsenal and continue its campaign to “liberate all its
territories” – i.e. the Shebaa farms and the village of Ghajar.
The position paper will now be brought before the Lebanese Parliament for its vote of confidence.
In recent days Hizbullah has drawn attention to its newly focused efforts on ending Israeli Air Force sorties over Lebanon.
The clause in question was the main point of contention between the country’s political factions as they sought to draft the policy proposal. Section 24 of the draft now assures the “right of Lebanon’s people, the army and the resistance to liberate all its territories.”
Many officials in the anti-Syrian, pro-Western bloc had argued that statement should not include the word ”resistance” and that it should make ”liberating the occupied lands” solely the national army’s responsibility. But Hizbullah and its allies strongly opposed those demands.
Hizbullah said it was satisfied with the decision: “The government’s decision proves that the resistance, which won in July 2006, and completed its victory in Operation Radwan (the prisoner-exchange deal with Israel), and is now going from victory to victory,” said Lebanese MP for Hizbullah, Hassan Haballah.
Information Minister Tareq Mitri said that four ministers had expressed reservations over the clause related to “resistance against Israel.”
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