Bashar al-Assad's strange definition of a cease fire
If there's anyone out there who still wonders why Israel has never been able to reach a 'peace agreement' with the Assad's, please consider
Bashar al-Assad's definition of a cease fire.
"Regarding a ceasefire, a halt to operations, if it happened, it
doesn't mean that each party will stop using weapons," Assad said in
Damascus in televised comments.
"A ceasefire means in the first place halting the terrorists from
strengthening their positions. Movement of weapons, equipment or
terrorists, or fortification of positions, will not be allowed," he
said.
Oh, of course. Why would I think otherwise? Silly me....
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, cease fire, Hafez al-Assad, Syria, Syrian uprising
It may have been a rocket - will the IDF respond?
It is now being reported that what was fired from Gaza on Israel around 6:30 this evening was
a rocket and not a mortar.
There have been mixed reports on the precise nature of the projectile fired, with Channel 10 saying
the attack was a mortar shell as opposed to a rocket; likewise, IDF
spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner labeled it a mortar shell on the
IDF's official Twitter feed. However, nearly all other major Israeli media sources have identified it as a rocket attack.
As is usually the case outside of an official operation, Hamas is claiming that it did not do it.
The Hamas terrorist organization claimed Tuesday night that it had
nothing to do with the rocket attack, saying it remains committed to the
ceasefire. Hamas breached numerous ceasefires during Operation
Protective Edge, as well as over the course of recent years.
"The Palestinian factions are committed to the truce," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. "We want it to continue."
He questioned whether the attack as reported by Israel had in fact
taken place. "There is no evidence that there was mortar fire from the
Gaza Strip," he said.
Yeah, right....
Politicians on the right say Israel must respond in order to avoid a deterioration in the situation.
MK Danny Danon (Likud) spoke out after the attack, saying "we must
not compromise with terror, we should have subdued Hamas during
Operation Protective Edge because terror doesn't change its face."
"Now we must respond with strength in response to the fire for the
sake of deterrence and for the sake of the faith residents of the south
gave to the leadership which said there will be quiet for a long time,"
stated Danon.
The former deputy defense minister, who has been critical of
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over his management of the operation,
added "only 21 days have past and we're returning to the trickle of
terror from the Gaza Belt. Self-restraint now signals acceptance of the
situation."
The attack came hours after Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon predicted that Hamas would not renew its terror attacks on Israel on September 25 if an agreement - which appears unlikely - is not in place. Hmmm.
In the meantime, Yaalon is being slammed by MK's from the Jewish Home party for dismissing an IDF officer - alleged to be former IDF chief rabbi
Avichai Ronsky - for leaking information to Jewish Home party leader
Naftali Bennett.
"Hamas fired a multi-rocket salvo in honor of the agreement to reconstruct Gaza.
But the defense minister is busy hazing (former IDF Chief) Rabbi
(Avichai) Ronski and slandering Minister Bennett," wrote [Jewish Home party MK Orit] Struk, noting a
dispute over information Bennett reportedly used to attack top IDF
brass in Security Cabinet meetings.
While Ronski was identified in reports as being the suspected source of the leaks who was later dismissed, he told Arutz Sheva on
Tuesday that he did not pass any materials to Bennett, has not heard
anything of the dismissal - and indeed still is scheduled to perform
reserve duty next month.
Not responding to this rocket fire from Gaza would be a terrible mistake and would invite a creeping escalation of the rocket fire from Gaza - as has happened after the end of every other operation. Will the government authorize the IDF to respond? I would guess that we will know the answer to that question before the sun is up in Israel on Wednesday morning - about seven hours from now.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, IDF, Jewish Home party, mortar shells, Moshe Yaalon, Naftali Bennett, Operation Protective Edge
Breaking: Mortar round shot from Gaza UPDATED
Just received an email from someone in Israel telling me that Channel 1 television has confirmed that terrorists have shot a mortar round from Gaza at Israel. That's the first breach of the cease fire since it went into effect a few weeks ago.
Developing....
UPDATE 1:48 PM BOSTON TIME
JPost has
more details.
A Palestinian shell fired from Gaza landed in Israeli territory, near
the southern border on Tuesday evening. There were no injuries or
damages in the attack, which occurred in the region between Eshkol and
Sdot Negev.
It was the first mortar or rocket attack from the
Gaza Strip since August 26, when a truce went into effect between Hamas
and Israel after 50 days of conflict.
Here's hoping we retaliate harshly. Otherwise, we will creep back to the situation we were in before Operation Protective Edge.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, mortar shells, Palestinian terrorism
Shocka: Hamas already repairing terror tunnels
Hamas' priorities haven't changed. They've already started
repairing the terror tunnels.
Israel has received intelligence indicating that Hamas has begun
reconstructing the attack tunnels that were destroyed during Operation
Protective Edge, a senior Israeli official said on Sunday.
Two
weeks have passed since the cease-fire went into effect, the official
said, and Hamas has already begun preparing for the next confrontation
with Israel and is focused on replenishing its arsenals.
The
senior official said that Hamas militants have returned to arms
smuggling through several tunnels that remain intact under the
Philadelphi Route in Rafah. He said that the smuggling continues despite
the Egyptian security forces' more concentrated and effective efforts
to stamp out the tunnels.
The official added that production of
the M75 rockets – capable of reaching the Gush Dan region in central
Israel – has resumed in factories inside the Gaza Strip. He said that
even after Operation Protective Edge, 40 percent of Hamas' capability to
produce rockets locally remain intact.
So which idiot decided to accept a cease fire? And how long until we hit the terror tunnels and the rocket manufacturing facilities again? What do you mean we can't?
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, M-75 rockets, Operation Protective Edge, terror tunnels
Hamas leaders at odds over 'cease fire'
The
split between Hamas' leadership in Gaza and its political leaders in Qatar that manifested itself during Operation Protective Edge is continuing (Hat Tip:
Honest Reporting).
Unlike the Gaza leader and former Hamas Prime Minister
Ismail Haniyeh, Mashaal has not welcomed the cease-fire and according to
some reports he has been telling his associates that the cease-fire
underscored a colossal failure on the part of Hamas. Mashaal's deputy,
Moussa Abu Marzouk, who is close to the Egyptian regime, has sided with
Haniyeh in the ongoing internal feud.
Only several thousand Palestinians attended a
Hamas rally celebrating the cease-fire on Wednesday, a significant drop
compared to the celebration following other rounds of hostilities. "The
Palestinian resistance, its courage and determination surprised the
Zionist occupation forces," Haniyeh told the Gazan crowds. "No words can
truly capture the scope of the victory; it is beyond time and space,"
he continued. "This campaign is not like any war we have seen in this
conflict with our enemy," he said.
This was the first time Haniyeh appeared in
public in more than 50 days, having chosen to lay low during Operation
Protective Edge. According to unverified reports, Haniyeh was admitted
to a Gaza hospital on Wednesday.
A senior Gazan official told the Arab media outlets
Wednesday that in light of significant damage to schools, there was a
real possibility that the start of the school year would be delayed. He
said many schools had been damaged and those that have remained in tact
were now occupied by displaced Gazans. A senior Palestinian official
told Israel Hayom on Tuesday that it would take at least 10 to 15 years
to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
The rumor is that Haniyeh had a heart attack and is back in Shifa where he's been for the last seven weeks. Poetic justice.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Mousa Abu Marzouk, Operation Protective Edge
Did Hamas win?
David Horovitz explains how
Hamas may have just won the war.
[I]f, under a long-term deal, Hamas is able to
replicate Hezbollah’s strategy in Lebanon — to retain full or
significant control of Gaza, to re-arm, to build a still more potent
killing mechanism — then its claims of victory, appallingly, will be
justified.
Only if a long-term mechanism can be fashioned
that denies Hamas the capacity to fight and kill another day will the
Israeli leadership be justified in asserting that its goal — ensuring
sustained calm and security for the people of Israel — has been met.
The early word is that Israel has made no
commitment to meeting any of the central, long-standing Hamas demands —
for a lifting of the security blockade, and for the opening of a seaport
and an airport. These are concessions that, if agreed in the absence of
an effective supervisory mechanism, would give Hamas the ready means to
strengthen itself militarily. But it is extremely hard to imagine how
such an effective supervisory mechanism could be constructed. And one
can only wonder whether Hamas, if it is denied concessions on those
issues in the coming weeks of negotiations, will refrain from renewing
the conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity
has nosedived in recent weeks as the war has continued, as the rockets
have pounded on, and as residents of the south have learned to their
bloody cost that the political and military leadership were wrong in
assuring them three weeks ago that it was safe for them to return to
their homes. Support for Netanyahu’s handling of the conflict will rise
again if time, and the long-term ceasefire terms, prove that Hamas has
been marginalized and de-fanged. Many Israelis, indeed, will come to
hail him for not having ordered a far more extensive ground offensive
into the treacherous heart of Gaza, where Hamas lay in wait, with the
consequent likely loss of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of soldiers’ lives.
But if Hamas is not marginalized, if it proves
capable of rebuilding its tunnels, restocking its rocket arsenals, and
plotting new strategies toward its goal of Israel’s annihilation, the
Israeli strategy for handling this conflict will have been a failure,
and the popularity of the prime minister will be far from the most
central of Israel’s concerns.
I would guess that Hamas will start shooting again when (not if, but when) they don't get what they want at the negotiating table. Of course, it's possible that Netanyahu will just give them what they want anyway.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, Operation Protective Edge
'We wanted to see Hamas defeated and begging for its life; instead we see Israel running to the negotiating table'
Israel has agreed to a one-month cease fire with Hamas, and the
local authorities in the Gaza envelope are furious.
Tamir Idan, who heads the Sdot Negev Regional Council, said that “if
the reports in the mdeia are right, and the agreement for a ceasefire is
for one month only, in which Hamas's demands for constructing ports
will be discussed, then this is a surrender to terror.”
He also refused to accept Israel's lack of response to a last minute
attack by Hamas that killed two men in Kibbutz Nirim Tuesday.
"Israel's tacit acceptance that it is alright [for Hamas] to fire
without limits, and without a response, before the ceasefire goes into
force, is a very grave matter. We demand that the Israeli government and
the IDF stand behind their commitment to respond in a meaningful way to
any fire.”
Itamar Shimoni, Mayor of Ashkelon, said that any conmpromise with
Hamas is a surrender to terror. “The residents of Israel and the south
wanted to see a decision in this campaign, but this will apparently not
happen,” he stated.
"We wanted to see Hamas defeated and begging for its life; instead we
see Israel running to the negotiating table at every opportunity,” he
added. “We did not lose 64 fighters and five civilians, including a
four-year-old boy, for this 'achievement'. We did not sit in the
shelters and protected spaces for almost two months for this
'achievement'. We did not take a harsh economic blow, in which
businesses collapsed, for this 'achievement'. We expected a lot more
than this.”
"Hamas raised demands through violence, and it seems they can expect
to get what they wanted. The conclusion is that the path of terror pays
off, and therefore the next round of fighting is just a matter of time.
As far as I am concerned, a ceasefire agreement in this reality means
starting to prepare the systems in Ashkelon for the next round, and it
will be more grave and lethal than anything we have known up to now.”
The head of the Eshkol Council, Haim Yelin, said that he will not ask
the residents of his region to return to their homes. “In Jerusalem
there appears to be a ceasefire. I don't know what they are talking
about,” he told Channel 10 news. “In Jerusalem they feel safe, and in
some neighborhoods of Gaza they feel safe, but not us. We went into a
war of attrition in which we paid with the lives of families and deep
pain of the wounded. The government was unprepared for this war.”
The national politicians are also irate over this 'cease fire.'
Half the cabinet was opposed.
Just as half of the cabinet ministers were opposed to the cease-fire, many in the coalition expressed similar opinions.
Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) said “any agreement that doesn’t include eliminating the rocket threat on residents of Israel and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip is less than half of what is necessary.
“In this reality, the defense establishment will have no choice but to prepare for the next round, which will be soon,” Ariel added.
According to MK Danny Danon (Likud), in the Middle East, restraint is seen as weakness.
“Despite the heavy price Hamas paid, we did not defeat Hamas,” he said. “Fifty days of fighting, 64 soldiers killed, five civilians killed, 82,000 reservists called up, and in the end we’re back to the agreement from Operation Pillar of Defense.”
Danon said a defeat was necessary to broadcast to the whole Middle East, including Hezbollah, Islamic State and Iran, that “they should not mess with the people of Israel.”
“I am concerned we did not succeed enough. Now is the time for national introspection. The policy of restraint and hesitation hurt Israel’s deterrence,” he added.
MK Eli Yishai (Shas) said that a cease-fire without Gaza being demilitarized means Israel may as well pencil in the next round of fighting in its calendar.
“This will be time for Hamas to resupply itself with weaponry to use against Israel,” he said. “Not demilitarizing Gaza will bring Israel to another round of fighting that will be even worse.”
On the Left, lawmakers called for the government to take initiative and launch diplomatic negotiations.
What's worse, afraid he would lose, Netanyahu pulled an Ariel Sharon and
circumvented a cabinet vote.
Government ministers Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman, Yitzhak
Aharonovich and Gilad Erdan, who were against the deal, complained that
they had merely been informed of the details of the agreement and were
not given the opportunity to vote on it.
Economy Minister Bennett
demanded that a vote be held on Wednesday but was informed that Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had received a legal opinion that a vote was
not required.
A senior official in Jerusalem said on Tuesday
night that Israel had informed Egypt that it accepted the proposal for a
cease-fire without time limitation. The response was given only after
all the ministers in the cabinet had been updated, the source said.
According
to the official, the agreement does not meet Hamas' demands for a sea
port, an airport, the release of prisoners and a solution to the issue
of funding salaries for Gaza officials.
Each of the sides will
raise its demands during the negotiations following the cease-fire;
Israel will demand the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
Humanitarian
aid, including equipment and materials to repair the damage in the
Strip, will be allowed to enter Gaza through the crossings controlled by
Israel. Entrance of the materials will be controlled. It is also
possibly that the Gaza fishing zone will be extended.
Justice
Minister Tzipi Livni responded earlier to reports of the imminent
cease-fire in Gaza and says that the end of the operation should not
include "any significant political achievements for Hamas, which is a
terrorist organization which doesn't accept our existence here."
I'll have more on this later, but let's put it this way: It takes three months to hold elections in Israel. I predict we will have them and we will have a new Prime Minister within six months. Write it down.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, cease fire, Erez crossing, Gaza, Gaza envelope, Hamas, humanitarian aid, IDF, Kerem Shalom crossing point, Operation Protective Edge
IDF knew where Deif was for 3 days, held off due to cease fire; Hamas spox son-in-law killed by IDF
The IDF knew where Mohammed Deif was hiding for three days last week, but did not kill him because a 'cease fire' was in effect. Today, with the 'cease fire' (and maybe Deif) long gone, the IDF killed the
27-year old son-in-law of Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
The IDF continues to show that Hamas's terrorist leaders are not
immune in the war they started on Israel, as the son-in-law of Hamas
spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum was killed on Monday.
Abdullah Mortaja, the son-in-law of the Hamas leader, was killed in a strike by the IDF. Yedioth Aharonoth reported on his connection to Barhoum.
The 27-year-old was a freelance journalist, who himself previously
worked in the propaganda machine of the terrorist organization Hamas's
Al-Aqsa TV station, according to AFP.
The news source added that Hamas medical officials claimed Mortaja
was hit by tank fire in the Sheijaya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.
...
Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was targeted in a strike last
Tuesday night, in which his wife and two of his children died. There are
conflicting reports, with Hamas claiming he survived, but not saying
anything about his condition.
According to recent reports Sunday, Israel knew the location of the
arch-terrorist Deif as many as three days ahead of the strike, but chose not to act on the rare opportunity to take him out due to the ceasefire.
So when are we taking out the bunker at Shifa already?
Labels: cease fire, Fawzi Barhoum, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Mohammed Deif, Operation Protective Edge, Shifa Hospital
Hamas: No 'progress' in 'cease fire' talks
Hamas' Moussa Abu Marzouk is denying reports of '
progress' in 'cease fire' talks.
12:17 P.M. Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas offical
and head of the Palestinian delegation to Cairo, rejects reports of
progress in talks with Israel on a Gaza cease-fire deal. (Jack Khoury)
We haven't hit them hard enough yet. Then again, given that Marzouk is in Qatar, he, like Khaled Meshaal, is happy to fight to the last Gazan.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Mousa Abu Marzouk, Operation Protective Edge
Here we go again: Hamas launches rockets, missing American-Israeli soldier found dead
The cease fire isn't officially over until Midnight (about an hour from now), but Hamas has already started
firing rockets into Israel.
Gaza terrorists kept up their rocket assault on Israel Tuesday night
by firing an eight-rocket barrage on the southern and Gush Dan central
region several minutes before 11 p.m.
Sirens were sounded in the Gush Dan region, the Shfela coastal plain, Ashdod, Be'er Sheva and various areas near Gaza.
With the temporary ceasefire in tatters and set to splutter to a
close just over an hour from now, the IDF Homefront Command has ordered
all public bomb shelters to be reopened in communities located between
40-80 kilometers from Gaza.
The directives indicates fears Hamas will once again begin launching
long-range rockets at major Israeli population centers, including
central Israel and the Jerusalem region. Areas effected by the order
include all Negev communities, the Beit Shemesh area, the Shomron
(Samaria), Judea, Gush Dan and central Israel, Jerusalem, the Jordan
Vallet and the Sharon Region, among others.
The Homefront Command have also issued updated directives to
communities closer to Gaza, who have already been under fire since
terrorists breached the ceasefire earlier Tuesday. Until now, only short
and medium-range rockets and mortar shells have been used, but that is
likely to change once the truce officially ends at midnight.
Meanwhile, the American-Israeli IDF soldier who was
reported missing earlier has been
found dead with gunshot wounds.
The inspiring words left behind in the blog of IDF soldier David Menachem Gordon (21), who was found dead
Tuesday after going missing Sunday, suggest that if his death was an
act of suicide, it was not the result of depression caused by his army
service.
Writing on his Facebook page after leaving Gaza on July 25, Gordon wrote "unbelievably
overwhelmed, not from this mission but from the support and messages of
encouragement from family, friends and strangers. I am OK and I've
never felt more loved. Thank you all!"
Gordon, originally from Ohio, was working with children in Ramat Beit Shemesh (a very heavily American community in the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv corridor) before joining the IDF.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Operation Protective Edge
Coup? What coup?
'
Moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen may be taking reports of an attempted Hamas coup
seriously, but that's not stopping him from going to Doha on Wednesday to pay homage to Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal and to Meshaal's patron,
the Emir of Qatar.
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will travel to Doha on Wednesday and hold talks the next day with the emir of Qatar and Hamas exiled leader Khaled Meshaal, the Palestinian ambassador in Qatar told AFP Tuesday.
Abbas's visit to Qatar was initially announced for Monday by Palestinian officials who are in Cairo for indirect talks with Israel on a lasting truce in Gaza.
Abbas will on Thursday discuss separately with Meshaal and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani latest developments in the negotiations in Cairo and "aid and reconstruction" in Gaza, Palestinian ambassador Monir Ghannam told AFP.
From Doha, Ghannam said Tuesday, Abbas will travel on to Cairo as part of contacts the Palestinian leadership is staging "with all the parties concerned" in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The meeting follows both the last-minute extension of a 5-day
ceasefire between Israel and Hamas - and rumors of Israel agreeing to
some of Hamas's unprecedented demands for a lasting truce - and the
revelation that Hamas recently staged a coup in Judea-Samaria.
This sounds like Abu Bluff's self-preservation instinct kicking in. Otherwise, it makes no sense for him to meet with these people. Abu Bluff was among those who was
furious at John Kerry for bringing Qatar into the negotiations last month.
Or is Kerry perhaps responsible for the necessity for holding this meeting. Has Kerry made Qatar indispensable for the 'Palestinian Authority'? If yes, great job America! /sarc
Labels: Abu Mazen, cease fire, Emir of Qatar, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Khaled Meshaal, Operation Protective Edge, Palestinian Authority, Qatar
Hamas amendments to Egyptian cease fire plan include terrorist releases
In an
earlier post, I included a link to the 11-point Egyptian cease fire extension proposal that was presented over the weekend. Now, with just hours remaining in the current cease fire (due to expire at Midnight Israel time), the 'Palestinian' delegation (which includes Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the 'Palestinian Authority') has come back with amendments to the Egyptian proposal, which are likely to ensure that
there will be no cease fire a few hours from now.
The second clause promising an end to attacks from Gaza on Israel
remains as well - although the promise to stop the construction of
terror tunnels is notably absent.
The third clause goes beyond the Egyptian proposal of Gaza Crossings
being opened and specifically says "the blockade on Gaza will end." It
also specifically calls for open trade between PA-controlled areas of
Judea and Samaria with Gaza to include building materials, despite the
use of cement to build terror tunnels.
It is worth noting that Hamas has clarified that any truce deal would be seen only as an opportunity to plan the next terror war on Israel.
The fourth clause adds to the call to have Israel coordinate with the
PA about matters of finances and reconstruction of Gaza with matters of
"the transfer of funds to different echelons," apparently in a return to the controversial proposal to have Israel pay the salaries of Hamas officials.
The fifth clause's call to eliminate the buffer zone on the Gaza side
of the border is still present, but it no longer specifies that PA
security forces will be deployed to secure the area starting January 1,
2015 as the Egyptian proposal stated. The buffer zone was meant to
prevent terrorist infiltration into Israel.
...
Instead of calling for the PA, Israel and international organizations to
provide basic products to rehabilitate Gaza and return displaced
persons, the eighth clause now calls for the entry of building materials
to Gaza to be eased according to a temporary defined schedule, still so
as to return displaced persons. The change appears to remove some
oversight in the process.
...
The amendments drop the bombshell in an additional clause before the former tenth clause.
In the new tenth clause, the delegation calls for a "cancellation of
the regulations that Israel fixed in the West Bank after June 12, 2014
(when the three Israeli teens were abducted and murdered), (including)
the release of prisoners (arrested in Operation Brother's Keeper),
particularly (Hamas) members of the (PA) parliament, and the release of the fourth batch of prisoners."
The last piece is a reference to the terrorist prisoner release
"gestures" during the Israel-PA peace talks, which broke down in April
before the last batch of terrorists was released, but after 78
terrorists had already gone free.
Clause eleven corresponds to the old tenth clause, saying talks will be completed in Cairo a month after the truce deal.
However, an important caveat was slipped into the clause, saying
"afterwards the process of exchanging the prisoners and returning the
two bodies (of Second Lt.Hadar Goldin and First Sgt. Oron Shaul hy''d) will be completed between the sides."
While AFP noted on Sunday that the return of the two bodies
was being pushed off for the talks a month after the truce deal, it did
not specify that the return of the bodies for a proper burial was being
used as a trump card in pressing Israel to free terrorists.
There is no way Israel will agree to these demands. And while no one
seriously expects Hamas to bombard us tonight (perhaps wishful thinking), train service between Ashkelon and Sderot, which hugs the Gaza border, has been
shut down just in case.
What could go wrong?
Labels: cease fire, Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian terrorists
Back to 'quiet will be met with quiet'?
It's not only
Hamas that has rejected the Egyptian cease fire plan.
Israel has now rejected it too.
Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem told Maariv Hashavua late Saturday that the decision to turn down the Egyptian offer was made after consultations between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon.
"The Israeli delegation in Cairo is comprised entirely of former security chiefs," a diplomatic source told Maariv Hashavua. "The instructions that they received from the prime minister upon their departure to Cairo were to adamantly insist on meeting Israel's security needs. Thus far, Israel has not agreed to any proposal. Understandings will be reached only if they clearly address the security interests of the State of Israel."
Officials in Jerusalem were pleased by the European Union foreign ministers who stated on Friday that all terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip needed to decommission their weapons, "a principle that even the Obama administration supports," said one source.
The current five-day cease-fire with Hamas ends Monday at midnight. Sources close to the prime minister said that Netanyahu sees the next 48 hours as the last chance to reach a long-term cease-fire arrangement with Hamas.
Israeli officials have told their Egyptian counterparts that if there is no significant progress in the next two days, then the Netanyahu government will revert back to a policy of "quiet will be met with quiet," though this time the response to any Palestinian rocket fire "will be fierce."
Senior Israeli officials said over the weekend that they did not rule out the possibility that the Palestinian factions in Gaza would abandon the Egyptian-mediated negotiations and undertake unilateral steps of their own in response to Israeli unilateral measures.
The problem is that all the proposals and rejections are just giving Hamas time to regroup. We had them on the ropes and we gave it up because Obama-Kerry insisted on a cease fire. If we have to fight them again, they will be at least somewhat recovered.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, cease fire, Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, John Kerry
Hamas rejects Egyptian cease fire, says Israel must accept its demands or else, Meshaal thinks he's DeGaulle
From his luxury accommodations in Qatar, Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshaal is once again ready to
send Gazans to their deaths.
Hamas has sounded a belligerent tone as negotiations for a long-term truce continue in Cairo.
In a message posted on his Facebook page, Hamas's "foreign affairs"
chief Osama Hamdan said the Islamist terror group rejects the current
Egyptian proposal, and pledged a "long war" of attrition against Israel.
"Israel must accept the demands of the Palestinian people or face a long war," he said.
Other Hamas officials issued similar statements over the course of Saturday.
Hamdan's Facebook message was posted not long before a message
on the Twitter account of the "military wing" of Hamas, the Ezzedine
al-Qassam Brigades, in which the group vowed to continue its armed
"struggle".
Here's a lengthy interview with Khaled Meshaal in which - what else - he blames Israel for the conflict.
Let's go to the videotape. Meshaal's comparing himself to DeGaulle is around the 10:15 mark.
I wish the interviewer had been tougher. She didn't throw him softball questions, but she did let him get away without really answering most of them.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, two-state solution
Report: Khaled Meshaal willing to fight Israel to the last Gazan
Nobody elected him. He lives hundreds of miles away in a luxury hotel in Qatar. So why should anyone be surprised that Hamas politburo chief
Khaled Meshaal is the main force behind Hamas' refusal to agree to a long-term truce?
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has been the central force preventing a long-term truce between Israel and the Palestinians to halt more than a month of hostilities on the Gaza front, Channel 2 quoted an Israeli diplomatic source as saying on Thursday.
The leader of the Palestinian delegation to cease-fire talks, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed, announced on Wednesday just before midnight that a 72-hour truce would be extended for five additional days to give the sides more time to work out a long-term agreement.
The Palestinians reportedly had asked for a 72-hour extension of the truce, but Israel had insisted on a five day extension to prevent the cease-fire from ending on the Sabbath.
According to the Israeli official quoted by Channel 2, a long term deal could have already been reached, but Mashaal "was and remains the source of friction that is torpedoing a deal."
Mashaal, who resides abroad in Qatar, is enmeshed in a disagreement with the local Hamas leadership in Gaza, the report added.
If I were a Gazan, I'd be outraged at this. Meshaal has no idea what conditions are like on the ground (for that matter, for a long time, neither did the Hamas leadership in Gaza, which has been hiding out under Shifa Hospital). But being ruled from afar like that is outrageous. Talk about
colonialism....
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Khaled Meshaal, Operation Protective Edge
Hamas breaks cease fire
The alarms started sounding again shortly after 9:00 this evening as Hamas violated the cease fire (which was supposed to end at Midnight) by firing rockets into southern Israel. The Israeli delegation has left the Cairo talks (which once again went nowhere) and returned home. It looks like
the war is starting up again.
Sirens sounded in southern Israel after 9:00 p.m. and at least
one rocket that was fired from Gaza exploded harmlessly in the Hof
Ashkelon area. Sirens were reported in Hof Ashkelon, Lachish, and the
Eshkol regions, as Hamas terrorists broke the truce with Israel more
than two hours before it was scheduled to end.
A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said however that Hamas did not fire any rockets at Israel.
MK Motti Yogev (Jewish Home) said following the renewed fire
from Gaza that Israel must “Hit Hamas with all our might, until it
screams.”
MK Danny Danon (Likud) said: “Stop stuttering, eliminate the heads of Hamas.”
Thousands of IDF reservists were deployed to the Gaza front Wednesday, reported Israel Hayom,
which said that the deployment is in preparation for a possible
resumption of hostilities.
In addition, reported the daily, hundreds of
other reservists were told to prepare for possible deployment later
tonight.
The IDF says the reservists deployed to Gaza Wednesday are simply replacing other troops who are going home.
Arutz Sheva has learned that many of the reservists who were sent home from Gaza are still on call and can be redeployed at short notice.
Arab sources gave contradictory reports on progress at the Cairo
ceasefire talks in which Israel and Hamas are negotiating indirectly
through Egyptian mediators.
The Israeli delegation to the talks flew home Wednesday evening. The
Palestinian team is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:30 p.m.
local time.
But that press conference was
postponed indefinitely.
However, the press conference was postponed until further notice, apparently at the request of the Egyptians.
Palestinian sources said the Egyptians were exerting heavy pressure on the Palestinian team to accept the proposal so as to allow more time to achieve a long-term cease-fire.
Earlier, the sources said that the Palestinian delegation might lave Cairo in wake of the failure of the cease-fire talks.
The sources quoted members of the Palestinian delegation as saying that little progress has been achieved so far in the last three days.
Meanwhile, a Hamas website reported that talks in Cairo had hit obstacles and Palestinian delegates were preparing to leave.
According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli team returned home earlier Wednesday evening from the indirect negotiations in the Egyptian capital.
Former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that a any permanent cease-fire with Israel should include the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“The sacrifices of our people don’t allow for compromises on the rights and demands of the Palestinians,” Haniyeh said.
He expressed support for the Palestinian team in Cairo and urged its members not to “succumb to blackmail.”
Haniyeh’s statements were broadcast on Hamas’ Aqsa TV station shortly before the expiration of the cease-fire at Wednesday midnight.
Also on Wednesday, the United States said it wanted a long-term cease-fire secured between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but will settle for an extension of the current, short-term truce if a larger accord cannot be reached tonight among negotiators in Cairo.
US President Barack Obama spoke to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu by phone on Wednesday to express that message, urging the Israeli premier to seal a deal that would end the violence, after a month-long war led to extensive destruction in the Gaza Strip.
Where did Haniyeh make this statement? From the safety of his bunker under Shifa Hospital. What a coward standing behind women and children to shield himself below ground. And by the way, why is Obama
suddenly telling us 'make peace no matter what the cost? Why should we?
Sorry for all the quiet this afternoon. I had a lot of work, then dinner with some friends this evening, and now I am totally wiped out (about three hours of sleep every night this week).
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, Operation Protective Edge
Hamas demands that Egypt be replaced as mediator, still demands a seaport
I spent much of tonight at a client's son's wedding (the son was in Gaza until the middle of last week). On the way home, I heard a report on Israel Radio with their 'Palestinian' affairs correspondent, Gal Berger. It was an amazing report. Fortunately, most of it is on his Twitter feed. Unfortunately, his Twitter feed is in Hebrew. So I will have to do some translating for you.
I finished a conversation with a Hamas source who originated the call. He asked to pass on a message. The central problem in the negotiations is the Egyptian mediator, who is not anxious to reach an agreement, and does not want a strengthened Hamas.
Points from the Hamas source: As delivered by the Egyptians, Israel's responses don't give a response to even 5% of Hamas' demands. They are even willing to allow international supervision of a seaport - they have not dropped that demand (contrary to
this story).
Agreeing to Hamas' demands including the seaport, will ensure many years of calm. Just the reconstruction of Gaza will keep us busy for many years ahead [on Israel Radio he added that the amount of work that needs to be done to reconstruct Gaza is 3-4 times what it was in the last two wars]. They understand that setting up the port will take time but they demand that Israel consent to it now.
They will not be dependent on the mercies of Israel or Egypt at the borders. There is seriousness in the talks, but there is no real progress and the gaps are wide. The people of Gaza back them up completely.
They do not discount the possibility that Egypt is distorting the Israeli stance and is conveying a harder line than what is being given to them. Egypt does not like Hamas and don't want a strengthened Hamas.
[On Israel Radio he added, If Egypt cannot just be replaced], it is necessary to add European actors who are acceptable to Israel to join as mediators, and not to insist on the Egyptian mediator. [On Israel Radio he added that Hamas understands that Israel would not accept Turkey or Qatar, but suggested Norway]. The continuation of the Egyptian mediation in its current form is a sure-fire recipe to return to fighting.
The Israeli delegation decided to forgo the night in Cairo, and is heading back to Israel tonight [probably here already] for consultations.
The cease fire ends at Midnight Thursday night. Hmmm.
Labels: cease fire, Egypt, Gaza, Gaza seaport, Hamas, IDF, Operation Protective Edge
Video: Direct hit on Kerem Shalom crossing point
The Defense Ministry has closed the Kerem Shalom crossing point through which 'humanitarian aid' is provided to Gaza after a direct mortar hit on the crossing point that nearly hit a fuel truck.
I guess Hamas doesn't want any humanitarian aid.
The security cameras caught it all.
Let's go to the videotape.
Here's the
Defense Ministry announcement.
"After continuous and deliberate fire at the Kerem Shalom crossing,
which almost hit trucks carrying flammable materials to Gaza, we reached
the unusual decision to close the passage, in order to protect the
workers and the merchants,” said the Crossings Authority. “The crossing
remained open throughout the despite incessant fire in its vicinity, and
was an exclusive artery for passage of goods and essential humanitarian
equipment for Gaza.”
I guess all those Hamas employees for whom
money was allowed into Gaza today aren't going to have any place to spend it anyway (link in Hebrew). For the last two months, Egypt had blocked the transfer of money into Gaza from Qatar for Hamas to pay salaries.
Another 72-hour 'humanitarian cease fire' is
due to go into effect at Midnight Israel time, a bit less than three hours from now. If there is quiet overnight, Israeli negotiators will return to Cairo in the morning.
Labels: cease fire, Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, humanitarian aid, IDF, Kerem Shalom crossing point, Operation Protective Edge, Qatar
AP: Hamas has accepted 'cease fire'
After a barrage of
rockets headed toward the Ashkelon area, AP is reporting that Hamas has accepted a 72-hour '
humanitarian cease fire.'
Palestinian negotiators on Sunday said they had accepted an Egyptian
proposal for a new 72-hour truce with Israel, clearing the way for a
possible resumption of talks on a long-term cease-fire arrangement in
the Gaza Strip.
Israel had walked away from cease-fire talks over
the weekend, after militants resumed their rocket fire on southern
Israel with the expiration of an earlier three-day truce. Sunday's
decision was aimed at bringing the Israelis back to the negotiations.
There was no immediate Israeli response.
"We are here to look for
an agreement. We cannot have an agreement without talks, so we accepted
an Egyptian proposal to have a cease-fire for 72 hours in order to
resume the talks," said a Palestinian negotiator.
He, along with
other Palestinian negotiators who confirmed the decision, spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the
negotiations with the media.
...
"Israel will not negotiate under fire," Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said Sunday, warning his country's military campaign "will
take time."
Hamas is seeking an end to an Israeli-Egypt blockade that has decimated the local economy.
Israel
says the blockade is needed to prevent arms smuggling, and it says
Hamas must disarm as part of any long-term arrangement. Hamas has said
handing over its weapons arsenal, which is believed to include several
thousand remaining rockets, is inconceivable.
Given what
happened in
Lebanon, Israel does not put much stock in letting international forces take care of our security problems. It seems more likely right now that we will try to reach a military solution. Our government certainly does not seem anxious for a cease fire.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Operation Protective Edge
Why are we offering anything?
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
God Kicked the stuffing out Hamas over the past month on our behalf, and it's time we started acting like winners. We should say that we will not 'negotiate' with Hamas in any way unless they return the body parts that they have of our two soldiers - Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin HY"D (May God Avenge their blood). I don't say that in any way to be disrespectful of the mitzva of bringing Jewish soldiers to a Jewish burial, but at least let's not offer any live terrorists. So why are we
offering 25 live terrorists for body parts?
A source in the Palestinian delegation to Cairo said that Israel
offered to hand over 25 terrorists that it arrested during Operation
Protective Edge and 18 bodies of terrorists who were killed, in exchange
for the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and First Sgt. Oron Shaul hy”d.
According to report in Al Masry Al-Youm, Israel demanded
that the bodies of its soldiers be returned as a condition for the
negotiations to proceed. The report was not confirmed by any official
Israeli sources.
Egyptian mediators
met a Palestinian delegation again Friday evening and were waiting to
hear back from the Israelis after the Jewish Shabbat ended at sundown
Saturday.
Acting US Middle East peace envoy Frank Lowenstein, who has been in
Cairo for some days, "is still trying to help the parties get a
permanent ceasefire", a US embassy official said.
Hamas needs a cease fire much more than we do. It's time to make them understand that.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Operation Protective Edge, Palestinian terrorists
