The Gaza War Continues: Where Do We Go From Here?

The latest battle in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas (Operation Protective Edge) continued without any sign of letup. Israel's military continues ground operations inside Gaza, while Hamas has continued firing rockets and missiles at Israel. Israeli ground forces have taken casualties while Gazan casualties continue to grow.

Thus far, Palestinians living in Gaza have taken the brunt of the fighting. There have been hundreds of casualties and it is still unclear just how many of them are civilians and how many have been Hamas fighters. Media outlets are relying almost exclusively on Hamas and PA sources for casualty counts, and Hamas has been notorious with lying about who was killed and conflating their casualties with civilians.

It is indisputable that Israel has hit civilians, including children in the course of the fighting and trying to hit at Hamas terrorists who are entrenched in urban areas and firing at Israel from within civilian areas. Israel reports that they've killed at least 270 terrorists, while the UN indicates that 479 have been killed overall, including 364 civilians, 76 militants, and 39 who they can't classify. Gaza's Health Ministry puts the tally at 632 killed and nearly 3,800 wounded.

It is also indisputable that Hamas has no problem firing from civilian positions including schools and UN facilities. For the second time in a week, the UNRWA has found rocket caches in one of their facilities.

https://twitter.com/lawhawk/status/491629164584112128

Hamas has become more brazen in where they're storing their weapons, all while their leaders cower in underground bunkers while Gazans who aren't connected with the leadership and don't have the means to protect themselves are taking the brunt of the damage with no where else to go.

It is also indisputable that but for Hamas firing rockets and missiles at Israel incessantly since even the last ceasefire in 2012 (all but one month had missile/mortar or rocket fire) that Israel would not have needed to invade Gaza once again after the latest rounds of barrages that have landed deep inside Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The FAA may have succeeded in doing what Hamas couldn't do directly. After firing missiles in the direction of Ben Gurion Airport, Delta Airlines and a quick succession of other airlines decided that they didn't want to put their planes in harms' way. The FAA then ordered US airlines to halt flights to and from Israel for 24 hours. Other airlines also followed suit.

The airlines rightfully don’t want to see their gear destroyed by the missiles or rockets, and that’ll be more than enough to keep them away though it is strange that they are not willing to fly into Israel but haven't had issues with flights to/from or over other war zones and conflict regions in recent years, including Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine (prior to the shoot down of Malaysian Air Flight 17).

The FAA order and its effect on the conflict can play out in one of two ways. It could force Israel to a ceasefire while Israel has not achieved its goals militarily so as to get flights to resume. If the flights remain shut down, it would have the effect of imposing economic harms on Israel (lost tourism/commerce) and indirectly strengthens Hamas’ hand.

However, the concern for Israel's economy is just as likely to move Israel to mount an even larger military campaign into Gaza so as to eliminate the threat to Israel's only international airport and crush Hamas' capabilities once and for all. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu is likely to opt for the latter, knowing that his country needs the influx of tourists to keep the economy going and a prolonged shutdown would have dire consequences. Israeli public opinion isn't going to take this kind of existential threat to their livelihood and country; they're going to press ahead with rooting out Hamas if it means eliminating the threat to Israel's airport.

Until now, the primary justification for the Israeli ground assault has been to root out the tunnels and bunkers Hamas has used to bring weapons into Gaza from Sinai, store the weapons, and to infiltrate into Israel. The missile attacks near Ben Gurion are the kind of justification that Israel could make to continue its fight inside Gaza - to eliminate the threat to Israel's economy and transportation networks that fighting to clear the tunnels from Gaza didn't. It would potentially provide the open-ended invitation for Israel to remain in Gaza, a region Israel unilaterally withdrew from in 2005 as no nation would ever allow its key transit locations to be under constant threat from missiles and bombs.

Meanwhile, the diplomats are trying to formulate yet another cease fire proposal. It's actually a joke at this point. Everyone knows that the ceasefire agreement is going to end up being the same as all the prior deals between Israel and Hamas. Both sides will promise not to fire on the other beginning at X. Once X plus a given period Y has occurred, Israel will promise Z and Hamas will need to reciprocate with A. The ceasefire deals are essentially fill-in-the-blank and you can substitute the times, dates, and in the end, all that is left are the casualties on both sides to be buried and hospitalized.

It's nice that the diplomats and EU members are calling on Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza to be disarmed, but there's no indication of how or who would do what they propose. Hamas seems to have an answer to that question - they’ll keep firing their munitions until they’ve expended their stockpiles. Israel will continue taking that fire until they have forced Hamas to expend all of its weapons.

Gazans will continue to suffer from Hamas actions and Israeli responses and both Israelis and Gazans will mourn their losses and curse Hamas. And that, unfortunately, is the takeaway.

Cross posted at LGF

What Does Fatah Think It Gains From Renewed Violence?

Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terrorists in Gaza fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with protesters who have been raging against Israel after a Palestinian man died in Israeli custody. Palestinians claim he was tortured and killed, which Israel denies.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which says it is affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, took responsibility for the attack. The rocket fell on a road in southern Israel. No injuries were reported, according to Israeli Defense Forces radio.

Days of clashes between dozens of Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli soldiers have taken place since the death of Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old Palestinian man who died under unclear circumstances while in Israeli police custody.

Palestinian officials insist Jaradat was tortured to death during an interrogation. An Israeli autopsy conducted in the presence of a Palestinian physician showed bruises and a couple of broken ribs which, Israel says, could have occurred during resuscitation efforts.

Tensions were already high after several Palestinian demonstrations demanding the release of more than 4,000 prisoners held in Israeli prisons for everything from stone-throwing to terror attacks.

It's a flashpoint that Fatah thinks can it can exploit as President Obama is scheduled to come to Israel next month.

It makes no sense though.

The Palestinian Authority and Fatah have a level of autonomy that comes from an uneasy status quo where Fatah controls much of the West Bank with civil administrative control and regions are off limits to Israelis. All this was set forth in the Oslo Accords and follow on agreements.

Palestinians refused to even consider peace deals that included land swaps the two times that Israel proffered a comprehensive deal. In fact, in both instances the Palestinian response was more violence, not a counter proposal upon which further negotiations could occur.

Perhaps Fatah thinks that they need to remind Palestinians that they can resort to violence just as surely as Hamas has done since 2005. Yet, the end result of the violence would be further security clampdowns on Palestinian mobility through the West Bank and crossing points into Israel. That serves no one, least of all Palestinian businesses. The violence only ratchets up the tensions.

Perhaps Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas thinks that the violence will lead President Obama to come forth with a proposal that would impose a peace deal, but that's not going to happen. The US has already signaled that the President isn't coming with a peace proposal in hand, but instead is coming to hear what both sides have to say about the matter.

Or, perhaps Abbas thinks that they need this violence so as to engage in a rapproachment with Hamas, but I don't think Abbas is so cynical as to believe that that's possible given how Abbas and Fatah have generally worked out a coexistence with Israel on civil administrative and security matters that allows many in the West Bank to attend to the business of business. Hamas considers Fatah to be sell-outs of Palestinian freedom by merely accepting Israel's existence.

Reflexively, Palestinian leaders revert to violence when the needs suit them because they simply haven't accepted that a peace deal could be reached after all the promises that they've given Palestinians for generations that they would wipe Israel from the map and/or overwhelm them demographically with a right of return.

For its part, Israel has no reason to inflame tensions or ratchet up the violence. There's enough instability on Israel's borders to keep its security officials up at night. With the Syrian civil war raging and the situation in Egypt uncertain while the porous Sinai border with Gaza allowing an ongoing influx of weapons and material to Hamas, Israel's neighbors are all dealing with internal issues (though Assad and others may try to cause conflict with Israel so as to deflect attention from their own problems).

The US policy has been that a peace deal will come only when both Israelis and Palestinians sit down and hash out a deal. That's the right strategy as an imposed deal will not carry as much weight as one that the two sides manage to hash out. I'm quite pessimistic that any such deal could be worked out when Hamas still refuses to accept Israel's existence and that they view ceasefires as a hudna in which they're able to regroup and rearm for the next armed phase of their conflict with Israel.

In other words, Israel faces not a united Palestinian front, but one that for all intents and purposes has created three "states" - Israel, Fatah-controlled West Bank, and Hamas-controlled Gaza. A 3-state solution reflects the situation on the ground, but isn't a sustainable concept diplomatically when Hamas and Fatah are both nominally representing the Palestinian people. The 2-state solution is on life support, but it's been that way ever since the Palestinian civil war split control of Gaza and the West Bank between Fatah and Hamas, not because Israel wants to see an end to the dialogue.

Thus, the latest outbreak of violence will end as it usually does - lots more people injured, property damage, inflamed passions, and neither side budging on core issues.

The Barak Disengagement Plan

Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak has come out with a new plan that is spurring a new debate about Israel's role in the West Bank. Ehud Barak is part of the government coalition under Binyamin Netanyahu, but he's also the leader of his own political party and has aspirations to once again be Prime Minister of Israel.

That means that his comments need to be framed both as an internal political issue within the Israeli electorate and as a wider Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

Barak's plan? A disengagement from large portions of the West Bank, including uprooting settlements and using financial incentives to get Israel's to move back inside the Green Line. However, the Etzion and Ariel settlement blocs would not be included in the disengagement:

Defense Minister Ehud Barak is urging the government to examine a plan for unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. Under the plan, secluded settlements and outposts in Judea and Samaria would be evacuated by the state, and any Jews wishing to remain in the region would be permitted to live there under Palestinian rule.

In a special interview with Israel Hayom, to be published in full on Tuesday, Barak outlined the details of his plan and explained the logic behind it. Under Barak's plan, the settlement blocs of Gush Etzion, Maaleh Adumim and Ariel would remain intact. These blocs house some 90 percent of Judea and Samaria's Jewish population. Strategic areas (such as the Samarian hills overlooking Ben-Gurion International Airport) would similarly remain under Israeli control, and an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley would be ensured. The remainder of the territory would be handed over to the Palestinians to establish a state. Dozens of small Jewish communities would have to be evacuated.


Barak's plan elicited a harsh response from the right on Monday, with Likud Minister Yuli Edelstein saying that "this is not a disengagement plan we are talking about. This is our survival. Ehud Barak is continuing to make rookie mistakes. After supporting the disastrous Oslo Accords, orchestrating the escape from Lebanon and advancing the withdrawal from Gaza, which put a million Israelis in bomb shelters, Barak is now willing to put millions more in harms way just to get more votes."

There has been no visible movement on the peace process in the past couple of years as Hamas has solidified its hold on Gaza while Fatah continues running the show in the West Bank autonomous areas where Palestinians have civil administrative control. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority has full civil administrative control over certain portions, shared security arrangements in other areas, and Israel controls the remaining areas. The ultimate disposition of the West Bank would be determined in an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. But since Hamas has remained steadfast in its refusal to recognize Israel's very right to exist and has no interest in holding to already signed deals between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, there's been no movement. Israel can't work on a peace deal when it doesn't have a partner in peace.

Elections are likely in the next year, and Barak thinks he's got a shot at winning the opportunity to forge a coalition government rather than Netenyahu. Disengagement isn't likely to sit well with many Israelis after the Gaza experiment, though there are significant differences between the two scenarios. For one, Hamas had a greater presence in Gaza than in the West Bank, and Fatah has been more willing to coordinate security with Israel. That isn't to say that disengagement is without risk to Israel's security.

So, this is where Barak's proposal comes into play. It would seem to be a version of Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan. It would take into account the demographic problems that face Israel with a growing Palestinian population that would threaten the very character of Israel's Jewishness.

Critics of Barak's plan in Israel point to the problems resulting from the Gaza disengagement. Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor notes that the disengagement from Gaza allowed Hamas to overrun and take control of the area and turned Gaza into a rocket and terrorist haven. Thousands of terror attacks have been launched against Israel - in the form of mortars, kassams, and grad rocket/missile attacks against Israel from Ashkelon and Ashdod through Sderot. Meridor points out that something similar would likely occur if Israel unilaterally withdraws from areas in the West Bank.

"We saw what happened in Gaza," Meridor told Israel Radio, expressing his belief that unilateral withdrawal from settlements is "not a good idea."

"We all want to reach an agreement," he said, "but since Olmert's proposal (in 2006) we haven't had real negotiations, and they [the Palestinians] don't seem to want it."

Meridor stressed that Israel should make an effort to reach an agreement and that the current situation must not continue, but he added that the army must remain in the West Bank for the time being.

Meanwhile, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom all but dismissed the proposal, predicting that Barak will not have sway on government action in the settlements, following elections scheduled for 2013.

The view that Israelis are the ones blocking a path to a peace deal ignore the reality on the ground unless the goal is to establish not a two-state solution, but a three state solution. One for Hamas in Gaza, one for Fatah in the West Bank territories, and Israel. If that's the path to take, then we need to eliminate the fiction that the Palestinian Authority has any actual authority, that the votes the Palestinians took, and their civil war that led to the current situation but that would also mean that Palestinian self-determination in those elections wasn't determinative.

The problem with the three-state solution is that the Palestinians themselves don't appear to want that - they still hold fast to 2-state solution that ultimately leads to a 1-state solution in overruning Israel.

Fatah's Abbas isn't willing to make concessions on right of return or other critical issues that would lead to a new peace deal. And housing and settlements are a non-factor since Israel has repeatedly shown that Israel is willing to uproot settlers from housing to have an opportunity for peace.

They did it in Sinai.

They did it in Gaza.

And they'd do so in the West Bank if there was a peace deal to be had. Without a partner in peace though, the Israelis aren't going to warm up to another unilateral disengagement plan.

A Warning Sign From Sinai

Over the weekend, a major terror attack occurred in the Sinai Peninsula. It's been essentially turned into a no-man's land and Israel has warned its citizens to avoid the region. The main threat is that terror groups may seek to kidnap Israelis so as to demand the release of Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails.

16 members of the Egyptian security force were killed in a terror attack in Rafah that was meant to capture Egyptian vehicles so that they could then be used against Israel.

Egyptian state television reported that an Islamist militant group was behind the attack that came at sunset.

The Israeli military said the attack was part of a plot to abduct an Israeli soldier. Two vehicles commandeered by the attackers crashed into Israel, where one blew up and the other was struck by the Israeli air force.

In a statement, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel's military and the internal security agency "thwarted an attack that could have injured many. The militants' attack methods again raise the need for determined Egyptian action to enforce security and prevent terror in the Sinai."

Terror attacks inside Sinai have increased in the past several years. The attacks have included Bedouins targeting oil pipelines connecting Sinai with Israel, as well as kidnapping of tourists. They've also involved Palestinian terrorists who have illegally entered Sinai with the purpose of then attacking Israel via a more porous border.

Israel has taken to beefing up its border with Sinai, but there are limitations on the number of Israeli forces that can be in close proximity to the border pursuant to the Camp David accords and security arrangements between Egypt and Israel. The terrorists have looked to take advantage of that situation, though they have also carried out mortar and rocket attacks against Israel from the Sinai, including one near Eilat.

These attacks highlight the ongoing instability in Sinai and that the Egyptian government has been ill equipped to deal with the situation, especially since Hosni Mubarak was deposed. The new regime has only now sought to bolster its security in the region, and the attacks against the security forces will likely mean that crossings between Gaza and Egypt will be scrutinized to a greater degree.

Israel has long warned that instability in Sinai has led to jihadi groups using the region for their own purposes and are suggesting that Egypt needs to crack down. That puts Egypt at odds with Hamas, which controls Gaza.

The attack was sophisticated, but it was also extremely ambitious and seemed to have been taken straight out of a Hollywood movie – breaking into an Egyptian military base, killing around a dozen soldiers, stealing two armored vehicles and then ramming them into Israel.

It shows that the terrorists are not afraid of Egypt and are willing to kill Egyptians on their way to kill Israelis.

For now, the IDF’s investigation will focus on determining the identity of the attackers. It seems that at least some of them are Egyptian Beduin from Sinai, while others might be Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The IDF believes that the perpetrators are part of a larger global jihad infrastructure that is forming inside Sinai and is a threat not just to Israel but also to Egypt.

The attack was not connected to the one that Israel thwarted earlier in the day with an air strike on a global jihad cell in southern Gaza that killed one terrorist and seriously wounded another. That planned attack, which appears to have been thwarted – for the time being – was supposed to be different.

The IDF did, however, have vague intelligence about the second attack and, as a result, it was not a coincidence that OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Tal Russo was in an army base adjacent to the Kerem Shalom crossing when the attack took place.

What this means is that Israel is facing a reality along its border with Egypt that is becoming more and more similar to the situation along its border with Gaza – a number of groups all trying simultaneously and independently to attack Israel.

So, what will happen? Egypt will probably ask Israel to allow it to deploy additional army battalions in Sinai so they can crack down on the growing terrorist threat there.

As I noted above, putting more troops into Sinai would take coordination with Israel pursuant to existing security arrangements. This can certainly be done, but Israel will need to keep a wary eye on the region due to the ongoing threats posed by Hamas and affiliated terror groups that operate in Gaza and are using Sinai as a stepping stone to carry out attacks against Israel beyond the Gaza/Israel line.

It's a wake up call to the Egyptian government that they're facing a significant threat from terror groups exploiting the lawless regions to plot and carry out attacks against Egyptian interests.

What Ceasefire? Hamas Continues Terrorizing Southern Israel With Rocket Barrages

Dozens of rockets have been fired in the past several hours alone by Hamas from Gaza. Israel responds with airstrikes against those responsible and the BBC turns the situation around by putting the Israeli reprisal before the initiating act - the rocket fire.

But for the Hamas terror attacks, Israel would have no need to respond with force.

As it is, the Hamas terrorists responsible think little of their fellow Palestinians as most of the rockets fired at Israel didn't actually make it into Israel; they landed within Gaza.

Hamas targets included a school and public spaces in Israel and one Israeli was injured and two others were treated for shock. Because this is Saturday, the school was closed. That's the only saving grace from that particular attack. Yet, the ongoing attacks mean that Israelis within range of Gaza have to be under constant watch for sirens and rocket/missile alerts so that they can duck for cover at a moment's notice. The ranges mean that someone would have less than a minute from the time the rockets, missiles, or mortars are fired.

The Iron Dome system intercepted five of the incoming rockets.

Truce Isn't Holding As Rockets Continue Slamming Into Israel

Egypt has been trying to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but with little effect. The terrorists continue firing their rockets, including two fired towards Ashkelon. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. That brings the total fired on Israel during Wednesday to more than 70:

At approximately 1:30 pm a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in open territory in th Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No one was wounded and no damaged was caused.

Earlier, at around 7:30 am, five rockets landed in the Negev's Eshkol Regional Council, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

No less than 70 rockets hit Israel's southern region on Wednesday.

Following the attack on Ashkelon, Mayor Benny Vaknin ordered local elementary schools to remain closed Thursday. The mayor reached the decision following consultations with security establishment officials and parent committee representatives.

"The parents' committee representatives told me their children barely slept last night because of the sirens, and some of them suffer from anxiety. After consulting with security officials I decided to keep the schools closed," the mayor said.

No country would ever allow an enemy regime or entity to engage in such actions for any duration of time without suffering serious repercussions, and yet Israel is expected to do just that. Israeli airstrikes are extremely limited in scope, and it appears that Israel's government is willing to accept a certain level of violence in order to maintain the status quo.

The terrorists know this as well. They can attack up to a certain level of carnage before Israel will respond and retaliate for the damage wrought on Israeli lives and property.

What we're seeing now is the usual dance - Israel's retaliations for the attacks that left one Israeli Arab dead and several others injured result in still more mortar and missile/rocket barrages, and the escalation results in more Israeli airstrikes against terrorist infrastructure. Once the Israelis hit enough critical targets, the terrorists claim that Israel has gone too far and cry for a ceasefire, which they promptly break by blaming Israel for defending itself.

15 Terrorists Released In Shalit Swap Rearrested On Terror Charges

Israel secured the release of Gilad Shalit in October of last year by handing over more than 1,000 Palestinians who it had detained, arrested, and or convicted of various crimes, including terrorism and murder charges.

Now, it turns out that Israel has rearrested at 15 of those released on terror-related charges.

Eight of the Palestinians were from the first batch of prisoners released, many of whom were serving life sentences for a variety of deadly terrorist attacks.

The remaining seven were from the second batch of prisoners who were serving lighter sentences. Three of the prisoners have been released since they were rearrested.

The first stage of the exchange took place in October, when 477 Palestinians were freed, and the second stage in December, when 550 were released.

A senior IDF officer from the Central Command said on Wednesday that it was still too early to measure the impact the released prisoners were having on the West Bank.

“People need to acclimate back to their homes and work to retrieve their former status in their respective organizations from the younger generation that took over while they were away,” the officer said.

One of those rearrested was Ayman Salama, 36, who had been serving a 38-year sentence for his involvement in a 2002 bomb attack in Beersheba that wounded 18 people, as well as for a series of shooting attacks during the second intifada. He was supposed to be released in 2040.

While some may argue that this amounts to less than 1% of those arrested, these terrorists are looking to carry out mass casualty attacks and to capture other Israelis to secure the release of still more Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Israel's Shin Bet had been warning that those released in the Shalit deal were being reintegrated into terror operations by Fatah and Hamas, and it once again highlights all that could go wrong with any such swap.

The terrorists released are more than capable of rejoining their fellow terrorists and their plans to kill or capture as many Israelis as possible, all while Israel has conceded that it will release prisoners in exchange for Israelis captured by the terror groups.

So, while the Israeli government has reaffirmed its commitment to make sure that no Israeli would be left behind and that it would do what it takes to secure the release of Israelis captured by the terror groups, it also highlights the dangers of releasing terrorists with blood on their hands. These aren't rehabilitated individuals. They are unrepentant terrorists who are glorified by the terror groups and honored for their commitment to murder Israelis.

Israel gave up far more than Hamas or the PRCs ever did to secure the swap. Israel had to undermine its security situation by releasing terrorists. All Hamas and the PRCs had to do was release Shalit.

Israel may have shown that they value the life of one Israeli far more than the Palestinians value their fellow Palestinian lives, but that's cold comfort to those who may succumb to terror plots carried out by those Israel releases down the road.

Palestinian Terrorists Continue Missile Attacks On Israel

Israel continues to take fire from Gaza for a third consecutive day. More than 55 rockets slammed into Israel after Israel carried out airstrikes following a terror attack where an Israeli Arab was killed while working on the security fence between Israel and Egypt (the Sinai fence). The Israeli airstrikes have targeted Hamas and other terror groups, including Islamic Jihad and their offshoots:

In the third day of violence, the Israel Air Force struck a motorbike in southern Gaza, seriously injuring Mohammed Rashdan who the IDF said was a member of a Gaza-based Global Jihad group and one of the planners of the deadly attack along the Egyptian border on Monday.

Aleb Armilat, who assisted Rashdan in planning the attack, was killed in the strike. In the evening, the IAF struck two more targets in Gaza, which it said were Hamas training camps. The Palestinians said that two teenagers were injured in the strikes.

In another strike, a 14-year-old was reportedly killed as the IAF bombed what it said was a rocket launching cell in the northern Gaza Strip.

The dead teenager was identified as Momen al-Adam. Two other people were reported injured in the attack. The airstrikes on Wednesday followed eight bombings late Tuesday night throughout the Gaza Strip.

IDF sources said that Rashuan was in the midst of planning another attack against Israel from the Sinai and that he was one of the key architects of Monday’s attack. One officer said that the involvement of Global Jihad operatives in attacks against Israel was not surprising but was concerning since the groups did not heed Hamas’s authority and would be difficult to rein in to abide by a new ceasefire.

Some of the groups are made up of former Islamic Jihad and Hamas members. Others, the officer said, come from Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

One of the rockets hit an Israeli home in Sdot Negev, but no injuries were reported. The Iron Dome missile defense system apparently intercepted an inbound attack on Netivot.

Since the border attack, Israel has been hit by more than 100 rockets and mortars.

Once again, it appears that the terror groups in Gaza are coordinating and hoping to lure Israel into a larger conflict (as well as potentially destabilizing the Camp David Accords with Egypt). The terrorists have no problem directing or taking fire on civilian areas since maximizing casualties is part of the propaganda war with Israel. At the same time, they show that Israel lacks a partner for peace in Gaza; Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and sees the conflict as a way to maintain its own power.

Israel Under Fire From Hamas Day After Sinai-Based Terror Attack

Within hours of the terror attack that left one Israeli Arab dead and several other Israelis injured, the Israeli military carried out airstrikes against targets inside Gaza.

Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets against Israel. At least 11 were fired into Israel, including kassams and Grad rockets along with mortar rounds.

Seven rockets exploded in open areas in Eshkol Regional Council on Tuesday afternoon, after four rockets were fired at Hof Ashkelon and Sha'ar Hanegev regional councils overnight Monday.

There were no reported casualties or damage.

Hamas took responsibility for the rocket fire overnight Monday, and announced on Tuesday afternoon that its military wing had fired 10 Grad rockets toward Israel.

The rocket fire marks an unusual move for the group, which has been avoiding launching rockets toward Israel for many months now.

Following the attack, communities near the Gaza border were put on heightened alert. The residents were given instructions to remain at a close distance to a bomb shelter.

In the past 24 hours, the Israel Air Force carried out several air strikes in the Gaza Strip. Overnight Sunday, Israel attacked a military compound in southern Gaza.

On Sunday morning, a terrorist cell crossed the border from Egypt into Israel and detonated an explosive device which ended up killing an Israeli citizen who was working on the construction of the Israel-Egypt border fence.

While things have been relatively quiet in Gaza, Hamas has not stopped its plans for conflict with Israel. One cannot discount the possibility that Hamas is coordinating with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood over ways to force Israel to attack Gaza and/or Sinai in a way that would allow the Egyptian government to abrogate the Israel-Egypt peace deal (Camp David Accords).

That's one of the reasons why the Israeli military was quick to remove their responding tanks to the Sinai terror attack as quickly as they did. They understand what the terrorists may have been hoping for and didn't want to fall into that trap.

Once Again, Media Focuses On Israel's Response To Palestinian Terror Attacks - Not The Terror Attacks Themselves

Over the past several days, Israel has endured more than 100 mortar and kassams fired at it. They've been fired by Palestinian terrorists from inside Gaza at civilians in Ashdod and elsewhere within range of the mortars and rockets.

It was only Israel's response - a series of airstrikes and counter battery fire, which killed and injured Palestinians that the international media caught wind of what was going on (see CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, etc.). After all, where was CNN's reporting of the Palestinian terror attacks? They were absent - subordinate to the Israeli response.

It's the same story that Israel has endured for years on end - Israel's enemies carry out attacks with impunity and without media scrutiny, but Israel's response is viewed with strict scrutiny.

Up to 15 Palestinian fighters have died in the airstrikes. At least 10 of the dead belonged to the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the group said in a statement. Mourners at a funeral procession on Saturday fired into the air as they made their way from a hospital in central Gaza City to Shejaeya, a neighborhood where many of the dead fighters had lived.

They chanted, “No free hudna from now on” and “We will not accept the degrading hudna,” referring to the fragile truce with Israel that has been largely observed by Hamas, the larger Islamic group that controls Gaza. Hamas often presses smaller militant groups to refrain from firing rockets at Israel.

A spokesman for Islamic Jihad’s armed wing who is known as Abu Ahmad said, “We will not accept a truce in exchange for our deaths.”

The Israeli military says that it is not seeking an escalation of violence in the region, but that it will act forcefully to protect Israeli citizens.

The sudden flare-up of hostilities began Friday when Israeli air-to-ground missiles killed the leader of one of the militant groups, the Popular Resistance Committees, and his assistant in Gaza. Israel said that the strike on the men’s car had been timed to thwart a terrorist attack that the group was planning against Israelis from across the border with Egypt.

Militants in Gaza retaliated by firing barrages of rockets into southern Israel, and the Israeli Air Force struck back at numerous rocket-firing squads and facilities used by the militant groups. The exchanges continued, albeit with less intensity, through Saturday.

Witnesses said that pilotless drones over Gaza were responsible for most of the strikes against militants and that the strikes occurred as the fighters were launching rockets, or just after they had fired them.

The fact is that nearly all those killed by Israel in the reprisals are members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which was in the process of carrying out a terror attack when Israel preemptively killed a terror leader and his minion. Islamic Jihad's response was the firing of more than 100 rockets at Israel.

The lack of collateral casualties speaks of the high level of precision in targeting the terrorists and separates Israel from its enemies - who fire indiscriminately on and from civilians so as to maximize civilian casualties.

But for the Palestinian terror group seeking to attack Israel in the first place, Israel would not have responded as it did. Israel's further attacks against those seeking to attack Israel must be seen in this light.

Israel doesn't want this fight, but Israel's enemies remain intractable and refuse to accept Israel's existence and will carry out attacks every time they consider conditions favorable.

Palestinians Threatening To Abrogate Oslo Accords and Other Arrangements With Israel

The Palestinians, particularly Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, is once again threatening to abrogate the Oslo Accords and the successor security arragements made with Israel so as to curry favor with Hamas as Fatah and Hamas try to reconcile their longstanding differences.

Mohammed Shtayyeh, member of the Fatah Central Committee and one of the Palestinian Authority negotiators with Israel, was quoted Sunday as saying that the Palestinians may cancel the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel.

Meanwhile, some PLO and Fatah leaders have privately criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for agreeing to incorporate Hamas into the PLO.

At least three senior officials in Ramallah have voiced strong reservations over the decision, a Fatah official told The Jerusalem Post. He said that those who were opposed to the move were worried that Hamas would replace Fatah as the dominant party in the PLO.

One official was quoted as saying that Abbas was paving the way for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to take control not only over the PLO, but the entire West Bank as well.

Shtayyeh's comments were published by the London-based Asharq Al Awsat newspaper.

This was not the first time that a senior PA official had talked about the possibility of abrogating the Oslo Accords.

The comments came less than 48 hours after Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to join a temporary leadership of the PLO that would prepare for new elections for the organization's two key bodies - the Palestine National Council and Executive Committee.

In response to a question about Israeli settlements, Shtayyeh said: "If Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insists that there is no difference between the settlement of Abu Ghneim [Har Homa] and Tel Aviv, we won't distinguish between Ramallah and Jaffa."

The Palestinian Authority hasn't held elections since 2005, when Hamas and Fatah split the vote and ending up fighting a civil war that left Hamas in full control over Gaza while Fatah maintained civil administrative control over the West Bank. The Palestinians continue their attempts to revise history by claiming that Oslo didn't recognize Palestinian rights to territories, but they continue to avoid recognizing Israel's rights to territories, including historic claims to Jerusalem that extend back hundreds and thousands of years.

Hamas is not ruling out running in elections that may be held in 2012. They think that they might win in a landslide. That may be wishful thinking on their part considering that Hamas has shown an inability to do anything other than carry out attacks against Israel and find reason to blame Israel for all that ails the Palestinians. It can't do anything constructive. While Fatah remains open to concerns about corruption, Palestinians living in areas controlled by Fatah are able to move about more freely and have far more economic opportunities than those in Gaza. It doesn't seem likely that people living in the West Bank would consider voting for Hamas, unless they're looking for a more violent confrontation with Israel and an end to the peace process.

Yet, Hamas must think that they've got support to make such claims. Indeed, looking back at the 2006 election results, and one sees that Fatah maintained support only in a few select West Bank cities, while Hamas generated support elsewhere. That dynamic isn't likely to change even though the economic situation is worse now in Gaza than before the elections.

Despite the worsened economic conditions, Hamas wears that with a badge of pride - all in the cause of fighting Israel's existence and undermining Israel's right to exist at every opportunity. They portray the fight and the lack of economic opportunity as sacrifices that must be made in the fight against the Zionists.

Hamas celebrates a 3-year anniversary since the start of Operation Cast Lead, when Israel went after the Palestinian terror group after hundreds of rockets and mortars slammed into Israeli cities and towns. They refer to Israeli war crimes and genocide, even though by Hamas' own admission the vast majority of those killed were Hamas terrorists. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of civilians killed were not purposefully attacked by Israel, but were rather used by Hamas as human shields so as to inflate the body count and inflame Palestinian passions against Israel. At the same time, Palestinians look the other way as those Hamas rocket and mortar attacks were themselves war crimes as they purposefully targeted civilians so as to maximize the body count. To Hamas, there are no Israeli civilians - all are worthy targets.

New Skirmishes Erupt As Gazan Terrorists Attack Israeli Security Forces Along Fence

Gazan terrorists carried out a sustained attack against an Israeli security force working on the security fence between Israel and Gaza. It was a sustained skirmish, and no Israelis were injured in the attack on the Israelis who were fixing the security barrier between Israel and Gaza.

Armed Palestinians on Thursday opened fire on IDF forces that were working on the security fence near Kibbutz Zikim, north of the Gaza Strip.

The force was positioned near the fence when suddenly shots and mortar shells were fired at them from the Gaza Strip. The force responded with fire, hitting several members of the terrorist cell. No injuries reported among the IDF forces, but a military vehicle sustained light damage.

This may have been an attempt to capture an Israeli a la Shalit but were thwarted by a concerted effort by the Israelis to pin down and kill the terror cell attacking them.

A Hamas operative was among the Palestinian terrorists killed.

Israel has suspended transfer payments to the Palestinian Authority following the UNESCO vote to grant the PA membership. The Israelis have also stopped their $2 million payment to UNESCO over the vote.

All this follows over 40 mortars and rockets fired at Israel over the weekend.

UNESCO Grants Palestinian Authority Membership While Rockets Fall On Israel Fired From Gaza

UNESCO has voted to recognize the PA for full membership. The international organization may well lose US funding (a longstanding US law prohibits funding to int'l organizations if they recognize PA before statehood through negotiation).

Legislation dating back more than 15 years stipulates a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts the Palestinians as a full member. Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — depends on the United States for 22 percent of its budget, about $70 million a year.

After the vote, David T. Killion, the American ambassador, said that the United States “remains deeply committed” to Unesco. But he said that Monday’s decision, which he repeatedly called premature, “will complicate our ability to support Unesco.” The United States will seek other means to support the agency, Mr. Killion said, although he did not offer specifics about any avenues under consideration.

The Obama administration and Unesco had tried to avert the approval and diplomats had desperately negotiated with Congress, the Palestinians and other Unesco member states to find a resolution that would preserve the agency’s budget.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to head off a vote and avoid a cutoff in aid. “We’ve made the point that there are very clear redlines in U.S. legislation and that if those are crossed in Unesco, that the legislation is triggered,” the department’s spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said last week.

Unesco, perhaps most famous for designating world heritage sites, is a major global development agency whose missions include promoting literacy, science, clean water and education, including sex education and equal treatment for girls and young women.

In the past, many in the United States and in some allied countries viewed the organization as politicized, corrupt and anti-American, antipathy that came to a head in 1984 when President Ronald Reagan withdrew American membership.

The United States rejoined the organization under President George W. Bush after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

American officials criticized the Palestinian application for recognition, part of its bid for full membership in the United Nations, saying they feared it would lead to more conflict with Israel and further undermine the possibility of peace talks.

The vote wasn't particularly close, and that reflects the way that the international organization is gamed by those who have a beef with Israel and use international organizations as a way to go after Israel.

They accepted that vote despite the US responsibility for paying a hefty percentage of the organization's budget (22%).

Israel may itself reconsider its support for UNESCO, which includes designation of world heritage sites and protecting cultural and historical sites. UNESCO designation is also quite politicized, especially relating to sites in Israel and the territories.

Yet, no one takes the Palestinians to task or holds them accountable when they engage in ongoing terrorism. Just days after the prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit was concluded, and after threats were made by Hamas and other terror groups to kidnap more Israelis, the rockets are again slamming into Israel. The latest barrage hit near Ashkelon after being fired from Gaza. Again.

Deal Details Continue Leaking In Shalit Swap

We already know that Israel is paying a steep price to secure the release of Gilad Shalit. 1,027 Palestinians currently held by Israel are scheduled to be released in upcoming months. The first batch of 450+ would include terrorists responsible for over 500 Israeli deaths including terrorists involved in the deadly Sbarro pizzeria bombing.

Now, we learn that the second batch of terrorists would be from Fatah - about 550 in total.

A total of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners will be released in the deal, in two stages. In the first stage, 450 prisoners will be released. Schalit will then be sent to Israel, and another 550 prisoners will be released two months later.

AFP quoted the diplomat as saying Egypt persuaded Israel that the second batch of prisoners to be released in two months time will all be from Fatah.

That is in addition to the terrorists being released in the first batch including those apprehended in connection with plots to bomb hotels are also expected to get released along with other terrorists involved in major attacks.

They are part of the first phase of 450 prisoners set to be freed out of the 1,027 names in total.

They include Nasser Batima, convicted of planning the 2002 Passover Seder suicide-bomb attack on the Park Hotel in Netanya, in which 30 civilians were killed and 140 were wounded.

All will be welcomed by their fellow Palestinians as national heroes and resumed calls for jihad to bring about Israel's eventual destruction.

Such has been the case with prior swaps and that certainly wont change here. Hamas and to a lesser extent Fatah are beneficiaries of this swap.

Abbas is hoping that all prisoners will one day be freed. Perhaps Abbas would like to be reminded that but for Palestinian terror attacks, attempts, and thwarted plots, those Palestinians sitting in Israeli prisons convicted for such crimes would not be there. In other words - don't incite your population to carry out terrorism and delegitimize Israel's right to exist and Israel wouldn't have to imprison terrorists who delight in the murder and mayhem they cause with their attacks.

Some Israelis are filing suit to block the deal, noting the disproportionate release of noted admitted and convicted terrorists involved in numerous mass casualty attacks in exchange for a single Israeli. They include families of those killed or injured in some of those attacks.

More Details Emerge On Pending Swap For Shalit

New details are emerging about the pending deal to swap more than 1,000 Palestinians for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who has been Hamas clutches for more than five years since he was captured in a terror attack inside Israel that killed two other Israeli soldiers and wounded several others.

Hamas claims that the deal would swap 1,027 Palestinians, including 315 serving life sentences, for Shalit. The first batch of 450 prisoners would be swapped for Shalit, with the rest coming in short order. That swap may occur within a week and Shalit would be transferred to Israel via Egypt.

Most troublesome is the fact that Hamas bigwig Khalid Meshaal says that this is not only a huge accomplishment, but the first step in cleansing the region of Israel:

In Damascus, Syria, Khaled Meshal, the political leader of Hamas, said in a televised address that the negotiations had been “very, very difficult” and called the deal “a national accomplishment” that augured well for the Palestinians, who he said hoped to “cleanse the land, and liberate Jerusalem, and unite the Palestinian ranks.”

There's no other way to interpret that statement than to see that the Palestinians continue to refuse acceptance of a 2-state solution and a peace process.

So, why is Israel going along with this? The Times points out that some key figures in the Israeli defense and intelligence community have been replaced and the previous objections to large-scale releases of terrorists have been overcome. Moreover, the Israelis aren't expected to transfer these prisoners to the West Bank, where they were seen as being more of a risk. In other words, adding 200 more terrorists to the ranks of the 20,000 strong Hamas ranks would not change the strategic calculus. Then again, I have no doubt that some of those released will attempt to carry out attacks at the first possible opportunity, and that bodes poorly for Israel's long term security.

Indeed, among those being released in the first batch are Palestinian terrorists responsible for the deaths of 599 Israelis. As I've warned, Hamas will welcome them with open arms and jubilant celebrations - making heroes of murdering terrorists who think nothing of murdering Israelis - including children.

It has done nothing to moderate Hamas or Palestinian views of Israel, and while it means that the Shalit family will be able to welcome home their son Gilad, it puts Israelis at risk across the board.

It's little wonder then that Hamas sees this as a huge tactical and strategic victory. The names of those being released will be announced on Sunday, which suggests that there is some last-minute discussion on who exactly is being handed over.

UPDATE:
CNN has still more details and it looks like Marwan Barghouti isn't among those getting released.

"The deal will happen in two stages -- the first stage the release of 450 Palestinian prisoners, including 315 Palestinian prisoners that have one or many life sentences and the ones who are with high sentences. The second stage will include 550 Palestinian prisoners," he said.

Of the 450 Palestinian prisoners to be freed during the first stage, 110 will go to the West Bank while 40 will go abroad, according to Mark Regev, Netanyahu's spokesman. The 550 prisoners scheduled to be released during the second stage will be freed two months later, he said.

According to Regev, jailed Palestinian lawmaker Marwan Barghouti is not among the prisoners Israel has agreed to release.

Reports Indicate Yet Another Attempted Deal To Swap Shalit For 1,000 Palestinian Prisoners UPDATE: Done Deal!

We've been down this particular path so many times that I've lost count. Gilad Shalit has been held by Islamic terrorists in Gaza for more than five years and has been refused access by the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups. Hamas refuses to release him on humanitarian grounds and sees him as nothing more than a pawn in order to secure the release of hundreds or thousands of Palestinians, including noted terrorists who have Israeli blood on their hands.

That's what the New York Times is indicating in the latest iteration. The Israeli government is apparently working a back channel deal to secure the release of Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians.

No good can come from the release of hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel for terror activities and attacks against Israelis. Hamas will use the release as yet another opportunity to crow about the ability to outlast Israel and that Israel will eventually collapse because Israel will be incapable of defending itself from these kinds of attacks and incidents.

Where is the price Hamas will pay for holding Shalit? What would keep Hamas from carrying out more kidnappings to extort still more concessions from Israel? There are none. Yet, at the end of the day, Shalit will likely come home and Palestinian prisoners will get released to adoring crowds of Palestinians cheering the murderers that are released.

That isn't justice. That's lamentable.

UPDATE:
Apparently the Israeli cabinet is going to be meeting to discuss approval of such a deal.

Is the Shalit deal within grasp? Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya TV reported Tuesday that Egypt has made a breakthrough in its mediation of a deal meant to secure the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, and that such an exchange may take place as early as November.

An Israeli official confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened his cabinet to discuss the prisoner exchange deal that would bring the Hamas-held soldier back home.

The prisoner swap would see Shalit exchanged for some 1,000 Palestinian militants held by Israel. A source involved in the talks said the deal would see the prisoners released in a two-stage arrangement, the first involving the release of 450 for the soldier, with the remaining 550 freed at a later time.

UPDATE:
Hamas is already crowing: Hamas officials call Schalit deal a 'historic victory'
Izaddin al-Kassam spokesman claims that Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, said that the agreement includes prisoners from east Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs and all females and minors. He also pointed out that two-thirds of the prisoners who would be released in return for Gilad Schalit are serving lengthy terms in prison.

There's no word on whether noted terrorist Marwan Barghouti is among those who will be released. His name had come up repeatedly over the past five years.

The Personal Politics of the Middle East Conflict

As this past week's events at the United Nations have once again demonstrated, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in particular, are dominated by the personal politics that can overtake the facts on the ground.

This is an area near and dear to my heart. It's a subject on which I've spent the better part of the past two decades thinking and writing about (including my Master's Thesis).

Put simply, the actions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shows a level of cowardice to avoid making any concessions or dealing directly with Israel and that the peace process is all but dead as a result of Israel lacking a political leader among the Palestinians willing to put their life on the line to actually cut a deal establishing a 2-state solution.

For decades, Palestinians have bought into the notion that if they can wait out Israel's leadership, they'll not only get a state of their own, but that they will overwhelm Israel through demographics and geopolitical realities to eventually create a Palestinian state on what was once Israel.

Israel will not go quietly into the night, but it has made repeated efforts to make peace with its Arab neighbors. First, Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat made the historic trip to Jerusalem to make the case for peace. The resulting Camp David Accords solidified the notion of land for peace, and Israel withdrew from Sinai (a landmass more than twice the size of Israel proper and which had mineral and oil deposits and dozens of Israeli communities from 1967 onwards). Israel forcibly removed those Israeli settlements in making the case for peace.

Sadat's bravery in the face of overt hate towards all things Israel made him a target for assassination, and he died at the hands of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (a forerunner for al Qaeda). Yet, for nearly 30 years, there has been a peace between the two countries.

Jordan's King Hussein likewise made peace with Israel, despite a significant Palestinian population within his own country that he had kept under tight reign after the PLO sought to overthrow his government in 1970 (the PLO is the umbrella organization that includes Fatah).

Jordan's King Hussein likewise made peace, and the Palestinian Authority was designated as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Yasir Arafat, the head of Fatah, was given several opportunities to make a peace deal by and through the Oslo process, but never even gave the consideration of a counterproposal. He simply walked away from the process, opting instead to maintain civil administrative control over the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza all while pursuing the ultimate goal of a 1-state solution.

By the time Arafat died and was superseded by Abbas, the Palestinians have not budged from their ultimate goal of a 1-state solution.

Hamas now controls Gaza after Israel unilaterally disengaged from the region and left Palestinians in full and complete control over their future there. Far from creating an economic and social environment for improving Palestinian lives, Hamas has turned it in to a terror-haven for incessant attacks against Israel, requiring Israel to defend itself against suicide bombers and rocket and mortar attacks. \

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and none of the Palestinian leadership talks of recognizing Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. That comes as the same Palestinian leadership speaks of making its own territories (at present and looking ahead to a future Palestinian state in the West Bank) - free from Jews. That's ethnic cleansing any way you cut it, and world diplomats consistently ignore that reality.

Abbas not only cannot rise above this, but he actively encourages undermining Israel's rights to exist, and his craven cowardice shows that Israel has no partner in peace.

That's despite an Israeli electorate that has consistently shown itself willing to cede land for peace despite the security risks it posed to Israel. The Israeli public has moved away from land for peace as the Gaza disengagement has shown that withdrawing from land will not mean peace - particularly with the Palestinians. It's led to a hardening of Israeli positions on security, but the Israelis have maintained that a 2-state solution is the only solution.

But for the failures of the Palestinian leadership to actually lead and show courage in adopting a 2-state solution, there would be peace.

That's entirely on the failure of the personal leadership of Palestinians like Mahmoud Abbas who cannot get past his regimes' decades-long goals. When you've spent decades building up towards a 1-state solution, accepting a 2-state solution is untenable; the population has been radicalized into believing that they can ultimately get what they want and will continue using all means at their disposal towards a Palestinian state.

Moreover, they can look forward to seeing Israel being forced into negotiating against itself - it keeps putting forth deal after deal to the Palestinians from which they get no counterproposal. If they were so keen on a state to call their own, they could have accepted either the 2000 or 2007 Israeli proposals establishing a Palestinian state. They have chosen not to do so and have made no such effort to create a functioning state in the territories in which they already have full dominion or civil administrative control. Instead, Abbas, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas revel in the ability to attack Israel's sovereignty and take no responsibility for the situation of their own making.

Palestinians Continue Push Towards Declaring Statehood At United Nations

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to declare Palestinian statehood at the United Nations this week, and it's yet another effort to undermine Israeli sovereignty in the process.

We'd just have to ignore all the pronouncements made by Palestinian leaders in the past several weeks to believe that this is about creating a Palestinian state.

Palestinian officials have stated that they want to create a Jew-free Palestine, something that no regime or country has sought to do since Nazi Germany. This is something that would otherwise be considered ethnic cleansing and subject to all manner of hue and outcry from human rights groups around the world, but they have largely remained silent.

Palestinian officials have stated that they do not want to permit Palestinians living outside the West Bank or Gaza the right of return to the Palestinian state and will not resettle refugees living in the dozens of refugee camps scattered throughout the Middle East; they would rather keep these people living in squalor rather than build a productive state.

Mr. Abbas’s plan, made public in a television address, follows months of failed American and European efforts to restart Palestinian negotiations with Israel. Some fear that Mr. Abbas’s move will raise expectations among his people, with nothing changing for them on the ground. Combined with alarmed reactions from Israeli settlers, violent showdowns could erupt.

But the Palestinians say that after decades of occupation and about 20 years of failed talks with an increasingly hawkish Israel, it is time for a new approach in which the borders of a Palestinian state are first recognized globally and then two states, Israel and Palestine, negotiate final details.

The decision to apply for membership through the Council signals a double defeat for the United States. Washington not only failed to dissuade the Palestinians from a unilateral bid for statehood, but also fell short of its goal of confining the application to the United Nations General Assembly, where Obama administration officials believe a vote in favor of statehood would be more symbolic and less divisive.

The Obama administration has vowed to use its veto at the Council to prevent full recognition of Palestine. But it is eager to avoid doing so because that action would likely leave the United States isolated on the issue, weakening its standing with Arab nations at a politically delicate moment.

“We need to have full membership at the U.N.,” Mr. Abbas said in the speech from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which was broadcast live on Al Jazeera and other outlets. “We need a state, a seat at the United Nations.”

He added, “We are going to the Security Council,” as Palestinian dignitaries gave him rousing applause and a standing ovation. Mr. Abbas called it “our decision, which we have conveyed to everyone.”

The borders Mr. Abbas seeks are those of 1967, meaning East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza would be included. More than 500,000 Israelis have settled beyond those lines.

These statements show that Israel lacks a partner in a peace process, and it's little wonder then that Israel has grown more hawkish since the Oslo process began near 20 years ago. What began with so much promise has turned into a nightmare because the Palestinian leaders have been exposed for what they are - they seek a one-state solution that ultimately wants Israel's destruction and all their actions are in furtherance of that goal.

Israel withdrew from Gaza unilaterally, and Palestinians promptly launched a terror war that continues to this day with rockets, missiles, and mortars - precisely because the initial suicide bombing campaign was thwarted with the construction of a security fence. Palestinians complain that the fence thwarts economic activity, but for the terrorism, indoctrination and support for terror activities, Israel would not have had a need to build the fence, maintain a security cordon off Gaza's coast to prevent terrorists from being resupplied, and the economic conditions for Palestinians would be greatly improved.

For the most part, Hamas has been silent about Fatah's Abbas and Palestinian Authority statements, but it has announced that the UN bid is empty of content because it doesn't sufficiently deal with the Palestinian right of return to Israel. That's right folks, Hamas, which is part of the Palestinian government and which controls Gaza, doesn't think that Abbas and the PLO/Fatah are going far enough in their delegitimization efforts. They want the whole kit and kaboodle.

Hamas has never recognized Israel's right to exist, and it refuses to accept any deal that recognizes Israel alongside a Palestinian state.

So, with all that in mind, what is the United States to do with the ongoing situation. Pundits in the US think that Obama has to take a strong stand so as to retain the Jewish vote (and they point to the outcome of the NY-09 House race as proof). But no matter the outcome of the 2012 elections, the UN situation the Palestinian Authority is putting President Obama in the hot seat on how to deal with a major policy crisis. Wording a resolution that somehow raises the status of the Palestinian mission to the UN to something less than a state but more than an observer is a likely outcome.

The Palestinians have done nothing to warrant any kind of support here; they have engaged in terrorism for years on end and have not been a partner in peace. Israel's sovereignty and right to exist are inalienable rights, and yet the Palestinians are busy undermining Israel at every opportunity and with no regard for human rights - Palestinian or Israel.

A peace process requires two partners interested in a peaceful outcome, but the Palestinians refuse to accept any outcome where Israel exists.

Moreover, do the Palestinians really understand what having a state is all about. It's going to put terror attacks on par with acts of war and enables Israel to formally declare war against the Palestinians should they engage in the kinds of rocket battles that have been fought since 2007.


The world's leaders repeatedly chastise Israel when it defends itself from terrorists, but barely shrugs its shoulders when countries like Turkey invade Iraq and kill Kurdish groups that Turkey claims are terrorists or harboring terrorists.

The world's diplomats have no interest in the facts; they are far more interested in their legacy and appearance of signed documents. That's why the Palestinians continue to be advancing their agenda despite an ongoing disregard for the sovereignty of Israel.

This is the quandary facing Israel and the US.

Palestinians Plan On Agitating For Statehood During UN General Assembly Session

The Palestinians have been rumbling for months that they intend on declaring statehood during the United Nations General Assembly sessions this month. That comes even as the Palestinians claim that they want to make their new state free from all Jews.

The Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that any future Palestinian state should be free of Jews, USA Today reported.

"After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," Maen Areikat, the PLO ambassador, told reporters. (Ynet)

The PLO is the largest faction within Fatah, which makes up part of the Palestinian Authority - the legitimate government entity for the Palestinians. Hamas would certainly agree to that, and both ultimately seek Israel's elimination.

This statement is essentially the position of the Palestinian representatives to the United Nations and the group with whom Israel is supposed to negotiate.

But the specifics of their plans for the Palestinian state are extremely troublesome.

The Palestinians are pushing for something that no regime has done since Nazi Germany sought to eliminate the Jewish presence from all territories it occupied.

They would engage in racially and religiously profiling to eliminate a population group from lands that it historically lived in for generations stretching back centuries. That's what the PLO is proposing.

But if Israel tries to protect itself from Palestinian terrorists who continue plotting attacks, that's apartheid according to the PLO and pro-Palestinians for the past couple of decades.

Yet, no one blinks when the Palestinians say that they want to make their country free of all Jews. But note that Israel has banned political parties who seek to do the same thing to its Arab populations (Kach and the Kahanists).

Moreover, the Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel's rights to defend itself and pushes such unreasonable demands on Israel that demonize Israel at every opportunity.

Palestinians could have had a functional and vibrant economy in Gaza had they not started a terror war against Israel that continues to this day - including thousands of rockets and mortars fired at Israel since 2006 because Israel has effectively prevented suicide bombers from infiltrating into Israel across the borders with Gaza and limited terror activities in the West Bank in areas that it maintains security control.

But then again, this has never been about settlements in Gaza or the West Bank - land can be transferred and housing can be sold/transferred between groups to improve the contiguous borders for the proposed 2-state solution.

It's about a fundamental refusal to accept Israel's existence.

That's why the declaration of statehood is so troubling; the Palestinians want statehood but not responsibility for what happens thereafter - especially when their elected representatives agitate for war against Israel (Hamas and Fatah are both elected representatives of Palestinians as per the elections previously held). Hamas refuses Israel's existence, and Fatah's many spinoff groups, including the PRCs refuse to recognize Israel's existence and agitate for war.

Moreover, all this would be a fundamental violation of Oslo, which calls for direct negotiation between the parties to bring about statehood. Going to the UN to vote a Palestinian state into existence would abrogate the entire Oslo process.

Israel can have no peace with partners such as this.

Cease... Fire; Gazan Terrorists Fire Barrages Against Israel

Once again, the Palestinian terror groups in Gaza refuse to accept the plain meaning of the term ceasefire. They only seem to understand the term fire - and have again launched barrages of mortars and rockets at Israel.

10 rockets, mortal shells explode in Ehskol, Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Councils, Asheklon; no injuries; Erez border crossing damaged; 2 Islamic Jihad members killed, Palestinian report says.

A ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza seemed distant Thursday evening as the violence in the south of the country continued with at least 15 rockets and mortar shells exploding in Israeli territory, and Israeli air strikes that reportedly left two Islamic Jihad members dead.

The Code Red siren was heard throughout the Eshkol and Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Councils and in Ashkelon as 15 rockets and mortar shells fell throughout those areas, the IDF Spokesman's Office said in a statement.

There hasn't been so much a lull in the rockets as a pregnant pause because the terrorists are simply trying to coordinate activities among themselves to claim responsibility and to find new ways to blame Israel for a resumption of hostilities that began with the terrorist attack against Israel in Eilat.

Since then, Israel's response has been quite limited, even as more than 100 rockets, mortars, and missiles have been launched towards Israel causing deaths and injuries along the way.

Put another way:
But for the Palestinian terror attack, Israel would not have carried out airstrikes against PRC terrorists.
But for the PRC and Islamic Jihad reprisal attacks for those Israeli airstrikes, Israel would not have carried out further airstrikes.
But for the Gazan missile barrages, Israel would not have carried out still more airstrikes.

Simply put, but for the Palestinian terror attacks, Israel would not have had any reason to carry out defensive measures to eliminate terrorists attacking Israel and there would have been no casualties on either side.

From the Palestinian terrorist perspective, all this comes into sharp relief and focus: But for Israel's existence, we would not need to carry out terror attacks against Israel.

There would be no Palestinian casualties from any kind of Israeli airstrikes had the terrorists not carried out their attacks from the first. All these casualties lay at the feet of the terrorists in PRC, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad and their spinoffs who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist and refuse to live in peace alongside Israel.

The terrorists further seek to cut off Gaza from the humanitarian aid that flows into Gaza from Israel by firing at the Erez Crossing - leaving the terrorists no one to blame but themselves when the flow of aid slows. It's a strategy they've used in the past - cursing the dark after attacking Israeli power stations and transmission lines that run into Gaza and provide a portion of Gaza's energy needs.