is disputed, but it is clear that hundreds died in the urban warfare. Hamas, as a terror organization showed no regard for civilian casualties, as they shelled almost exclusively Israeli towns on over 600 occasions. (There are serious claims that the Palestinian casualty count is exaggerated – more about that in a later article.)
January
Morality and Ethics Begin at Home
Israel may be making headway on the diplomatic front but in the humanitarian arena, Jerusalem is on the defensive. According to Hamas sources quoted by international organizations, over 1300 Palestinians were killed in the 22 day war, many of them civilians. The percentage of civilians killed
Last Updated ( Monday, 26 January 2009 20:24 )
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is disputed, but it is clear that hundreds died in the urban warfare. Hamas, as a terror organization showed no regard for civilian casualties, as they shelled almost exclusively Israeli towns on over 600 occasions. (There are serious claims that the Palestinian casualty count is exaggerated – more about that in a later article.) |
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s. Berlusconi – Italy, PM Zapatero – Spain and EU President Todolanek of the Czech Rep.) show up for a one day tour in the Middle East including a stop in Sharm el-Sheikh to give support to Egyptian Pres. Hosni MuBarack and his Saudi counterparts and then continuing on for dinner with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert where they accord full backing to Israeli policy. The uniting factor is to halt Hamas (the Moslem Brotherhood) rearmament and by extension make clear their goal of curtailing extremist Islam and Iran. Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire at 2AM on Jan. 18 and Hamas followed suit half a day later. All this coincided with the European diplomatic initiative. But why so fast?
after leaving in August 2005. The withdrawal was unilateral, yet accompanied by guarantees; Egypt was to ensure the halt of all contraband smuggling into the Strip while the Americans obligated themselves to stand behind Israel in its battle against terrorism even should Israel need to cross into Palestinian areas. Rocket fire into Israel from Gaza began under Yasir Arafat's Fatah led Palestinian Authority rule already early in 2001, continued under Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) who was elected in January 2005 (Arafat died in Nov. 2004) and intensified when Hamas overthrew the PA regime in June 2007. Whether discussing a hudna (Islamic cease-fire) or tahdiya (Islamic period of calm) the shell fire continued from Gaza into the western Negev. The last tahadiya lasted half a year, from the middle of June to the middle of December and ended with a bang as Hamas began pounding Israel with 60 rockets a day. Despite the expectation of rain, cold and the least optimal conditions, Israel decided to respond with massive air strikes on Dec. 27 and began a ground offensive a week later.
ulting increased rocket fire in early summer 2007. The latest tahadiya or "calm" from June to December 2008 allowed Hamas to fully arm and begin the latest conflict. A major aerial and ground assault similar to today's in late spring 2008 in response to massive Hamas shelling was in order, not a tahadiya. Instead Jerusalem went the peace seeking, diplomatic route, put off the operation for half a year and today is battling against a much more formidable Hamas adversary. 
ases; intense destruction of Hamas military and regime installations (beginning Dec. 27) through aerial bombardment and the beginning of the ground assault on Jan. 3 which has cut the Strip in half between Gaza City and Deir el-Balah. Concurrently the UN passed Res. 1860 calling for a cease-fire and immediate Israeli withdrawal but established no formula for implementation. Khaled Mashal of the Hamas political office in Damascus has announced the outright rejection of the resolution which also called for the end of smuggling of arms and ammunition. Leading the Hamas charge he has demanded continued "resistance" until ultimate victory. Mashal also rejects any supervision of the border crossings with Egypt, the closing of the tunnels and the accompanying weapons shipments and the stationing of an international force in Gaza – just another "occupation" in his words.
