In wake of teen deaths, Israel vows to crush Hamas

[jimmy olsen]

The Israelis can't just let them get away with this kind of behavior, but in the end this isn't going to change anything.

So the beat marches on.
http://vimeo.com/50531435

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0630/In-wake-of-teen-deaths-Israel-vows-to-crush-Hamas-video

In wake of teen deaths, Israel vows to crush Hamas (+video)

The bodies of the three yeshiva students were recovered near Hebron. Israel's deputy defense minister called for the destruction of Hamas, which threatened retaliation in turn.

By Christa Case Bryant, Staff writer June 30, 2014

Jerusalem — After 18 days of searching and nationwide prayers, the discovery of the bodies of three kidnapped Israeli teens has prompted an outpouring not only of grief but also a desire for revenge against Hamas.

"Alongside deep sorrow, we will remain resolute to punish the atrocious terrorists," said Nobel Peace Laureate Shimon Peres, whose seven-year presidential term ends today. "Our war against terrorism will only intensify and will not waver so that this murderous terrorism won't dare to rear its head."

A full-scale Israeli assault against Hamas, the Islamist movement that has amassed rockets in the Gaza Strip capable of striking Tel Aviv, is almost certain to fuel escalation along the Gaza-Israel border. Hamas vowed retaliation.
Recommended: Israel's military

"If [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] wages war on the Gaza Strip, the gates of hell will be opened," warned a Hamas spokesman this afternoon.

Given widespread Palestinian bitterness over Israel's detention of its own boys and young men on a regular basis, as well as the deaths of at least five Palestinians during the military search operation, a strong Israeli retaliation now could provoke widespread unrest in the West Bank as well.

But Israelis are ready to risk such consequences, says Gershon Baskin, the founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information.

"The Israeli public is fed up, it is prepared for a military operation even if they know rockets are going to fly all over this country," he says.
Military raids, arrests

Israeli media confirmed tonight that the bodies of Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Frenkel were found north of Hebron after a wide-ranging operation that included the arrest of more than 350 Palestinians, sweeps of 1,800 locales, and the raiding of 64 Islamic charities suspected of having links to Hamas. The teens were yeshiva students in the West Bank looking to hitchhike home for the weekend.

The two suspects named by Israel, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Aisha, are reportedly members of Hamas but Mr. Qawasmeh comes from a large clan that has a track record of overstepping Hamas policy vis-à-vis Israel.

But even if it is proven that those directly responsible were rogue Hamas elements acting on their own, Hamas as an organization must be held accountable, says Shaul Shay, former deputy head of the Israel National Security Council and now with the Institute of Policy & Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

"I think if there is hard evidence regarding the responsibility of Hamas, no matter which type, kind, or branch of Hamas ... they have to pay – and a high price," he says. "Because this is the matter of deterrence, which is critical to preventing future abductions."
Trouble for Hamas

While the Hamas leadership has consistently advocated abductions, the latest kidnapping could not have come at a worse time for the organization, which is weaker politically than it has been for years.

"It's a particularly bad time for Hamas to be engaged in an action like this and that's why I didn't think they were responsible for this from the beginning," says Mr. Baskin, who established the backchannel for negotiations that led to the release of Sgt. Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas in 2006 and held for five years.

"Hamas could not have believed that an abduction of Israelis in the West Bank could be handled in the same way as with Gilad Shalit in Gaza," he says, citing Israel's far greater intelligence capabilities and control of the West Bank. "It was very unlikely that there would even be a negotiation.... They would be caught the moment they opened up a phone."

At stake is Hamas's recent reconciliation agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which is key to easing the deterioration of living conditions in the Gaza Strip. Israel has called on Mr. Abbas to call off the reconciliation agreement, and is likely to increase such pressure.

But the greatest pressure is likely to be on Hamas, which is classified by the US and European Union as a terrorist organization.

"This tragic ending must also be the ending of Hamas! The nation is strong and ready to absorb [attacks] for the sake of a mortal blow against Hamas," said Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. "[W]e have to destroy the homes of Hamas activists, wipe out their arsenals everywhere, and stop the flow of money that directly or indirectly keeps terror alive... make the entire Palestinian leadership pay a heavy price."

[mongers]

In support, Tim launches 'shock and awe' thread spamming attack.

[KRonn]

I guess it shouldn't be any surprise as the Israelis don't take things like this lying down.  Claiming to attempt to break Hamas now. So, add this now to all that's going on in the Mid East lately, as the region was already on fire!

[Viking]

I guess it shouldn't be any surprise as the Israelis don't take things like this lying down.  Claiming to attempt to break Hamas now. So, add this now to all that's going on in the Mid East lately, as the region was already on fire!

That is setting the bar a bit high. Whatever the result of Israeli action there will still be something calling itself HAMAS existing afterwards and that HAMAS will declare survival = victory.

[CountDeMoney]

In support, Tim launches 'shock and awe' thread spamming attack.

The Israelis can't just let them get away with this kind of behavior, but in the end this isn't going to change anything.

Profound.

[KRonn]

I guess it shouldn't be any surprise as the Israelis don't take things like this lying down.  Claiming to attempt to break Hamas now. So, add this now to all that's going on in the Mid East lately, as the region was already on fire!

That is setting the bar a bit high. Whatever the result of Israeli action there will still be something calling itself HAMAS existing afterwards and that HAMAS will declare survival = victory.

True that.

[Siege]

Dude, smoke and mirrors.

As long as the reserve doesn't get called up, this is only a little bombing for internal consumption.
Do you really think that dropping a few on Hamas grunts will make a difference?

[Admiral Yi]

Dude, smoke and mirrors.

As long as the reserve doesn't get called up, this is only a little bombing for internal consumption.
Do you really think that dropping a few on Hamas grunts will make a difference?

The main Israeli objective seems to be to delegitimize the Hamas-PLA alliance.  That has little do with internal consumption and everything to do with international politics.

[garbon]

"Alongside deep sorrow, we will remain resolute to punish the atrocious terrorists," said Nobel Peace Laureate Shimon Peres, whose seven-year presidential term ends today. "Our war against terrorism will only intensify and will not waver so that this murderous terrorism won't dare to rear its head."

Such a commitment to peace.

[jimmy olsen]

Languish really is dead if Israel hammering Gaza isn't able to inspire debate.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/15/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKBN0FI04420140715

Israel targets top Hamas leader as cease-fire collapses

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller

GAZA/JERUSALEM Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:59pm EDT

(Reuters) - Israel resumed its air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday a day after holding its fire in deference to an Egyptian-proposed cease-fire deal that failed to get Hamas militants to halt rocket attacks.

Attacks in the Gaza Strip killed at least three Palestinians in the early hours of Wednesday and destroyed the house of Mahmoud Zahar - who is believed to be in hiding elsewhere - in the first apparent targeting of a top Hamas political leader.

The week-old conflict seemed to be at a turning point on Tuesday, with Hamas defying Arab and Western calls to cease fire and Israel threatening to step up an offensive that could include an invasion of the densely populated enclave of 1.8 million.

Under a blueprint announced by Egypt - Gaza's neighbour and whose military-backed government has been at odds with Islamist Hamas - a mutual "de-escalation" was to have begun at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT), with hostilities ceasing within 12 hours.

Hamas' armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, rejected the ceasefire deal, a proposal that addressed in only general terms some of its key demands, and said its battle with Israel would "increase in ferocity and intensity".

But Moussa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas political official who was in Cairo, said the movement, which is seeking a deal that would ease the Egyptian and Israeli border restrictions throttling Gaza's economy, had made no final decision on Cairo's proposal.

The Israeli military said that since the cease-fire deal was to have gone into effect, Hamas had fired 123 rockets at Israel, one killing a civilian - the first Israeli fatality in the fighting.

Gaza medical officials say 191 Palestinians, including at least 150 civilians, among them 31 children, have been killed.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted 20 of the Hamas projectiles, including two over the Tel Aviv area, and the rest caused no damage or casualties.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack against Israel's commercial capital, which has been targeted frequently since the war began, as well as for the rocket that killed the Israeli man along the border.

Israel, citing the persistent salvoes, resumed attacks in Gaza six hours after implementation of the truce was to have begun. The military said it targeted at least 20 of Hamas' hidden rocket launchers, tunnels and weapons storage facilities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks late on Tuesday that Israel had no choice but to "expand and intensify" its campaign on Hamas, though he did not specifically mention the possibility of a ground incursion.

The Iron Dome has shot down most projectiles liable to hit Israeli towns and cities, but the rocket salvoes have made a rush to shelters a daily routine for hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

The surge in hostilities over the past week was prompted by the murder last month of three Jewish seminary students in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the revenge killing on July 2 of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem. Israel said on Monday three Jews in police custody had confessed to killing the Palestinian.

KERRY CONDEMNS "BRAZEN" HAMAS ROCKET FIRE

Sirens sounded on Tuesday in areas up to 130 km (80 miles) north of the Gaza Strip.

Speaking in Vienna, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry supported Israel: "I cannot condemn strongly enough the actions of Hamas in so brazenly firing rockets, in multiple numbers, in the face of a goodwill effort (to secure) a cease-fire."

Netanyahu, whose security cabinet voted 6-2 earlier on Tuesday to accept the truce, had cautioned that Israel would respond strongly if rockets kept flying.

He said he expected the "full support from the responsible members of the international community" for any intensification of Israeli attacks in response to Hamas spurning a truce.

Earlier, Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that demands the movement has made must be met before it lays down its weapons.

Other Palestinian militant groups - Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine - also said they had not yet agreed to the Egyptian offer.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who reached an agreement with Hamas in April that led to the formation of a unity government last month, called for acceptance of the proposal, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.

Abbas was expected to arrive in Cairo on Wednesday for talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Palestinian leader's spokesman said.

The Arab League, at a meeting on Monday, also welcomed the cease-fire plan.

ISRAELI GROUND ASSAULT POSSIBLE

Israel had mobilised tens of thousands of troops for a threatened Gaza invasion if the rocket volleys persisted.

"We still have the possibility of going in, under cabinet authority, and putting an end to (the rockets)," Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence official, said.

Under the proposal announced by Egypt's Foreign Ministry, high-level delegations from Israel and the Palestinian factions would hold separate talks in Cairo within 48 hours to consolidate the cease-fire with "confidence-building measures".

Hamas leaders have said any deal must include an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza and a recommitment to a truce reached in an eight-day war there in 2012.

Hamas also wants Egypt to ease curbs at its Rafah crossing with Gaza, imposed after the military ousted President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist, a year ago. The Egyptian proposal made no mention of Rafah or when restrictions might be eased. Hamas has faced a cash crisis and Gaza's economic hardship has deepened as a result of Egypt's destruction of cross-border smuggling tunnels. Egyptian authorities also accuse Hamas of assisting anti-government Islamist militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, an accusation that the Palestinian group denies. Hamas has said it also wants the release of hundreds of its activists arrested in the West Bank while Israel searched for the three missing teenagers. The proposed truce also made no mention of the detainees.

(Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Noah Browning in Gaza and Michael Georgy and Yasmine Saleh in Cairo; Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Dan Williams; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Jan Paschal)

[Valmy]

We have mentioned it.

But what really is there to say?  Israel going to Israel and Palestine going to Palestine.

[Ed Anger]

King Timmay demands a post.

Blow it out your ass, your majesty.

[Viking]

Languish really is dead if Israel hammering Gaza isn't able to inspire debate.

Debate about what?

Does Israel have a right to intervene in Gaza militarily? Languish Says Yes!
Is HAMAS evil? Languish Says Yes!
Is Israel comporting itself morally with proportionality and demonstrating international best practice in Gaza? Languish Says Yes!
Ultimately will the operation resolve the root cause of the conflict? Languish Says No!

no need to really debate this, is there? Though, a thread with links to news updates and interesting analysis might be worth-while.

[Eddie Teach]

Is Israel comporting itself morally with proportionality and demonstrating international best practice in Gaza? Languish Says Yes!

10 years ago, there'd have been a couple Euroweenies willing to dispute this at length. Though come to think of it, Martim was just here...

[DontSayBanana]

Languish really is dead if Israel hammering Gaza isn't able to inspire debate.

Debate about what?

Does Israel have a right to intervene in Gaza militarily? LanguishSiege Says Yes!
Is HAMAS evil? Languish Says Yes!
Is Israel comporting itself morally with proportionality and demonstrating international best practice in Gaza? LanguishSiege Says Yes!
Ultimately will the operation resolve the root cause of the conflict? Languish Says No!

no need to really debate this, is there? Though, a thread with links to news updates and interesting analysis might be worth-while.

Slight correction for you.