Hamas to Fleeing Palestinians: Back in Your Houses!
Israel on Sunday gave the residents of northern Gaza several hours to evacuate the area ahead of an expected escalation of the Jewish state’s military response to ongoing missile and rocket fire that has effectively placed five million Israelis under siege.
The goal of Israel’s telephone, leaflet and other media messages was to as much as possible avoid civilian casualties as it seeks to deal Hamas the kind of blow that will deter future flare-ups.
But Hamas was unwilling to lose its most prized weapon in the battle against Israel: human shields. The group ordered the thousands of Palestinians who had already left the area to return to their homes immediately.
“To all of our people evacuating their homes - return immediately and do not leave your houses,” read a statement issued by the Hamas Interior Ministry. “Heeding Israel’s warnings only aids [Israel] in achieving its agenda…”
Late last week, the Hamas Interior Ministry more clearly explained that heeding the Israeli warnings could be seen as “cooperation” with the enemy. Reading between the lines, those who do flee their homes when Israel gives them the chance to do so could be labeled as traitors and therefore face a fate far worse than Israeli bombs.
By mid-afternoon, Israel had yet to carry through on its threat of a “significant” attack on Hamas in northern Gaza, possibly due to the failure or inability of the local residents to clear the area.
However, during the predawn hours on Sunday a team of Israeli naval commandoes did infiltrate Gaza and engage terrorist forces there.
The Israeli troops landed just north of Gaza City, where they were tasked with destroying a cache of long-range missiles and a launch site used to fire them at Israeli cities.
The Israelis were met by Hamas gunmen, three of whom were killed in the ensuing battle. Four of the Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded, and all returned home safely after accomplishing their mission.
(Source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24746/Default.aspx#.U8KQUwfZDIs.facebook)
As Hamas desperately seeks what Israeli media termed a “quality” terror attack, it escalated rocket fire from Gaza on Wednesday and Thursday by targeting Israel’s nuclear reactor in the southern town of Dimona and firing barrage after barrage at the densely-populated Tel Aviv area.
Hamas and its allies have fired around 300 missiles and rockets from Gaza over the past week. And, while many have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, very few have caused any real damage, and even fewer have actually harmed Israelis.
Despite the lack of casualties, the long-range attacks mean that no fewer than five million Israelis (out of an overall population of just under eight million) are now living under the direct threat of rocket fire.
Hamas operatives have also tried twice to infiltrate the southern Israel coast via the sea, only to be fatally intercepted by Israeli forces before they could reach their target, Kibbutz Zikim.
In light of these failures, Israeli commentators believe Hamas and its allies are going for something of a “Hail Mary” by trying to hit either the reactor in Dimona or score a multi-casualty impact in Greater Tel Aviv.
The chances of a real catastrophe are somewhat offset by the tremendous success of Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, which has downed 90 percent of the Gaza missiles that threatened to hit population centers or other sensitive targets.
Still, the threat remains, and a hit on Dimona or a successful strike on Tel Aviv would provide a major morale boost to Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, and would likely mean an even more intense and prolonged conflict necessitating an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ own Fatah faction has proudly joined the war on the side of Hamas, announcing that small groups of its fighters that remain in Gaza (including some Palestinian Authority police officers) have also started firing rockets at Israel.
(Source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24740/Default.aspx)
The goal of Israel’s telephone, leaflet and other media messages was to as much as possible avoid civilian casualties as it seeks to deal Hamas the kind of blow that will deter future flare-ups.
But Hamas was unwilling to lose its most prized weapon in the battle against Israel: human shields. The group ordered the thousands of Palestinians who had already left the area to return to their homes immediately.
“To all of our people evacuating their homes - return immediately and do not leave your houses,” read a statement issued by the Hamas Interior Ministry. “Heeding Israel’s warnings only aids [Israel] in achieving its agenda…”
Late last week, the Hamas Interior Ministry more clearly explained that heeding the Israeli warnings could be seen as “cooperation” with the enemy. Reading between the lines, those who do flee their homes when Israel gives them the chance to do so could be labeled as traitors and therefore face a fate far worse than Israeli bombs.
By mid-afternoon, Israel had yet to carry through on its threat of a “significant” attack on Hamas in northern Gaza, possibly due to the failure or inability of the local residents to clear the area.
However, during the predawn hours on Sunday a team of Israeli naval commandoes did infiltrate Gaza and engage terrorist forces there.
The Israeli troops landed just north of Gaza City, where they were tasked with destroying a cache of long-range missiles and a launch site used to fire them at Israeli cities.
The Israelis were met by Hamas gunmen, three of whom were killed in the ensuing battle. Four of the Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded, and all returned home safely after accomplishing their mission.
(Source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24746/Default.aspx#.U8KQUwfZDIs.facebook)
Nuclear Reactor of Dimona
Hamas and its allies have fired around 300 missiles and rockets from Gaza over the past week. And, while many have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, very few have caused any real damage, and even fewer have actually harmed Israelis.
Despite the lack of casualties, the long-range attacks mean that no fewer than five million Israelis (out of an overall population of just under eight million) are now living under the direct threat of rocket fire.
Hamas operatives have also tried twice to infiltrate the southern Israel coast via the sea, only to be fatally intercepted by Israeli forces before they could reach their target, Kibbutz Zikim.
In light of these failures, Israeli commentators believe Hamas and its allies are going for something of a “Hail Mary” by trying to hit either the reactor in Dimona or score a multi-casualty impact in Greater Tel Aviv.
The chances of a real catastrophe are somewhat offset by the tremendous success of Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, which has downed 90 percent of the Gaza missiles that threatened to hit population centers or other sensitive targets.
Still, the threat remains, and a hit on Dimona or a successful strike on Tel Aviv would provide a major morale boost to Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, and would likely mean an even more intense and prolonged conflict necessitating an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ own Fatah faction has proudly joined the war on the side of Hamas, announcing that small groups of its fighters that remain in Gaza (including some Palestinian Authority police officers) have also started firing rockets at Israel.
(Source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24740/Default.aspx)
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In a series of interviews on Friday an Israeli Arab journalist called out some of her Palestinian colleagues for failing to see that the suffering of their people starts with Hamas, not Israel.
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