Israel Matzav

Hamas and Jihad beat Israel into submission

I'm not keen on the headline at the top of this post, but it's certainly the interpretation that the terror groups are going to put on Israel's latest action and it may even (unfortunately) be the correct interpretation. Yesterday afternoon, the backyard of a home in Moshav Yesha, a small village on the 'Gaza Belt' took a direct hit from a Kassam rocket. 70-year old Shuli Katz (pictured), a grandmother from Kibbutz Gvaram who was visiting the home, was murdered in the attack.

A widow, Katz is survived by four children, five grandchildren and her 90-year-old mother, who lives in a retirement home.

She sustained critical injuries from the impact and MDA paramedics alerted to the scene fought to resuscitate for some time before ultimately calling the time of death. Medics also treated a 50-year-old man for shock.

The al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

The trip to Yesha had not been planned. Katz had intended to meet with her sister-in-law, who was visiting from the US. But the two decided to relocate the reunion from Gvaram to Yesha after a Qassam barrage earlier in the day landed near the city of Ashkelon - which is near Gvaram.

Katz had been waiting outside one of the houses while her son went inside to determine if they had found the right address. Seconds after the rocket alert sirens sounded the Qassam struck a mere dozen inches from her.

You will all recall that yesterday afternoon, Israel rejected the draft of a 'truce' agreement that was presented to it by Egyptian foreign minister Omar Suleiman because it had no provisions to prevent arms smuggling (rearming) by the terror groups and nothing about the release of kidnapped IDF corporal Gilad Shalit (pictured), who is coming up on two years in captivity next month. Suleiman went back to Egypt to see if he could get a 'better offer' from the terror groups. He didn't.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders warned Monday that they would continue the "resistance" if Israel rejected the Egyptian initiative for a truce.

Hamas, meanwhile, said the negotiations over the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit would begin only after Israel agrees to the truce proposal.

"If Israel does not want a hudna [temporary truce] now, they can forget about Schalit for many years to come," a senior Hamas official in Gaza City said. "Our position is that there should first be a hudna before we start talking about the soldier. We're not going to make any progress on the case of the soldier as long as Israel is continuing its attacks on the Gaza Strip."

The official said the next 48 hours would determine "whether we are headed toward a cease-fire or an all-out explosion not only in the Gaza Strip, but probably in the entire region." Egyptian General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman is expected to brief the leaders of the two organizations Tuesday on the outcome of his talks in Jerusalem with Israeli officials.

And Israel's response to the 'senior Hamas official's threats and the cold-blooded murder of Shuli Katz HY"D (may God avenge her blood)? Surrender. Israel is 'leaning towards accepting' the 'cease fire' proposed by the terror groups, which is strongly opposed by the IDF and the General Security Service.

Despite the escalation in violence, officials close to Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel was leaning toward accepting Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman's truce offer, which was presented to the defense minister during a breakfast meeting at Barak's Tel Aviv home earlier in the day. Israel plans to first gradually accept the offer and later turn it into a full-fledged cease-fire following Gilad Schalit's release.

Exactly as Hamas thug Mahmoud Zahar (pictured) predicted:

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Israel was "inclined" to accept the initiative. "We believe the Israeli leaders will accept the initiative," he said. "But they won't announce their position in public." He claimed that Israel does not want to create the impression that it has been defeated by the "strong will" of the Palestinians. "That's why we expect Israel to drag its feet regarding the implementation of the terms of the truce, especially with regards to the reopening of the Rafah border crossing and halting its aggression against the Palestinians," Zahar added.

He said Hamas was waiting to hear from Suleiman about the results of his visit to Jerusalem before it makes its final decision regarding the truce initiative. "We hope the voice of reason will prevail in Israel," he said. "We hope they will lift the siege [on the Gaza Strip] and stop their aggression." Zahar said Israel was now facing an opportunity of tahdiyah [period of calm]. "If they accept it, that would be a positive move," he added. "But if they turn it down, they should expect our people to pursue the struggle and resistance until we achieve our goals."

The Hamas leader said his organization expects Egypt to reopen the Rafah border unilaterally once Israel rejects the truce initiative. He pointed out that as far as Hamas and the Palestinians are concerned, the blockade on the Gaza Strip has been a complete failure.

"Even [former US President] Jimmy Carter has condemned the siege," he said. "The Palestinians are not beggars and we don't seek humanitarian aid from anyone. Nor are we standing in line in front of the UNRWA offices to receive bread."

So is Israel surrendering? Maybe and maybe not. But we are certainly giving the terror groups enough of a basis to say that they beat us our cowardly government into submission.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:05 AM