Saturday, December 27, 2008
Events are taking their course (previous: Unnatural Events in Gaza).
Dave in Israel is live-blogging.
The Flea notes an incongruous headline (And we need to care what these people think. It doesn't matter what you do, they make up their own "narrative.")
Some JPost headlines:
IDF amasses forces near Gaza ahead of possible ground op.
Mashaal: We still want cease-fire (He should have stopped firing before.)
'All police HQs in Gaza destroyed'
One killed as Kassams rain on Negev
World leaders call for halt to violence (Egypt is blaming Hamas! (Good.) Sarkozy is disappointing.)
Israeli Arabs foment over IAF Gaza op (Sic. Riot is the word.)
Peres: Israel will not invade Gaza (He may not be in the loop.)
YNet: Barak: It won't be easy, it won't be short
Haaretz: Palestinians: At least 205 dead, over 200 hurt in IAF Gaza strikes
Olmert: Our desire for quiet was met with terror
What they're reacting to (note the urban setting):
Photo from the Israeli MFA, as is the following:
Israeli citizens have been under the threat of daily attack from Gaza for years.
Only this week - hundreds of missiles and mortars shells were fired at Israeli civilian communities including the firing of 80 missiles on a single day.
Until now we have shown restraint. But today there is no other option than a military operation.
We need to protect our citizens from attack through a military response against the terror infrastructure in Gaza.
This is the translation of our basic right to self sefense.
Israel left Gaza in order to create an opportunity for peace.
In return, the Hamas terror organization took control of Gaza and is using its citizens as cover while it deliberately targets Israeli communities and denies any chance for peace.
We have tried everything to reach calm without using force. We agreed to a truce through Egypt that was violated by Hamas, which continued to target Israel, hold Gilad Shalit and build up its arms.
Israel continues to act to prevent humanitarian crisis and to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.
Unfortunately, Hamas cynically abuses its own civilian population and their suffering for propaganda purposes. The responsibility for harm to civilians lies with Hamas.
Hamas is a terrorist organization, supported by Iran, that does not represent the legitimate national interests of the Palestinian people but a radical Islamist agenda that seeks to deny peace for the peoples of this region.
While confronting Hamas, Israel continues to believe in the two State solution and remains committed to negotiations with the legitimate Palestinian Authority in the context of the peace process, launched at Annapolis.
Israel expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co existence to determine the agenda of this region.
Updates: (Repeated from the post above.)
Courtesy of Richard Landes, here is video showing an Israeli Air Force missile strike against an underground Gaza missile launcher. The missile, already prepped for launch, misfires.
I'm trying to find out if it's the same as this incident.
Meryl has some good posts: Lessons learned: Israel's PR blitz
How Israel fooled Hamas
Gaza casualty rate: 94% terrorists, so far
Mere Rhetoric: Hamas Prepares 15,000 Soldiers, Civilian Human Shields For Full Confrontation With Israel
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> Israel expects the support and understanding
> of the international community
Yes ... well, that will only happen when Israelis die. The world prefers memorializing dead Jews to defending living ones.
Sarkozy said that Israel's response was diproportionate. What would be a proportionate response? Send a couple of thousand unguided missiles into Gaza?
The PLO charter calls for the dismemberment of the Jewsih state. The Hamas charter is even more blunt.
Hamas plays war & the Arabs are crying b/c Israel is also finally playing and Arabs are dying. We've been here before. The Arabs will lie about what is happening on the ground, inflate civilian casualties & the media will repeat the lies b/c they know their journalists will become targets of the Arabs
The EU & Russia must really fear Israeli success as they are already telling Israel to stop. They want Israel to use just enough force as to fail.