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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Sa-weeet! Hamas digs in for war in Gaza
2007-03-15
I LOVE stories like this!
HAMAS is busily preparing their graves fortifying the Gaza Strip with the help of Iranian expertise and funding for what may be the fiercest dying of jihadis fighting the embattled enclave has seen.
"They're digging bunkers and tunnels 20m underground equipped with airconditioning," retired Israeli intelligence officer Brigadier General Shalom Harari said this week. "That's something the Iranians taught them."
LOL! Airconditioning in a dirt tunnel? Riiight. "And they have a fierce look on their stubly faces, too!"
Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza 18 months ago, hundreds of Hamas fighters have gone to Iran for intensive military training sometimes lasting months, according to Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin. Iranian experts have also reportedly reached Gaza.
Good, good. please dig in so the IDF knows exactly where you are.
Mr Diskin said on Tuesday that militants last year smuggled more than 30 tonnes of explosives into the Strip, mostly through tunnels from Egypt. According to an Israeli assessment, there are 120,000 automatic weapons in Palestinian hands in the 40km-long strip.
The key, of course, is ammo. This is especially true since the paleos seem unable to actually aim their weapons at the intended target.
Mr Diskin told the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee that Hamas had significantly upgraded its rocket arsenal with help from ACME of Gaza. Some could now hit Israeli towns 20km away. Hamas had also acquired in recent months Russian missiles capable of penetrating heavily armoured tanks. Newly acquired anti-aircraft missiles would challenge Israel's domination of the skies over Gaza for the first time assuming the paleos can master one.
One word: Artillery.
Brigadier General Harari said: "Hamas and Iran have formed a strategic alliance. Iran sees Hamas as part of a pincer aimed at Israel."
The other arm of the pincer, in Lebanon, is Hezbollah.
Too bad the pincers are paleos.
Like Iran, Hezbollah belongs to the Shia branch of Islam. Though Hamas members are Sunni, they share Iran's Nazi-like fundamentalist ethos and its militancy towards Israel.
Iran is also funding terrorists militant groups in the West Bank, which borders Israel's heartland. However, Israeli forces are still deployed in the West Bank and almost nightly arrests of terrorists militants have prevented Hamas from gaining traction.
Israel is getting coordinates for all paleo fighting positions closely monitoring developments in Gaza and has drawn up detailed plans for a large-scale incursion that it would like to press home before Hamas reaches Hezbollah's level of military sophistication.
"Avner, how many M109s can we fit here?"
"Hamas wants quiet now so that it can continue its preparations," Brigadier General Harari said. "But their build-up will oblige an Israeli operation, probably before the end of the year."
A major clash with Hamas threatens to be far bloodier than the war with Hezbollah.
For the paleos, yes. For the IDF, no IF they change their RoE to KILL the enemy.
South Lebanon, where most of last summer's war was waged, is NOT a thinly populated rural area. Its residents were warned by Israel through leaflets and radio broadcasts to flee before their villages were bombed or shelled. Gaza, by contrast, is one of the world's most densely populated areas, with few secure places to which civilians could flee. If Israeli forces wished to root out Hamas armories and rocket workshops, they would have to fight their way into built-up areas.
If the paleos want security, I suggest converting another religion. Bloody for the paleos IF the IDF is agrressive.
In all the years of skirmishing, Israeli troops have never engaged in significant house-to-house fighting in Gaza City or other urban locations, except for Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jenin, Tyre, Sidon and Beirut.
Much better to call out the M109s.
Given the lacklustre showing of the Israeli Political leadership Defence Force against Hezbollah last year, it is highly motivated to seek a decisive victory against Hamas by inflicting very high casualties. But international pressure could prove a restraining force if many civilians were killed.
Fuck the EU. Fuck the UN. Fuck the arabs. KILL the enemy, CRUSH the enemy, make them FEAR the IDF.
Hamas has mined the approaches to Gaza's towns and is expected to mine streets and buildings inside the shantytowns when fighting appears imminent. It is also believed to have dug tunnels under the Israeli border fence to infiltrate fighters behind the Israeli lines.
And paleos are soo good at engineering complex technologies like command mines.
Israel has drawn up plans for an orderly evacuation of settlements bordering the Gaza Strip when and if fighting starts.
Get them out of the way, roll up the artillery and get to work. Also, take over the Philadephi route and Corrieize bulldoze any building within 100 yards of the border.
Posted by:Brett

#8  Insertions, corrections, and comments on this one most excellent. Laughing heartily.
Posted by: Verlaine   2007-03-15 22:55  

#7  tu3031, I presume you mean in solidarity with D9, right? (Both D9 and I love pancakes)
Posted by: twobyfour   2007-03-15 21:43  

#6  "digging bunkers and tunnels 20m underground"

Normally graves are only 6' deep, but 66' will work too.
Posted by: Glenmore   2007-03-15 21:00  

#5  "Hamas wants quiet now so that it can continue its preparations"

Oh, so that explains the "tense calm" we've witnessed there in the last year.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2007-03-15 21:00  

#4  "Gaza, by contrast, is one of the world's most densely populated areas, with few secure places to which civilians could flee."

Which goes a long way towards explaining their collective fascination with martyrdom.

"Please patronize your local IHOP in solidarity... "

tu3031, your syrupy tone is duly noted.

PS: Most excellent inline commentary, Brett.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-03-15 20:41  

#3  I see in my crystal ball many secondary explosions....
Posted by: Al Aska Paul, Resident Imam   2007-03-15 20:38  

#2  Speaking of bulldozers, tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of the Rachel Corrie vs. D9 bout.
Please patronize your local IHOP in solidarity...
Posted by: tu3031   2007-03-15 20:09  

#1  Also, take over the Philadephi route and Corrieize bulldoze any building within 100 yards one mile of the border.
Posted by:Brett

typo Brett, fixed it for ya. ;-)
Posted by: RD   2007-03-15 20:06  

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