(Israel’s ground assault on Gaza moves into the cities)
Urban warfare – the most deadly and feared form of combat. Every building and rooftop or doorway a hiding place for snipers; every car or object on the road or sidewalk a potential bomb, every seemingly innocent civilian a possible walking explosive. This is what now faces the thousands of Israeli troops who, a few days ago, entered Gaza, after militant members of Hamas refused to stop firing rockets into civilian areas of Israel next door, even during eight days of intensive air and naval strikes. Those last can soften hard targets, take out communications and missile sites and other useful objectives, but as they say in the military, it takes boots on the ground to secure a hostile region. And soldiers wearing Israeli boots, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, now have cut Gaza into three pieces, dividing strategic areas, as they begin the assault on Gaza city.
Even as last week’s strikes from air and sea and this week’s ground offensives have been taking place, Hamas has continued lobbing rockets and mortar shells into Israel, deliberately targeting civilians. In fact, that is what the militants have been exhorted to do by their leaders. And this has been going on day after day, month after month, with the exception of a short, ill-respected truce, since Hamas took Gaza by force nearly two years ago. Israel, in my view, has shown tremendous forbearance – even while warning that its patience was not endless. Hamas is now receiving what it seems to have wanted all along – an Israeli offensive that, simply by virtue of how and where the Hamas fighters live, would mean civilian casualties. And reports of those, not necessarily reliable, have been pouring in from Palestinian sources, some speaking of more than 500 civilian dead.
As elsewhere in the Middle East, the Hamas fighters, estimated to be 20-thousand strong, do not live in barracks on military bases. They live at home with their wives and children, intermingled among the civilian population. They are concentrated mainly in Gaza City, which has a population of 400-thousand, and is interlaced with alleys, passageways and hiding places known only to Hamas and its sympathizers. Israel is faced with the task of moving yard by yard into this rabbit warren of death, trying to spare civilians but often unable to tell the difference. Reportedly, Israeli troops have secured three six-story buildings on the city’s outskirts, locking civilians in their apartments and taking away their cell phones. The grim, bloody operation is beginning in earnest. The alternative to block-by-block fighting is to completely seal off Gaza City, until the residents compel Hamas to relent. I wouldn’t hold my breath. Besides, the city is riddled with secret tunnels, including no doubt some that connect with the nearby port of Gaza – a prime arms-smuggling point.
The Associated Press and other news organizations inform us that world outrage is being directed at Israel because of civilian casualties. Where was all that outrage over the years that Hamas has been bombarding Israeli civilian areas? Diplomats of every stripe and from many nations are streaming into the region, looking for a way to stop the bloodshed. Israel, however, is firm in its demands: Hamas must cease its rockets attacks; there must be international supervision of any truce and a halt to the rearming of Hamas. For its part, Hamas demands Israel stop its offensive, withdraw its troops and open up the cargo crossings between Israel and Gaza, which of course would mean more weapons smuggling. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the offensive will continue until its demands are met and “peace and tranquility” secured for the residents of southern Israel.
Meantime, the Hamas leadership, especially strongman Mahmoud Zahar, make frequent announcements by loudspeaker, urging Gazans to resist the invasion and target Israeli civilians. The militants themselves – they hardly merit the sobriquet of “soldiers” – went into hiding as Israeli forces closed in. They will emerge to do as much damage as possible and fade away again, leaving the Israelis to carry out the bloody, unspeakably dangerous job of rooting them out. It is, sadly, an all-too-familiar scenario in Israel’s years of warfare with Palestinian extremists.
In Israel itself, tens of thousands of soldiers and reservists, backed by the appropriate hardware, have taken up positions to the North, to guard against attacks from Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, and along the West Bank, to thwart any move by Palestinian militants there. Hamas, shunned by most of the international community, must feel a certain satisfaction at being the chief thorn in the side of any Israeli-Palestinian comity, signs of which had been appearing in the West Bank, controlled by the more moderate Fatah party, whose head is recognized as President of the Palestinian Authority. It is a sad, regrettable situation.
To those who condemn Israel and consider their troops bloodthirsty killers of civilians, let me pose a question: what would you do if your next-door neighbor were in the habit of tossing explosives onto your property, into your home? You know the answer. You would have police SWAT teams, miniature versions of Israel’s military, on the scene post-haste to stop the attacks by whatever means necessary. Honestly, what’s the difference?
And So the Horror Begins
(Israel’s ground assault on Gaza moves into the cities)
Urban warfare – the most deadly and feared form of combat. Every building and rooftop or doorway a hiding place for snipers; every car or object on the road or sidewalk a potential bomb, every seemingly innocent civilian a possible walking explosive. This is what now faces the thousands of Israeli troops who, a few days ago, entered Gaza, after militant members of Hamas refused to stop firing rockets into civilian areas of Israel next door, even during eight days of intensive air and naval strikes. Those last can soften hard targets, take out communications and missile sites and other useful objectives, but as they say in the military, it takes boots on the ground to secure a hostile region. And soldiers wearing Israeli boots, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, now have cut Gaza into three pieces, dividing strategic areas, as they begin the assault on Gaza city.
Even as last week’s strikes from air and sea and this week’s ground offensives have been taking place, Hamas has continued lobbing rockets and mortar shells into Israel, deliberately targeting civilians. In fact, that is what the militants have been exhorted to do by their leaders. And this has been going on day after day, month after month, with the exception of a short, ill-respected truce, since Hamas took Gaza by force nearly two years ago. Israel, in my view, has shown tremendous forbearance – even while warning that its patience was not endless. Hamas is now receiving what it seems to have wanted all along – an Israeli offensive that, simply by virtue of how and where the Hamas fighters live, would mean civilian casualties. And reports of those, not necessarily reliable, have been pouring in from Palestinian sources, some speaking of more than 500 civilian dead.
As elsewhere in the Middle East, the Hamas fighters, estimated to be 20-thousand strong, do not live in barracks on military bases. They live at home with their wives and children, intermingled among the civilian population. They are concentrated mainly in Gaza City, which has a population of 400-thousand, and is interlaced with alleys, passageways and hiding places known only to Hamas and its sympathizers. Israel is faced with the task of moving yard by yard into this rabbit warren of death, trying to spare civilians but often unable to tell the difference. Reportedly, Israeli troops have secured three six-story buildings on the city’s outskirts, locking civilians in their apartments and taking away their cell phones. The grim, bloody operation is beginning in earnest. The alternative to block-by-block fighting is to completely seal off Gaza City, until the residents compel Hamas to relent. I wouldn’t hold my breath. Besides, the city is riddled with secret tunnels, including no doubt some that connect with the nearby port of Gaza – a prime arms-smuggling point.
The Associated Press and other news organizations inform us that world outrage is being directed at Israel because of civilian casualties. Where was all that outrage over the years that Hamas has been bombarding Israeli civilian areas? Diplomats of every stripe and from many nations are streaming into the region, looking for a way to stop the bloodshed. Israel, however, is firm in its demands: Hamas must cease its rockets attacks; there must be international supervision of any truce and a halt to the rearming of Hamas. For its part, Hamas demands Israel stop its offensive, withdraw its troops and open up the cargo crossings between Israel and Gaza, which of course would mean more weapons smuggling. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the offensive will continue until its demands are met and “peace and tranquility” secured for the residents of southern Israel.
Meantime, the Hamas leadership, especially strongman Mahmoud Zahar, make frequent announcements by loudspeaker, urging Gazans to resist the invasion and target Israeli civilians. The militants themselves – they hardly merit the sobriquet of “soldiers” – went into hiding as Israeli forces closed in. They will emerge to do as much damage as possible and fade away again, leaving the Israelis to carry out the bloody, unspeakably dangerous job of rooting them out. It is, sadly, an all-too-familiar scenario in Israel’s years of warfare with Palestinian extremists.
In Israel itself, tens of thousands of soldiers and reservists, backed by the appropriate hardware, have taken up positions to the North, to guard against attacks from Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, and along the West Bank, to thwart any move by Palestinian militants there. Hamas, shunned by most of the international community, must feel a certain satisfaction at being the chief thorn in the side of any Israeli-Palestinian comity, signs of which had been appearing in the West Bank, controlled by the more moderate Fatah party, whose head is recognized as President of the Palestinian Authority. It is a sad, regrettable situation.
To those who condemn Israel and consider their troops bloodthirsty killers of civilians, let me pose a question: what would you do if your next-door neighbor were in the habit of tossing explosives onto your property, into your home? You know the answer. You would have police SWAT teams, miniature versions of Israel’s military, on the scene post-haste to stop the attacks by whatever means necessary. Honestly, what’s the difference?
This entry was posted on January 5, 2009 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Conservative Commentry. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.