Monday, 29 December 2008

APPEASEMENT BREEDS VIOLENCE AND TERRORSISM
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SLIDESHOW: Cast Lead, Day III

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Monday, December 29, 2008
WorldNetDaily Exclusive
Media parrot Hamas on casualty numbers
Gaza terrorists have long history of inflating total killed, wounded
Posted: December 27, 2008
6:00 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily
JAFFA, Israel – The U.S. and international news media have largely accepted as fact Hamas-provided casualty counts following a series of Israeli surgical strikes today in the Gaza Strip, despite Hamas' and the Palestinian Authority's long and sordid histories of greatly inflating casualty figures.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told WND, "The Hamas government in Gaza has instituted a Taliban-like regime and has systematically destroyed independent civil society, which makes it pretty difficult for there to be independent verification of these numbers."
Regev continued, "One must keep in mind Hamas has a major propaganda interest in highlighting civilian casualties while at the same time minimizing the number of Hamas combatants killed."
Still, the news media today reported as fact that at least 205 people had been killed in the Israeli strikes, which targeted dozens of Hamas buildings in a purported Israeli bid to clamp down on repeated rocket attacks launched from Gaza and aimed at nearby Jewish cities.
Most news reports failed to mention the casualty numbers were provided by Hamas, which claimed only 3 of the casualties were actual Hamas military leaders.
"Israeli air strikes killed more than 200 people in Gaza," reported a widely-circulated Reuters article.
"Egypt condemned as 'murder' Israel's Saturday air raids on Gaza that killed at least 205 Palestinians," reported the AFP. Similar statements were parroted in over 4,500 English language reports today.
With somber music playing in the background, both CNN and the BBC have been airing continuous loops of what the networks claimed were Palestinian civilian casualties being rushed into a local hospital. Both networks aired the same footage, provided to them by Al Jazeera, which is openly sided with Hamas.
"Does hitting so-called Hamas institutions mean over 200 civilians killed?" Regev was twice asked today by a BBC anchor during an interview.
(Story continues below)
CNN interviewed a man identified as a Gaza-based doctor who claimed two-thirds of the "over 200 casualties" were women and children. The network also featured – without challenge – a man identified as a Gaza-based human rights activist, who accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians and perpetuating a "massacre" in Gaza.
Neither CNN nor the BBC have thus far featured any footage today of the southern Israeli towns that have been battered by Palestinian rocket fire in recent days, killing one Israeli.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, claimed his group's casualty counts were minimized.
"We're talking about much more than 200. Every minute we get more information on more civilians killed," Barhoum told WND, speaking by cell phone from Gaza.
"We call on the international community to condemn this Israeli massacre and hold Israel back from more war crimes," he said.
The IDF tonight released a list of some of the targets hit: a Hamas headquarters and training camp in Tel Zatar; a "Palestinian Prisoner Tower" in Gaza City that was turned into a Hamas operations center and armory; a Hamas police academy, which Hamas claims was bombed during a graduation ceremony, killing 70-80 Hamas operatives; training camps in southern and central Gaza; the former office of late Palestinian Yasser Arafat in Gaza City that is now used by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh; and the Izzadin Kassam Brigades headquarters in the northern Gaza Strip.
Hamas and the PA have been caught many times inflating casualty counts. In June, 2006, Hamas claimed the Israel Defense Forces killed over 20 sunbathers on a Gaza beach, but it was later determined seven were killed, and the cause of the explosion was not the IDF but a Hamas explosives booby trap intended for Israeli naval forces.
Following a 2002 Israeli antiterror raid in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, Hamas and the PA claimed hundreds of Palestinian civilians were murdered. Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat claimed on CNN that "more than 500 people" were killed. He repeated the charge on CNN a day later, adding that 300 Palestinians were being buried in mass graves.
It was later determined 54 Palestinians were killed, mostly terrorists, while the IDF lost 23 troops it engaged in house-to-house combat – instead of massive air raids – in order to limit civilian casualties.
Israel claimed Hamas routinely labels as civilians its gunmen killed in Israeli anti-terror attacks.
In today's air strikes, the IDF maintains it tried to minimize casualties. An IDF statement said its military strikes were predicated on precise intelligence amassed in recent months to target specific Hamas facilities.
Olmert's office released a statement explaining the attacks were launched, "following the violation of the terms of the truce by Hamas and the unceasing attacks by Hamas authorities on Israeli civilians in the south of the country."
The U.S. for its part squarely blamed Hamas for the Gaza violence.
"The United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.
"The ceasefire should be restored immediately," Rice said. "The United States calls on all concerned to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the innocent people of Gaza."
Today's strikes come after Hamas refused to renew a six-month truce with Israel that expired last week unless Israel met a series of conditions, including opening the country's borders with Gaza and expanding the truce to the Fatah-controlled West Bank. In a show of force, Hamas in recent days launched hundreds of rockets from Gaza into nearby Jewish cities, including Ashkelon, which houses a power plant that provides the Gaza Strip with 75 percent of its electricity.
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The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

IAF uses new US-supplied smart bomb

Dec. 29, 2008
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST  
The GBU-39 (illustrative). The GBU-39 (illustrative).

The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday.
The missile, called GBU-39, was developed in recent years by the US as a small-diameter bomb for low-cost, high-precision and low collateral damage strikes.
Israel received approval from Congress to purchase 1,000 units in September and defense officials said on Sunday that the first shipment had arrived earlier this month and was used successfully in penetrating underground Kassam launchers in the Gaza Strip during the heavy aerial bombardment of Hamas infrastructure on Saturday. It was also used in Sunday's bombing of tunnels in Rafah.
The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world. The 113-kg. bomb has the same penetration capabilities as a normal 900-kg. bomb, although it has only 22.7 kg. of explosives. At just 1.75 meters long, its small size increases the number of bombs an aircraft can carry and the number of targets it can attack in a sortie.
Tests conducted in the US have proven that the bomb is capable of penetrating at least 90 cm. of steel-reinforced concrete. The GBU-39 can be used in adverse weather conditions and has a standoff range of more than 110 km. due to pop-out wings.
Also Sunday, Military Intelligence's Psychological Warfare Department broke into radio broadcasts in Gaza and warned Palestinian civilians not to cooperate with Hamas terrorist activity.
Palestinians reported that they received phone calls to their cellular phones and landlines from the IDF. The phone call, the Palestinians said, conveyed a recorded message ordering the immediate evacuation of homes that were next to Hamas infrastructure or being used by the terrorist organization.
On Sunday, head of the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration Col. Moshe Levy was interviewed by several Arab news outlets during which he stressed that Israel was not against the Palestinian public in Gaza but was operating against Hamas.
Defense officials said Sunday that Israel would, however, not hesitate to target the homes of civilians who protected Hamas terrorists throughout the operation.
"We will go after every Hamas operative, no matter where he is," one official said. "We urge the Palestinians not to cooperate with terrorists."
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456505080&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
An explosion is seen...
An explosion is seen following an IAF missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday.
The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

'Hamas chief of staff may be dead'

Dec. 29, 2008
YAAKOV KATZ and KHALED ABU TOAMEH , THE JERUSALEM POST
 
slideshow: Cast Lead, day II
Conflicting reports emerged Sunday regarding the fate of top Hamas military commander Ahmed Ja'abri, who may have been killed in one of the hundreds of Israeli air strikes against Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
Since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday, the air force has flown over 300 sorties over the Strip, bombing close to 280 different targets. Palestinian and Israeli sources said that Ja'abri, the overall commander of Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, may have been killed in an air strike on a mosque which he frequented.
Sources close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip said they could neither confirm nor deny the report. They said that the bodies of many of the victims had yet to be identified and that several bodies were still under the rubbles of demolished buildings.
Defense officials said that at least 50 percent of Hamas's underground rocket launchers had been bombed during the air campaign, as well as a significant number of weapons warehouses. In addition, almost all of the Hamas bases and headquarters in the Gaza Strip were completely destroyed.
On Sunday, IAF aircraft bombed a top Hamas security installation, a mosque, a TV station and dozens of other targets.
But despite the bombings and the relatively low number of Kassam rockets fired into Israel throughout the day - some 30 in comparison to the earlier predictions of over 100 - senior officials said that Hamas was still capable of firing barrages of rockets into Israel.
"Hamas's operational capabilities were damaged, but the group still has underground launchers as well as the capability to launch attacks along the security fence and into Israel," said one official.
Officials said that Hamas was believed to still have thousands of Kassam rockets as well as a significant number of Grad-model Katyushas. Top officers would not rule out the possibility that Hamas may also have rockets with ranges greater that 40 kilometers. Hamas is also believed to have advanced anti-tank missiles as well as a number of shoulder-to-air missiles capable of downing Israeli aircraft.
The majority of the Palestinians killed in the IDF air raids that began Saturday were policemen and militiamen belonging to Izaddin Kassam, human rights activists and medical sources said Sunday.
They revealed that about 160 blue-uniformed policemen were killed in the first day of the operation. Most of the cadets were attending a graduation ceremony at the main police headquarters in Gaza City on Saturday. The IDF said that in total, over 280 Palestinians were killed, most of them Hamas operatives.
Among the victims: Tawkif Jaber, the director-general of the Hamas-run "civil" police force in the Gaza Strip, and Ismail Ja'bari, commander of one of Hamas's most-feared security forces. The two are the most senior Hamas officials who are known to have been killed since the beginning of the IDF operation.
A human rights activist estimated that so far at least 60 civilians had been killed, including nine children under the age of 14 and 20 women. Another human rights activist said he knew about "fewer than 45" civilian casualties.
By Sunday night, the Palestinians reported that about 300 people had been killed and 1000 wounded since the beginning of the operation.
Palestinian journalists in Gaza City said they were facing many difficulties in collecting information about the casualties because of restrictions imposed by Hamas and because many of the victims' relatives had buried the bodies quickly.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456505069&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
 
The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

'Hamas looking to change picture'

Dec. 28, 2008
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST
Israel delivered a heavy blow to Hamas Saturday and the organization's leadership was in shock, but looking for ways to surprise Israel and "change the picture," Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin told the cabinet at its weekly meeting Sunday.
"Hamas has not yet responded, and may even try to surprise us," Diskin said. He said the organization viewed Saturday's attacks as the"first blow," but was now looking for courses of action that would change the situation.
Diskin was among the top security officials who briefed the cabinet Sunday, including Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The purpose of the meeting was to hear briefings on the situation, and not to debate the goals of the operation, one government official said. That discussion, which lasted four hours, was held last Wednesday in the Security Cabinet, where the military operation was approved.
Diskin, who is mandated with having his finger on the pulse of the mood in the territories, said that a not unsubstantial part of the Palestinian population understood that the operation was against Hamas, which had inflicted great suffering on them, as well. He did not say upon what this assessment was based.
The cabinet was also told that Israel had knocked out an estimated 50 percent of Hamas's underground rocket launching capacity on Saturday, but that the organization still retained a significant arsenal of short-and long-range missiles.
One cabinet official said that Hamas had not turned to Israel to negotiate a cease-fire and that no international player had contacted Israel in an attempt to mediate.
According to Ashkenazi, Israel had expected that Hamas would fire a volley of rockets into Israel after the first wave of air strikes, and therefore 15 minutes after the initial strike Israel knocked out the missile launchers located in underground pits throughout the Strip. Nevertheless, the cabinet was told that Hamas still retained thousands of missiles.
Ashkenazi said that most of the Palestinians' 230-250 casualties on Saturday were uniformed, armed Hamas personnel. Ashkenazi said the IDF would continue with the operation for as long as necessary, and would call up additional reservists in the coming day.
In light of that, the cabinet approved the Defense Ministry's request to call up 4,500 reserve troops, in addition to the 2,000 mobilized on Saturday. The additional troops were to be allocated to the home front as well as to reinforce ground forces.
The cabinet also approved a continued "special situation" in the Gaza periphery, a situation that went into effect Saturday and is expected to continue until March 31, 2009. This status enables the Home Front Command to instruct local authorities to close down factories, keep people in their homes and other emergency regulations.
In addition, ministers okayed the initiation of Melah (Economy in Time of Emergency) in the Gaza periphery, a plan that would mobilize civilians, along with government and security service infrastructure, to help in times of crisis.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet that "the patience, determination and stamina of the residents of the home front will, in the end, determine the ability of our military, security, civilian and diplomatic frameworks to function in order to complete the mission that we think must be attained."
Olmert said the government had launched the operation "to restore normal life and quiet to residents of the South who - for many years - have suffered from unceasing rocket and mortar fire and terrorism designed to disrupt their lives and prevent them from enjoying a normal, relaxed and quiet life, as citizens of any country are entitled to."
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456494238&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

Tanks Deployed at Gaza Barrier; Barak: War to the Death

Tevet 2, 5769, 29 December 08 01:37
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(IsraelNN.com) The IDF positioned hundreds of tanks along the Gaza separation barrier Monday as the Air Force resumed aerial attacks on terrorist targets throughout Gaza. Israeli gunboats fired several missiles towards the Gaza coast. Arab sources said that several people were killed or wounded, including several terrorists who were hiding in mosques.
The IDF also declared the area near Gaza Belt communities a closed military zone, leading to speculation that a ground invasion is near. Israel ordered journalists out of areas abutting the Gaza Strip border on Monday, citing the risk of terrorist rocket fire, but the move also keeps the media from reporting on troop movements.
The IDF issued emergency "Tzav 8" orders to 7,000 reservists to be prepared for an immediate call-up. The government and military have tried to refrain from a ground invasion into Gaza, which is booby-trapped with hundreds of Hizbullah-like underground bunkers that foiled the IDF in the Second Lebanon War two years ago.
Shmuel Bar, director of studies at the Institute for Policy and Planning at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, told Bloomberg News, "It is clear to everyone that there is no way to end this without some sort of ground offensive."
Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Brigadier-General Dan Harel said, "We are hitting not only terrorists and launchers, but also the whole Hamas government and all its wings. We are just at the beginning of the battle, this will not be hasty. The worst is not behind us – it is still ahead of us."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated,"This operation will expand and deepen as much as needed. We went to war to deal a heavy blow to Hamas, to change the situation in the south."
He told a special Knesset meeting Monday, "We have nothing against the people of Gaza, but we are in a war to the death with Hamas. We are engaged in an all-out war against Hamas and its proxies."
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has asked Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik (Kadima) to cancel the meeting, saying it was ill-timed. He did not attend.
Israel is continuing counterterrorist operations as Hamas escalated rocket attacks on Israel on Monday. A Bedouin construction worker was killed and several others were wounded in a Grad Katyusha attack on Ashkelon.
 
More than 40 rockets exploded in Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot and the Eshkol region Monday, sending more than two dozen people to the hospital for treatment for shock. Damage was extensive in Sderot, where one rocket hit in the center of town while another struck next to a house.
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