Yes, it's a travel day again. Greetings from the airline lounge at Paris-Charles DeGaulle.
I've discussed the concept of a Darwin Award many times. A Darwin Award is given to someone who improves the human race by removing himself from the gene pool.
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas announced that one of its
operatives was electrocuted to death while working on a tunnel in the
Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israel Army Radio reported. The news comes as residents of Gaza who seek to rebuild their homes face difficulty in securing the necessary electricity and other resources, which are routinely appropriated by Hamas.
Israel was forced to increase
the amount of electricity it sends to Gaza in June after repeated
shutdowns at Gaza’s only power plant due to a payment dispute between
Hamas and Fatah. Because of this infighting, Gaza residents usually only
have six to eight
hours of electricity per day. The lack of power has also caused
failures at Gaza’s new $100 million sewage treatment facility, which was
built with financing from the World Bank.
It's nice to be able to laugh at Hamas once in a while, but really this is not such a joke.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, formerly the head of the
research division of Israeli military intelligence and later
the director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, told reporters in
May that the discovery of the tunnels was a sign that Hamas was
preparing for another war against Israel. He added that the tunnel
digging means that “they definitely invest a lot in making the necessary
preparations so that in the next round, when they decide to start it,
they will be able to inflict the heaviest damage on Israel, including
through those tunnels.”
Commenting on the efforts Hamas was putting into its terror tunnels
at the expense of Gazans, long time Palestinian affairs correspondent
Khaled Abu Toameh observed, “the last thing Hamas cares about is the welfare of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,”
Haaretz’s defense correspondent Amos Harel wrote
in January that “Hamas is investing great efforts and huge sums in the
tunnel project. It is reasonable to assume that the number of tunnels
crossing under the border is close to that on the eve of Protective
Edge,” or the 2014 Gaza war.
But give them a 'state' and the 'Palestinians' will know exactly what to do. The Euroweenies will help them. Oh... wait... Hamas HAS a state in Gaza, and this is what they are doing with it.
Hamas laying groundwork to create new ('Palestinian') civilian casualties
A 65-year old man with a permit to cross from Gaza into Israel was arrested by the IDF in June for carrying money in his shoes for Hamas, it was announced on Tuesday. The money was to be used for digging terror tunnels from Gaza into Israel.
A joint Shin Bet (Israel
Security Agency), Israel Police Southern District and IDF operation
resulted in the arrest on June 16 of 65-year-old Faiz Atar from Bet
Lahia in Gaza, who had a permit to enter Israel to conduct trade.
The suspect was taken into custody at the Tarkumia crossing between Israel and the West Bank.
The
Shin Bet said the suspect hid cash in his shoes for Hamas, and
smuggled tens of thousands of euros to terrorist operatives in the West
Bank.
As the investigation continued, the domestic intelligence
agency gleaned valuable information on Atar’s family in Gaza and their
activities on behalf of Hamas, including tunnel digging.
“It emerged that his sons made use of his home to meet with
Hamas operatives. The investigation revealed information on tunnel
openings, which are partly located underneath civilian structures –
including innocent civilian residential buildings and mosques – and
rocket launch locations, which are located near civilian structures in a
manner that endangers the civilian population in the Strip,” the Shin
Bet said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a second investigation
launched by the Shin Bet, Israel Police, and IDF forces also began with
a terrorism-financing suspect and ended with additional intelligence
on Gazan tunnels.
Security forces nabbed a Gazan resident at the Erez Crossing in June
with 10,000 euros stuffed in his shoes, intended for Hamas operatives
in the West Bank. When the suspect, identified as Jabaliya resident
Itallah Sarahan, 37, was questioned, security forces learned that he
received a permit to enter Israel for trade purposes two weeks prior to
his arrest.
...
The
suspect works as a truck driver in Gaza, clearing sand from Hamas and
Islamic Jihad tunnel digging sites. “Sarahan passed on much information
about the tunnels he was exposed to, including which terrorist
organization was responsible for digging which tunnels, their exact
locations, and the status of the digging work,” the Shin Bet said.
The
investigation underlines Hamas’s cynical use of Israeli efforts to
ease economic conditions for the Gazan civilian population. Thousands
of Gazans enter Israel every month for humanitarian, medical, and trade
purposes, and Hamas often attempts to exploit these entries to
transfer terrorist finances, the Shin Bet said.
It's not just Hamas that uses civilian infrastructure as a weapon in battle in order to create civilian casualties and international sympathy. You might recall that five years ago, Israeli intelligence published a map of southern Lebanon which showed where Hezbullah was doing the same thing. Israel is then left with the choice of allowing its own civilians to come under fire or being depicted as causing civilian casualties.
But just give them a 'state' and they'll stop doing things like this. Right....
The anniversary of the liberation of the South in the twenty-fifth of May, the "Ambassador" newspaper visited military sites for Hezbollah, including a tunnel located in a border point forward very sensitive. It is true that technology already tunnels of the enemy discovered that its implications in the war in July, but the style evolution. Change the type of cement. It changed the way the ventilation and methods of packaging food and weapons have changed. Electricity is available to 24 from 24 during generators placed underground also. As for the food, no longer depends on the tins. It became specialists feeding preparing food prepared for storage, so as to ensure the fighter during the war to get his need of food and energy for weeks. Each bag has three packs written on each of them to its content of food, in addition to health benefits, where the fighter to eat sequentially selected in advance, in order to ensure receiving a complete and balanced meal. These shares are not for consumption only during the war, but in the days of processing and preparation, Vmqaumen to get their food routinely.
The readiness of the resistance suggest that the war will break out today or tomorrow. The food is ready and the band has a logistics counting all units of the food and distribute it to all sites and bunkers, it has traditionally replaced five months before the expiry. In the tunnel, the air is no different from the outside. Machines pull moisture to protect iron from rust and existing ventilation machines are also present, as emergency exits right and left. Concerned did not run out a small detail.
Having missiles became jacketed Bnailon lugged him in the air and placed inside anti-moisture material, concerned did not forget to leave her side blades so that the fighter can open them quickly at the moment of the war.
Who thinks that Alemradan fighters defy boredom Ballho or long wait mistaken .. narrowed years several months later and narrowed decades years, and if the war was yet to come, it may come days, so, the work in the construction of new fortifications and tunnels restless on the clock, instead of tens thousands of rockets ready for launch, there is no harm hundreds of thousands, note that the drilling is done manually and is strictly rudimentary equipment to draw attention. The backfill resulting from this process, Faisar to fill bags and then carried to the relatively distant places where they can be sprayed in the fields and then covered with leaves up to fraternize with nature, because survival in bags, you may draw the enemy's point of view.
From visiting the southern border and meet with resistance, he realizes that "the Party of God," the main structure in the face of the Israeli threat not changed. It goes on a mission to Syria, is due to be completed as soon as its location. Do not vacuum or vacancy in any site in the hierarchy of the party, even if for a few seconds. The alternative for each fighter went to Syria or on vacation. Key leadership positions they never leave the south. "Mr. Jihad" and all his team are firm in their places. They are responsible for the readiness of their sector to address any possible attack, and also missile force, is supposed to be ready ambushes, which is an integrated system all of which may not be limited to containers, booby, but include a weapon against armor and support firearm.
Sounds like it could yet be a hot summer, God Forbid.
I am back in Israel now. The Shavuot holiday immediate follows Shabbat. Here in Israel, it is only one day (everyplace else, it is two). Therefore, I will be back online God willing on Sunday night.
To make your holiday, here's an amazing story from last summer's war in Gaza that shows how a group of Torah-observant Jews led to the foiling of a Hamas terror attack.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: NR - Daughter Number 2, Child Number 4).
Moadim l'Simcha, a happy holiday to all of you, and a reminder that because I am in Israel, today is an intermediate day of the holiday, on which being on the computer is allowed.
Iran is certainly acting in the spirit of its newly-inked deal with Barack Hussein Obama, who declined to deter Iran's support of terror worldwide: Iran is financing the reconstruction of Hamas terror tunnels destroyed by Israel during last summer's war.
It is also funding new missile supplies to
replenish stocks used to bombard residential neighbourhoods in Israel
during the war, code-named Operation Protective Edge by Israel.
The renewed funding is a sign that the two old allies are putting behind thema rift caused by the conflict in Syria, where Shia Iran is backing President Bashar al-Assad against Hamas’s mainly Sunni allies.
Hamas’s leader, Khaled Meshaal, who left Damascus for Qatar after
falling out with the Assad regime, has often fought with Hamas’s
military wing over the strength of the Iranian connection.
However, with the Sunni Arab world joining forces against Iran, led by
Saudi Arabia and President Abdelfattah el-Sisi of Egypt, who are both
hostile to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group has been left little
option but to accept the Iranian largesse.
At the same time,
Iran’s overseas operations arm, the Al-Quds force, led by its
charismatic general Qassem Suleimani, has been consolidating a broad
hold over the Middle East.
It is backing the Shia Houthi rebels
fighting the internationally recognised government in Yemen, and
actively supporting the Shia-dominated Iraqi government’s attempts to
recapture the northern city of Tikrit, the former stronghold of Sunni
dictator Saddam Hussein, from Islamic State (Isil) fighters.
However, Iran may have been forced to pull back, at least in the latter
case, senior diplomats say, adding there is growing evidence that the
Iranians are overplaying their hand.
No one should be surprised at this: The Obama administration has essentially given Iran a green light to become the dominant force in the Middle East. Israel will have to act alone (possibly with behind the scenes support from the Gulf States) to stop Iran.
That's what the tweet means: Southern residents claim they once again hear digging sounds (Chico Menashe is an Israel Radio diplomatic correspondent).
The southern residents in question are residents of the Gaza envelope - the area closest to the Gaza Strip (link in Hebrew).
They have reported the digging to the IDF and the IDF is investigating.
Some residents have said that in light of the discoveries this past summer, they no longer rely on the IDF's vigilance.
Comment: The truth is that the IDF knew of the tunnels long before the summer. The political echelon chose not to act against them until Hamas attacked.
Pot calls kettle black: Hamas accuses PA of 'misusing' Gaza reconstruction funds
Hamas is accusing the 'Palestinian Authority' of 'misusing' Gaza reconstruction funds.
In a statement, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said some ministers of
the Palestinian national consensus government "admitted that the money
allocated for Gaza reconstruction was being added to the PA budget."
This
confession, he said, "proves that the real reason behind the delay in
reconstruction of Gaza is that the PA has been messing with the
reconstruction money and exploiting the suffering of Gaza's people."
Because, after all, the funds were only used for their intended purpose when Hamas was in charge....
I received the following via email, unsourced. It's spot-on.
"Israel TV have been showing the massive destruction of hundreds of
homes by the Egyptians as they create a 500 meter buffer zone with Gaza
on their side of the ...border.
1165 families have been removed as their homes are destroyed.
Isn't
it strange that this is a yawn for the Western media. Not worth a
mention. No angry street demonstrations. No condemnation by UN human
rights organizations. No criticism by the Obama Administration. Nothing.
There's no Jewish state to blame and accuse of terrible crimes.
It
has to be said that the Egyptians were uncovering Hamas tunnels as they
cleared the area, which was part of the reason for the operation.
Egypt and Israel have a common cause in eliminating this joint Islamic threat, albeit Palestinian."
Here's a comment from Jeff Jacoby on Twitter.
To wipe out "terrorist hotbeds" in Gaza, army demolishes homes, expelling thousands of civilians. The EGYPTIAN army. http://t.co/3MqWIebNql
— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) October 30, 2014
What a double standard the 'international community' has adopted. What difference does it make?
Last spring, Hamas was already sensing isolation. Egypt had begun
curbing Hamas’s access to everything from cigarettes to guns. And a
widely touted merger with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank,
according to analysts in the region and Israeli security sources, had
brought Gazans limited economic benefit. Some observers—in Israel, the
Arab world, and the West—perceived Hamas to be on the ropes. Around the
same time, intelligence about a pending attack—electronic chatter and
word from informants—began setting off alarm bells inside Israel’s
stereotypically anxious security establishment.
“Hamas had a
plan,” says Lt. Col. Lerner, summarizing on the record what six senior
intelligence officials would describe on background. “A simultaneous,
coordinated, surprise attack within Israel. They planned to send 200
terrorists armed to the teeth toward civilian populations. This was
going to be a coordinated attack. The concept of operations involved 14
offensive tunnels into Israel. With at least 10 men in each tunnel, they
would infiltrate and inflict mass casualties.”
As a senior
military intelligence official later explained, the anticipated attack
was designed with two purposes in mind. “First, get in and massacre
people in a village. Pull off something they could show on television.
Second, the ability to kidnap soldiers and civilians using the tunnels
would give them a great bargaining chip.”
Mishal insists that
“the tunnels may have been outwardly called ‘offensive tunnels,’ but in
actual fact they are ‘defensive’ ones.’” When pressed to explain why
most of the tunnels actually ended up under or near civilian communities
or kibbutzim—not military bases—he concedes, “Yes, true. There are
Israeli towns adjacent to Gaza. Have any of the tunnels been used to
kill any civilian or any of the residents of such towns? No. Never! . . .
[Hamas] used them either to strike beyond the back lines of the Israeli
army or to raid some military sites . . . This proves that Hamas is
only defending itself.”
Reports would later surface that Hamas’s
main attack was planned to coincide with the Jewish New Year—Rosh
Hashanah—in September 2014. “It may have been,” says a top intelligence
official, in his office in the Kirya, Israel’s Pentagon. “But ultimately
everything was moved up. Hamas’s grand plan for the tunnels failed
because the kidnapping set things in motion before Hamas had everything
ready.”
...
On July 7, Israeli jets bombed a tunnel that began in Rafah, in the
southern Gaza Strip, and exited near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, killing seven
members of Hamas, who were trapped inside. To outward observers, it
looked as if the casualties may have been incidental. But highly placed
government sources tell Vanity Fair they feared these operatives
were the first wave. “When the operation started, we expected the mass
attack in July,” a senior military intelligence official explains. “We
suspected they would hurry up and do it during the air war, before the
ground operation.”
Hamas considered the men who died in the
tunnel bombing to be among its most elite, warning publicly, “The enemy
will pay a tremendous price.” The next day, all hell broke loose, with
Hamas firing some 150 rockets. Over the next 10 days, Hamas would send
some 1,500 more, while the Israeli air force and navy would pound sites
in Gaza with little letup. Despite warnings by Israel to leave their
homes, thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire. Human-rights
groups charged that Israel failed to exercise sufficient restraint when
hitting populated areas. Israel argues that Hamas used local citizens
as human shields and fired rockets from civilian areas.
...
Golani’s mission was to destroy what intelligence officials believed
were four particularly lethal tunnels that began in the Gaza Strip town
of Shejaiya and ended a stone’s throw from Israeli kibbutzim. Shejaiya
had long been Hamas’s first line of defense and Israel’s efforts to warn
its 100,000 residents to flee only reinforced its symbolic and
strategic importance in Hamas’s eyes. “In this war,” claims Alian, “the
biggest fight, the hardest battle, was for control of that
neighborhood.”
I.D.F. soldiers in Shejaiya and elsewhere quickly
came to understand that tactical tunnels presented as imminent a threat
as the strategic cross-border variety they were sent to find. On August
1—two weeks into Israel’s ground campaign—Lieutenant Matan (who offers
only his first name) was in the Gaza town of Rafah, when he and his
fellow soldiers heard shots, he says in his first interview about the
incident. Tracing those sounds to a nearby guard post, a tunnel opening
was discovered. He and another soldier clambered down three meters,
descending into the darkness. After firing some warning rounds, he
stopped in the dank passageway, only to find portions of a bloodied
uniform belonging to a 23-year-old lieutenant named Hadar Goldin, later
determined to have been killed and his body kidnapped, according to the
I.D.F. spokesperson’s office. (Goldin, unbeknownst to his abductors,
turned out to have been a relative of Israel’s Defense Minister, Moshe
Ya’alon.) “The Hamas operatives were like ghosts—honestly, like ghosts,”
recalls Golani’s Sgt. Rafi. “If they wanted to shoot, they came out of a
tunnel, shot, and ducked back into the tunnel.”
...
Israel’s troops, meanwhile, have moved north. On Vanity Fair’s
recent visit, some of the same soldiers who had swept into Gaza are now
manning a forward operating base in the Golan Heights—a contested
mountainous area between Israel and Syria. The Israelis watch as the
Syrian Army (unsuccessfully) battles rebels from the Nusra Front (the
Syrian arm of al-Qaeda). These insurgents, after kidnapping and later
expelling U.N. peacekeepers in September, have reignited a border that
had remained peaceful for four decades. Recently, Israel shot down a
Syrian aircraft that strayed into its territory. And to make matters
worse, ISIS elements are entrenched farther north, attempting to
establish a caliphate, using war-torn Syria and Iraq as their base.
Tensions have also escalated on Israel’s other
northern border—with Lebanon. In the past week a member of the Syrian
opposition was quoted as telling CNN that Hezbollah appears determined
to flex its military muscle on the Israeli border. I.D.F. troops have
fortified their positions there. And Israel has other worries as well.
Sources in these northern neighborhoods tell Vanity Fair that the
I.D.F. is planning to send an engineering team to one of the Israeli
towns whose residents have been awakened by the subterranean clamor.
Although some officials are publicly skeptical (possibly to avoid
alarming residents and parry criticism that they have ignored another
threat), privately they say they have serious concerns about what
Hezbollah might have in the works. A recent account in the Arab
newsmagazine Al Watan al Arabi quotes a Hezbollah member as
asserting: “Quality-wise, [our tunnels] are on par with the metro
tunnels in the major European cities.”
“We say in the I.D.F. that
‘procedures are written in blood,’” says one senior intelligence
officer. Harkening back to previous aboveground attacks by Hezbollah, he
continues, “I can see them doing it again and going underground to do
it.”
And the goal of at least one of these Israeli platoons
scheduled to arrive on the border with Lebanon? To plow deep into the
ground to find and, hopefully, silence the source of those noises in the
night.
Netanyahu rips Monkey Moon over 'occupation' comment
Prime Minister Netanyahu has slammed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for referring to Gaza as 'occupied.'
"The root cause of the
violence that burst from Gaza is not Israel’s occupation in Gaza, for a
simple reason: Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza," Netanyahu explained. "Israel
left Gaza to the very last centimeter, to the very last inch. We
uprooted all the settlements and vacated all the settlers. So there is no Israeli occupation of Gaza."
Netanyahu then pointed out that Ban justified Hamas's rocket barrage despite the fact that it used the UN's own facilities to break international law.
"The root cause of this
summer's outburst of violence was Hamas' rocketing of Israeli cities,
and these rocket attacks often exploited UN neutrality, using UN
facilities and UN schools as part of the Hamas machine of terror," he
thundered. "And when rockets were discovered inside UN
schools, some UN officials handed them back to Hamas – that very same
Hamas that was rocketing Israeli cities and Israeli civilians."
The Prime Minister then reiterated the fact that Hamas is a terror group dedicated to genocide against Jews.
"The root cause of Hamas’ rocket fire on Israel is Hamas’ opposition to Israel’s very existence," he declared. "Hamas
doesn't give a hoot for the 1967 lines. For them, Israel has no right
to live, in any borders. Hamas rejects our very existence. They’re
committed to killing every Israeli and every Jew. You just have to read
their charter – they say that very plainly."
"So Hamas is the enemy of all of us who seek peace," he continued.
Moadim l'Simcha, a good holiday to all of you. This is the first time I have been online since the day on which access to the computer is prohibited ended at sundown last night. I was busy with family matters.
A reminder that here in Israel there is only one holiday day at each end on which work is prohibited (rather than the two there are overseas), and therefore, I can be online on Friday afternoon.
It seems that Western donors - who have been asked to finance the 'reconstruction' of Gaza over and over again only to see their money go for weapons - may finally have had it with Hamas and its leadership. The donor countries are said to be suffering from 'fatigue.'
To that end, a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned there was "considerable donor fatigue."
"We have seen infrastructure projects that we have contributed to
which have been destroyed," the diplomat said, adding that skepticism
had existed even before the recent conflict.
Ample evidence has proven that Hamas uses UN and other aid money, as well as materials,
to build terror tunnels into Israeli territory with the aim of
attacking Israeli citizens - instead of providing buildings to its own
citizens.
[A] network of over 30 tunnels was found during the
ground offensive, with each tunnel costing roughly $3 million to build.
For every Hamas terror tunnel, the IDF stated, there was enough building
materials to build 86 homes; seven mosques; six schools; or nineteen
medical clinics.
Meanwhile, Hamas has begun to rebuild terror tunnels into Israel on
foreign aid money - but despite this, the UN already joined the PA in making a call for $550 million to rebuild Gaza.
But it seems that the West isn't 'fatigued' enough. Despite the 'donor fatigue,' the West is accepting the 'Palestinians' narrative without question.
Earlier this week, Hamas and the PA met in a unity government meeting
in Gaza to present the pretext of the PA being in charge of the
going-ons in Gaza - a stunt the international community praised - and PA
"foreign minister" Riyad al-Malki was confident the message was enough.
"Our initial predictions are that the (donor) conference will be a big success," he said this week.
But a second diplomat, who did not want to be named, said the
Gaza cabinet meeting was "not enough to reassure donors" - even if it
was enough to reassure the political machine.
Here's hoping that the donors' conference is a resounding failure.
Report: Israel and 'Palestinians' reach deal over Gaza construction materials
United Nations envoy Robert Serry says that Israel and the 'Palestinians' have reached a deal over the passage of construction materials into Gaza (Hat Tip: Gershon D).
Serry told the U.N. Security Council that the United Nations had brokered the deal "to enable work at the scale required in the strip, involving the private sector in Gaza and giving a lead role to the Palestinian Authority in the reconstruction effort, while providing security assurances through U.N. monitoring that these materials will not be diverted from their entirely civilian purpose."
"Building materials and reconstruction equipment will enter the Gaza
Strip through a mechanism that Coordinator of the
Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj. Gen. Yoav
Mordechai is building, together the with UN envoy Robert Serry and the
Palestinian Authority," Ya'alon added.
But the defense minister warned that "if those materials are
transferred to building tunnels - the transfer will stop immediately."
Of course, the terror tunnels were built from materials that Israel allowed in after the last two Gaza operations (Cast Lead and Pillar of Defense) in 2006 and 2008-09, respectively, and either the IDF didn't pick up on it or decided that they could not stop the materials from being diverted. Why will this time be different? What could go wrong?
Citing Israeli officials who have confirmed fresh details that have come
to light, Army Radio says that the incident appears to have been borne
out of a misunderstanding between the two men who brokered the
cease-fire – US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon – and the Israeli government.
Israel and the US accused Hamas of violating the cease-fire.
For his part, Hamas diplomatic bureau chief Khaled Mashaal claimed that
there was no violation of the truce, since Hamas never agreed to hold
its fire against IDF soldiers who were operating on Gazan soil in search
of tunnels.
Israeli officials confirmed to Army Radio that in
retrospect Mashaal and Hamas never committed to a truce deal whereby it
pledged not to act against IDF troops in Gaza even though Washington led
the Israeli government to believe that Hamas did in fact promise to do
just that.
“We
demanded two things from the Americans,” a diplomatic source in
Jerusalem is quoted as telling Army Radio. “We wanted a cease-fire, and
we wanted complete freedom of operation against the tunnels, without the
threat of coming under fire from Hamas.”
“We demanded it in
writing, that Hamas accepts these conditions,” the official said. “There
were also the statements to the press.”
Kerry broke the news of
the three-day, unconditional truce in a statement to the media. A UN
spokesperson also confirmed that as part of the cease-fire, IDF troops
would be permitted to remain in place, where they would have a free hand
to ferret out more tunnels. In other words, the perception in Israel
was that Hamas had agreed to hold their fire while the IDF searched for
tunnels in Gaza, what in hindsight turned out to be incorrect.
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?
If they had built an economy, they wouldn't have to schnorr
When Hamas and Fatah made their 'unity government,' they didn't bother to ask anyone's permission. After all, they consider themselves 'sovereigns' (when they're not kvetching about being 'occupied'). There's just one small problem: Over the past 20 years, the 'Palestinians' have done nothing - zip - zero to build an economy. Now, they're whining that they're going broke. It seems that you can't keep slapping someone in the face and then come to them to schnorr. The US and even the Arab countries have said enough is enough. No more money for a 'unity government.'
The Palestinian Authority "unity government" with Hamas is totally
bankrupt, according to a leading PA minister, who blamed broken promises
by America and Arab states for the dire situation.
"The government's budget is below zero, and it's starting to borrow
from banks to move forward, because only less than third of donor funds
that were scheduled to be received this year arrived," said Shawki
Al-Ayasa, Minister of Social Affairs, Agriculture, and Prisoner's
Affairs.
"The US has not provided a single penny since Jan. 1, and Europe and
Arab states only provided a third of what they were scheduled to give,"
he lamented to the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news network.
He said Gazan families who had lost their homes as Hamas and other
terrorist groups clashed with Israeli forces had received just 300
shekels ($84) in aid.
Boo Hoo. Let Hamas earn the money to pay for reconstruction. If they stopped using all their money for rockets and terror tunnels, they might even have money to pay for it.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
