Israel Matzav

Deja vu all over again?

On Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that Israel has decided to damage Hamas as much as possible.

Let's go to the videotape.



On Monday, the Government of Israel said it was going to go even further, saying that it would overthrow the Hamas infrastructure in Judea and Samaria.

Israel will seek to deal a crushing blow to Hamas's infrastructure in Judea and Samaria following the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, army radio reported on Monday.

Plans to move against the Islamist terrorist movement were discussed at a meeting of the security cabinet convened by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at which ministers discussed punitive steps against Hamas which Israel says is behind the kidnapping of three teenagers, media reports said.

Following the meeting, which lasted around 90 minutes, political sources said Israel would "attempt, in the coming hours and days, to try and overthrow Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank," the radio's political correspondent reported.

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office.

It looks like we're digging in for a long operation. There are apparently very few clues as to where the three teens are being held (no one has suggested that they're no longer among the living, although God forbid that is certainly a possibility), and on Monday the Prime Minister warned that returning them could take time.

Netanyahu, however, warned the nation, that they might not see immediate results to the IDF's intense military operation to find the teens.

...

The premier also threatened to target anyone who attempts to harm Israeli citizens.

Netanyahu said Israel's main concern at the moment was to locate the three missing teenagers and deal with Hamas, whom he accuses of conducting the abduction. The premier said "we must be prepared that this will take time."

But he offered no news of the teens, who have been missing since late Thursday night.

Does this sound familiar?

Do you know why I posted the picture just above? This is from July 13, 2006 - the day after Hezbullah 'kidnapped' (probably killed on the spot) Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

Defense Minister Comrade Peretz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today that Hezbullah will not be allowed to return to its former positions in Southern Lebanon. YNet and the Jerusalem Post are both reporting that under a new policy, any armed person coming within one kilometer of the Lebanese border with Israel will be shot.

The Jerusalem Post quotes a 'high ranking source' in the IDF:

A high-ranking IDF source said that the current operation, dubbed Operation Just Reward, would be "long" and could last up to several months, or "as long as it takes to destroy the Hizbullah's ability to launch attacks against Israel."

The IDF source said the Dahiya neighborhood of Beirut, a Hizbullah stronghold, would be targeted if rocket attacks continued to hit Israeli cities.

The source said that all terrorists in Dahiya, including Hizbullah head Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah himself, were fair targets for the IDF. "We will operate against all the terrorists who operate against us," he said, warning that civilians inside Dahiya could also be hurt in a possible IDF strike. Nasrallah's family lived in the Dahiya neighborhood.

YNet points out:

A special center of the operation is expected to be in the al-Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut, where Nasrallah has established "a state inside a state," and where he also lives with his family.

IDF officials refused to say whether Nasrallah himself is being targeted, and settled for a general statement about "an operation against all terrorists wherever they are." Leaflets distributed in the neighborhood called on the residents to leave the area ahead of a possible strike.

Eight years ago, two IDF soldiers were kidnapped by a terror organization. A search and rescue operation was immediately launched, and it became a war to 'destroy Hezbullah's ability to launch attacks on Israel.' It didn't turn out very well, did it?

Okay, one of the reasons that it didn't turn out very well is that the triumvirate of Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert, 'defense minister' Amir Comrade Peretz and forgettable IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz didn't  have the stomach for a ground war and attempted to destroy Hezbullah solely from the air. Will Netanyahu, Yaalon and Gantz be better? Maybe.

But the parallels are frightening. Yes, an operation against Hamas is long overdue. But that's completely independent of the fact that they kidnapped three teens.

Labels: Amir Peretz, Benny Gantz, Binyamin Netanyahu, Dan Halutz, Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev, Hamas, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbullah, Moshe Yaalon, Second Lebanon War

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:09 PM