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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF fires close to 200 shells at Gaza

2006-04-02

EFL - JPost Update
Following a deadly suicide attack on Thursday night and the continued Kassam bombardment of the western Negev, the IDF over the weekend stepped up its operations and pounded the Gaza Strip with missiles from aircraft and warships, while IDF troops sealed off Nablus from the rest of the West Bank.
festering boil to be lanced?
Following an escalation on the Gaza front, which included last week's launching of a Katyusha rocket at Israel, the IDF decided over the weekend to step up its strikes on Gaza and, employing artillery forces as well as the IAF and the Navy, fired close to 200 shells at Kassam launch sites on Saturday alone.

Early Saturday, IAF missiles flattened a building in the northern Gaza Strip that functioned as a hideout for terrorists and a launch site for Kassam cells. Under construction, the tall building was supposed to draw tourists and serve as a casino on the outskirts of Beit Hanun.
draw tourists? Bwaahahhaahahahaa
But those plans were thwarted on Saturday after the Southern Command's Intelligence Department recently discovered ditches built around the building which were used to provide cover for Kassam launchers.
moats for tourist gondolas?
On Friday, Abdel Karim Koka, a senior commander of the Salah-a-Din faction of the Popular Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip, was killed when his car exploded in Gaza City. The army denied its involvement in the explosion but said that Koka was responsible for numerous Kassam attacks against Israel.
it was a Pinto....
In the past, IDF artillery fire against Kassam rocket cells targeted empty fields in the vicinity of the launch sites but not the precise position of the launchers. The bombings of the casino building and additional empty areas within Gaza City were meant to send a message, military sources said, to the newly formed Hamas-run Palestinian government that they would suffer if they failed to rein in terrorism.

The army also threatened to strike official Palestinian security personnel whose posts were often used as cover for Kassam launch cells. "We cannot promise that PA police will not be hurt during the strikes," one source said.

The army also engaged in psychological warfare and dropped thousands of flyers over the Gaza Strip calling on the Palestinian public to expel terror elements from within. "How long will you let terrorists control your lives?" the fliers asked, warning that Israel's military response would grow harsher as long as Kassam fire continued.
that's psych warfare? How about Google Earth photos showing their buildings with crosshairs?
But despite the massive bombardment on Gaza, Kassam rocket fire continued. On Saturday night four rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip, with at least two landing near Kibbutz Zikim south of Ashkelon. On Friday night three rockets were fired from Gaza, landing south of Sderot.

Meanwhile Friday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz blamed the Hamas government for a suicide bombing a day earlier that killed four Israelis at the entrance to the Samarian settlement of Kedumim. "A government that engraves terrorism on its flag and does not order PA security forces to fight terror is accountable for this attack and every other attack that emerges from Palestinian territories," Mofaz said.

Mofaz ordered the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) to "intensify their operations" in the West Bank and Gaza in an effort to crack down on terror infrastructure there.

In response to the suicide attack, the IDF on Saturday sealed off Nablus, deemed a "terror capital" by the IDF, and implemented a series of stringent regulations at nearby checkpoints. Palestinians between the ages of 16-32 were banned from traveling south of northern Samaria and checkpoints between Nablus and the Jordan Valley were closed off to Palestinian traffic.

Posted by:Frank G

#11 Moose back up and look at the Crusader states.
The muslims took their time and outlasted the European support. Centuries were nothing.

Israel will, unless Islam does the impossible and changes, be faced with the choice of a final soultion or the sea. Its just a matter of time and population demographics of a people with oil wealth supporters.

Just a matter of time. Either they can make the choice or they can't. If they make it they may need to make it repeatedly for a long time.

What they are doing now is not working. Endless war will destroy their mental health and their society. Its win or loose. There is no middle. The US has tried to push a middle for its own reasons but Israel has only 2 ways to go long term.

Posted by: 3dc 2006-04-02 23:35

#10 Moose, when you're right, you're right. Even so, the US sends Israel the equivalent of about $500 for every citizen every year (~$3B). Doesn't sound like much until you figure how much the Israeli taxpayers would have to shell out to replace it.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/U.S._Assistance_to_Israel1.html

Posted by: RWV 2006-04-02 23:06

#9 The Israelis were more than aware of this, and have done everything in their power to mitigate reliance on the US.

You mentioned the conventional war with multiple Arab nations attacking. Certainly we would continue to support them, even if they expelled the Paleos. However, short of a major conflict, I strongly doubt that the US would try to leverage Israel on behalf of the Paleos.

This is why I was very specific about what they would do: non-violently punish the Paleos for their violent attacks by placing parcels of their land in "trust". The Israelis could very firmly state that those trust lands remain the *property* of the Paleos, but the Paleos are denied their use until they renounce violence and control their fighters.

It is a carrot-and-stick approach that might work.

The Israelis could state that the only alternative to these land holdings would be to counter battery fire into populated areas. It could then say to the US "choose between land takings and killing civilians."

Eventually the Israelis are going to have to do something, because the number and quality of the Paleo missiles just keeps improving. Unless they can produce and field a low-cost anti-missile pulse laser, they may have no choice. Re-occupation accomplishes nothing except getting Israeli soldiers killed.

Time for Israel to sh*t or get off the pot.

Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-04-02 21:59

#8 Moose, Israel exists only because the US demands that it continue to exist. If Richard Nixon had not unequivocally put the US behind Israel during the Yom Kippur War, it would have been overrun. SA-6 and SA-3 SAM batteries had shot down a third of the IAF in just three days. The IDF was running out of artillery shells. Israel was within a day of ceasing to exist. Nixon ordered the Navy to fly in whole squadrons of A-4s from the carriers in the Med. The Israelis gsve the Navy pilots tickets home, replaced US markings with the Magen David and were back in the fight. There was a massive outpouring of ammunition and other needed supplies from the US. The C-141s and C-5s were flying almost round the clock transferring munitions and supplies from US war reserves. When the Russians started making noises about it, Nixon put the US on DefCon 3. SAC was in posture 5, the crews were in the airplanes and the planes were prepositioned on the taxiways. The entire B-52G fleet was ordered back from Anderson AFB to the US to resume nuke alert. 186 bombers were airborne within 24 hours. As far as I know, there are no statues to Nixon in Israel, but there should be.

Times have changed, but one constant remains. Without the US, there is no Israel. Israel is neither economically or militarily viable without us.

Posted by: RWV 2006-04-02 17:26

#7 "How long will you let terrorists control your lives?"

Wrong question. It's:

How long will you live the lives of terrorists?

Pictures of Yassin, Rantissi et al should be attached to these leaflets.

Gotta agree with you, 'moose. Confiscation of the one thing the Palestinians want most desperately of all, namely land, is the way to go. Once they've crowded themselves onto a postage stamp they'll be much more ~~easy to kill all at once~~ to negotiate with.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-04-02 16:59

#6 LTD: That is why drastic policies have to be implemented at such a time as it will lessen the impact. International distractors happen all the time.

The point to all of this is that nobody supports Israel outside of the US. And the USs support while nice, is not essential to Israel. If Israel offends the US, it just needs to wait for that friendship to be renewed, because it is the only true friend the US has in the region.

Israel is too concerned about being liked by countries that will *never* like Israel, no way, no how.

Were Israel to just kick out the Paleos, how long do you think it would be before the US and Israel would be friends again? One year? Two?

Would the US not defend Israel against its Arab neighbors in such a case? Hardly. It might deplore the Paleo expulsion for five years, but then it would move on to other things.

The Paleos would become residents of Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, whether or not they were ever granted citizenship. And the remaining Israeli Arabs could join them unless they asserted their loyalty to Israel.

It is always easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-04-02 15:07

#5 Anonymoose:
Disproportionate retaliation somewhat controls terrorism. When Israel was leveraged into ending the destruction of the homes of terrorists, terrorism escalated. In context of the West's acceptance of political Islam, Israel cannot implement effective counter-terror practises. For an authoritative account of the consequences of indulging political Islam, I recommend "Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict and Catastrophe" by former US Ambassador to Sudan, Don Petterson.

Posted by: Listen to Dogs 2006-04-02 11:41

#4 The problem here is actually not the Paleos. It is Israelis who are adamant against the use of force against Paleos.

The Israelis should just loudly announce a policy, that will take effect on a date certain. Any rocket fired from the Gaza Strip or West Bank will result in the Israelis confiscating 100 acres of adjacent-to-Israel Paleo lands in punishment.

The fence will then be extended around that 100 acres, and it will no longer be Palestinian land, but "held in trust" as unoccupied land--no development or residency permitted by either side, until the Paleos control the terrorists to the satisfaction of the Israelis.

Everything in that land will sit fallow and buildings will remain empty. Surveillance cameras will keep out anyone who tries to sneak in.

The next missile, 100 more acres. The shape of the 100 acres would vary, preferring non-residential lands, but it would be 100 acres, total.

And every statement of protest will be met with a simple message, "Stop the terror, and you get your land back. Continue the attacks and lose more land."

There would be no negotiations, since there is no one to negotiate with. So words and lies would no longer matter, only actions would matter.

One last thing: if the Paleos tried to mount a full-scale war, the Israeli response would be that they would be expelled from the country entirely. Pushed into Egypt and Jordan, never to return, and all their lands would become permanently Israeli.

Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-04-02 10:12

#3 Why not just launch some fireworks instead? At least it'll give the Palestinians something pretty to look at.

Posted by: Perfessor 2006-04-02 09:32

#2 No occupation = no ability to conduct roundups for the purpose of leveraging informants. Another can-win/can't win situation.

Posted by: Listen to Dogs 2006-04-02 01:30

#1 But despite the massive bombardment on Gaza, Kassam rocket fire continued. On Saturday night four rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip, with at least two landing near Kibbutz Zikim south of Ashkelon. On Friday night three rockets were fired from Gaza, landing south of Sderot.

Increase the Pain on the Paleos till Cause and Effect© is Pounded in.

Posted by: RD 2006-04-02 00:19

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