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Ynet's Roni Sofer reports that Israel's prime minister Olmert and the cabinet may consider supporting a ceasefire treaty with international forces deployed in the Gaza Strip, ostensibly to police and prevent Hamas' rearmament and return to terror.

IMRA's Aaron Lerner notes:

There is a fairly straightforward explanation for PM Olmert’s interest in an international force: The Olmert-Livni team adamantly claims that the Second Lebanon War was a fantastic success because it concluded with the introduction of the grossly ineffective international force… They thus see their reputations tied to the validity of using international forces.

Based on Israel's unfortunate history with international "peacekeeping" forces in Sinai, Lebanon, Gaza and Hebron, such a force will at best do nothing to prevent terror or even war against Israel, and at worst will actively protect the terrorists. If such a force is brought into Gaza now to separate the two sides, Israel will be in a worse position than before, regardless of how many Hamas buildings and missiles are destroyed.

After having divided Gaza in two, IDF ground forces have started the 'root canal' treatment of Operation Cast Lead. That means conducting search-and-destroy operations aimed at eliminating rockets, launchers and terrorists in Gaza.

The IDF struck numerous targets in Gaza on Sunday night including an anti-aircraft battery and several smuggling tunnels.

On Monday morning, Hamas launched 18 rockets against Israeli towns and population centers and another 30 rockets in the afternoon, including a Grad rocket which hit an empty Ashdod kindergarten.

Ynet's Hanan Greenberg outlines the 'Root Canal' phase of Gaza operations:

Some 40 soldiers were wounded in clashes, and over 50 Palestinian gunmen were killed in the first day of the fighting, according to the Israeli army.

The Israel Air Force struck some 30 targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night...

Since entering the Strip, tanks and armored vehicles have been moving towards their pre-set destinations. According to the IDF, the forces are now facing their main mission – to conduct a 'root canal' treatment on the terror infrastructure in Gaza, and to search and destroy rocket launching pads and terrorists...

Decline in Rocket Fire

Defense establishment officials estimated Sunday that the ground incursion has led to a reduction of long-range rocket fire into Israel, and added that should the operation continue as planned, rocket fire at Ashdod, Netivot, Beersheba and Ofakim would be substantially reduced soon.

However, they stressed that Hamas was still capable of targeting these towns.

On Sunday's cabinet meeting, the ministers were informed that 220 of the 300 rockets fired on Israel's south in the last week – 73% - were launched from areas that have been seized by the army in the last 24 hours.

This fact, coupled with the shutting down of a great number of the tunnels used for smuggling weapons and the heavy damages inflicted on Hamas' arms storages, workshops and rocket production facilities, has contributed to the decrease in rocket fire on Israel.

However, security officials believe that the terror group still posses a great number of short-range rockets. It is also possible that Hamas has reduced rocket fire for tactical reasons and will resume the attacks at a later stage of the fighting...

Another objective of the forces is to arrest Hamas operatives in Gaza and bring them for questioning in Israel. This is aimed to serve two purposes: Obtaining new intelligence from the detainees that could be used by the forces on the ground; and using the captives as bargaining chips in future negotiations...

Meanwhile, the transferring of humanitarian aid into the Strip is expected to be renewed Monday after being halted during the first day of the ground operation.

Note that last line: While Israel is conducting the 'root canal' treatment of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza with one hand it is still feeding the Gazans with the other.

At an anti-Israel protest yesterday in Anaheim, California, open support for jihad from a woman in disguise:

“Peaceful inner struggle,” anyone?

UPDATE at 1/5/09 12:02:14 pm:

Here are more photos of the demonstration, at which protesters carried signs with swastikas, wore T-shirts with pictures of Yasser Arafat, and exhibited a quilt with the slogan “One Global Family:” demonstration anaheim photos - Daylife.

We should not forget that every television image and every news photograph coming out of Gaza right now is filtered through Hamas. The photographers filing pictures for Reuters, Associated Press, and Agence France Presse are all Palestinians, and all propagandists for Hamas—or they wouldn’t be allowed to take pictures in Gaza.

With that in mind, here’s yet another example of news photographs staged for propaganda purposes by terrorists and their allies: CAMERA Snapshots: Green Helmet’s Successor?

UPDATE at 1/5/09 11:06:16 am:

Israellycool has another example: the same injured child being paraded around by two different men.

Here are the two images at Daylife.com:

A Palestinian father carries his wounded baby daughter into a hospital in Gaza City...

A Palestinian carries a child into the Shifa hospital in Gaza City...

In Britain’s most disgusting newspaper: an obituary for a genocidal mass murderer.

A big, bearded man, usually surrounded by balaclava-clad fighters, he was hated by Israelis. Yet on the streets of Gaza, where economic and social misery has boosted Hamas’s reputation during the past five years, he was something of a hero. He was famed for fighting alongside his men and being seen with them publicly. And he was not merely a fighter. He was highly regarded as an Islamic academic.

Retch.

Israeli ground forces finally attacked Gaza Saturday night, as Hamas rocket attacks against Israel continued.

After a week of heavy IAF bombing and artillery fire in which hundreds of Hamas targets were hit and in which several senior Hamas military leaders were killed, Israel finally took the plunge and sent in ground troops.

Despite Israel's heavy bombing of the past week, Hamas has launched longer-range Grad missile bombardments of southern cities such as Ofakim and Beersheva, heretofore not affected by missile attacks. Due to Hamas' recent acquisition of dozens of Iranian-made Fajr-3 missiles with potentially longer ranges, Israel's nuclear plant, 22 miles south of Beersheba, might soon be in range.

Here is an excellent summary of the current situation on the ground:

Hamas, officials said, was encountering difficulties in commanding and delivering orders to its forces.

By Sunday afternoon, the IDF had divided the Gaza Strip into two segments, in a move aimed at cutting off the flow of arms, supplies and fighters to the northern part of the Strip, as Palestinians claimed IDF tanks had taken up positions near the former settlement Netzarim and troops began surrounding Gaza City. Some 40 rockets landed in Israel on Sunday, scoring direct hits in Sderot and Ashkelon.

According to Palestinian media reports, IDF troops had taken up positions throughout the north and on the outskirts of Beit Lahiya, Sajiya, Jabalya and al Atatra. The Paratrooper's, Golani and Givati Brigades were all operating inside Gaza. In the south, near the Dahaniyeh Airport, Palestinians also reported on clashes with IDF troops.

Military sources said that since Operation Cast Lead was launched last week over 1,000 targets had been bombed by the Air Force. On Sunday, the Palestinian death toll also climbed past 500 as IDF troops killed close to 40 Hamas gunmen during the ground operation in northern Gaza.

Defense officials said that the IDF operation was having an effect on Hamas's command-and-control capabilities and that the group was not able to mobilize large forces to fight against the IDF. Officials said that it was likely that a number of senior Hamas operatives and terror chiefs were hiding and conducting their operations from within Shifa Hosptial in Gaza City...

Military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private houses as ammunition stores...

Senior Hamas terrorist Hussam Hamdan, who was in charge of Grad-model Katyusha rocket cells in northern Gaza - behind the attacks on Beersheba and and Ofakim - was killed in an IAF strike in Khan Younis. Another senior Hamas terrorist, Muhammad Hilo, was killed in the same strike. Hilo, the IDF said, was in charge of the Hamas special forces in Khan Younis...

The Hamas Interior Ministry said it was still in control of Gaza and had captured residents collaborating with Israel, as well as traders exploiting the situation to inflate their prices.

Note that last line -- despite the Israeli ground forces attacking Gaza, Hamas still has enough control on the ground to eliminate political opponents and other "undesirables". There is still a lot of work to do.

Here’s a slideshow of photos emailed by an Australian reader, showing what was happening in Melbourne today, as Hezbollah supporters and genocide advocates took to the streets.

With their children.

This is a good presentation by the IDF on the background and history of the current conflict in Gaza. Some people will no doubt label this as “propaganda,” and in the sense that it’s intended to promote Israel’s point of view, that’s correct — but there’s nothing inaccurate or dishonest here, just a simple summation of the facts about the militant Islamic terrorists who seized power in Gaza after the disengagement.

[Video]

UPDATE at 1/4/09 1:03:38 pm:

Strange — the video has suddenly been marked as “private,” and no longer shows up on the IDF channel. Maybe they withdrew it?

This is rich. A gruesome propaganda video uploaded to LiveLeak that purported to show the aftermath of an IDF attack on civilians in Gaza turned out to be a fraud—it actually shows the results of an accidental explosion of a truck full of Hamas rockets at a Palestinian rally.

This didn’t stop the video from reaching the top spot on reddit.com and gaining more than 2,000 up votes, because reddit.com is absolutely infested with antisemites and terror supporters: GRAPHIC Video of Israel Defense Force’s attack on Gaza civilian market — originally uploaded on & banned by YouTube (NSFW) : politics.

And the Jew-hating moron who posted this at reddit, now in damage control mode, seems to think LGF is somehow responsible:

Someone, likely a pro-Israel right-winger (judging his attitude rebutting criticism of Israel’s response to Hamas/Gaza reminiscent of Little Green Footballs fan who sought to “minimize” the horror as reflected in reddit comment history), posted a detailed comment on Reddit that debunked the claim.

Here’s that detailed comment. We had nothing to do with any of this, of course, but we congratulate ‘TW9zc2Fk’ for an excellent, lizard-like job of debunking another anti-Israel libel.

And please note that even after the video was definitively proven to be a fraud, the link has not been removed from reddit.com.

Comments wanting more information about the possibility of a Jordanian-West Bank/ Egypt-Gaza merger sent me searching through the archives of the Good Neighbors Blog to unearth the opinion on the issue and the rationales behind it from Palestinian participants. Below is a re-post copied off GNblog from June 11, 2007 that pretty much sums it all up quite well:

I am a supporter of a future Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, I will tell you why :

I don’t believe that a Divorce took place between the two nations, what took place was a Separation and not due to a conflict but due to a changement in the geopolitical map. If palestinians wanted the Jordanian forces to leave the westbank in the early 70’s , it’s due to the defeat of the 1967 War… don’t forget black september that came a few years later! Anyways, why do i defend the confederation ?

It’s not a secret that Both Jordan and Palestine share a lot demographically, economically, socially and politically. It’s also not a secret that Jordan never totally cut it ties with the Palestinian people due to very clear interdependencies, Mostly economic! Now come to think of it, when King Hussein decided to give up on the westbank, it was a political decision in order to allow the PLO to finally have an authority and a kind of independence, but the idea was always that After the creation of the palestinian State, a jordanian-Palestinian union was inevitable! ( Check out the 7th chapter of the Jordanian Charter).

Geographically and Politically :

Both the West Bank and Gaza are very important : Gaza has Land borders with Egypt and has natural Gas as well as an opening on the Mediterranean sea ( i wouldn’t give this up) .

The Westbank is a different story : It has all the Water that Jordan lacks, it’s relatively greener than Jordan, touristically, it’s very important, Religiously, it holds a lot of meanings etc….
The most important part : Hundreds of thousands( if not more) in the westbank hold Also Jordanian Nationalities ( more commonly called the Yellow Cards). Strategically, if this union is created, the current jordanian regime will control both sides of the Jordan river ( very important) as well as a major part of the Dead Sea ( Tourism, Potassium, Salt….) and will have wider frontiers with israel etc…

Jordan and Israel already have a peace treaty, if a confederation is created, this peace treaty will surely become stronger and will give moderates a much bigger mandate to rule over this part of the world, The Hashemites will surely not be nice to Hamas and will be very close to Fatah , they both share a very important thing : Both accept israel’s presence and both have signed a Peace treaty with it, both are secular and both have the same enemies…

And now, lets face it, a Palestinian State is never going to be viable on the long run unless one of the countries around it “Adopt it”! Israel will never do so and we really don’t want it to, Egypt has no reasons to do it … The only side that has a huge interest in this ( and this interest is shared) is Jordan! I know both countries very well , most of the palestinians i talked to were not against the idea, they had some fears ( will the Army control us again ? …) but at the end, when i explained what a confederation meant, they Agreed warmly! …as for the Jordanians, they were much more welcoming from the very Highly educated to the Taxi driver, there was a huge ” YES” with a smile on their faces! I even talked to a Bedouin in Wadi Rum, he was like ” Yes, if we both respect each other , Yes, we are Brothers after all” ….

Now , What do i think personally :

I have no problem with being ruled by King Abdallah ! Why is that ? well, i find him Legitimate , his wife is Palestinian, so are his children, and in the future, the next king will most probably be Half Jordanian and Half Palestinian. King Abdallah , with his young age and his ” very little experience in the field ” managed to rule and to lead Jordan towards an international success story! So I really don’t have any problem with having him as a leader!

Economically : it will be a shared interest : who are amongst the Richest jordanians ? I will give you an answer : the Shomans ( Arab Bank) , The Masris ( Paltel, Palmedia, Paltrade, Movenpick)… ( and some others ..) Both happen to be also Palestinians and the Arab Bank never gave up his Palestinian Identity as for Al Masri , Munib al Masri who is a prominent palestinian political figure , was also a Jordanian Deputy before 1988. Take a drive in Amman and try to see who owns the biggest stores and hotels… most of them are palestinians!…Take a Taxi and open the subject with him, he will also happen to be a Palestinian! Now i will give you a few names of places and companies owned partially or fully by palestinians : Pharmacy One ( biggest pharmacy chain in Jordan , Like SuperPharm in israel) , Cozmo , Movenpick Aqaba and Dead Sea, Arab Bank, Intercontinental Hotel, Salad House, Whispers, Popeyes….
Millions of palestinians are Land Owners in Jordan too, eventhough a new Law prohibits palestinians from owning lands in the kingdom, most palestinians have lands somewhere in Jordan , around Amman most of the time…

And now, i personally believe that together we can achieve much more than each one alone on his side! the Westbank is nothing ( sizewise) compared to Jordan and most of it’s residents will easily be loyal to the regime as for the others, they will have no other choice than to adhere! while i might not be for a total union where Jordan controls us, i am for a confederation where everyone will have his Parliement and where everyone will have a certain extent of self rule, while we all share one currency, one economy, one Land, eventually One king, one language, one dialect, One army and why not, one bi national dream…. It seems to me that such a union is nothing but a step that will come ” when the time is right” and that whether we are with it or we oppose it , it will happen , because the Old ” one Nation one land ” idea is slowly disappearing on a worldwide scale…

See also this post where extracts from the Jordanian response to the Palestinian-led initiative are given:

70 prominent Palestinian professors, business leaders, and members of the legislative councils were invited last month to attend a meeting at the port of Aqaba, Jordan. The meeting was initiated by Ex-prime minister Dr. Majali; the main man behind the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, to discuss the dead peace process in the region and the future political relationship between the upcoming Palestinian state and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The timing of this invitation was very interesting since it was almost 40 years ago that the West Bank and East Jerusalem, fell out of Jordanian hands into Israeli control in the course of the Six-Day War. Surprisingly the idea of a potential confederation between the West Bank and Jordan surfaced again when many members of the Palestinian delegation raised it with the King.

Check it out, very interesting.

Hamas is showing the very first signs of backing down. Conflicting messages continue to come from the various leaders in Hamas but some Hamas leaders are now pushing for a ceasefire –something they violently (as we saw with the barrages of rockets that accompanied their announcement) rejected back when it came time to renew the treaty.

Several Hamas leaders have also now called for renewed talks with Abbas. Remember how Egypt had spent considerable time and effort to put talks in place between Hamas and Abbas a few weeks ago and Hamas refused to turn up at the last minute? Well, now talking with Abbas seems to be on the agenda again.

But it ain’t over until the Fat Lady (or in this case, Fat Guy Meshaal, with skinny guy Ahmadinejad behind him) sings.

The Sudanese Thinker, who is not only a great thinker but also a good friend, has proposed that Egypt take Gaza back and Jordan take back the West Bank. I like that idea. Yea!

I know that none of my Egyptian friends like that idea at all –see the Sandmonkey’s response.

But many of my West Bank Palestinian friends like it very much See this post. Indeed, about a year and a half ago, a whole group of Palestinian cabinet members from the West Bank went to Jordan to propose that the West Bank become a sub-state –that is, a province kind of like the French speaking region of Canada is to Canada –of Jordan (again, because Palestinians had Jordanian citizenship until the 1980s when, following the attempted coup by Arafat’s group during most of the 70s, Jordan stripped them of it) and that Egypt take Gaza. Many Jordanians weren’t terribly wild about it. Unfortunately, Jordan did not agree to it.

On the Yael side of things, I got absolutely no sleep at all. That worked out ok because I had to leave obscenely early but Ema you can relax because I’ve gone and returned without being hit by a rocket. A cat peed on my sofa. Again. It is definitely war. Oh wait, this is supposed to be about what happened in Gaza last night! Right, on with the summary:

The IDF operation continued overnight (Jan.3), with large infantry, tank, engineering, artillery and intelligence forces operating throughout the Gaza Strip, along with the assistance of the Israel Air Force and the Israel Navy.

During exchanges of fire overnight dozens of armed Hamas operatives were hit by the IDF. Approximately 30 Hamas operatives were killed in the fighting last night and another 20 thus far today, making a total of 50. Two senior Hamas commanders were among the dead. IAF planes struck over 45 targets including tunnels, weapons storage facilities, mortar shell launching squads, and a number of mortar shell launching sites. Where possible, terrorists are being surrounded and arrested and brought for questioning, and several dozen have been captured.

Israel Navy boats assisted the ground forces and attacked a number of targets including the Hamas intelligence headquarters in Gaza City, rocket launching areas, and Hamas marine force outposts.

An IDF officer and an IDF soldier were severely wounded during the night. The families of the injured officer and soldier have been notified.

In addition, 28 other soldiers were injured moderately and lightly.

Rockets shot by Hamas continued to strike Israeli cities overnight and throughout the morning, including hitting Ashdod and Sderot. Hamas fired a total of 25 rockets and mortars at civilian targets in the morning, resulting in a number of civilian injuries.

Here’s a video released on what is occurring in Gaza:

Or watch it here if you can’t see the embed.

Right, does anyone know if this program will be available online via Fox or if there is a place to access Foxnews live online? The documentary starts in like 15 minutes and I’d very much like to watch. The documentary deals with a young man who happens to be the son of one of the founders of Hamas and who for many years was himself an active member of Hamas and proponent of suicide bombings and so forth. He has since, however, renounced violence and, I think he also converted to Christianity since leaving. At any rate, he is to give an in-depth look at the workings of Hamas and insights on what they may be planning.

This week Hamas has gone after Fatah members once again. Dozens of Fatah members have been placed under house arrest in Gaza by Hamas.

Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.

35 Fatah members have been murdered by Hamas this week in Gaza.

“We will kill them all if they try to help Israel bring down our government,” the official said. “We will hang Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan in the public square,” a Hamas official reported.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Capt. Benjamin Rutland announces the entrance of IDF forces into Gaza with the objective of dealing a heavy blow to Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure and rocket-launching capability.

Or watch here

“Our enemy is not the Palestinian people. We will do the utmost not to harm anyone who is not part of the Hamas terrorist organization.”

Support Czechoslovakia! The new President of the Eu, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has asked in the past, “Why am I one of the few that have expressed understanding for Israel? … I am enjoying the luxury of telling the truth. Let us realize one thing: Hamas increased steeply the number of rockets fired at Israel since the cease-fire ended on December 19. That is not acceptable any more.”

Tonight, leading the EU, he has come out and unequivocally expressed support for the ground operation.

Vacation in Czechoslovakia. Buy Czech products and tell them it is in appreciation for the honesty, clear-sightedness, and guts of their former FM, now the President of the EU.

Here are some things of interest, many of which I didn’t know myself.

Since the beginning of operation “Cast Lead” on 27 Dec 2008, over 391 truckloads of aid carrying more than 6500 tons of aid (food, medicine, medical supplies), and 10 ambulances have been transferred into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

Compared to 2007, 2008 saw a 20% increase in the number of patients from Gaza receiving hospital care in Israel.

During the ceasefire, (June 16 – Dec 19, 2008) approximately 17,000 truckloads of aid were delivered, nearly double the 9,000 truckloads that Gaza had received in the five months prior. In addition to food, gas, and medicine, these truckloads carried in construction and industrial supplies.

The Erez Crossing has remained open since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead to allow in those who need medical care. 12 patients who were injured or seriously ill came through the crossing, including a number of children, and are being cared for in hospital in Beer Sheva.

The artillery shelling was effective in neutralizing the landmines placed by Hamas all along the area close to the border. Artillery shells blew many of those hidden mines up prior to the advance of the ground troops. The IAF hit the main highway that runs the length of the Gaza strip in 3 places which should severely hinder the movement of terrorists from the north to the south and vice versa. It has basically sectored the strip into 3 parts.

Heavy clashes were expected and they’ve already begun as troops entered.

In the coming days we should expect heavy barrages on the south of Israel, I’d say.

Here’s a mind-numbingly schtoopid new trick from a Hamas supporter at YouTube, who created a channel in which he’s posting anti-Israel (and antisemitic) videos with the same titles and descriptions as the IDF’s official YouTube videos, under the charming name terroristisrail.

A shooting attack in a Danish shopping mall, possibly related to the events in Gaza.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - A gunman wounded two Israelis working at a packed central Denmark shopping mall Wednesday, Danish police said.

The two wounded men are Israelis in their 20s, police spokesman Lars Thede said. He said it was too early to speculate on whether they were targeted because of their nationality.

UPDATE at 12/31/08 12:23:19 pm:

More details at Politiken.dk: Israelis shot and wounded in Denmark.

Two Israelis were wounded today in a shooting incident in the Rosengardscentret in Odense on the island of Funen just after 3 p.m., according to police. Police said the nationality of the perpetrator was uncertain, although he was said to be a foreigner.

One of the victims was hit in the arm, the other was wounded in the leg, according to reports. Both were taken to hospital, but police were unable to provide information on their condition.

Eyewitnesses told bt.dk that the perpetrator arrived in a hairdresser’s salon owned by one of the Israelis. He was said by eyewitnesses to have shouted something ‘in a Middle-Eastern language’ after which he began shooting.

One of the Israelis was said to have tried to flee, while the other threw a stool at the man. Both, however, were hit.

The police spokesman said that six bullets had been fired.

(Hat tip: Zombie.)

At the Times of London, William Sieghart asks, “What’s so bad about Hamas?”

His solution to the conflict:

It is said that this conflict is impossible to solve. In fact, it is very simple. The top 1,000 people who run Israel - the politicians, generals and security staff - and the top Palestinian Islamists have never met. Genuine peace will require that these two groups sit down together without preconditions. But the events of the past few days seem to have made this more unlikely than ever. That is the challenge for the new administration in Washington and for its European allies.

Some new IAF videos; the first shows attacks on armed Grad rocket launchers in Gaza, and the second shows the destruction of at least 40 smuggling tunnels in the Rafah area on the border with Egypt—with numerous secondary explosions indicating the presence of weapons stockpiles.

[Video] [Video]

Los Angeles Times writer Ashraf Khalil complains that the Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera isn’t available in the US, and as evidence of their excellent reporting he shows a video clip by an Al Jazeera reporter trolling hospital beds in Gaza: In praise of Al Jazeera.

The report Khalil praises is blatant propaganda, with the sole purpose of inflaming emotions against Israel.

And of course, this is the cleaned-up, sanitized Al Jazeera for Western consumption. If you watch them in Arabic you get the real stuff.

For example, this incredibly vile birthday party for released terrorist Samir Kuntar—who shot a child’s father in front of her, then bashed the little girl’s brains out with a rifle butt.

[Video]

This sickening, utterly depraved show alone should prevent Al Jazeera from ever being picked up by US cable providers, but people like Ashraf Khalil are doing their best to trick the American public into looking elsewhere.

The IDF has opened a channel on YouTube to post videos showing why they’re fighting Hamas; one of the most-viewed videos showed Hamas terrorists loading rockets into a truck in a residential neighborhood. And of course, Hamas supporters are using YouTube’s “flagging” features to get these videos removed: What YouTube Doesn’t Want You to See.

Here’s that video, still available on Liveleak:

[Video]

UPDATE at 12/30/08 10:29:22 am:

Here’s the IDF YouTube page, with the following statement:

We are saddened that YouTube has taken down some of our exclusive footage showing the IDF’s operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip. As the State of Israel again faces those who would see it destroyed, it is imperative that we in the IDF show the world the inhumanity directed against us and our efforts to stop it. It is also worth noting that one of the videos removed had the highest number of hits (over 10,000) at the time of its removal.

The Washington Post gives column space today to Palestinian shill Daoud Kuttab, who turns in one of those very predictable whiny pieces claiming that fighting against terrorists “only makes them stronger:” Daoud Kuttab - Has Israel’s Gaza Attack Revived Hamas?

Includes this absolute howler of an opening sentence:

JERUSALEM — In its efforts to stop amateur rockets from nagging the residents of some of its southern cities, Israel appears to have given new life to the fledging Islamic movement in Palestine.

Kuttab’s nasty work for the Washington Post was previously featured at LGF when they published an article by him arguing that “Israel is a Liability for the US.”

This kind of hateful propaganda in the pages of the Washington Post should come as no surprise; they have been deliberately promoting the views of Islamists (including leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah) for years, and earlier this year their managing editor explained that they were actively trying to hire more Muslim journalists.

Also see:
Soccer Dad: The media assault on israel

UPDATE at 12/30/08 9:44:34 am:

Another ludicrous and completely false headline at the Post: Israel Rejects Truce, Presses on With Gaza Strikes.

Israel did not reject any truce — Hamas never offered one. In fact, Hamas specifically said they were rejecting a truce yesterday.

There’s some bad craziness going on at the Washington Post.

Wacko ex-Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s mission to rescue Hamas has ended in failure, and right on cue, she’s screaming about the brutality of the Israeli Navy. (Getting turned away by Israel was exactly what they were hoping for, of course.)

A boat carrying international peace activists, including former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip sailed back into a Lebanese port on Tuesday after being turned back and damaged by the Israeli navy, organizers of the trip said.

The boat, which set off from Cyprus Monday wanted to make a statement and deliver medical supplies to embattled Gaza. The trip’s organizers said the boat was clearly in international waters, 90 miles off the coast of Gaza, at the time of its close encounter with the Israeli navy.

“Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side,” McKinney told CNN Tuesday morning. “Our mission was a peaceful mission. Our mission was thwarted by the aggressiveness of the Israeli military.”

Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, denied there had been any shooting although the two ships had made “physical contact.”

Palmor said there was no response to a radio warning to the Dignity, and the vessel then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat, leading to the collision.

This boatload of antisemitic morons should consider themselves lucky they weren’t sunk.

Here’s a message from the generally mild-mannered, extremely sweet, pro-peace and love, and certainly far more left-leaning than I am, Liza in a post titled “The Choice of Hamas:”

As far as I’m concerned, they can all go to hell, those bleeding-heart armchair warriors abroad who are far too busy to condemn Hamas when Israel shows restraint in the face of thousands of rockets and missiles, yet don’t hesitate to cry foul when Israel dares to defend itself and protect its citizens. Hypocrites the lot, as you conveniently ignore the truly one-sided atrocities of the world, preferring to save your venom solely for Israel. What of the ongoing tragic situation in Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe is literally allowing his own people to starve to death? Where were your raucous demonstrations against the Russians when they invaded Georgia, or against the Turks when they attack the Kurds? Where is the mad dash for the podium at the UN, the queue of ambassadors patiently awaiting their turns to condemn the leaders of these rogue nations, in the voice that you have seemingly reserved for your blindingly one-sided condemnations of Israel?

Hundreds of Palestinians killed is indeed a tragedy. You condemn the asymmetry with regard to the numbers of casualties, but it is certainly not for lack of trying. Perhaps you would be happier with a more proportionate response; perhaps you’d prefer if the citizens of Sderot and the South had responded by firing rockets into Gazan cities, but I suspect not. …

She has a lot more to say on the subject (you go girl!) and it is a really good read! Feisty, I tell you. I like it.

The Israel Defense Forces has opened a new Youtube channel where it it posting footage of events in Gaza. Below is the latest video they added, showing the Israeli Airforce striking terrorist targets as they are loading rockets into a truck for launch at our civilian population centers. The view is from inside the plane, via the targeting scope.

Here’s the direct link for those who can’t see the imbed.

And here is video of simultaneous aid –food, supplies, medicines, fuel — being transferred into Gaza by the IDF.

Check out the channel as they are adding new video frequently!

I hate to complain when Israel is finally attacking Gaza, really I do.

But the whole point is being missed here, by just about everyone.

Everyone who wants to see Hamas get what they deserve is reveling in the air attacks against Gaza, even though they are a far cry from all-out war. And they are hoping that it what is next will be the ground invasion that will finish Hamas off. Some even dare to dream that this we are seeing the first steps of rolling back the clock to the status quo ante Disengagement.

Not so fast.

Has everyone forgotten that Israeli elections are a mere 6 weeks away, that the governing parties need to bolster their images in the wake of the Lebanon War and Disengagement fiascos, and that both Menachem Begin (Osirak in 1981) and Shimon Peres (Operation "Grapes of Wrath" in Lebanon in 1996) did the exact same thing right before tight elections?

Let me make this very clear:

1) Yes, Israel has to cream Hamas.

2) This is the Left's fault in the first place, since they caused the retreat out of Gaza which allowed Hamas to take over, arm themselves to the teeth and fire rockets at Israel for years with impunity.

3) If the current leaders of Kadima and Labor really wanted to destroy Hamas they would have done it years ago, but they didn't because it would have been an admission of guilt that the Disengagement was a mistake and the occupation of Gaza wasn't.

4) Therefore it is obvious that the current attacks are a pre-election ploy to help Tzippi Livni's image ("she's not just a nice Jewish girl, she can lead Israel in war) and Ehud Barak's ("he can fight and lead, unlike the previous Defense Minister, Amir Peretz").

5) Since PM Olmert, Livni and Barak still can't re-invade Gaza since that would be admitting guilt, they won't unless it is in their short-term political interests or unless they lose control of the situation.

6) Therefore they will stop attacking Gaza the second their short-term political aims have been accomplished; and

7) Therefore the current round of fighting is actually pointless and will change nothing at the cost of lots of bloodshed on both sides.

The bottom line: Yes, it is long-past time to stop the rocket fire from Gaza, and as everyone knows, that requires an invasion of ground forces, a permanent re-occupation and a long, hard process of disarming the Arabs of Gaza. There is no chance whatsoever that that is what the current government has in mind.

Those that favor such a policy need to expose Israel's current attack on Gaza for what it is: a short-term political stunt that, at best, will change nothing and at worse could leave Israel worse off than before. Just like happened in Lebanon when the government, basically the same government as we have now, fought a similar war against a similar foe and refused to do what needed to be done to finish off the enemy completely.

A classic picture of numb-skulled hatred from the pro-Palestinian demonstration in Manhattan yesterday. (Larger image here.)

(Hat tips: NoSubmission and zombie.)

Here’s another video, from the Israeli Navy this time, showing attacks on Hamas targets with rockets and the Typhoon stabilized marine gun system.

[Video]

A barrage of rockets hit Yavneh just before midnight reaching the furthest north they’ve ever come. In barrages that fell on Ofakim, fully 30 kms from Gaza, a man was seriously injured about 11:50 p.m. this evening. He has been rushed into critical care. These are not southern communities but rather lie in the center of the country.

One of the women severely injured at the bus stop in Ashdod earlier this evening has died as a result of the injuries she received from a Hamas-fired grad rocket landing directly on her and another 5 people — one of whom remains in extremely critical condition. As noted in a previous post, less than one hour ago another Israeli woman was killed by shrapnel from a grad rocket in Nahal Oz. This afternoon a young Israeli-Arab was killed by shrapnel in Ashkelon.

All of the Israelis killed and injured thus far have been civilians.

Given that the Hamas has thousands of rockets stashed away, beyond the many thousands we’ve destroyed in attacks on their storage warehouses thus far, we should expect to see somewhere between 80 - 200 rockets fired at us per day for awhile. They are certainly using up their stash apace at the current rate. It is critical, when this whole thing is finished, however, that their access to a fresh supply is cut off. Otherwise, we’ll be right back where we started again in a couple of months.

In order to cut off the supply, it is necessary to cut off the tunnel connection between Gaza and Egypt. Since Egypt has been quite unsuccessful at curtailing the lively tunnel trade thus far, we really shouldn’t leave it to them in the future. They, after all, are less motivated to seek, destroy, nip in the bud and so forth tunnels since those rockets aren’t being fired at them –they should consider, however,that it is not a given that that will always be the case. We, on the other hand, are very motivated to not have rockets falling on our children on a daily basis.

We certainly don’t want to &#