(Israel mulls over a truce in Gaza and grants a short cease-fire to deliver humanitarian supplies)
As usual, when Israel responds to repeated attacks by militant Palestinian groups, it finds itself censured by much of the world because of civilian casualties. Let’s be absolutely clear on one thing: the injuries and deaths of non-combatants, such as are now happening in Gaza, are neither accidental nor are they intended by Israel. They are a deliberate element of the strategy of fanatical groups like Hamas.
The latest incident that provoked world outcry was the Israeli shelling of a U.N. school, where not only children, but other refugees had fled for shelter. When Israeli troops fired mortar rounds into and around the school compound, it was because they themselves had just come under mortar fire from within the school grounds. There is a word for soldiers who are attacked and do not respond – “dead”.
Palestinian witnesses later confirmed seeing several Hamas militants fire mortars at the Israelis, then quickly blend in with the civilian crowd. If the intent is not obvious to you, I see no point in spelling it out further. And the incident is far from unique. These are the acts of violent, bloodthirsty, utterly unscrupulous men, who care for their own civilians as much as they do about the peaceable residents of southern Israel, whom they’ve been bombarding with rocket fire for months. No country on earth would stand for such attacks on its citizenry. Yet when Israel finally stirs itself and fulfills the warnings it has issued for some time, the “civilized” world rushes to its condemnation. The Israelis truly are between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
This day, nearly two weeks into the Gaza offensive, will see, at a minimum, a three hour cease-fire while humanitarian supplies and fuel are delivered. And it may see more than that. Israel’s Defense, Prime and Foreign ministers reportedly are deciding whether to accept a truce proposal put forward by France and Egypt, or whether to widen and intensify military operations in Gaza.
Egypt proposes an immediate cease-fire, both to allow more aid to reach beleaguered Gazans and a meeting between the two sides. The Egyptian proposal says nothing about that country clamping down on arms smuggling. The border between Egypt and Gaza is the prime, but almost certainly not the only, site of entry for the rockets and mortars Hamas has been firing indiscriminately into civilian areas of Israel. An end to that smuggling is one of Israel’s demands, along with a halt to Hamas attacks.
As to Israel sitting down with Hamas leaders, what’s the point? Hamas is fully committed to the destruction of Israel and does not recognize the Jewish State’s right to exist. What does a diplomat say to that? The French Foreign Minister calls the truce proposal a “small hope.” He is probably right. Even as the Israeli offensive has progressed from air and naval strikes to a ground operation, Hamas has continued firing rockets into southern Israel; several of them larger and penetrating farther than ever before. That last fact played into Israel’s decision to act.
A third option, one I mention on my own although I’m certain it has occurred to the Israeli leadership, is to cease military operations but flood Gaza with Mossad Intelligence operatives and other “special ops” undercover personnel to start taking out Hamas militants one by one, paying special attention to destroying its leadership. Yes, I am proposing assassination on a large scale. You can see the alternative. I would not object if U.S. “Delta Force” covert combat troops helped out. But I am quite sure the liberals who virtually control Congress would squelch the idea.
Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon, with whom Israel went to war twice in the last 25 years, act as the die-hard roadblocks to any lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace. Progress has been made in the West Bank, where the more moderate Palestinian group Fatah holds sway. Fatah and its President, Mahmoud Abbas, at least are recognized by the international community. No doubt the militants who remain in the West Bank have made the most of Israel’s defensive attack on Gaza. That cannot be avoided.
The Israelis are in a position to which they are all too accustomed: do nothing while its citizens are attacked by Hamas, or go in and clean out the militants, incurring inevitable civilian casualties in the process. They literally are between Scylla and Charybdis.
Between Scylla and Charybdis
(Israel mulls over a truce in Gaza and grants a short cease-fire to deliver humanitarian supplies)
As usual, when Israel responds to repeated attacks by militant Palestinian groups, it finds itself censured by much of the world because of civilian casualties. Let’s be absolutely clear on one thing: the injuries and deaths of non-combatants, such as are now happening in Gaza, are neither accidental nor are they intended by Israel. They are a deliberate element of the strategy of fanatical groups like Hamas.
The latest incident that provoked world outcry was the Israeli shelling of a U.N. school, where not only children, but other refugees had fled for shelter. When Israeli troops fired mortar rounds into and around the school compound, it was because they themselves had just come under mortar fire from within the school grounds. There is a word for soldiers who are attacked and do not respond – “dead”.
Palestinian witnesses later confirmed seeing several Hamas militants fire mortars at the Israelis, then quickly blend in with the civilian crowd. If the intent is not obvious to you, I see no point in spelling it out further. And the incident is far from unique. These are the acts of violent, bloodthirsty, utterly unscrupulous men, who care for their own civilians as much as they do about the peaceable residents of southern Israel, whom they’ve been bombarding with rocket fire for months. No country on earth would stand for such attacks on its citizenry. Yet when Israel finally stirs itself and fulfills the warnings it has issued for some time, the “civilized” world rushes to its condemnation. The Israelis truly are between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
This day, nearly two weeks into the Gaza offensive, will see, at a minimum, a three hour cease-fire while humanitarian supplies and fuel are delivered. And it may see more than that. Israel’s Defense, Prime and Foreign ministers reportedly are deciding whether to accept a truce proposal put forward by France and Egypt, or whether to widen and intensify military operations in Gaza.
Egypt proposes an immediate cease-fire, both to allow more aid to reach beleaguered Gazans and a meeting between the two sides. The Egyptian proposal says nothing about that country clamping down on arms smuggling. The border between Egypt and Gaza is the prime, but almost certainly not the only, site of entry for the rockets and mortars Hamas has been firing indiscriminately into civilian areas of Israel. An end to that smuggling is one of Israel’s demands, along with a halt to Hamas attacks.
As to Israel sitting down with Hamas leaders, what’s the point? Hamas is fully committed to the destruction of Israel and does not recognize the Jewish State’s right to exist. What does a diplomat say to that? The French Foreign Minister calls the truce proposal a “small hope.” He is probably right. Even as the Israeli offensive has progressed from air and naval strikes to a ground operation, Hamas has continued firing rockets into southern Israel; several of them larger and penetrating farther than ever before. That last fact played into Israel’s decision to act.
A third option, one I mention on my own although I’m certain it has occurred to the Israeli leadership, is to cease military operations but flood Gaza with Mossad Intelligence operatives and other “special ops” undercover personnel to start taking out Hamas militants one by one, paying special attention to destroying its leadership. Yes, I am proposing assassination on a large scale. You can see the alternative. I would not object if U.S. “Delta Force” covert combat troops helped out. But I am quite sure the liberals who virtually control Congress would squelch the idea.
Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon, with whom Israel went to war twice in the last 25 years, act as the die-hard roadblocks to any lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace. Progress has been made in the West Bank, where the more moderate Palestinian group Fatah holds sway. Fatah and its President, Mahmoud Abbas, at least are recognized by the international community. No doubt the militants who remain in the West Bank have made the most of Israel’s defensive attack on Gaza. That cannot be avoided.
The Israelis are in a position to which they are all too accustomed: do nothing while its citizens are attacked by Hamas, or go in and clean out the militants, incurring inevitable civilian casualties in the process. They literally are between Scylla and Charybdis.
This entry was posted on January 7, 2009 at 10:59 am 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.