What Peace Process?

Even as the US, Quartet, and diplomats try their best to claim that there's a peace process between Israel and its enemies, those very groups with whom the diplomats are hoping to force Israel to cut a deal with are explicitly announcing their deadly intentions.

Hamas has never accepted Israel's right to exist, and has engaged in an unending war ever since Hamas took over Gaza in 2006 when it ousted Fatah from controlling the territory following Israel's unilateral disengagement in 2005. Palestinians, instead of using Gaza's new-found freedom, launched a rocket war that continues to this day.

Meanwhile, Fatah has benefited from the media myopia and propagandists to avoid serious scrutiny over its own actions in seeking Israel's destruction. The fact is that Fatah has never eliminated its own declarations calling for Israel's destruction and its terrorists are still intent on causing mayhem and murder of Israelis.

Fatah never recognized Israel's right to exist and aren't about to settle for a two-state solution. That's Fatah - the so-called moderate terrorists.

Cart Before the Horse

Hamas is demanding that the deal to Israel release hundreds of terrorists for Gilad Shalit must precede any ceasefire deal. Well, Hamas is consistent.

They have no intention of ever honoring a ceasefire, which is truly a hudna - a strategic pause to regroup and rearm in their unending war against Israel, so obtaining the release of hundreds of terrorists bolsters their numbers preceding the next battle. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that a swap is bad news for Israel.

Outgoing Olmert Government Opening Pandora's Box

Not only are they contemplating some kind of a deal that ties Gilad Shalit's release to a hudna with Hamas, but they're contemplating the release of another major terrorist so as to bolster the terrorist group Fatah. Fatah is no friend of Israel and seeks Israel's destruction no less so than Hamas, but are more likely to see Israel destroyed by paper cuts than through suicide bombers at present.

Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying to negotiate a last-minute deal with Hamas under which Israel would release 1,000 or more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

To help Fatah, one idea under discussion was the possibility of releasing Barghouti ahead of the prisoner swap with Hamas, according to Israel's Channel 10 television. An Israeli source told Reuters this option was under consideration but that no decisions have been taken.

"There will not be a Shalit deal without the release of Marwan Barghouti," Barghouti's lawyer, Hader Shkirat, told Israel's Channel 10 television.

The inept and ruinous Olmert government is now contemplating releasing Marwan Barghouti to bolster Fatah even as they're looking to deal with Hamas - releasing more than a thousand terrorists to secure the release of Gilad Shalit or the possibility of reopening the Gaza crossings in exchange for Shalit.

If that sounds familiar, it should. It's the same kind of nonsense we've been hearing ever since Shalit was taken by Hamas thugs in a terror operation that killed two other Israeli soldiers. Israel releasing prisoners in exchange for freeing its own soldiers is a disastrous policy and one that only spurs the terror groups to proclaim victory and seek out still more Israelis to be used as bargaining chips. It undermines Israel's national security, and yet this is the path taken by Olmert and Kadima, which runs counter to the very way that new Kadima head, Foreign Minister Livni has sought to portray herself. Kadima will continue down this route, despite the multiple failings of this policy.

Hamas probably considers this changed stance a breakthrough since they're not being forced to make any concessions at all. Israel is the one conceding without getting anything in return.

Israel is not getting improved security.

Israel is not getting a cessation of the kassam rockets and mortar attacks, which have continued ever since the end of Operation Cast Lead. Rockets continue slamming into Israel today.

Hamas is going to use this time to regroup and rearm.

Hamas will continue attacking Israel, hoping to ratchet up the violence over time just as it has done in the past. IED attacks will continue.

Hamas will continue using civilian areas to rebuild its terror infrastructure and consolidate its grip on Gaza for the inevitable next round of its war against Israel's existence.

Hamas will use the latest discussions to claim victory over Israel, despite the toll on its terror infrastructure when Israel did use its military force to strike at Hamas for just about three weeks.

Hamas is also claiming that they hold the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in Operation Cast Lead as a bargaining chip to release still more terrorists from Israeli jails. Israel has no comment about the claim.

Fatah is playing its part in the charade by claiming it will fire a bunch of pro-Hamas mullahs in the West Bank. These people were on the payroll - spreading their message of hate and venom against Israel, but Fatah needs to show that they can play along with Israel to the barest minimum so you get displays such as this. They haven't fired them, despite the fact that Oslo and all the successive peace process documents call on the PA to eliminate acts of incitement against Israel.

This once again exposes the PA failings; they choose to ignore the incitement to violence against Israel, allowing the extremists within to spread their message of hate and destruction and only when the money is on the line do they take the bare minimum action. It bears watching to see whether they actually do fire them or just use this story as proof they're doing something about it.

There are also reports that terrorists "escaped" from a PA facility in the West Bank. That's mighty convenient. It's revolving door justice - Fatah rounds up Hamas and makes a big show of it, and then turn around and release them or "allow" Hamas to break out.

A PA security officer, Majid Faraj, who heads the PA’s military intelligence service in Judea and Samaria, previously stated that the escaped prisoners had been held for non-terror related crimes. He, however, admitted that four of the prisoners are “wanted by Israeli intelligence.”

PA security is presently on a wide-scale manhunt to attempt to recapture the fugitives, who had escaped from prison on Friday from the PA-controlled city of Jericho. According to some reports, some of the fugitives are former terrorists who signed “amnesty” papers in which they agree to spend time in PA prisons in lieu of extradition to Israel for imprisonment.

Last March, the Arab terrorists who murdered two young Jewish men at Nahal Telem in the Hevron area in January reportedly escaped a PA prison. Israeli security experts expressed doubts about the veracity of the March prison escape story, which has been used repeatedly to cover the PA’s release of terrorists in its custody.

This Is the Hamas I Expected; Hamas Attacks Again

So, do you still think Hamas is trustworthy to honor agreements? Former President Carter still thinks so (reported prior to today's events). He couldn't be more hopelessly wrong. He's been proven wrong yet again.

A roadside bomb blew up near an Israeli patrol, and an Israeli soldier was killed and several others wounded.

Following the incident, the IDF fired at several targets inside Gaza and IDF soldiers briefly crossed the border in search of the attackers.

IAF helicopters hovered in the air firing machine gun bursts, Palestinian witnesses said. An IAF jet set off a loud sonic boom over Gaza City not long afterward, possibly as a warning.

Palestinians reported that several people were wounded when IDF tank shells hit residential buildings in the Strip.

It was not clear if the bomb had been planted after the cease-fire took hold, or whether it was an older device.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas leader, said Israel was to blame for continuing to fire into Gaza. Al-Masri said his group had not agreed to a full cease-fire but only to a "lull" in fighting.

"The Zionists are responsible for any aggression," he said.

Note that part in bold. Hamas doesn't agree to ceasefires, only hudnas. Hamas doesn't deny that they engaged in the attack, and that they blame Israel for continuing to retaliate against Gaza. They're in effect saying that the timeout that Israel has provided will be used for one purpose; to rearm and regroup for the next attack.

The New York Times reports that a Palestinian farmer and Israeli soldier were killed. Really? Who set the bomb? A farmer? Who was engaging in sniper fire against the Israelis? Farmers?

The attack was coordinated with sniper fire according to Palestinian witnesses.

Palestinian sources reported that exchanges of fire erupted in the area, including sniper fire.

Eyewitnesses said two or three gunmen were seen moving towards the border fence in the early morning hours.

Heavy gunfire was audible along the border in central Gaza and Israeli helicopters hovered in the air, firing bursts from their machine guns, the witnesses said. Two loud explosions were reportedly heard in Gaza City.

Hamas has again scattered and hidden out to avoid airstrikes. Expect the uniforms to be put back in the closet while the terrorists roam the streets waiting for word on when to resume their full scale attacks on Israel.

There are also reports of mortar or rocket fire against Israel.

Israel is also engaging in strikes against Southern Gaza.

The Muqata reports that all Israeli communities within 40km of Gaza have had their rocket/mortar warning systems reconnected. Why are they ever disconnected?

The Muqata also notes that Israel's denials that rocket attacks have occurred appears to be a political decision, and one that undermines Israeli national security. The death of an Israeli soldier and the wounding of three others can't be easily ignored. Today's attack was a coordinated strike against Israel, and as I have repeatedly warned that Israel's failure to continue Operation Cast Lead to attack Hamas targets and eliminate Hamas leadership will come back to haunt Israel as the attacks resume.

Meanwhile, word has come out that a possible reason that Hizbullah didn't open a second front in the war against Israel was that Israel threatened Syria directly that any attacks by Hizbullah would result in Israel going after the regime in Damascus. That's as good an explanation as to why Hizbullah showed restraint despite claims that they, along with other Islamists, would come to the aid of Hamas. When you threaten the regimes that back the terrorists with mortal harm, that provides a moment of clarity.

Egypt says that it wants a permanent truce in place by February. Fat chance of that happening. Today's events continue to overtake the diplomatic efforts, which repeatedly paper over the facts - namely Hamas and their unwavering intent to destroy Israel and seek a one-state solution. US envoy George Mitchell isn't going to have any better success than any of his predecessors, but it makes President Obama look like he's doing something to bring about peace and impressions count more than facts, at least according to the media and the diplomats. Terrorists don't particularly care.

There is only one thing to trust when it comes to Hamas and the other Islamic terrorist groups - that they will fight the jihad and slaughter as many people as possible in their quest. Everything else is window dressing and misdirection to lull people in to a false sense of security.

UPDATE:
Via Charles at LGF comes word that Hamas executed a former human rights worker from the Israeli group B’Tselem. The excuse? He was a "collaborator."

A Palestinian human rights activist and journalist who used to work for the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has been executed by Hamas on charges of “collaboration” with Israel, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip said over the weekend.

They identified the man as Haidar Ghanem, 46, of Rafah.

They pointed out that Ghanem, who was a field researcher for B’Tselem, had been sentenced to death by a Palestinian Authority court in 2002 after being found guilty of passing on information to Israel that later resulted in the elimination of Fatah gunmen.

Ghanem, according to the Palestinians, was among dozens of suspected “collaborators” who were executed by Hamas during Operation Cast Lead.

Hamas has been busy murdering people they believe to be collaborators during and following Operation Cast Lead because Israeli intel was that good; so many of their caches and terror minions were hit by Israeli raids. This is a message sent to those who might support Fatah or want to see Hamas ousted from Gaza; anyone who opposes Hamas will face execution should they be caught. It's incentive not to act against Hamas.

Hamas Rearms

Hamas continues to defiantly pronounce that they will not cease smuggling weapons into Gaza for their war with Israel. French and US Navy ships are expected to patrol waters off Gaza to thwart arms smuggling.

That's only part of the source of their weapons caches. More advanced weapons have to be smuggled into Gaza, but the kassam rockets are produced in Gaza proper. I've previously asserted that Hamas builds kassams using fertilizer and sugar, both of which are provided courtesy of Israel in humanitarian aid shipments.

Here's video showing a terror cell producing a kassam rocket using those very materials. (HT: My Right Word)



Also note the audio during the production of the explosives. There are children playing within the recording distance of the microphone. The kassam is being built in an apartment within what is likely a nondescript residential building and these terrorists are putting those civilians lives in danger.

When you hear about Palestinian work accidents, you can now understand how that happens. Look at how these terrorists test to see whether they've properly mixed up the explosive. They set it off in the same room where they're building the rocket. If the ignited mixture hits the wrong item, everything goes boom.

Hamas wants to have its cake and eat it too. They wouldn't mind seeing the border crossings with Israel reopened, since it would open up the opportunity to bring in far more materials needed for their war effort. They openly state that they're interested in a hudna with Israel, not a real and lasting ceasefire, which is why it was such a mistake for Israel to stop its operations inside Gaza.

The Investigations Begin; Hamas Terror Continues

No, I'm not talking about the Democrats and their rush to begin hyperpartisan investigations into the Bush Administration as soon as they're out the door (which by the way, the Bush Administration is indeed leaving peacefully, just as every prior administration that has come to the conclusion of their term in office has done in our nation's history).

I am talking about the UN and other nongovernmental organizations looking to find fault with Israel's national defense by going after Hamas in Gaza. The UN officials will call the situation in Gaza heartbreaking, but ignore that they condoned Hamas actions by putting them on the same playing field as Israel, to say nothing of enabling Hamas to operate freely and openly throughout UN refugee camps, building up a terrorist infrastructure whose sole goal is nothing less than the destruction of a UN member state.

These anti-Israel types are just begging to find any morsel of wrongdoing so that they can lambaste and undermine Israel's ability to carry out future acts of national defense in the face of incessant terrorism.

Amnesty International and others will criticize and demand investigations into Israel's lawful use of white phosphorus in Gaza. Let's ignore the thousands of kassams fired into Israel - each a war crime because the intent was to murder and maim civilians - fired by terrorists who purposefully fire from in and around schools, homes, businesses, hospitals, and other civilian areas so as to maximize the chances civilians are killed should Israel return fire.

Hamas war crimes will go uninvestigated. That includes what Hamas is doing now in Gaza. They're engaging in torture and murder of Fatah thugs who they believe were responsible for Israel's ability to hit so many Hamas thugs and terror masters with such precision.

They said the Hamas crackdown on Fatah intensified after the cease-fire went into effect early Sunday morning.

The Fatah members and eyewitnesses said the detainees were being held in school buildings and hospitals that Hamas had turned into make-shift interrogation centers.

Hamas has also renewed house arrest orders that were issued against thousands of Fatah officials and activists in the Gaza Strip shortly after the military operation started.

Schools and hospitals?

Let's also ignore that Hamas hijacked an aid truck meant for Gaza as soon as it entered into Gaza. Hamas is already up to its old tricks, and no one wants to take notice.

Instead, expect the media and UN to fully accept Hamas propaganda claiming that they have proof of Israeli war crimes, which is available courtesy of the Iranian media.

Oh, and it didn't take long before Hamas violated the ceasefire. Their gunmen opened fire on Israeli patrols.

Gaza gunmen fired at IDF patrols on Tuesday afternoon in two separate incidents that mark the first violations of the cease-fire declared Sunday by Hamas.

No one was wounded and no damage was reported in the two incidents, which took place near the Kissufim border crossing, in central Gaza, and in southern Gaza.

This is just a test to see what kind of response Israel will have to continued attacks against Israel. No word on when the UN will investigate the latest attacks on Israel. They wont.

Iran is stepping up its efforts to rearm Hamas, which helps explain why the Saudis are so quick to offer up money for rebuilding efforts in Gaza. They want to limit Iran's influence, but that's money that will go down the drain.

Where is the UN to investigate the arms smuggling and Hamas use of civilians as human shields? Instead, the UN will focus on why Israel opened fire on such terrorists knowing that civilians are present. It's an approach that will end badly for Israel because it is a predestined outcome. Israel cannot defend itself according to the UN and the anti-Israel lobby, which has been pushing for investigations against Israel's actions since day one while ignoring Hamas and their actual and provable war crimes.

It is telling, however, that the Arabs can't agree on a statement regarding the situation in Gaza. Time was, Israel's actions would generate unanimous consent on anti-Israel statements. Now, countries are starting to realize that Israel's actions were fully justified and that they have to walk a fine line between jihadis and Iranian proxies who would just as surely take out their own regimes and overtly supporting Israel.

UPDATE:
Eight mortars fired by Hamas into Israel. Yeah, that ceasefire is working out splendidly. Hamas is using the smuggling tunnels to regroup and rearm, the UN is busy trying to find war crimes by Israel while ignoring the terrorists busy with trying to continue their genocidal war against Israel.

The UN finally came out and said that Hamas rocket fire is unacceptable. What took them so long? Thousands of rockets were fired at Israel, and the situation is unacceptable? Why not let Israel finish off Hamas so that the rockets stop being fired? What is the UN going to do to Hamas about it?

Well, knowing the UN as I do, the UN will blame Israel for Hamas firing the rockets and demand that Israel make still more concessions, which will be insufficient for a group that seeks nothing less than Israel's destruction. Israel has gone after those mortar launchers, so expect later reports to note that Israel broke the ceasefire by attacking mortar launchers, not that Israel came under attack first before firing.

So what about Gilad Shalit? Foreign Minister Livni suggests opening the crossings in exchange for Gilad's release. I would have gone a step further. I would have demanded his release in the name of humanitarian gestures. Nothing in return. If Hamas could release Shalit, I might then consider additional steps, like discussing the opening of border crossings in exchange for Hamas laying down their arms and destroying their weapons caches that are stockpiled in schools, under hospitals, and throughout residential areas.

Gazans know that most of the areas hit by Israel were indeed Hamas strongholds, which is why Gazan anger isn't focused only at Israel, but at Hamas as well. Hamas brought Gaza to ruin, and the Palestinians are starting to figure that out for themselves.

UPDATE:
Because the Grad and kassam rockets aren't sufficiently deadly enough or have a reach capable of hitting Tel Aviv, Iran is doing what it can to ensure that Hamas has the weapons to achieve those goals for the next round of the war with Israel.

Goals and Objectives

It is my sincere belief that Israel stopped its campaign against Hamas far too soon. Hamas was on the ropes, and foreign policy needs to ensure that the operation was completed by the inauguration of Barack Obama was an arbitrary and capricious decision that will actually serve to extend the conflict since Hamas will come back at some point to resume its rocket war with Israel that never ended.

The journalists are busy trying to make sense of the death and destruction in Gaza, and are trying to figure out how Israel can be blamed for all the carnage.

Far too many pundits, diplomats, and journalists will ignore Hamas and their role for initiating the conflict. Thousands of kassam rockets go down the memory hole. Terrorist attacks, a call for jihad and the annihilation of Israel are part and parcel of the Hamas Charter, and yet the diplomats think that they've worked out a ceasefire? Israel ceases, and Hamas will fire. That's as it has been.

All that will be remembered is that Israel dropped tons of ordnance on Gaza and blew up parliamentary buildings, schools, offices, and residences, ignoring that all those facilities were used by Hamas to fight Israel and to hide their weapons and terrorists among civilian populations so as to maximize the civilian casualties.

So, what did Israel accomplish? It reasserted deterrence. It showed that it would not tolerate Hamas rocket attacks, but that deterrence capability lasts only as long as Israel retains a zero-tolerance policy; the first rocket or mortar attack and Israel must go back into Gaza to wipe up those Hamas left.

It's most curious that Hamas now breaks out their uniforms after the cessation of Israel's actions. Hamas is again directing traffic, and perhaps some Gazans will wonder why Hamas went to war and caused so much death, misery, and mayhem with nothing gained.

Hamas put those uniforms away the moment Israel began the airstrikes, but now that Israel has called off the dogs of war, they're back out. Hamas knows that if their thugs wore those uniforms, their gig of hiding behind women and children would have been overtly exposed for the cruel and barbaric act that it was. By blending into civilian populations, Hamas is claiming that the body count was comprised of more civilians than actually occurred. That was done with a propagandists' eye to undermining Israel's right to defend itself and to take the appropriate actions against terrorists operating in densely populated areas.

Hamas makes no bones about its intentions. This is a hudna. It is meant to allow Hamas to regroup and rearm for the next phase of its genocidal conflict with Israel. Hamas would sacrifice the lives of all Gazans to fulfill its religious obligations to destroy Israel. They say that they will continue to smuggle weapons into Gaza for that purpose.

Ed Morrissey thinks that Hamas was a clear loser despite its claims to the contrary. He points out that Iran has changed its stance in relation to the disastrous efforts of Hamas' Iranian militia, which was wiped out with ease. Israel indeed destroyed Hamas at every opportunity, but Hamas will claim the Pyrrhic victory, and if you repeat the lie enough, people will come to believe it.

Arab leaders continue to weigh in on the Israeli operation in Gaza, and Saudi King Abdullah says that Israel used excessive force.

[correction] I wonder if Abdullah would have criticized King Hussein of Jordan in 1970-1 when Fatah and PLO terrorists started a civil war that King Hussein brutally crushed, giving rise to the PLO faction, Black September. Thousands of Palestinians died in that uprising against the Jordanian King. No one shed a tear, least of all the current Jordanian King Abdullah, who now owes his existence to his father's liberal use of force against terrorists arrayed against his regime. Make no doubt, Abdullah is applying quite the double standard here, and it is for Palestinian consumption within the Arab World. Arab regimes have significant Islamist populations that they're trying to keep under wraps, and they're offering just enough red meat to these groups so as to keep them from rising up against them.

The Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot, has tentacles throughout the Middle East and beyond, and these pronouncements are all designed to keep the Brotherhood placated, even as the regimes themselves are largely breathing a sigh of relief that Israel took Hamas and Iran down a few notches.

Now, the world will begin throwing money at Gaza to rebuild what Israel destroyed. The Saudis have pledged $1 billion in reconstruction aid. I have no doubt that was done with an eye to thwarting Iranian influence there. The key for Israel will be to see that the money isn't diverted by Hamas for rebuilding their terror infrastructure. Even the EU is leery of rebuilding as long as Hamas controls Gaza. Still, watch the UN direct the money into Gaza regardless that the terrorists have retained nominal control over Gaza.

So, where are the Hamas humanitarian gestures? They aren't going to be forthcoming. Nor should anyone expect that Gilad Shalit be released either. Hamas will continue holding him for use to demand Israel release hundreds of terrorists from Israeli jails.

Israel Presses Forward With Second Day of Airstrikes

The usual suspects are busy trying to ramp up the outrage over Israel's continued assault against the terrorist group Hamas and their ability to operate in Gaza even as Hamas still manages to fire kassams deeper into Israel than previously able to do.

Hamas has fired missiles close to the Israeli city of Ashdod, something that they previously had been unable to do. It confirms that Hamas had been stockpiling longer range rockets and missiles than they had used previously. They also managed to injure several more Israelis with their attacks. Israel believes that Hamas is still hiding longer range missiles and rockets to lull Israel into stopping short of its security goals.

The death toll stands at roughly 280 - nearly all of whom are Hamas terrorists, although media outlets will call them Hamas police or security forces. I will do no such thing because all those Hamas thugs are part of the terrorist group Hamas, an Islamist group that uses terror to maintain power, and is fully dedicated to using all the means at their disposal to attack Israel - especially terror. The media will also focus exclusively on the civilian casualties inflicted in these airstrikes and blame Israel for disproportionate force.

That's to be expected as well, and is especially ironic given that many of those speaking out would not wait as Israel had done for months enduring mortars and rockets on a near daily basis during a so-called ceasefire before launching reprisal attacks designed to eliminate Hamas' ability to operate. These outspoken world leaders would not target just terrorist meeting points. Many would pound all of Gaza into dust and do so with a callous and reckless disregard for all people living there.

Russia did not care who was in the way of their armies as they invaded the Republic of Georgia. Syria didn't care that there were civilians in Hama. The rest of the world shrugs as genocide really occurs in places like Darfur and Congo and Rwanda and dictators hold on to power throughout much of the Middle East. But they so easily vent their outrage when Israel defends itself and goes after the terrorists who bring so much misery to Israelis living fully within Israel's borders.

Where was all the feigned outrage when Israel was bombarded by Hamas and the other terrorists from Gaza on a daily basis? The UN, being the UN, is calling for a halt to the violence. Where were the calls when Israel was being attacked? Only now, when Israel fights back, do these nations and international organizations find their voice to condemn Israel.

That's really what this is about after all. Israelis can't live safely and fully within Israel's borders because many of these so-called outraged thugs and dictators consider Israel's existence to be outrageous. They see Israel as a threat because of what it has been able to accomplish in economic and technological terms even without oil and petroleum reserves. They see freedoms that rarely exist elsewhere in the Middle East except for a nascent Iraqi state. And these countries and entities back genocidal leaders in Hamas who continue their destructive policies towards the Palestinian people and seek to bring down still more violence on all around them.

Israel is sending reinforcements to the border, and could signal a prelude to a ground operation, although it is also just as likely that they are being positioned to prevent Hamas from attempting to storm the border, just as they had done against Egypt earlier this year. Hamas is also blaming the Palestinian Authority - Fatah, and Egypt of colluding with Israel. They might have a point actually. No one likes Hamas, least of all Fatah, who still remember watching and learning that their Fatah thugs in Gaza being tossed from rooftops because they were being ousted from power there. The PA is sending signals that it is ready to take over in Gaza should Hamas be ousted. That's still a bad outcome given that Fatah is no more interested in peace with Israel than Hamas, but their corruption and decadence over the years has slowed their interests to war; Fatah seeks to kill Israel with thousands of diplomatic papercuts, demanding concessions while offering nothing in return, and inciting intifadas when no results are forthcoming.

Egypt wants nothing to do with Hamas, especially after Hamas invaded Egypt's Sinai after breaching the border with high explosives.

Let everyone keep in mind the following:
But for Hamas not firing all those rockets and mortars at Israel, Israel would not have attacked with such force.
For Hamas, but for Israel's existence, Hamas would not have fired all those kassams and mortars and plotted all those terrorist attacks, infiltrations, and ongoing calls for Israel's destruction.

That is the calculus of this conflict, distilled to its essence. Hamas sees this as a war based on its ideology and its very identity. Hamas was formed with one purpose in mind - destroy Israel at all costs. Hamas is well on its way to destroying everything around them, but will continue to call for Israel's destruction.

So far, the massive bombings haven't affected the Gazans to consider sending Hamas packing. I wouldn't expect that to happen after a day and a half of attacks. After a month perhaps, but not so quickly. The Gazans, and Palestinians in general, have been conditioned to think that Israel is a paper tiger and that it cannot defend itself, and that Palestinians will ultimately bring down Israel and supplant it. They need to be fully and harshly disabused of that notion, and a day's worth of bombing is not going to get it done.

Some in the media will complain that Israel struck at a mosque. Big deal. As we've seen from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and from the West Bank and Gaza, terrorists love to congregate and use mosques as meeting points and to store their weapons and equipment. They're fair game.

Even Shimon Peres is noting that Israel is using restraint, which is surprising since he's usually outspoken against Israel's use of force to defend itself.

Hamas is preventing the wounded from going to Egypt for care. They want to stoke the humanitarian conflict, and are purposefully doing everything imaginable to increase the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Meanwhile, for all the talk about how Israel is carrying out "genocide", everyone knows that it is doing no such thing. A nation engaging in genocide against the Palestinians would not admit the very wounded terrorists and civilians caught in the airstrikes for medical care at Israel's most advanced facilities and still allow humanitarian aid to flow to the very people who seek Israel's destruction. Israel's enemies, including Iran, throw around the terms of genocide and holocaust to destroy the very meaning of those terms.


At the same time, Hizbullah must be wondering what to do next, and they're sitting on the sidelines for now. Some of their leaders may want to rush to assist Hamas, but they must know that Israel has learned lessons from the Hizbullah war in 2006 and will not make the same mistakes twice.

UPDATE:
Hamas used the hudna to increase the range and capacity of its rockets to fire deeper into Israel. The attacks are no longer limited to Sderot and Ashkelon but are striking deeper into Israel. That's the folly of ceasefires and hudnas; the terrorists will always take advantage of the situation and rebuild and regroup their terror capabilities at the expense of all else.

UPDATE:
The US media continues its disinformation campaign as well. The Washington Post (HT: Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades) notes that the Israeli reprisals have undermined President Elect Obama's chances of a peace deal. Never mind that Israel would not have had to attack Gaza had Hamas not been breaking the cease fire for six consecutive months and launched massive barrages this week in response to Israel's airstrikes against a terror cell in Gaza. They think that Obama will succeed where all others have failed?

Hamas doesn't want peace. It never has.

You cannot impose peace on someone who doesn't want it unless they're defeated in war. This is the war Hamas chose and they are getting exactly what they have deserved for far too long.

UPDATE:
This isn't the first time that Hamas or the other terrorists have done this. They have purposefully located rocket launchers in civilian areas so as to maximize the chances that civilians are injured or killed should Israel strike.

UPDATE:
Despite the terrorists purposefully locating their hideouts and bases and equipment and weapons in civilian areas, the overwhelming majority of those killed or injured are the terrorists. Meryl Yourish notes that 94% of those killed are terrorists. That's a mighty impressive figure. Even if the percentage is lower - 80%, that's still an incredible display of restraint and targeting efficiency.

UPDATE:
Today's airstrikes included raids against the Gaza border smuggling tunnels that lead into Egypt. Israel claims that they hit 40 of these tunnels, but I suspect that they didn't get nearly all of them. Only a concerted ground effort and reestablishment of the Philadelphi corridor running adjacent to the border will result in a cessation of the terrorist supply lines.

At the same time, Scott Johnson notes there are those in the Arab World who no longer think that Israel is the main threat. They see Iran's true colors and while they'll pay lip service to the Arab-Israeli conflict, they know that the real problem lies in Tehran. They also see Hamas and Hizbullah as the proxy armies that Tehran can use to destabilize and attack their own interests. Hot Air has much more on Hamas' miscalculation.

UPDATE:
A search of Getty Images shows the usual media bias. Throw Gaza or Israel into the search field and you see plenty of carnage from Israeli attacks on Hamas, but photos of Israelis praying near tanks (gee, evil Joos praying near their weapons of the genocide). No photos shown of all the kassams and mortars and the damage they have done to Israel. Just lots of wailing Gazans.

All the violence is what Israel has done in response to the Hamas actions, but you'd never know that Hamas carried out hundreds of attacks before Israel responded. You wouldn't know that Hamas has killed and injured Israelis even today - firing their rockets even deeper into Israel.

No one should expect the media to play this straight. They're too vested in seeing Israel diminished.

UPDATE:
Jules Crittenden notes the planning and tactical measures Israel undertook to carry out the current operations. Others blogging the ongoing conflict: Aussie Dave, Carl in Jerusalem, Mere Rhetoric, and Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit.

Instapundit notes that this isn't something you see every day - Egypt criticizing Hamas. Well, I beg to differ with Instapundit on that, especially since Hamas invaded Sinai earlier this year.

UPDATE:
MSNBC notes that Israel is busy pounding Hamas targets throughout Gaza and mentions that Hamas is busy firing its rockets and mortars at Israel. The White House puts the onus for the violence on Hamas, which is precisely where responsibility lies. The terrorists have carried on with their attacks all through the hudna. They deserve what they get, but the White House still manages to play both sides by calling for restraint.

Restraint is what got Israel into this mess in the first place. Israel has steadfastly refused to crush Hamas and destroy it, rather hoping that they can settle into an uneasy state of existence where there are still kassams hitting Israel, but not so many as to demand a response.

Meanwhile, Carl in Jerusalem notes that Hizbullah is making rumblings that might portend the opening of a second front.

At the same time, Gazans have once again invaded Egypt, breaching the border. That's a developing situation that bears watching.

UPDATE:
Thousands of Gazans have breached the Rafah Crossing and illegally entered Egypt. This is the second time this year that Hamas and Gazans have breached the border with Egypt; the first was this past January. Egypt wants nothing to do with Hamas and the Gazans.

UPDATE:
Egyptian forces opened fire on the Gazans who invaded the Sinai. Where's the international condemnations of Egypt for this violence? You wont get any, or it will be shifted onto Israel. This is the second time this year that Gazans have invaded Egypt and engaged in acts of war; Egypt's response is the same this time as last - firing on those breaching the border and trying to prevent more Gazans from entering their country.

An Egyptian security official said there were at least five breaches along the nine-mile border and hundreds of Palestinian residents were pouring in. At least 300 Egyptian border guards have been rushed to the area to reseal the border, the official added on condition on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

A resident of the Gaza Strip side of the border, Fida Kishta, said that Egyptian border guards opened fire to drive back the Palestinians.

Residents have also commandeered a bulldozer to open new breaches.

Palestinians reported several people were wounded by the gunfire.

Israeli aircraft earlier bombed the border area in an apparent attempt to destroy cross border tunnels used to smuggle weapons and contraband into the Gaza Strip.

UPDATE:
This is reason alone for Israel to continue hammering home the brutal lesson of Hamas waging war against Israel and not ever attempting peace. Israel expects Hamas capable of resuming significant rocket attacks. Well, they're still firing the kassams and mortars, so they haven't yet learned the lesson.

At the same time, it looks like Israeli intel was pretty good at targeting high level terrorists, including Hamas' so called chief of staff. Other top terrorists were also hit.

Oh, well this changes everything. A Palestinian infant died in one of the latest Israeli airstrikes. I guess Israel must call off the war, even as Hamas continues firing the kassams.

I guess we should all ignore the terrorists use of civilians as human shields - hiding behind women and children. I guess we should ignore the terrorists firing kassams and mortars throughout the entire duration of the hudna.

The world finds its voice when Israel strikes back, and yet couldn't muster even a weakly worded retort when Israel endured hundreds of kassams and mortars during the hudna.

Is it sad that civilians are dying in the fighting? Yes, but all the blame resides squarely on Hamas, who chose this outcome by refusing peace and seeking unending war with Israel. It is their ideology. It is their indoctrination. It is their very existence that is based on unending hatred of Israel.

Hamas Declares Fake Cease Fire Over

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas on Thursday declared an end to a six-month-old Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip, raising the prospect of an escalation in cross-border fighting.

"The calm is over," Hamas official Ayman Taha said in an announcement after concluding talks with Palestinian factions in the coastal enclave controlled by the Islamist group.

He said the ceasefire, which Hamas says was scheduled to expire on December 19, would not be renewed "because the enemy did not abide by its obligations" to ease a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip and halt all attacks.

Hamas stopped short of threatening an immediate escalation against Israel, which had hoped to extend the truce and appears wary of a confrontation that could cause heavy casualties on both sides.

The European Union, in a statement, called for an "immediate cessation" of both rocket fire and Israeli incursions.

Tensions along the Israeli-Gaza border have been escalating since early last month when a deadly Israeli army raid triggered a wave of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

On Wednesday, at least 20 rockets hit Israel, injuring two. The army responded with air strikes which killed a Palestinian.

On Thursday, 14 more rockets struck Israeli soil, causing damage but no injuries.

Israel has insisted the ceasefire was in the Palestinians' interest and ought to continue indefinitely.

Some Gaza residents hoped the deal would survive.

"I hope the truce can be renewed so we can continue to live in our houses," said Umm Mohammed, a mother of 10 whose house east of Gaza city lies close to the fortified border fence with Israel, from where tanks have mounted past incursions.

So, what does this mean? That Hamas will attack Israel with kassam rockets and mortars, Oh wait they were already doing that! In fact, despite this "cease fire" Hamas has attacked Israel virtually daily, all while claiming that Israel has violated the terms of the cease fire. Anyone who reads this blog on even a part time basis has read the countless posts by Lawhawk on how Israel's continued existence is threatened daily by Hamas thugs and Hizbullah maniacs.

Hamas and Hezbollah and Libya and Iran cannot accept Israel's existence at all. They have not stopped plotting and executing plans to force Israel into the sea. And if Israel defends itself, it is somehow violating some unnamed international law. The double standard the UN and the world hold Israel to is incredible.

Remember this day. If Israel attacks Hamas, it was Hamas that broke the cease fire first. It was Hamas that declared that the "Calm is over". Not Israel. Israel again has looked to peace and coexistence and once again Hamas and co. has chosen war and destruction.

Palestinians Continue Rocket Barrages On Israel

It's another day in Israel, and the rocket warning sirens have gone off repeatedly as Hamas fires still longer range rockets into Israel.

Hamas Islamists fired their longest-range rockets at a southern Israel city on Friday after an Israeli air force attack on their Gaza stronghold, in the 11th day of skirmishes threatening a five-month-old truce.

The armed wing of the Islamist group said it fired five Grad rockets at an Israeli city, the longest-range weapon it has used against the Jewish state. Israel said they hit Ashkelon, north of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast, with no casualties.

Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the flare-up since November 4, in which 12 Hamas militants have been killed by Israeli forces 4 and scores of rockets fired into Israel. But both shied away from declaring an end to the Egyptian-brokered truce.

For anyone paying attention, that means that Hamas has been stockpiling longer range rockets than it had used previously. They were using the hudna to regroup and rearm, which is exactly what I was predicting from the get-go.

The terrorists also fired off their kassam rockets at Sderot, injuring still more Israelis.

There is no truce, and both sides know it, but the "diplomats" are going to try and paper things over although Hamas now says that they will not renew the truce. The terrorists are also threatening to resume suicide bombing attacks, which is little different than before.

Why would Hamas need to renew the truce? They've had months to regroup and rearm, and are now ready to use the Palestinian people as cannon fodder once again for their senseless violence, carnage and mayhem.

During this hudna, the terrorists have used terrorists hijacking heavy construction equipment to go on rampages in Jerusalem, shootings, and have had several thwarted infiltration attempts, in addition to the mortar and rocket barrages.

The terrorists in Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been plotting attacks for months, and when Israel has disrupted those attacks by going after those in the process of carrying them out, it makes Israel look like the aggressor. Israel is simply defending itself from these terrorists, and the media doesn't bother to note it as such.

The terrorists then fire off their rockets at Israel claiming it was Israel's fault for them having to resort to these attacks. It's yet another sign of the Israeli double standard time that is all to prevalent in the world media.

UPDATE:
On cue, the UN and EU demand that the Israelis lift their closures and bans on aid going into Gaza. Let's all just ignore that the terrorists have repeatedly used those humanitarian aid convoys to smuggle in weapons and personnel while taking a bunch of the aid to spread out among its chosen few.

That's after the terrorists firing off multiple barrages of rockets and mortars with the intent to murder Israelis. This time, they only managed to wound an elderly woman and three other Israelis.

The Hits Keep On Coming

Israel has closed its border crossings with Gaza after yesterday's major terrorist attack. Hamas and their terror minions responded with launching more kassams into Israel, including into Sderot. They threaten to launch still more.

Oh, you mean you haven't heard about the major terrorist attack yesterday (that is if you weren't reading here)? More than 40 kassams and mortars were fired at Israel and several landed in Ashkelon, injuring three people. That came after Israeli forces took out a terror cell planning on using a tunnel to infiltrate Israel with the express purpose of kidnapping and/or killing Israelis.

Hamas has never stopped plotting attacks against Israel, and to think that the hudna is the basis on which a lasting peace can be achieved is just fooling yourself. Hamas has not altered its central ideological and theological goal - the destruction of Israel. Neither has Fatah for that matter, but Fatah is at least paying lip service to the political process and Israel figures that Fatah is more likely to work through the political process to destroy Israel than overt violence, although that too is a foolish proposition given Fatah's propensity to engage in violence through its subordinates and wholly owned terrorist subsidiaries like the al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade.

UPDATE:
Still more kassams fired into Israel. No reports of injuries. I can't wait for President Obama to start calling Hamas a partner in peace. It's only a matter of time.

It's Not a Truce!

Stop calling the situation between Hamas and Israel a truce when Israel continues to get pounded by mortars and rockets from Gaza on a daily basis. The terrorist group claiming responsibility is Fatah's al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who claims that the attacks are in retaliation for Israel taking out one of their terrorists yesterday.

It Didn't Take Long

It took roughly five days, but the Palestinian terrorists couldn't help themselves firing mortars at Israel this morning. Two kassams were also fired. That's despite the fact that Israel has begun loosening restrictions on humanitarian aid and other steps as it agreed.

I'd say that this truce is dead and Israel should resume its operations against the terrorists along with a retightening of its restrictions on aid and items entering Gaza.

If Israel lets these incidents slide, the Palestinians will rightfully conclude that they can continue to fire on Israel at will without facing repercussions.

The terrorists will deny and evade responsibility for breaking the ceasefire, and will whine and seethe should Israel retaliate against those terrorists for attacking Israel. They will claim that it was Israel who broke the ceasefire, not them, even as there's irrefutable proof that the Palestinians broke it.

The terrorists might even point to an IDF operation that killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist as proof that Israel broke the truce. Never forget for one moment that the Palestinians have not given up on the idea of destroying Israel or attacking it at the earliest possible moment. They have simply engaged in a hudna to buy time and space to regroup and rearm.

Egypt continues to play mediator in the ongoing negotiations, and they are now saying that they will not reopen Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza unless Gilad Shalit is returned. Interesting. I doubt that it will present sufficient pressure on Hamas to return Shalit.

UPDATE:
Well, it also didn't take long for the media to twist and contort itself into knots over who was responsible for the breach of the truce.

You've got a couple of different ways that this happened. One is that instead of reporting that the mortars and rockets slammed into Israel, the media outlets state instead that Israel reports or claims that the rockets hit the country, as though there's some question as to whether it actually happened.

For its part, Israel is not going to deal with the breaches of the truce, which will only embolden the terrorists to carry out more attacks. Restraint is once again confused with weakness, and the terrorists see weakness as something to exploit. With a media that looks the other way, it is a time-tested approach that has worked well. Israel looks like the bad guy when they respond to terrorists or intercept terrorists before they carry out attacks, instead of the beleaguered nation beset on its borders by terrorist groups intent upon its destruction.

Islamic Jihad says that they fired the rockets at Israel in response to a raid that killed one of its terrorists hours earlier. Islamic Jihad isn't part to the hudna, but they can't operate in Gaza without Hamas knowing. They're playing a shell game - using live shells to try and kill Israelis.

Broken Promises

It didn't take long did it. Hamas and Israel are supposedly involved in a truce in Gaza, and Hamas has even said that they would act as thought the truce was extended to the West Bank.

How much do you want to bet that this attack in the West Bank that injured two Israelis will not count towards the truce breaking.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire on two Israeli hikers not far from Ramallah.

Two Israeli hikers were wounded Friday in a terror attack in the Binyamin region, northwest of Ramallah.

According to initial reports, a group of four or five hikers was shot at by Palestinian terrorists in a passing vehicle.

The two casualties, who were hit in the upper body, were treated at the scene by a medic, who was apparently one of the hikers.

The hikers alerted rescue and security services who were on their way to the location.

MDA reported that one of the casualties was seriously wounded and the other was in moderate condition, stressing that both were fully conscious.

This report notes three injured in the attack. And Hamas has reported that it will act as though there's a West Bank truce. Right. Stop laughing. I'm serious. They actually said this before the latest terrorist attack by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank.

Will they claim that this attack was launched by some faction beyond their control? I'm pretty sure that's exactly what they'll do. They'll blame Fatah or another faction to claim that they're undermining the process, even though they fully condone such activities.

And this statement by one of the Hamas thugs tells you all you need to know. The truce is nothing but a sham - a hudna to give the terrorist group a chance to regroup and rearm. Israel and the rest of the world gave it to them, and Israel will suffer more for it.

UPDATE:
Hamas says that they'll continue smuggling in the weapons, equipment, and personnel to fight the war against Israel regardless of the hudna. No kidding. I warned you.

Hamas Offers Yet Another Hudna

MSNBC reports this as breaking news. Why?

Hamas is offering yet another one of its patented 10 year hudnas. They do this from time to time when the pressure is too great or when they want to spin the inability of diplomats to make peace between Israel and the terrorists that seek its destruction and refuse to recognize Israel's borders in any way, shape, or form.

Only earlier today did Meshaal say that Hamas refuses Israel's right to exist. Hamas will not abide by any referendum by Palestinians over their own future.

The outcome of this is certain. Israel will refuse to recognize this because it's a sham, but the media, diplomats, and Carter will all claim that Israel is the bad actor here for not taking them up on the offer.

Hamas wouldn't be offering up a strategic pause unless the recent attacks and Israeli counterterrorist measures haven't seriously degraded Hamas' ability to kill Israelis. They offer up hudnas whenever their thugs have been seriously battered and they curtail their efforts only long enough to train the next batch of recruits.

And MSNBC is distorting the definition of hudna to make it appear as though Hamas is offering something concrete.

They aren't, because Hamas will simply use the pause as a time to regroup and rearm for the next phase in its war against Israel.

Israel, for its part, should call it like it is and press its counterterrorism operations to the fullest to break Hamas leadership, but they wont, because the left in Israel and the diplomats wont let them, to say nothing of Olmert's own failures to secure Israel's borders against incessant attacks by the terrorists from Gaza.

UPDATE:
As I noted, Hamas wasn't doing anything today that it hasn't done in the past. In fact, Hamas made exactly the same offer in 2006. No acceptance of Israel's right to exist. Nothing. Only that they'd stop firing rockets long enough to start stockpiling them in sufficient numbers so that they will break the hudna at their time and place of choosing.

Yet, the media is puffing up the Hamas hudna offer as though it's serious or should be seriously considered. Hamas has punked the media and Carter in one fell swoop, and their useful idiots have pushed this to no end.

Hot Air and Gateway Pundit both have more. Hot Air also has video of Carter trying to defend his indefensible negotiations with Hamas that blew up in his face mere hours after he claimed to have gotten Hamas to a ceasefire position.

Others blogging: Right Voices, Blatant Reality, and baldilocks.

Zen in the Art of Diplomacy

The following is written by Dennis Ross, who was a diplomat during the Clinton Administration:

Many, including Rice, see Saudi, Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders as sharing a perception of Iran as a threat. With such common fears, the thinking goes, the leaders should be willing to accept the necessary hard compromises and end the Palestinian conflict (or show how it can be ended) so Iran can no longer exploit the conflict to build its following and put the region's moderates on the defensive.

The assessment of the common threat perception is correct. But basing policy only on this misses an important regional reality. Priorities differ on how best to respond to the Iranian threat. For the Saudis, weaning Hamas away from Iran and producing intra-Palestinian peace is more important than trying to forge peace between Palestinians and Israelis. For the Israelis, however, an intra-Palestinian peace that entails accommodating Hamas (and that does not require Hamas to change its hostile posture toward Israel) is hardly a basis for reaching out to Palestinians in a way that would satisfy the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians.

And one sure way to threaten intra-Palestinian peace is to push now for a political horizon that inevitably will mean Palestinian compromises on core issues such as refugees. Will Hamas accommodate giving up the Palestinian right of return? A political horizon that purports to outline the endgame will require such a concession, and Hamas is not going to accept it or a process likely to produce it.

Of course, the compromises won't be one-sided. But is Israel likely to contemplate excruciating concessions on Jerusalem or territory with a Palestinian government led in part by those who refuse to acknowledge its existence or renounce terrorism? My point is that the political options available for peacemaking between Israelis and Palestinians have been reduced. And Rice's efforts have to be guided by what is possible, not by what is most desirable.

In Middle Eastern terms, what is logical and possible is intra-Palestinian peace and Palestinian-Israeli calm. That would argue for a comprehensive cease-fire to be negotiated between Abbas and Olmert.

Where to begin with this. Palestinians and Israeli leaders do not share any commonalities. They may each claim peace, but their definitions of peace are so totally different so as to be alien.

Palestinians see peace in the form of the absence of Israel. No Israel and you have peace. It's the basis of Hamas and Fatah. Both call for Israel's destruction, and both engage in behavior and condone terrorism to further that goal.

Israelis see peace as the absence of a conflict that has been going on since 1948. They want the bullets to stop flying in their direction. They want to stop worrying about suicide bombers and building security barriers and checkpoints. They also want to stop sending their soldiers into the field to deal with Islamic terrorists who think nothing of blowing themselves up to take out as many Israelis as possible.

The Palestinians are supported by other Middle Eastern countries as a relief valve for those countries. How else to ignore the economic morass that these countries enjoy if not for the wealth that happened because they sit atop a pool of oil. The tyrants and dictators use the Palestinians as a convenient foil to blame the region's woes on Israel.

The Saudis want to balance Iranian influence, and Israel is an afterthought. They support Fatah because it counterbalances the influences of Hizbullah and Hamas that enjoys the backing of Iran. Egypt similarly does the same. Both will go out of their way to show support for Fatah because each of those countries wants to be the leading country among the Sunni Arab nations. Iran has its own agenda, and Syria follows. They want to spread Shi'a Islam, but Ross wants to display this through the prism of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The sad thing is that the Islamist conflict with Israel is not going to go away anytime soon. Ross thinks that Hamas might be willing to entertain a ceasefire with Israel. Hamas regularly engages in hudnas (strategic pauses before resuming fighting). Do not confuse the two. One could lead to peace, the other a resumption of hostilities. Just because a period of time is not considered active fighting, it does not mean that the fighting will not resume. The Islamists have dedicated their lives to destroying Israel. Being a diplomat pushing for a ceasefire just to get a signed piece of paper proclaiming peace in our time only shows the ignorance of the religious justifications and influence that it has on the political decisions by the Palestinians.

The Islamists will not willingly accede to recognizing Israel as anything other than a target for destruction. The Islamists would sooner engage in taqiya than accept Israel's existence.

A hudna is an extension of that - and even here Hamas is unwilling to concede. Hamas believes completely in the mission to destroy Israel that it will not compromise on its inalienable and central mission. It will not engage in deception to further its goal. Hamas is that dedicated to Israel's destruction.

And yet, diplomats think that a deal can be achieved?

Sorry, but without common ground, there can be no deal.

Carter's Israel Problem

Let's get this straight. Former President Jimmy Carter thinks Israel is to blame for the violence in the region and the continuation of the Palestinian-Israel conflict. He's blaming Israel for the terrorism that is heaped upon it by the Palestinians - the same Palestinians whose charters call for the annihilation of Israel. The Palestinians repeatedly state they do not want a 2-state solution. They want their state supplanting Israel. Fatah's leaders might speak of a 2-state solution in their English language interviews, but the Arabic interviews and the official position of the Palestinian Authority - down to the maps and educational materials provided to students do not show a 2-state solution, but rather the Palestinian state standing where Israel once stood.

Carter blames Israel for the failure of the roadmap. Funny, but the roadmap calls for an end of Palestinian incitement to violence against Israel. The PA has never ended its incitement of violence towards Israel, and its latest iteration includes Hamas, which is thoroughly indoctrinated in the destruction of Israel as a core tenet. Every time you turn on a television with a Hamas official, they're calling for the destruction of Israel and refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist. Sounds to me like incitement to violence.

Carter yammers on about how there are so many Palestinians in Israeli prisons or that there have been so many Palestinians killed over the years by Israelis in relation to the few Israelis killed. Could it be the Palestinians have widespread animosity towards Israel that so many have taken up arms, suicide belts, and engaged Israeli forces with arms, rockets, firebombs, and that Israelis have responded with force in arms. That fewer Israelis have been killed by Palestinians is a testament to the work of the IDF and Israeli security forces in stopping the Palestinian terrorists from carrying out their deadly deeds. That there are so many Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails shows that the Israelis are more than willing to capture and hold those who have taken criminal action against Israelis and not simply killed them outright - as Palestinians will often do to alleged collaborators.

The Palestinian terrorists kill Israelis on purpose. They target Israelis with rocket attacks (still more rockets hit Sderot today) and violate the latest hudna, requiring Israeli officials to state that they're going to respond with restraint. If only the Palestinians showed that kind of restraint.

Carter's bass-ackward when he thinks that Israel has been an impediment to peace.

But as it stands right now, we're about to witness Madrid redux. Forget that Oslo ever existed because we're right back to where we were before then except that the Palestinians now control Gaza and have turned it into Hamastan, taking their cues from Hizbullah (who are also 'helping' out the Shi'ites in Iraq btw). With Baker and the boys trying to relive the Madrid Conference, down to forcing Israel to make yet more concessions for 'peace' in the region, this is a dangerous time for Israel, and I really don't think Israel's leadership is up to the task.

Olmert put forth Israel's latest bunch of concessions, and even that is insufficient for the likes of Hamas.

Now, in Olmert's defense, he could be thinking that he's playing rope-a-dope with the terrorists, figuring that if the Palestinians simply act like they always have and throw the terms of the Israeli offer back in Israel's face much as Arafat did to Barak in 2000, that Olmert will have much wider latitude to deal with the Palestinian terrorists in the territories. I don't think it will play out the way Olmert thinks, but it is one rationale that could make sense. Of course, the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, so Olmert may be on to something - though I doubt he's got the willingness to see this through including using the kind of force necessary to crush Hamas, Fatah, and PIJ once and for all.

UPDATE:
It would appear that Olmert didn't exactly run the idea of a ceasefire before the IDF advisors who were busy planning a major operation in Gaza to break the terror groups.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not fully consult with the Israeli army before agreeing to a cease-fire with Palestinian militants two days ago, according to Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Halutz.
IDF sources and several prominent Knesset members said the cease-fire will damage Israel's security by allowing Palestinian groups to continue smuggling weapons into Gaza. They said the truce would provide down-time for militants to train for attacks against Israel.

The IDF has been petitioning for a large-scale assault in Gaza.

A large scale assault, coupled with secrecy, initative, and large numbers could have caught the terror groups and their leadership off guard, and enabled the Israelis to pick off the terrorists instead of having to deal with the current stalement.

Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Asheri, Ashri, Abbas, Regev, Goldwasser, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.

When A Truce Isn't a Truce

It didn't take long for Palestinian terrorists to break their word. Again.

Israeli forces left Gaza, but the Palestinian terrorists kept firing their rockets. Is this the problem of groups not heeding the word or the initial stages? Then again, Hamas was busy firing the rockets itself right up to the deadline.

The agreement also called for Palestinians to stop their own attacks at 6 a.m. Sunday. But rocket and mortar fire from Gaza continued to strike southern Israel.

“Let’s hope that’s just the problems of the beginning,” The Associated Press quoted an Israeli government spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, as saying. “But if Israel is attacked, we will respond. If there are Palestinian factions that are not part of the cease-fire, it’s hard to see how the cease-fire will hold.”

[Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said Sunday that Israel will “show restraint,” Reuters reported.

[The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday ordered his security forces to try to prevent rocket fire, news agencies reported, but it was not clear what action the forces would take.]

The accord is the most serious effort to end the fighting in Gaza. However, it is not clear how widely it will be embraced by Palestinian militants. In the past, the Palestinian Authority has been unable or unwilling to control the numerous factions involved in the fighting with Israel.

But after meeting in Gaza with several Palestinian factions involved in firing rockets into Israel, the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, said Saturday that they had agreed to abide by the cease-fire.

Shortly before the deadline Sunday morning, Hamas fired three rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot, it told Reuters. One landed in the city, damaging a home but causing no injuries, the Israeli military said.

Interesting that Abbas would try to stop the rocket fire, considering that the PA is outnumbered by Hamas in Gaza. The PA is unwilling to stop the rocket fire for fear of starting a civil war with Hamas.

Oh, and the ceasefire doesn't cover the West Bank, which means that the fighting may shift there should the terrorists want to start a third front against Israel.

Olmert is urging restraint and will not respond to the rocket attacks occurring now. I'm sorry, but if it's a violation of the agreement, then the agreement should be null and void, and will be seen as weakness on the part of the Israelis to respond to the violence directed at them. The next round of rockets will be that much deadlier and more intense. The Palestinians are simply ratcheting up the level of violence directed at the Israelis - all with the goal not of creating a separate state for Palestinians, but to supplant Israel altogether. The suicide bombers talk of how Jews stole holy Islamic lands. Never mind the fact that the land was holy to Jews before the Muslims took it themselves, or that the Islamists are rewriting history to write the Jews out of the picture altogether (just as the Islamists do wherever they want to claim the land as their own). Muslims have tried to fight and beat Israel in numerous wars, losing all of them. So, they whine, seethe, and will engage in suicide bombings and rocket attacks hoping to destroy the will of Israel to defend itself over the years.

Oh, and the suicide bomber isn't poor - he's middle class attending the local Palestinian university. Once again, another myth dispelled about how the terrorists are poor and this is about a wealth divide. It's about a religious divide - the Islamists want to eliminate threats to their religion - destroying Israel would be a step in that path. He talks of what happened in Jenin in 2002, when Israel engaged in house to house fighting that resulted in 52 killed, though Arafat claimed a massacre of epic proportions. This bomber believes the propaganda, and has no reason not to - there's no one within the Palestinian community willing to do that. So, the Palestinians embrace a false history, complete with falsehoods that are repeated ad nauseum until they become truths.

He also says that the Israelis will target truce violators. Well, how exactly is that any different than the current situation without a truce? The Palestinians try to kill Israelis and launch rockets, and the Israelis are trying to eliminate the rocket threat, eliminating the terrorists who launch them.

Meanwhile, the Israeli courts have approved the Jerusalem barrier, which will be built because the security considerations outweigh the claims of the Arab residents.

UPDATE:
Fixed location of technorati tags. Meanwhile, Meryl Yourish slams Olmert for not showing more gumption in going after the terrorists who continue to fire rockets into Israel. That means recognizing that the Palestinians violated their own truce and do not deserve its protections. That the Palestinians called for this truce shows that they've been hurt badly by the Israeli attacks into Gaza, and they need time to regroup and rearm. Israel should deny them this capability. The media outlets are already trying to downplay the rocket attacks and Palestinian violations, despite the fact that they're ongoing.

Powerline and Jules Crittenden also comments on the situation.

The latest rocket attacks were claimed by PIJ, which said the rockets were in response to Israeli raids in the West Bank, which was not covered by any ceasefire agreement. This goes to the heart of the situation. The terrorists will always invent real or perceived grievances in order to attack Israelis while Israel, meanwhile, must be constrained from acting to defend itself. The Palestinians do not want to abide by any ceasefire agreement, but will demand that Israel must hold to the letter of the agreement or else face more terrorist attacks (which are already in the planning and operational stages).

Ed Morrissey notes that the Palestinians have restarted the triangle offense so that the terror attacks can continue while paying lip service to the notion of a hudna. Carl in Jerusalem notes that Israel ceases, and the Palestinians fire.

Just so we know who we're talking about here, the Palestinians are coming up with cuter ways to kill and maim people - namely stuffing explosives into plush dolls.

Others blogging: Blog-o-Fascists, LGF, Israelated, Greetings from the French Hill, and Jihad Watch.

Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Abbas, Regev, Goldwasser, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.

The Conundrum, Part 16

The Palestinians fired a missile at the IDF in Khan Younis today and launched a kassam at Sderot (again). Hamas threatens more pain on Israel. As if the repeated calls for Israel's destruction are insufficient, along with the terrorist attack attempts?

This comes after Condi Rice visited the region, and offered up the tired pablum of how the Palestinians have been oppressed. Sorry, but that doesn't work, not unless you think that Fatah and Hamas are oppressing Palestinians because Israel no longer occupies Gaza and the Palestinian Authority has been granted civil administrative control over much of the Palestinian areas under Oslo.

That Israel continues to engage in military action against Palestinian terrorists is a function of those groups ongoing calls for the destruction of Israel. It's the platform on which Fatah and Hamas operate, though the difference between the two groups is the timeframe.

Israel is busy trying to destroy yet more smuggling tunnels that the terrorists use to resupply.

Maashal says that violence will be used to thwart an early PA election. No kidding. Hamas and Fatah are busy fighting amongst each other, and neither side wants to lose.

Speaking out against the insanity of a nihlistic deathwish that is Palestinian terrorism and the rise of militant Islamists is the exception, not the norm among Muslims. Dr. Wafa Sultan explains her own personal battles - with her own family all but disowning her. It isn't just overcoming the jihadis, but getting Muslims to realize that this path they've set upon is leading to no good for everyone.

Meanwhile, Mexico, along with US authorities, is looking into whether a Mexican group is funding Hizbullah.

UPDATE:
Maashal also had this to say about Israel:

Hamas politburo leader Khaled Mashaal reiterated Wednesday that his group would not recognize Israel. In an interview published Thursday in the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat and cited by Maariv, Mashaal said he was willing to accept a Palestinian state within 1967 borders, as well as a hudna [truce] with Israel but not to recognize the "occupation."

Mashaal addressed reports Wednesday that said he had agreed to wide-ranging concessions in order to pave the way for a unity government in the Palestinian Authority. Although he refused to recognize the "legitimacy of the occupation," Mashaal admitted the "Zionist entity" was an established fact. "There is an entity whose name is Israel, yes, but I am not interested in recognizing it," said Mashaal.

The Hamas political chief also hinted at the possibility that his organization and the Hamas-led Palestinian government would recognize agreements with Israel the PA and PLO previously signed. "We will deal with agreements that have been signed and are on the ground according to the interests of the Palestinian people," Mashaal said. "If the serve the interests of my people, I will implement them."

So, he's willing to lie, deceive and otherwise use all the means at his disposal to get Israel to agree to the terrorist state on its border, which will then seek Israel's ultimate destruction because it considers all of Israel to be occupied territory by the Jews.

Also, Israel doesn't appear to have a problem with the plans to build another minaret on the al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount. It would be the first new structure there in 600 years and would be the tallest one on the site, if completed. Some Israelis are not happy about this either:

A leading Israeli archeologist lambasted the plan. "I am against any change in the status quo on the Temple Mount," said Bar-Ilan University's Dr. Gabi Barkai, a member of the Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount. "If the status quo is being changed, then it should not just be the addition of Muslim structures at the site."

In contravention of the law, Antiquities Authority archeologists have not been carrying out full-time supervision of the site for much of the last decade due to their concern about renewed Palestinian violence, despite the reopening of the compound to non-Muslims two years ago.

During this period, Israel has been keen to involve the Jordanians in the ongoing repair work on the Temple Mount, as they are considered more moderate than the Palestinian heads of the Wakf appointed by Yasser Arafat on his return to the West Bank 10 years ago.

The other minarets include three near the Western Wall and one near the northern wall. The first minaret was constructed on the southwest corner of the Temple Mount in 1278. The second was built in 1297 by order of a Mameluke king, the third by a governor of Jerusalem in 1329, and the last in 1367.

"For the past century all Hashemite intervention [here] was restoration and maintenance, and now for the first time there will be a new monument on the site," Najim said.

Meanwhile, any attempt to build a Jewish synogogue on top of Judaism's holiest place would result in bloodshed and violence warns Muslim MKs.

UPDATE:
Here's an aerial view of the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock is the structure in the center with the Golden Dome. The al Aqsa mosque is in the center right quadrant of the Temple Mount, and the wide area just beneath that is the Kotel, where the Western Wall is located. The Western Wall Tunnels run parallel to the Western Wall underneath the built up areas of the Muslim Quarter adjacent to the Kotel.



UPDATE:
An Israeli airstrike to take out a Hamas terrorist ended up killing an 8-year old, 'an activist' and injured 13 others. Immediately following the attack, terrorists fired off kassams at Sderot, hitting a power line. As I've been noting for quite some time now, the terrorists have been firing kassams into Israel all along, so that is nothing new.

The Hamas two-step continues. One terror thug says that they might engage in a hudna, while another categorically denies recognizing Israel under any circumstances. Either way you cut it, they seek Israel's destruction and are quibbling over the manner.

Maashal says that Olmert is holding up the release of Gilad Shalit. Yeah, that's right. Israel doesn't want to release the thousands of Hamas and Fatah activists, many with Israeli blood on their hands, for the life of Gilad Shalit, who was taken by Hamas in a cross border attack that killed two other Israeli soldiers. Maashal is trying to play up the media angle in all this, and expect the media to lap this up.

The Palestinian civil war watch continues as Fatah and Hamas exchange killing each others' thugs.


Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Asheri, Ashri, Abbas, Regev, Goldwasser, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.