Israel Matzav

Dugit, Nisanit and Elei Sinai re-liberated

The irony of the IDF currently sitting in the ruins of Dugit, Nisanit and Elei Sinai is probably lost on all the leftists who pushed Ariel Sharon into cutting and running from there in the first place.

But for those of us who looked at the individual towns of the Gaza Strip as separate entities, those three were different from the others. First, their Jewish inhabitants were mostly secular, while the rest of the communities in Gaza were mostly religious. Second, they were by far the easiest of the Gaza towns to evacuate. For example, by Tisha b'Av last year - before the 'disengagement' even started - only ten families were left in Nisanit. Third, in the lead up to the 'disengagement,' there was talk of leaving those three towns in place because of their proximity to Ashkelon and because they cut so little into the Gaza Strip. Fourth, the 'Palestinians' wanted to build a casino there but apparently found a better use for the land.

Ironically, in writing this post, I found the following conversation in the comment section of another blog, which was rather typical of what was written last summer:

“What will all of those who support this crime say when Kassam rockets start falling on Ashkelon?”

Ashkelon is north of Gaza, how would Gush be a buffer zone in the first place. I have friends in Sderot that have been bombared with Kassaming. I don’t think that Gush Katif has been doing such a great job of being a buffer zone there.

I think it should be obvious by now that the second person - whose views represented those of many Israelis one year ago - was a fool.

In any event, this morning the IDF is sitting in the ruins of Dugit, Nisanit and Elei Sinai "the area where most of the Kassam rockets are fired at Israel."

IDF forces advanced about five kilometers into the Strip, reaching the town of Atatra, the point from which the Kassam rockets that reached Ashkelon were launched during the last two days. Channel 2 reported that forces were approaching Beit Hanun and Jebaliya, but were not entering the towns as yet.

A 'senior government source' told the Jerusalem Post that Israel had no intention of 'reoccupying' any part of Gaza, and that the intention was to be more active inside the Strip, creating a "rolling buffer zone" which would make it possible to be "more operational in the area." How that is different from a reoccupation re-liberation other than the absence of Israeli civilians is beyond me. But as you all know already, the government cannot admit that it is required to 'reoccupy' Gaza because that would be an admission of the complete, total and utter failure of the Sharon-Olmert surrender plan.

The idea behind the buffer zone, the sources said, was to take Ashkelon and Sderot out of Kassam rocket range and to command control over Beit Hanun, the city from which many of the recent Kassam attacks have originated. Just what does the government think will happen if it ever leaves this 'buffer zone'? Why can't they understand that if the IDF is not there, there will be Kassams shot at Sderot and Ashkelon? Why can't they understand that all the buffer zone will do is to force the 'Palestinians' to use longer range Kassams to shoot the same targets - and new targets? Why do they ignore the fact that in the ten months since Gaza was handed to the 'Palestinians,' the Gaza 'Palestinians' have acquired more weapons than they did in the previous thirty-eight years?

But here's the biggest proof (from the JPost) that the IDF is 'reoccupying' Gaza, regardless of what it's called:

Among the soldiers poised to reenter Gaza were officers from the IDF's Civil Administration, whose job would be to ensure that no humanitarian crisis erupted in the Strip during the operation. The security cabinet communique said that the defense establishment had been instructed to respond "comprehensively and immediately to all humanitarian needs."

The Israelis all know what this means, but for those of you abroad, the "IDF's Civil Administration" is the branch of the IDF that was responsible for cleaning the streets, supplying utilities, maintaining parks and doing all the other things that a normal, functioning municipal government would do in Judea, Samaria and Gaza before there was a 'Palestinian Authority.' It's 1967 all over again, without the miracles.

And finally, one thing for the Eiland Commission to think about:

Cpl. Ro'i Amitai, a member of Shalit's tank crew that was attacked at Kerem Shalom on June 25, spoke on Channel 10 about Shalit. Amitai described Shalit as "quiet and introverted. If you didn't talk to him, he wouldn't talk much. He was quiet and shy, modest, and did his own thing."

Amitai said that as quiet as Shalit was, "I can see him as a strong guy. But how strong?"

Amitai said that the crew was never warned about a tunnel reaching them. "I never imagined anything like it," he said. "Never, never."

It's a pity that it took an attack on IDF soldiers to bring about this operation. But now that it's happened, let's go all out and do it right.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:22 AM