DEBKA July 28, 2014, 11:55 PM (IDT)
In the past 48 hours, Israel was pressured to accept its fifth “humanitarian” ceasefire in Gaza by President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State John Kerry, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu came close to folding, whereas Hamas saw the truce as applying only to Israel and therefore used it as a call to arms.
The slogan Israel broadcast: Quiet will be met with quiet and fire with fire, was seen by Hamas as a sign of Israel weakening.
This impression was confirmed on Sunday when the order went out to Israel troops to exercise restraint in the face of sporadic Hamas rocket fire, so as to give the truce a chance.
The Palestinian Islamists used it as a welcome respite for getting organized for the next stage of their onslaught.
Neither Israelis, Americans or Egyptians anticipated the radical Hamas launching an escalated assault on the first day of the Eid el-Fitr festival. In fact, by coordinating rocket, mortar and tunnel terror attacks, they inflicted on Israel one of the worst days of the three-week Operation Defensive Shield, claiming the lives of ten servicemen.
A grim omen of the deadly attacks ahead cam from a surge of rocket fire Monday noon, after a relatively quiet night. It targeted Gaza’s closest neighbors as well as Ashkelon and was followed by a salvo against the Lachish District and the towns of Netivot and Ofakim.
At around 4:30 p.m. Israel time, Hamas thought to give Israel a nasty surprise by sending one of its heavy Iranian Fajr-5 missiles (range 75 km) smashing into Tel Aviv. Instead of taking to the air, the missile plummeted to the ground in the nearby Shifa Hospital compound and exploded. Ten people were killed in the blast.
Half an hour later, Hamas directed mortar fire at the Eshkol District, where a group of soldiers was meeting. One hit its mark, killing four men and injuring nine.
The mortar attack was coordinated with another rocket barrage, this one directed at Ofakim and Mt. Carmel.
At around 6 p.m., a band of 5 Hamas terrorists came out of a tunnel near Kibbutz Nahal Oz They shot dead five defenders and were killed themselves in a firefight with the soldiers.
The tenth soldier was shot dead by Palestinian sniper in the Gaza Strip Monday morning
Their deaths raised to a total of 53 the IDF toll in the three-week counter-terror operation in the Gaza Strip.
Monday night, Israeli troops appeared to have started expanding the operation to the west. The inhabitants of Jebalya and Zeitun were told to leave their homes and, soon after, Israel artillery began shelling Ain Bureij.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz made a joint TV appearance Monday, offering a pledge to continue the campaign against Hamas until all goals were achieved, however long it takes.
Netanyahu said: “Today we suffered terrorism from above and below.” The destruction of terror tunnels, he said, was an essential step towards the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, which offered the only path to real peace.
Ya’alon said Israel would no longer a tolerate dialogue through terror tunnels and rockets. Hamas had been punished and would continue to be, he said, until it understood that Israel will never be brought to surrender.
Gen. Gantz: “As a human being, it is hard for me to accept civilian deaths,” he said, – unlike Hamas, which is solely responsible for 10 deaths at Shifa hospital, in whose grounds a missile aimed at Tel Aviv exploded prematurely.
The 24-hour “humanitarian ceasefire” was the stage for a major escalation in violence as Hamas strutted its stuff, fully confident of its ability to stand up to the next stage of the IDF operation. Will Israel’s war planners finally show iundivided resolve to win this momentous struggle against an expansionist Islamist terror movement?
I am having difficulty in seeing what if any victories or advances the IDF has made. I only read of attacks on Israel and genric info for the attacks on gaza. i wonder if there is anything going on in gaza other than hamas firing at itself.
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
they have no money, under blockade, with no support that can get through to them.
My explanation is as to why BB does not attack and finish the Job. that’s because he expects hamas will remain but militarily weakened and melted into PA and that he is not going to get a better situation by risking more lives. I believe that he feels that a PA dominated unity gov is the outcome. Why else would BB not attack? After winning what would he do next, he has already talked about the PA returning to run the borders; this means he accepts the PA return.
Hamas will not have to make any change except to accept the unity gov with PA at the borders, but the PA will have to enforce existing Israeli agreements.
@ bernard ross:
Moments ago HAMAS fire a volley of long distance rockets against the Jerusalem region.
Militarily they are unfazed. Why would they give up.
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
think about it…..how will they rule after this…with what money…their population is going to be pissed off if they dont come up with gains……which is why they need the appearance of the blockade being removed as a result of their resistance.
They have already accepted a unity agreement, they are probably longing to ditch responsibility…I think it is a last hurrah meant to prop up their reps as a political party after entering the unity gov. They want to be able to show they won the war that got the blockade removed but if the PA is put in charge the blockade will be removed anyway, we already know that.
Every deal with the arabs seems to require a face saving device therefore a cease fire will allow them to appear as if coming out on top to their constituents.
@ bernard ross:
I have not heard anywhere that Hamas will let anyone replace them. On the contrary.
CEASE FIRE will result on HAMAS coming out on top.
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
I don’t care for the odds
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
I beleive yo uare right. I believe that BB knows that as the PA will take over gaza in a unity gov it makes no sense to waste more soldiers lives to achieve that end. The west is focused on installing a unity gov in gaza and the weakening or deposing of hamas has their support only for that reason. If BB feels it is unlikely that he can get a better end result from gaza than the the current PA agreements being enforced there then this might explain why he does not want to go further and kill more soldiers. He probably thinks that even if he deposes hamas and demilitarizes them, at great cost of Israel lives,he will end up being forced to accept the PA rule there anyway. therefore, he probably opts for the status quo with the internationals getting the imposition of PA over gaza diplomatically and accomplishing some level of demilitarization through demanding PA enforcement of existing security arrangements. After all, what was in place in gaza after disengagement and before hamas won.
On Channel #7 there is report including what is purported to be a declaration by Secretary Kerry, AKA LURCH II.
He is quoted saying that it was Netanyahu that asked him to prepare a CEASE FIRE demand. How about ferreting the truth by electing an Investigative Commission to interrogate and seek documentation to the effect?
I am just now hearing at MABAT #1 that Netanyahu is again looking to do the “CEASE FIRE”.
Bets?
Reading on #7 a report on the comments of general (res), Amidror was a chilling experience. The general is the former Head of the National Security Council and he said that Netanyahu and others knew about Hamas capabilities and [still] made decisions based on [purported] polls.
I will not tire of warning about the specimen and his cadre.
A stern advisory must be issued to don Netanyahu to cease and desist from continued cowing to foreigners and send to their deaths our soldiers. He is unfit to lead us in any event.
Against Iran he has failed miserably, against Hezbollah his associates failed in Lebanon II, he failed to remove the illegal invaders from Africa, and failed against Hamas. He cannot be trusted.
We demand that he stops “teaching lessons”, “hitting hard”, “sending messages”… he either destroys Hamas and other such Islamic enemies including Abbas or must be removed from office.