Imagine my surprise and shock this morning to discover all the headlines in a great variety of news sites about Israel withdrawing ground-forces from Gaza...
These photos of armored personnel carriers leaving Gaza* reflect the changing strategy of the IDF. Throughout the night, as Israeli soldiers left Gaza, air strikes continued on Jebaliah. (Jerusalem Online)*emphasis mine
Israeli Gaza-Area Residents Dreading IDF Pullback; ‘Tunnel Threat Taking Fear to New Level’
Despite local reports that alluded to major moves out of Gaza territory, the IDF Spokesman was far cagier when speaking with The Algemeiner.
The IDF, according to Ynet News, pulled out “the majority of its ground forces back to staging areas outside Gaza on Sunday.”However, the army, for its part, only allowed that, “At the moment, (IDF) forces are moving in order to fulfill ongoing missions to defend Israel, and reaching goals the army set for itself,” a spokesman said, in a telephone interview. (Algemeiner)
Duh!?!? Weren't we supposed to finish them off? Here are signs I saw in Jerusalem's Kikar Tzarfat, Paris Square:Citing that its operation to demolish Hamas tunnels was nearing its end, Israel started to withdraw some of its ground forces from Gaza. As we noted earlier, this development comes after the Israeli cabinet decided it would no longer seek a ceasefire with Hamas and called off negotiations to be held in Cairo. (Yahoo)
I've been under the very distinct impression that the Israeli public would rather we destroy the Hamas terror structure, whatever the cost, than continue with the even more dangerous and painful cycle of violence and terror especially now that it's known that there are terrorist tunnels, a maze of underground, highly reinforced passages under northern and southern Israel.
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| SOLDIERS EXAMINE three motorcycles discovered last week in a tunnel in the Karni crossing area that terrorists intended to use in an attack on communities near the Gaza border. Photo: IDF |
This "cycle of violence," terror attacks and rocket attacks on Israel followed by mini-wars, ceasefires and then more serious and deeper attacks against Israel has convinced even otherwise Left wing sectors in Israeli society that we cannot go on like a broken record.
There must be a decisive victory over the Hamas terrorists!!!
1 comment:
There were no plans beyond destroying the tunnels, partly because no plans are made more than a few days in advance because of the possibility of ceasefires.
The Israeli Cabinet is divided as to what to do. They don't really want to turn over Gaza to Abbas.
The Palestinian Authority, also, is not disposed to accept it if that would carry with it any responsibility to prevent hostile activity (see Tom Friedman's column in the New York Times today)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/opinion/sunday/thomas-l-friedman-how-this-war-ends.html?_r=0
They only want a national unity government, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad inside.
Benjamin Netanyahu wants a negotiated surrender of rockets, and controls over concrete in Gaza - he doesn't want a war or to re-occupy Gaza.
It is possible this stopped because the United states aggreed to replenish the Iron Dome anti-missiles.
They are needed also to cunter the more numerous and more dangerous misisles in Lebanon and Syria.
The thing that would cause the least loss in Israeli (and other) lives is just letting Hamas shoot off its missiles - except for the possibility of running out of anti-missiles. There have been far more losses of soldiers than are being killed by the rockets, which are near useless to Hamas.
(This time the right to import concrete and other material won't be re-started - also Netanyahu will try to think of some other losses he can cause to Hamas if it doesn't agree to gte rid of its missiles. Close combat and patrolling of Gaza he doesn't want. An agreement whereby Hamas surrenders its rockets and somebidy audits the concrete is what he wants.
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