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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas says 50,000 gunmen ready to defend Gaza |
| 2007-09-28 |
| GAZA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Fifty thousand Palestinian gunmen and hundreds of suicide bombers are ready to repel or at least impede any large-scale Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, an official from the ruling Hamas said on Friday. Does that include the women and children you all are going to hide behind? Israel has threatened to mount a massive ground sweep of Gaza as a last resort against cross-border rocket fire by Palestinian militants, which has not been significantly reduced by more limited air strikes and commando incursions. I think they'll have to use the 'last resort'- all the others are booked solid. But Israeli officials say such a mission in the congested territory would mean major casualties on both sides, a price the Jewish state may not be willing to pay given the relatively low death toll exacted by the crude short-range Palestinian rockets. Which officials? Nizar Rayyan, a senior Hamas leader, promised Israel "a painful response" should it send in troops and tanks en masse. Ow! (Although hopefully the IDF learned a few lessons during their last jaunt in Lebanon.) A Hamas-affiliated Web site quoted Rayyan as saying that "50,000 fighters, armed and brave in the battlefield" await an invasion and that 400 would-be suicide bombers wear their explosives belts around the clock, ready to attack tank columns. Sounds like a sure recipe for 'work accidents.' "Hamas leaders were surprised when 200 women volunteered to carry explosives to confront Israeli tanks too," Rayyan said. Why? You've managed to brainwash everyone else... Israeli intelligence assessments are that Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in a brief civil war with secular Fatah rivals in June, has marshalled at least 20,000 fighters proficient with a variety of small arms. Define 'proficient.' Partly funded by Iran, Hamas has modeled itself on Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, which fought Israel last year. Israel suffered surprise setbacks in that war, prompting the top brass to order an overhaul of their forces ahead of any new conflict. Snip. RTWT |
| Posted by:Free Radical |
| #20 IMNSHO, avg day of rockets should = 48 hrs disruption, minimum. Sh*t, they have 4 hrs on their own end due to stupidity, daily |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-28 22:34 |
| #19 After an average day of rocket fire cut off services for 4 hours. Adjust interruption of services the following day based on the rocket fire level of the day before. Follow this recipe to its logical conclusion. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2007-09-28 22:21 |
| #18 And, lest we fergit, IRAN > 50,000 "MARTYRS" were being trained to conduct suicide operations/attacks agz the West. 50,000 + 50,000 = 100,000 ergo POTUS Dubya by himself is the problem. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-09-28 22:04 |
| #17 Frank is right on, kinda. Israel should Qassam it themselves. On the Paleo side. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-09-28 21:49 |
| #16 I implied randomly...it can be expedited, or not even factual at all :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-28 21:44 |
| #15 TW, thanks for that reminder. The Palestinians never fail to amaze me with their instinct for self-destruction. Frank, I left off the tag that said I agree Israel should not have to supply their mortal enemies. Guess I thought that was understood. However, I do think that there would be great pressure on Israel if they openly cut off water and power. One reading of 'international law' is that they are responsible for not doing so because they occupied those territories and only unilaterally withdrew, without a peace treaty being signed. Not saying I think that such an international consensus is right or good, just that it probably exists and would cost Israel the markets she needs for her export goods and possibly Congressional support for military aid. I'm not sure I'd wait for the Palestinians to randomly damage the infrastructure if I were Israel, tho. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-28 21:41 |
| #14 50,000. Ok. But about a third of them will be turning the rifles on their own. Thats been the problem. Israel should seal up the walls tight, cut power and water and tell them FOAD. If the UN is so concerned THEY can go in there. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-09-28 21:01 |
| #13 btw - I'm not adverse to this: "Our supply stations of water and power were hit by Qassam rockets launched from Gaza, and in light of the inherent danger from repeat attacks, repairs have been delayed until |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-28 20:56 |
| #12 lotp - nobody in the history of the world was required to provide the tools of their own destruction to an enemy nation. Let Egypt take over those provisions. F*ck world opinion. Why wait til the Paleos can accurately take out the Ashkelon power station, thereby doing the same thing? I'd venture that the Hamas takeover debacle, the continued Qassams, the Israelis big stones after the Syrian raid (you know Iran, et al are scared), the time is now. F*ck the UN |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-28 20:49 |
| #11 But they have, lotp. Remember the sewage river? Without any outside help, either. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-28 20:46 |
| #10 Were Israel to turn off water and power, it would face truly horrendous pushback from other countries. The US would be among them, I suspect. On the other hand, there's a LOT of violence happening over there. It's truly amazing that the infrastructure hasn't met any ... accidents ... that would interrupt those deliveries. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that were to happen sooner or later. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-28 20:06 |
| #9 Turn of the water and the power, yes. But more important than that, expel all journalists and shoot any trying to get in. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-09-28 20:04 |
| #8 Define 'proficient.' As in: Able to engage in gunsex at will. Why Israel is even considering throwing troops at a situation that has so many other solutions is beyond me. Shells, missiles, breakers, gate valves, the options are so numerous and far more effective. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-28 19:18 |
| #7 not to repeat too many times, but TURN OFF THE FUCKING WATER AND POWER. Let them seethe in the dry dark *ahem* /contrite apologies |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-28 19:08 |
| #6 Why invade, just shut off all the water, gas, electricity. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-09-28 19:06 |
| #5 Not to mention the human shields. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-09-28 19:03 |
| #4 Just don't get any on you... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-28 19:01 |
| #3 To the last drop of blood? |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-09-28 17:39 |
| #2 Why invade Gaza? Arty and airpower, plus rebombing or re-missiling car swarms, and the IDF is back in time for tea. Really. Ima not snarking. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-09-28 17:35 |
| #1 Where do they find the time, seeing how they seem to spend most of it banging each other up the ass... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-28 16:15 |