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JPost Middle East- Analysis: Why has the West Bank been quiet? January 6, 2009
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- French TV claims photos from 2005 showed damage from Israel's Gaza operation 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. ...
- 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." ...
- Abbas says supports Egyptian ceasefire proposal January 7, 2009
Abbas: We won’t agree to Israeli invasion of Gaza
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas meets with Egyptian counterpart to discuss renewing truce between Hamas, Israel. We won’t agree to Israeli invasion of Strip,’ he adds
Roee Nahmias and AP
| Published: | 12.23.08, 16:51 / Israel News |
“We won’t agree to an Israeli invasion in Gaza or even an aerial attack,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday during a joint press conference in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The Palestinian president said Egypt will push for a new truce between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Strip, and referred to the rocket fire on the Jewish state as “foolish”.
The six-month-old truce, mediated by Mubarak, expired last Friday.
Abbas and Mubarak in Cairo (Photo: Reuters)
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is scheduled to come to CairoThursday for talks with Mubarak about a new truce. Abbas also said he and Mubarak agreed that reconciliation talks between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah party should go forward.
Talks brokered by Egypt and slated to take place last November fell apart when Hamas pulled out at the last minute over a dispute with Fatah over releasing Hamas prisoners.
On Monday Mubarak invited Livni to Cairo in the hopes of preventing the further deterioration of the Gaza standoff.
Livni is expected to present Jerusalem’s current stance, which holds that enough is enough – and that Israel is duty-bound to protect its citizens from the incessant rocket and mortar fire from Gaza.
“We will not allow the prolonged existence of a Hamastan state in Gaza,” Livni said during a Kadima security convention in preperation for her visit to Egypt. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar saidTuesday that his organization was willing to renew the truce in Gaza if Israel adheres to the terms that have been agreed upon last June. Speaking with Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram, al-Zahar said that the movement would reassess the situation in Gaza once the 24 hours during which Hamas vowed to halt rocket fire come to an end.
According to the Hamas leader, if the situation appears to be going in a positive direction, the group would consider maintaining the lull.
Lull ends: 3 Qassams hit western Negev
Three rockets fired from northern Gaza Strip land in open areas within southern communities. Two hours later, Palestinians fire at farmers working in fields of kibbutz; no injuries reported, but several vehicles sustain damage. Islamic Jihad’s military wing claims responsibility for rocket fire
Ynet reporters
| Latest Update: | 12.19.08, 08:58 / Israel News |
Truce officially ends: Three Qassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed in open areas within the Eshkol and Sha’ar Hanegev regional councils. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
The rockets were fired about 75 minutes after the official end of the half-year truce between Israel and Hamas.
About two hours later, Palestinians opened fire at farmers working at the Kibbutz Nir Oz fields in the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no injuries, but several vehicles sustained damage.
The al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad’s military wing, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. The group said in a statement, the rockets were fired “in response to the enemy’s crimes and the assassination of one of the organization’s senior members in the Jenin area”.
The organization said the rockets fired were of the Quds type and that the launching cell returned to its base unharmed.
Nicky Levy, deputy security officer at the Eshkol Regional Council, said that the council prepared for the renewed rocket fire before the truce expired.
“We woke up to the sound of the Color Red rocket alert system,” said Yagil Avin, a secretary of one of the western Negev’s regional councils.
“Several moments later, we heard two loud explosions. We are aware of the new situation created after the truce’s expiry. Our alert and tension levels are up and we’re more prepared.”
He added, however, that “the escalation in the situation was felt several days ago. The coming days are critical and will determine where we’re headed to.”
‘We’re being held hostage at home again’
“The only thing left to do is to hope it lands far away and no one is injured,” Dina Bernstein, a resident of one of the council’s kibbutzim, told Ynet. Her house has yet to be fortified.
“Again we felt like we are being held hostage in our house – with no fortification, in an area exposed to hits. This gives you the feeling that only you can protect yourself, no one else, neither the government nor the army.”
Earlier Friday, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, officially declared that the lull was over. The movement’s spokesman announced on Thursday that the truce would not be renewed.
As the sides prepared for the post-lull era on Thursday night, a senior defense official told Ynet that Israel “will not accept a half-truce.”
Security officials held several consultations during the day and formulated a policy whereby should Hamas and other Gaza terror groups refrain from firing at Israel, the IDF will also hold its fire, in effect creating an undeclared ceasefire.
However, officials made it clear that should Hamas and other groups continue to fire rockets and mortar shells at Israel, the IDF will weigh the use of gradual force, in a different format than it did before.
The senior security official told Ynet that the preparations for a new model of operations have been recently completed.
“The coming days will be days of longing on the part of Hamas, and days of wait for us,” he said. “They will attempt to test us, and we will make it clear to them that it’s not worth their while to continue.”
Ilana Curiel, Shmulik Hadad and Ali Waked contributed to this report
Hamas declares end to Gaza truce
Now it’s official: Hamas declares end to six-month ceasefire with Israel Thursday; group spokesman says Jewish State did not abide by truce obligations, declares that ‘calm is over’
Reuters and Efrat Weiss
| Published: | 12.18.08, 18:11 / Israel News |
Hamas on Thursday declared the end of a six-month-old Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip, raising the prospect of an escalation in cross-border fighting.
“The calm, which was reached with Egyptian sponsorship on June 19 and expires on December 19, is finished because the enemy did not abide by its obligations,” said Hamas member Ayman Taha, who represented the group in talks with other Palestinian factions. “The calm is over.”As the lull neared its end on Thursday, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were divided on whether they wanted it renewed.
On its side of the tense border, Israel insisted the “lull” was in the Palestinians’ interest and ought to continue indefinitely.
”Zionist enemy bears responsibility’
Earlier, Hamas announced that the ceasefire will end on Friday and will not be renewed. However, it has not said what will replace it.
“The calm ends on December 19 and Hamas’ position is against renewing the calm,” Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
“The factions’ duty after the calm expires is to protect the people, defend the Palestinian people and confront any aggression … The Zionist enemy bears the responsibility for the end of calm,” he told Reuters.
Tensions were rising throughout Thursday, as the Air Force attacked two stationary Qassam rocket launchers near the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
According to the IDF, one of the launch pads was used to fire a rocket on the western Negev earlier Thursday, and the second launch pad was prepared for a launching.
Early Thursday, Israeli warplanes and helicopters launched strikes against terror infrastructure in Gaza for the first time in six months, this following rocket fire on the western Negev region
Immediate action to weaken Hamas possible
FM says ‘embarrassed’ to call situation in south a lull, Israel can’t accept Hamas’ rule in Gaza
Yael Levy
| Published: | 12.09.08, 11:47 / Israel News |
“I am embarrassed to refer to the situation in the south as a lull,” Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday during a Tel Aviv University conference in memory of Haaretz journalist Zeev Schiff.
“Israel will not be able to acceptHamas’ rule in Gaza, and therefore, strategically-speaking we must focus on the developments there,” she said.
According to the Kadima chairwoman, “the ceasefire agreement may serve Israel’s interests at a certain point in time and in the short term, but it must be remembered that such deals hurt Israel and bolster Hamas.
“Therefore, when we do reach an agreement on a lull we must not accept any violations. We live in a region in which image is significant, and when we project weakness, it undermines Israel’s deterrence. Even if responding to the rocket fire (from Gaza) won’t bring an end to the attacks, it will contribute to our deterrence,” Livni said.
The FM said she was not ruling out taking “immediate action to weaken Hamas.”
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Hamas not to renew ceasefire!
Hamas to demand new conditions for any ceasefire talks, including prior opening of crossings; Islamic Jihad member warns of imminent suicide attacks
Hamas will demand different conditions for any renewed ceasefire, regardless of whether the current six-month Hamas-Israel ceasefire will end as planned on December 19 or be terminated early as the result of rocket fire on Sderot, a source from the organization told Ynet Friday.
“If and when new discussions will commence regarding an extension of the ceasefire, we’ll demand the opening of all crossings prior to or concurrent to a ceasefire,” the source said. “We’ll demand to put a stop to Israeli disruptions of the ceasefire via closings of the crossings or delay of goods, as well as demanding that the ceasefire apply to the West Bank.”
According to the source, it is unclear whether the ceasefire has officially ended. “It looks like it’s about to end, but even if it won’t collapse in the upcoming days as a result of Israeli violations, one thing is for sure: We won’t accept the current conditions for a future ceasefire.”
“We will demand guarantees. We will agree to an additional period of ceasefire only after crossings are opened and goods are delivered and after we receive guarantees that the ceasefire will include the West Bank,” he said.
A senior Hamas official, Dr. Khalil al-Haya, called on members of Hamas’ military wing to continue shooting rockets “at the Israeli settlements around Gaza.”
Al-Haya spoke at a Hamas-organized rally against the arrest of organization operatives in the West Bank by associates of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Suicide attacks to resume
The Palestinian organizations involved in a ceasefire with Israel consulted with members of an umbrella organization representing the Palestinian opposition and agreed that the ceasefire, in its current format, had failed and should not be renewed.
A member of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, told Ynet that, in his estimation, all Palestinian organizations understand that the ceasefire has ended and that a new round of hard fighting with Israel is about to take place.
“Israelis are not the only ones who can threaten and they are not the only ones who had the means to hurt Palestinians. We are ready to show the innovations we’ve been acquiring over the recent months, including more massive shooting of more precise and long-range missiles,” he said.
He also threatened that the organization would renew suicide attacks. “The recent months caused Israelis to forget the suicide bombings. And if they think the fence in Gaza or the West Bank will prevent such attacks, we promise there are ways to remind them that attacks will return to the heart of Israel,” he said.
Summary - one month of calm
More than one month has passed since the calm agreement went into effect, with only sporadic violations by the terrorist organizations. Signs of normal life can be seen in towns on both sides of the Israel-Gaza Strip border. Several important issues have not yet been resolved.
(Based on IICC report July 27)
The lull in the fighting in the Gaza Strip became effective on June 19, 2008, at 06:00. The core elements of the lull arrangement are the cessation of terrorism from the Gaza Strip, the cessation of IDF counter-activities in the Gaza Strip, and the opening of the crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The ceasefire along the Israeli-Gaza Strip border was also supposed to re-launch the Egyptian-brokered negotiations on the release of Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit (as demanded by Israel) and promote dialogue on opening the Rafah Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt (as demanded by Hamas).
The lull in the fighting is valid for six months and only in the Gaza Strip (during that time, Egypt will attempt to extend it to Judea and Samaria as well).
During its first month, the lull arrangement resulted in a significant drop in rocket and mortar fire at Israel. A relative calm has settled over Sderot and Israeli population centers near the Gaza Strip, occasionally broken by rockets and mortar bombs fired by terrorist organizations which oppose the lull (mostly local Fatah networks, with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad violating the lull only on one occasion).
Rocket and mortar fire during the lull compared to the months preceding it
The cessation of the intensive fighting which had been going on before the lull has allowed the residents of Sderot and of western Negev population centers, as well as Gaza Strip residents, to return to normal life. However, they are still plagued with uncertainties and concerns about their future. The prevailing sentiment is that the calm is only temporary. Some Negev residents say that they are still haunted by the threat.
Israel adopted a response policy of closing the crossings for short periods of time (from several hours to two days) after each violation of the calm by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. However, since Israel is interested in maintaining calm in the western Negev, it has so far avoided military retaliation for violations of the lull.
As one example of a violation of the calm agreement, on June 24 (five days after the arrangement became effective), a PIJ squad fired three rockets on Sderot in response to the killing of one of its senior operatives in Nablus. It should be mentioned that the lull does not apply in Judea and Samaria, where terrorist activities by the various organizations continue (and have even increased), as do Israel’s counter-activities. Hamas, which committed itself to the lull arrangement, consistently congratulates the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria.
Publicly, Hamas leaders have stated time and again that the lull is a Palestinian national interest. On several occasions, Hamas members have arrested Fatah operatives who were involved in firing at Israel and confiscated their arms. However, Hamas carefully avoids military confrontations with the other organizations, particularly the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). It does not want to be perceived as collaborating with Israel and compromising the “resistance” (which remains one of the key values in its ideology).
Military buildup
Weapons and ammunition continue to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip on a similar scale to the pre-lull times, despite an improvement in Egyptian activity against the smugglers. Furthermore, Hamas has significantly accelerated its training activity and its military buildup, publicly announcing it on Palestinian and Arab media.
The crossings
Opening the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which are a vital supply line for the Gaza Strip, was and still is one of the major incentives for which Hamas agreed to the lull arrangement. In Hamas’s view, keeping the crossings open for extended periods of time will ease the social and political pressure exerted on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas takeover, and will even help reinforce its internal and external political status.
Since the calm agreement went into effect, the number of trucks passing through Sufa and Karni crossings has increased and is approximately what it was before April 19, 2008 (when Kerem Shalom crossing was attacked and, as a result, closed, and traffic through the other crossings was reduced). Recently, in addition to food, medicines and fuel, Israel has also been transferring construction materials such as cement and steel.
No progress on two key issues: release of Gilad Shalit – Israeli interest, Hamas is delaying; opening Rafah crossing – Hamas interest, Egyptians are delaying.
Rafah crossing issue
Hamas places much significance on opening the Rafah Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in order to lessen its dependence on Israel. During the talks on the lull arrangement, Hamas demanded that the Rafah Crossing be opened as soon as the arrangement became effective, and publicly portrayed the opening of the crossing as one of the main reasons it agreed to the lull. The ceasefire, according to the lull arrangement, was supposed to initiate a round of talks on regulating the crossing, which have yet to begin.
Egypt, on its part, made it clear that the Rafah Crossing would not be opened unless it was in accordance with the November 2005 crossings arrangement, which stipulates that the Europeans, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel would all be involved in operating the crossing. Hamas, however, refuses to let Israel take part in regulating traffic through the Rafah Crossing.
Gilad Shalit
In Israel’s view, resuming intensive talks (brokered by Egypt) on the release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is part of the lull arrangement. Hamas leaders, on the other hand, claim time and again that the issue of Gilad Shalit is completely separate, having to do only with Israel ’s willingness to comply with Hamas’s demands to release Palestinian prisoners. In the meantime, negotiations have not resumed.
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