Operation Cast Lead: Day 22

Hamas will continue fighting until it gets what it wants in the form of another hudna. Of course the media will not distinguish it as such, but Hamas does not believe in ceasefires. They only see those periods as pauses in their war to regroup and rearm. Israel would be foolish to accept any ceasefire without Hamas being forced to lay down their arms, unconditional release Gilad Shalit, and someone other than Hamas controlling the border crossings.

The Iranians, who back Hamas, are calling for the assassination of Israeli Foreign Minister Livni. Typical. Iran regularly calls for Israel's destruction, so this is just being more specific than usual.

Journalists are busy showing their objectivity. Three "journalists" called Livni a terrorist. Funny, but that term is all but illegal in American journalism manuals unless you're referring to Israel or the United States. Let's just ignore Hamas and the years of terrorism.

Hamas keeps firing the rockets deep into Israel and there have continued to be casualties.

Meanwhile, the Israelis are contemplating yet another unilateral ceasefire as a test to see whether Hamas will stop attacking Israel. Considering that each and every prior ceasefire has been unilateral with Israel ceasing its attacks while Hamas continues, this only benefits Hamas. The Egyptian Foreign Minister thinks that Israel is the main obstacle to a cessation of fighting. Curious, but what planet is he on given that Hamas has violated every 3-hour humanitarian truce since Israel started running them a week ago. He knows that Israel can be bullied by diplomats and forced to make more concessions, even though it does nothing to improve Israel's security or tactical situation.

If Israel refuses to go along with the unilateral ceasefire, it will be seen as the bad actor here, despite the fact that the only party ceasing its attacks would have been Israel. Hamas was not being forced to stop its attacks on Israel by the international community. They know better. That's why all their efforts are on getting Israel to stop.

The New York Times runs a fairly balanced article examining crimes and ethics in urban warfare. It notes that Hamas' repeated war crimes and violations of human rights have been given short shrift; apparently everyone knows that Hamas is violating international law, human rights laws, engaging in war crimes, etc.

A plethora of Western foreign ministers, United Nations officials and human rights groups, both Israeli and foreign, have expressed shock and disgust; some have called for investigations into possible war crimes. Such groups also say Hamas is clearly violating the rules of war.

Yet, why exactly is Israel repeatedly castigated for its efforts to stop Hamas from engaging in those war crimes? Because it is Israel.

Those groups have written pages of agitprop that does nothing but support Hamas, all while ignoring Hamas' actual and provable violations of human rights, war crimes and the like.

Shooting rockets out of Gaza aimed at Israeli cities and civilians is an obvious violation of the principle of discrimination and fits the classic definition of terrorism. Hamas fighters are also putting civilians at undue risk by storing weapons among them, including in mosques, schools and allegedly hospitals, too, making them potential military targets. While urban and guerrilla warfare is not illegal, by fighting in the midst of civilians, often in civilian clothing, Hamas may also bring risk to noncombatants.

But Hamas’s violations tend to be treated as a given and criticized as an afterthought, Israeli spokesmen and officials say. They say that Israel has never sought to hit civilians, medical workers or United Nations facilities or personnel. “The rules of engagement are very clear,” said Mark Regev, the government spokesman. “Not to target civilians, not to target U.N. people, not to target medical staff. All this is very clear in Israeli military doctrine.”

Thousands of kassams fired at Israel are absolute proof of Hamas war crimes; they were fired not at military targets, but to specifically kill and maim Israeli civilians. In the days right before the Israeli ground campaign, Israeli forces massed on the border with Gaza. Hamas didn't concentrate fire on those targets, but rather continued firing rockets at Ashkelon, Sderot and other Israeli cities, just as they had for years on end. Even today, Hamas fired a rocket that hit an Israeli synagogue but luckily no one was injured.

Israel's unconscionable restraint in the face of the rocket attacks is the reason that we're facing this conflict right now. Hamas saw restraint as weakness, and acted accordingly. They increased the level of attacks and became far more brazen and open with their attacks and goals. The six-month ceasefire was no such thing; it ended after five days when the rocket attacks restarted. It was the diplomats and Israeli politicians who ignored those attacks until even the Israeli public could see the obvious; Hamas was fighting a war against Israel and Israel wasn't fighting back.

Yet the media and the world treat Israel as the pariah and Hamas and the Palestinians are to be supported. The Palestinians continue winning a media and propaganda war because had the facts been out there and people realized the extent to which Hamas had been engaging in such violence, support would drop. Instead, the media only flocks to the region when Israel responds to the incessant terror attacks. It gives one side of the equation, and that is unconscionable.

The Times article also refers to the UNRWA school incidents, and quotes Chris Gunness once again, who claims that UNRWA does its best to not harbor "militants" in its facilities, despite the fact that earlier reports note that UNRWA is incapable of weeding terrorists out of its payroll and that it's clear that they have not done so. The Times reports indicate that Hamas indeed fired from in and around the school, that two terrorists were killed in one salvo, and Israel continued to return fire with one shot landing just outside the school, which apparently caused casualties (the exact number is in question, given the way Hamas is on the payroll at Gaza's hospitals). Yet, the UN condemns the alleged Israeli shelling. Why no condemnation of Hamas for firing from in and around the school?

The question then becomes whether Israel is firing back at the terrorists with the appropriate weapons? What exactly are Israeli soldiers supposed to do, use harsh language? Terrorists are busy firing rockets, mortars, machine guns, and anti-tank rockets at Israel and Israeli forces in Gaza, and Israel is supposed to limit what kind of weapons it has at its disposal? Israel already is doing just that.

Israel could choose to drop 2,000 pound bombs on each and every building from which gunfire is reported, leveling them in their entirety. They have chosen not to do so. Instead, ground forces are taking additional risks to avoid civilian casualties that would come from an air campaign and which is also necessary to attack and root out Hamas thugs who have turned Gaza, including all those UNRWA refugee camps into weapons dumps, ammo caches, and a hive of tunnels.

UPDATE:
Shiva at IBAnotes that Hamas had taken over the lower floors of a building used by the BBC and other journalists before they were able to flee the scene, and yet there have been no reports from the BBC to acknowledge that was the case. Why? Would that be acknowledging the blatantly obvious that Hamas is putting everyone imaginable in harm's way to attack Israel, including journalists so that should Israel respond, civilians, including those smug anti-Israel journalists, are caught in the crossfire?

UPDATE:
The headline reads: Israel bombards Hamas hours before ceasefire vote. Israel is contemplating a vote on a unilateral ceasefire that allows Hamas to keep firing on Israel, which Hamas has been more than happy to oblige. Why not have the headline then read: Hamas fires on Israel ahead of Israeli unilateral ceasefire vote? Is that too unwieldy? Hamas continues war despite Israeli ceasefire efforts?

That's what is going on here folks. The media continues taking sides against Israel, whether it's writing biased headlines, omitting key facts like Hamas continuing to fire kassams into Israel and continued calls for jihad against Israel, and details from the conflict, or analysis that is one-sided.

UPDATE:
This is a pretty amazing photo, showing an Israeli WP shell hitting in the vicinity of a UN school. Photographer was able to catch the shell and the fragments landing. So, why was Israel firing on the school and its environs? This photo caption explains:

Palestinian civilians and medics run to safety during an Israeli strike over a UN school in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip early on January 17, 2009. A woman and a child were killed early today in the Israeli strike on the UN-run school in northern Gaza where civilians were sheltering from the fighting, medics and witnesses said. Fierce clashes were underway around the school as Israeli tanks exchanged fire with Palestinian militants, they said.

Hamas was firing on Israel from around the school, and Israeli return fire hit the school. Who will be blamed? Israel of course, because the fact that Hamas was firing from in and around the school will be dropped from reports.

UPDATE:
The Muqata reports that the Palestinian doctor whose three daughters were killed may want to redirect his anger to Hamas. Israeli forces came under sniper fire from the building where his daughters lived.

7:06 PM IDF Update: Snipers were shooting from the home of Dr. El Ayash at IDF forces.

6:31 PM Defense Ministry reporting IDF forces came under fire from the home/medical office building of Gazan (Israeli trained) Doctor El Ayash (who also worked at Seroka hospital in Be'er Sheva). IDF forces returned fire on the terrorist source and among the killed were Dr. Ayash 3 daughters.

Hamas using human shields. Again. War crimes. Again. Will anyone care to report it as such? No.