You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Battles begin in N Gaza; many hamas operatives captured
2009-01-05
Major clashes between IDF troops and Hamas gunmen were reportedly taking place late Monday evening in the northern Gaza Strip....

Overnight Sunday, the IAF attacked more than 30 Gaza targets, including an underground Hamas bunker, weapons caches and sites from where Grad rockets were fired at Ashkelon.

In related news, the IDF announced on Monday that dozens of Hamas operatives have been taken prisoner since the start of the ground offensive, Israel Radio reported. Details regarding how the gunmen were captured
[may not be part of N Gaza Op]
and when were not released.
Posted by:mhw

#16  Not a bad idea, rj.

Israel could finance the entire war by selling videos of it. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2009-01-05 19:57  

#15  hush rjs

Posted by: .5MT   2009-01-05 19:37  

#14  If Israel wants to capture Hamas fighters they should set up some flaming hoops. You know after all the training they've done jumping through flaming hoops (as shown on Little Green Footballs a number of times) they'd be helpless against the urge to jump.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2009-01-05 17:08  

#13  Israel should not be taking prisoners unless they have no choice. They should have video cameras with each squad so surrenders can be recorded and the "Brave" Hamas fighters surrendering can be shown to help discredit them and their "brave" rhetoric.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2009-01-05 17:07  

#12  Holding them as leverage for a satisfactory cease would be a gigantic mistake. Hamas doesn't care about their gunnies. Certainly not enough to stop killing juice. For Israels sake, they can get some intel and then they'll try to escape or maybe they can get Fatah to take them off their hands.
Posted by: Mike N.   2009-01-05 16:33  

#11  about 100 hamas ops killed in ground fight as of dusk today local time (since beginning of ground offensive) per jpost

the Fajr missiles are pretty big; if they haven't gotten to n gaza by now, they aren't going to get there for a while
Posted by: mhw   2009-01-05 16:25  

#10  An interesting intelligence titbit; Israel has at least one blimp in position over Gaza.

While Israel and others make a show of Humint, I think it's mostly a blind for Techint. With permanent overhead monitoring, traffic analysis and data mining can produce results close to magic.

Paranoia is the most potent weapon against terror organizations.
Posted by: phil_b   2009-01-05 16:20  

#9  
8:06 PM Massive fighting going in Northern Gaza. Artillery, helicopters, tank fire. Like a scene out of Star Wars.
Posted by: 3dc   2009-01-05 16:16  

#8  
9:57 PM Israeli Intelligence sources say that Hamas succeeded in bringing in Fajr-4 missiles into Gaza. These missiles have a 70 km range and can reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas is trying to get these missiles into Northern Gaza right now. (Rotter)
Posted by: 3dc   2009-01-05 16:16  

#7  from the Muqata blog:
10:45 PM Important Update: Out of respect for the IDF Military Censor, we are unable to print more details about this evenings IDF ground operation in Northern Gaza. We'll provide details as soon as the censor allows...

10:10 PM The massive IAF bombing raids this afternoon and evening on the smuggling tunnels beneath the Philidephi corridor, could be due to the information we posted about Hamas smuggling in Fajr-4 70-kilomter range rockets.
Posted by: 3dc   2009-01-05 16:15  

#6  hostage as ask for a specific goodie or they get shot? No, course not.

But, they could make clear they will be held till a satisfactory cease fire (the terms for that are mentioned on other threads here) is reached. Meanwhile, while they are held, Hamas lacks the use of them in potential street battles with Fatah. For that purpose it matters not if Israel keeps them in pleasant accommodations - as long as they are deprived to Hamas as internal strategic assets.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2009-01-05 15:52  

#5  Is the IDF gonna hold the captured gunnies hostage?
Posted by: Fred   2009-01-05 15:46  

#4  Or to allow the real bad ones out early and give them a good handshake and pat on the back in public.....
Posted by: CrazyFool   2009-01-05 15:22  

#3  It gives the informants a chance to report without the risk of a bullet behind the left ear from their loving neighbors afterward.
Posted by: trailing wife    2009-01-05 15:16  

#2  Stocking up for the next desecrated body exchange?

(exchanging Ham-Ass prisoners for bodies which have been desecrated that is....)
Posted by: CrazyFool   2009-01-05 14:45  

#1  Glad to see Hamas fighting fiercely and to the death!

Oh wait... captured gunmen.

Goddamn pussies. You just can't find good terrorist help these days.
Posted by: DarthVader   2009-01-05 12:52  

00:00