The Latest on Gaza
Joshua Pundit on Jan 06 2009 at 12:51 pm | Filed under: Gaza, Hamas, Israel
Things are rapidly moving to a head in Gaza, as the IDF and Hamas are involved in heavy street battles in Gaza City itself.
The main action is taking place along the Hamas bunkers in the north east section of the city, and consisted of a fanatical counterattack by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.
They suffered heavy losses as the IDF backed by artillery and helicopter gunships forced them to retreat,but not before three Israeli soldiers from the Golani Brigade were killed by friendly fire from an Israeli tank shell that hit a building they were hunkered down inside at Tel al Shakef at the eastern edge of the Tofah district of Gaza City.
It was this incident which Hamas tried to take advantage of by storming the Israeli positions…not the smartest idea they’ve ever had. Hamas is admitting to at least 85casualties in this battle…which means more like 125-150.Apparently they do better against unarmed woman and kids in Israel.
Speaking of children,Hamas Foreign minister and >bagmanMahmoud al-Zohar crawled out of the woodwork to directly threaten threaten Israel’s children, a clear signal that if there’s another so-called ceasefire, Hamas will target non-combatants in Israel and Jews overseas again with homicide bombers.
As far as I’m concerned,that’s a pretty good reason for not leaving one of the Hamas fighters or officials alive to walk the earth…at a minimum.
The usual suspects are calling for a ceasefire. The Europeans are distraught that their favorite terrorists might be marginalized and along with the UN are screaming for an unconditional ceasefire.The French and President Sarkozy are the most obnoxious, followed closely by the British. Both countries are having problems with their Muslims and want quiet at any price, and it’s difficult to put into words my feelings about this craven, despicable behavior.
They were certainly quiet enough when Israelis were being maimed and killed by Hamas in the south of Israel.
Reportedly, Israeli PM Olmert is supposed to have told Sarko, “We cannot accept a compromise that will allow Hamas to fire against Israeli towns in two months’ time.” Given that it’s Olmert, I doubt it,but that’s what’s being reported.
Hamas continues to fire rockets into southern Israel, launching about 40 of its home-made Qassam rockets and some of the longer range and more powerful Grad missiles they got from Iran. They hit Beersheba again, about 25 miles from Gaza. The IDF has taken out the launch pads in the former Jewish communities in the northeastern area of the Strip, so Hamas is now launching its missiles from inside Gaza City.
Hamas is playing for time and figures that will work for them in various ways. First, they want to gain maximum leverage for the best ceasefire they can obtain. Two Hamas officials, Muhammad Nasser and Imad al-Alami, Hamas chief operations officer, have arrived in Cairo from Damascus and Beirut to work on exactly that.
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