Israel, the mid-east, and Russia

[Shammu]

'No' to Lebanon War II

The shooting attack and abduction initiated by Hezbollah in the north of the country yesterday presents the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces with a dilemma. On the one hand, we cannot accept the scathing attack on Israeli sovereignty. The IDF withdrew from Lebanon to the international border, the withdrawal was officially approved by the United Nations, and the government declared at the time - both domestically and internationally - that Israel will know how to defend its citizens and its land from within its territory. The credibility of this deterrence suffered a blow yesterday. The clear connection to the abduction of Gilad Shalit in the south makes the incident in the north still more grave. The natural inclination is to react with force, and thus bolster the deterrence that has been damaged.

On the other hand, Israel has repeatedly adopted a more restrained and level-headed policy in the past, even in times of anger and frustration, while stating that it will respond - but at the time and place it sees fit, not necessarily right away, and with a large military force that destroys hostile forces as well as peaceful civilians. Such an outburst of Israel's tremendous power can easily get totally out of control, spurring a dangerous process of escalation on the divided and unruly Lebanese front, as in the wake of the IDF incursion there in 1982.
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There may be some who think that it is appropriate to use the opportunity to "cleanse" all of southern Lebanon of Hezbollah bases so as to give Israel back its deterrent capability. Syria, too, is liable to be seen as an appropriate target in this context, especially since Israel - justifiably so, to a great extent - views Syria as having the ability to influence the Palestinian organizations and Hezbollah. But it's doubtful that such inordinate action will bring about the release of the captives; it is liable to bring about, God forbid, a new version of the 1982 entanglement.

The need for restraint is particularly salient because two soldiers were kidnapped in the attack and Hezbollah is, we hope, holding these soldiers alive. The government and the IDF are declaring their commitment to do everything they can to bring the soldiers back from captivity. Israeli governments have negotiated with Hezbollah in the past, under similar circumstances. Such negotiations are not meant to change Israel's overall policy toward the organization, as long as it is involved in terrorism.

The major blow Israel suffered yesterday, the circumstances of which will certainly demand explanations, is particularly harsh primarily because this did not come as a surprise. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned in April that he planned to get back Samir Kuntar, even by force. Israel has refused to release Kuntar, who murdered the Haran family from Nahariya in 1979, until it receives information about MIA Ron Arad. Freeing Kuntar along with the other Lebanese prisoners and captives may have prevented yesterday's kidnapping. It is also possible that if Israel had agreed to the principle of negotiations with the Hamas government, a deal would have been worked out for Shalit's release and for a cease-fire in the south.

In the state of war that Israel is facing in the territories and vis-a-vis Hezbollah, its deterrent ability must be bolstered, especially because abductions can indicate that this ability has indeed been eroded - but Israel must not let the abductions drag it into a regional war.

'No' to Lebanon War II

[Shammu]

War on two fronts piles pressure on Israeli PM

Dilemma for Olmert after Lebanese militia seizes soldiers

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Thursday July 13, 2006
The Guardian

Israel was fighting on two fronts yesterday as one military disaster piled on another. Lebanese militia killed and captured troops on Israel's northern border while the army launched a fresh ground assault into the Gaza Strip in pursuit of a third abducted soldier.

Hizbullah's capture of the two soldiers yesterday, and the deaths of seven others, is deeply embarrassing to the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who will be left explaining to Israelis why their forces are again fighting in two pieces of territory from which they withdrew after long and bloody occupations.

Article continues
He faces the prospect of a drawn-out confrontation that could cost many more lives or of making a humiliating climbdown by ransoming the missing soldiers for Arab security prisoners in Israeli jails.

Burgeoning crisis

Four months ago, Mr Olmert won a general election with a campaign focused on the single issue of drawing Israel's final borders through a partial pullout from the West Bank and the annexation of the major Jewish settlement blocks behind a frontier defined by the vast steel and concrete "security" barrier. But the burgeoning crisis since the capture of a teenage soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, by Palestinian militias in Gaza last month, and the return of tanks and troops to the territory, has raised questions even within Mr Olmert's party about the viability of a further withdrawal from the West Bank. Those doubts will have been strengthened by the fresh crisis on the Lebanese border.

Confidence in the military operation in Gaza has also been dented by the Israeli air force's killing of a family of nine people yesterday, including seven children aged from four years, when it dropped a half-tonne bomb on their home.

"Olmert's situation has become radically more complicated," said Yossi Alpher, former military intelligence officer and ex-director of the Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies. "The government's situation is complicated, the army's situation too. The public will ask why the army can't take care of its soldiers."

Hizbullah's capture of the two soldiers would appear to strengthen the demands of Hamas for the release of Palestinian security prisoners in Israel jails in return for freeing Cpl Shalit. Hizbullah is demanding that Israel release all Arab prisoners.

Mr Alpher said Mr Olmert would probably be forced to agree to release some prisoners. "I don't see how we'll be able to avoid ransoming these soldiers by releasing prisoners. If Olmert thought he could stand firm on one front, it will be very difficult to do so on two," he said.

"Everything we know from previous instances indicates the public will stomach negotiations with Hamas and Hizbullah. Every prime minister who has released hundreds of prisoners has been criticised in the newspaper columns but it hasn't affected his standing with the public, it hasn't cost him elections."

In 2004, the then Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, swapped 420 Palestinian and Lebanese security prisoners for the release of an abducted Israeli businessman, who was also a reserve army colonel, and the bodies of three soldiers killed four years earlier.

Many Israelis will ask themselves how Mr Sharon would have handled the situation and some are likely to find his successor wanting. That in turn may undermine Mr Olmert's long-term plans for removing some smaller Jewish settlements in the West Bank and pulling back behind the barrier to consolidate control over the major settlement blocks. He is already facing criticism from the right and questioning within his own party about the wisdom of withdrawing settlers and ground forces from the Gaza Strip last year only for rocket attacks to continue.

Opposition to realignment

Some politicians in Mr Olmert's Kadima party, set up by Mr Sharon to oversee the "realignment" and "convergence" plan for a partial pullout from the West Bank, oppose it. "The chances now of implementing realignment are very small," says Meir Sheetrit, the construction minister.

Mr Olmert says he will not be deterred from his "basic commitment" to his West Bank plan by either Cpl Shalit's capture or the election of Hamas to lead the Palestinian government. But Mr Alpher said that it would be politically impossible to push it forward at this time. "This will be the test of whether ... he will be able to proceed with his political plans. I don't see how he can proceed while this crisis continues. All of Olmert's convergence plans were put on the back burner the moment Shalit was kidnapped," he said.

Escalating conflict

June 25 Palestinian militants tunnel under Gaza border, attacking a border post and a tank. Two Israeli soldiers are killed and a third is taken hostage.

June 26 Israeli forces mobilised to strike Gaza's Palestinian settlements. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli PM rejects negotiations, insisting that the release of Corporal Gilad Shilat be unconditional.

June 28 Israeli tanks roll into Gaza. Bridges destroyed and Gaza's power station is knocked out by missiles.

June 29 Israel rounds up 64 Hamas officials in the West Bank, including one third of the Palestinian cabinet. Israel fires rocket into deserted office of Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh.

July 3 Palestinian militant groups holding Cpl Shalit demand release of all women and child prisoners and a further 1,000 inmates. Israeli forces move into northern Gaza.

July 6 17 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier killed as Israeli army consolidates its grip.

July 8 Mr Haniyeh calls for ceasefire, but Israel says militants must first free captured soldier and halt rocket attacks.Death toll rises to over 50.

July 9 UN warns of humanitarian crisis in wake of Israeli incursions into Gaza.

July 12 Israel launches air raid on house of a Hamas militant killing nine members of one family. Hizbullah militants capture two Israeli soldiers and kill seven others on Lebanese border.

War on two fronts piles pressure on Israeli PM

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Israeli Cabinet Approves Military Action Against Lebanon
By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
12 July 2006


Israel's Cabinet has approved military action in Lebanon in response to an attack by Islamic Hezbollah guerillas in which two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped. It was the second kidnapping of soldiers in two weeks, and Israel is trying to restore its deterrent capability.

The Israeli Cabinet held an emergency meeting after the most serious attack by Hezbollah since Israel pulled out Lebanon six years ago.

Hezbollah guerillas ambushed an Israeli patrol on the Lebanese border and then an Israeli tank was blown up as it crossed into Lebanon to search for the two soldiers taken hostage. Eight soldiers were killed and Israel is furious.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the attack was an act of war and there would be a painful response. Sources say the Cabinet approved air strikes against Hezbollah facilities and Lebanese infrastructure, with the stated aim of removing the Hezbollah threat from the northern border.

Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.

"It must be clear, Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, they are part of the ruling coalition there, and the government of Lebanon is both responsible and accountable for what has happened," said Mark Regev. "This is an act of international aggression by one state against another."

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the attack was justified.

Nasrallah demanded that Israel open negotiations on a prisoner swap. Israel refused, just as it has rejected Palestinian demands to release prisoners in exchange for a soldier kidnapped on the Gaza border two and a half weeks ago.

Israeli forces have been pounding Gaza since then, and now the conflict has spread to a second front in Lebanon.

Israeli Cabinet Approves Military Action Against Lebanon

[Soldier4Christ]

I've been watching this on the news all day. It is getting nasty.

[Shammu]

I've been watching this on the news all day. It is getting nasty.

Brother I believe it is going to get nastier.  All the signs are there for it to become nastier. I'm just waiting for Russia, to become more involved.  And yes, I'm already LOOKING UP!!!!!!!

I had to leave earlier, because I had to meet, a Methodist and Lutheran clergy at their request.  They wanted to know, what I have been talking about (Middle-east now). I took copies of my World War 3, I have posted here at C.U., and my Bible. 

When I left, they wanted another meeting tommorrow so they could study my Bible study.  From what I understand, there may be a few more tommorrow, at the meeting.  So I guess I'm going to have to print up a few more copies of World War 3.

As I told them, I believe this is Matthew 24:6 right now.  Talk about 2 different doctrines, sitting at the same table..............................   Up here, they are not normally nice to each other.

[Soldier4Christ]

Amen brother! My prayers will be with you in this.

[Shammu]

Amen brother! My prayers will be with you in this.

Thank you brother

[Shammu]

Shalom sends warning to government in Damascus
Sheera Claire Frenkel, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 12, 2006

Likud MK Silvan Shalom responded to events in the north by Saying Wednesday that, "We can't have a situation in Lebanon where there is peace and quiet on one side and our soldiers are living in bunkers on the other. We have to disarm Hizbullah. All the weapons that are being used come through Damascus. Damascus must know that we cannot tolerate this.

"We must act immediately, said Shalom.

[Shammu]

Israel is at risk of embarking on three-front war
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent

Two weeks after the start of the IDF's extensive operation in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah opened a second front on the northern border. The second front, which could expand into Israel, started just as the first did - with the abduction of soldiers from inside Israel and the deaths of others.

Israel faces the danger of a third front if Syria steps in to assist Hezbollah. Strategically, Israel faces an extreme foursome: Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. Two extremist Islamic organizations considered terror organizations, and two states Washington names in the Axis of Evil.

Israel has no choice but to hold Lebanon responsible for what happens in its borders and for what comes out of it. Lebanon will likely wail as Israel strikes inside its territory and hits its infrastructure, but the Lebanese government must see itself as responsible for what Hezbollah does out of Lebanon. Particularly since Lebanon essentially rejected UN resolution 1559, which called for disarming the militia. Hamas and Hezbollah made the rules of the game with the ongoing rocket fire into Israel and the abduction of Israeli soldiers. If Israel loses in handling this, its strategic and military standing in the region will change and its deterrence of guerrilla warfare and high-trajectory weapons will be undermined.

From the moment the ground incursion into Gaza started, it was possible Hezbollah would try to help Hamas by attacking on the Lebanese border. This option was rejected by most military analysts. No unusual alert was evident.

In addition to the desire to help Hamas, Hezbollah has its own grudge to bear with Israel. On May 28, Hezbollah taunted Israel with a Katyusha barrage at an IDF base on Mt. Meron. In response, Israel immediately hit a number of Hezbollah positions along the border. It was clear that Hezbollah, whose leader has often declared his organization would abduct Israelis, was waiting for the right moment, which came Wednesday. There is no need for (res.) Major General Giora Eiland to investigate the event in the north as he did the one in the south. It is better to focus on upcoming developments and the question of how to conduct a war on two and maybe three fronts. Hopefully Israel's leaders will give up the harsh words and exaggerated threats we have seen in the past two weeks.

Israel's options now are aggression on two fronts. Israeli would best act cautiously in order not to open a third front with Syria, unless Damascus taunts Israel.

Clearly Israel will strike Lebanese infrastructure related to Hezbollah and may expand its targets in its wrath. For years, Israel neglected the rocket system Hezbollah built in Lebanon with Iranian and Syrian help. It took no preventative measures against the convoys and storehouses of weaponry. We thought they would rust and now they are directed at Israel. There is also an absurd situation where we ignored Hezbollah positions adjacent to the border and to our Galilee communities. Some of those positions were once IDF outposts.

Israel must not allow Hezbollah to return to border positions. This is a clearcut defensive tactic and, in any case, Hezbollah is taking the offensive against Israel. Israel's operation in Gaza is not enough. The Gaza front will become secondary if the fighting in the north expands. If Israel wants even partial international support, it must avoid causing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. After Wednesday's events on the northern border, international efforts to mediate on the matter of the abductees and the prisoners will increase and address additional issues. In which case, Israel will have little time for a broad military operation.

Israel is at risk of embarking on three-front war

[Shammu]

Syria holds Israel responsible for clash with Lebanon's Hizbollah

Syria said on Wednesday that Israel was responsible for clashes between the Jewish state and Lebanese Hizbollah militia in which two Israeli soldiers were captured.

Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara made the remarks while speaking to reporters, the state-run television reported.

The Israeli occupation provoked the Palestinian and Lebanese people and "the resistance in south Lebanon and among the Palestinian people decides solely what to do and why", al-Shara was quoted as saying.

Earlier, Hizbollah claimed that it had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, demanding Israel release prisoners held in Israeli jails in exchange for the two soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Hizbollah's attack " an act of war", vowing a "very painful and far-reaching" response.

Olmert declined to negotiate over the fate of two soldiers who went missing during the border violence.

Israeli troops traded fire with Hizbollah militia across the border after at least two rockets fired by Hizbollah hit northern Israel, wounding four Israelis.

Two Lebanese civilians and seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in violence between the two sides.

Wednesday's violence came as Israeli troops pressed ahead a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip in a bid to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants on June 25 and stop Palestinian rocket attacks.

Syria holds Israel responsible for clash with Lebanon's Hizbollah

[Shammu]

West Bank rocket war is on

Terror leader announces start of missile barrage nearing Israel's main population centers
Aaron Klein

While Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip have been contending with almost daily missile attacks, Palestinian rockets will now be launched regularly on other side of the country aimed at Jewish communities a few miles from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Abu Oudai, a chief rocket coordinator for the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview.

Abu Oudai claimed major Israeli cities and the country's international airport would eventually become Palestinian rocket targets.

He said his group has the ability to produce rockets in the northern West Bank - a claim denied by the Israeli army. He hinted at possible help in developing rockets from Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hizbullah militia.

"Our goal is to cover all Israeli regions and to bring them inside the distance of our rockets," said Abu Oudai, speaking from Nablus.

"Every Israeli site or city is inside our capabilities and if some sites are not yet they will be very soon. The Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem every site and city will be targeted. We are speaking about a new era in the conflict between us and the enemy."

Whole new front

The rocket master's statements follow a series of claims by the al-Aqsa Brigades of firing rockets the past few days from the northern West Bank towns of Tul Karm and Jenin targeting Jewish communities nearby. Brigades leaders called WorldNetDaily to take credit for the rocket launchings, which they said fell short of their intended goals, landing instead in Palestinian areas. They promised more missile firings.

Security officials say any West Bank missile attack would open a whole new front of rocket targets against Jewish communities in the territories and against neighboring cities, including Jerusalem.

The Israeli Defense Forces has not yet officially confirmed this week's claimed West Bank rocket attacks. Palestinian and Jordanian officials said the attacks indeed took place.

Al-Aqsa has the past few months previously claimed they fired rockets from the northern West Bank. The IDF denied the claims only to later release select information stating some rockets had been fired from northern Samaria.

'Blessed operation begins'

Security analysts maintain publicity about terror groups' current missile capabilities in the territories could generate criticism of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank.

Abu Oudai said the missile firings from Tul Karm and Jenin were "only the very beginning of our blessed operation of launching rockets from the West Bank against Israeli cities. In the next days and from now on the falling of rockets in the enemy territory (in and near the West Bank) will not be strange and rare."

The al-Aqsa leader described his West Bank rocket infrastructure:

"With the help of Allah we succeeded to transfer rockets and technology that will bring in the very next days the number of rockets in the West Bank to hundreds. As for the kinds of rockets, they are very similar to the rockets in Gaza but here in the West Bank we are making huge efforts to improve them, especially their accuracy and distance."

He said his group has stockpiles in the West Bank of primitive versions of the Qassam rocket.

But Abu Oudai rejected the Israeli statements, claiming his group "absolutely" has the ability to manufacture Qassams and other kinds of rockets in the northern West Bank.

"The Israeli army said a few years ago that Gaza rockets are nothing and that they don't present any threat to the security of Israel and its citizens," said Abu Oudai. "Now we all know what is the truth and what is the real situation. Every day our rockets in Gaza become more accurate and do more killing and this is exactly what will happen in the West Bank.

It is their own business that they deny and minimize. But in the coming days the proofs on the ground will be very clear to the average Israeli in the street and not only to the Israeli political and military leadership."

Abu Oudai, though, admitted to problems with his group's West Bank rocket infrastructure.

"We have the capabilities of producing the rockets in the West Bank and we are also smuggling from Gaza, but I will be honest and sincere with you that our weakest point is the lack of experience in the West Bank. But we are working very hard to solve this problem."

Asking for help from Iran, Syria, Hizbullah

Asked if the al-Aqsa Brigades received any outside help to its rocket development program, Abu Oudai explained, "It is our right to receive any help from anybody and our doors is open to every support, from Syria, Iran, Hizbullah or anyone who wants to help and to support the Palestinian people."

Prior to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last August, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened an "unprecedented response" to any rocket firing carried out by terror groups after Israel vacated the territory.

For the past ten months, until Israel sent ground troops into Gaza last month, the Israeli army mostly responded to the regular rocket attacks with aerial and artillery fire, failing to stop or even slow the rate of rocket attacks.

Abu Oudai said he does not fear Israeli retaliation for his group's planned rocket launchings from the West Bank.

"I heard many time the expression of unprecedented response. The only unprecedented thing is the frequency of the Israeli 'empty threats.' We are not afraid and we have nothing to fear," said Abu Oudai.

West Bank rocket war is on

[Shammu]

Americans Support Israeli Actions in Gaza
July 13, 2006

- Many adults in the United States agree with the way the Israeli government is dealing with the abduction of a soldier, according to a poll by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for The Israel Project. 52 per cent of respondents say Israel should increase the pressure on the Palestinians through military action.

When assessing the Middle East conflict, 39 per cent of respondents think the U.S., should take Israel’s side, five per cent express a preference for the Palestinians, and 43 per cent believe Washington should be neutral.

In January, Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council election, securing 74 of the 112 seats at stake. Ismail Haniyeh officially took over as prime minister on Mar. 28. The Israeli government believes Hamas is directly responsible for the deaths of 377 citizens in a variety of attacks, which include dozens of suicide bombings.

On Jun. 28, Israel launched a military operation in response to a joint raid carried out by Palestinian militants on a military post outside of the Gaza Strip, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed, and one more, Gilad Shalit, was captured.

On Jun. 10, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert ruled out any discussions with the Hamas-led government, saying, "I will not release prisoners to trade for Gilad Shalit. I don’t negotiate with Hamas, I did not negotiate with Hamas and I will not negotiate with Hamas."

On Jun. 11, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Shalit would be treated like a prisoner of war, adding, "Israel and America, which talked too much about this terrorism in past are the worst, severest and ugliest examples of terrorism. The American administration shoulders the responsibility for what is happening on the land of Palestine. Israel is violating international law, but the world is only worried about the soldier."

Mashaal also blamed the Israeli government for the collapse of mediation efforts initiated by Egypt, Qatar and the European Union (EU), saying, "The process hit a snag over Israel’s insistence on the release of the Israeli soldier and its refusal to release Palestinian prisoners."

Americans Support Israeli Actions in Gaza

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 Israel´s Most Wanted Terrorist Targeted In Gaza
14:26 Jul 12, '06 / 16 Tammuz 5766
by Alex Traiman

      The IDF targeted Hamas terror chief Muhammad Deif in one of three airstrikes since Tuesday night. The IDF also re-entered central Gaza for the first time, splitting the Arab terror haven in two.


The airstrike collapsed a two-story building in the Arab town of Sheikh Raduan. Deif, who is the leader of Hamas’ military wing, was wounded in the airstrike. Deif is considered to be amongst Israel’s “most wanted terrorists.”

Amid varying reports that Deif was killed, or escaped, the severity of his injuries remain unknown. An IDF spokesman confirmed, "We know he was injured, but not to what degree."

In addition, six were killed in the IDF strike and 36 were wounded. Among those killed, according to Arab reports, are Hamas member Nabil Abu Salmiyeh, a lecturer at the Islamic university.

Senior Hamas terrorist Achmad Gandor, was reported to have been critically wounded in the attack. Gandor was responsible for the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit and the murder of two Israeli soldiers during a recent raid on an Israeli military post.

The IDF carried out the strike after learning that senior Hamas terrorists were hiding in the building. Those inside were responsible for several terror attacks and the firing of Kassam rockets, according to the IDF. The army also possessed intelligence that the terrorists were planning to carry out additional attacks.

According to an IDF spokesman, the army may target any building if intelligence suggests senior terrorists are inside.

For the first time since IDF incursions into the Gaza Strip began two-weeks ago, the IDF entered central Gaza, with media reporting that the army has divided the entire strip into two sections beginning near the Kissufim crossing.

An IDF spokesman would not confirm that the strip was being divided into two, or that soldiers had taken up positions in the remains of Gush Katif. Kissufim previously served as the main entrance to the 21 abandoned and demolished Jewish communities of Gush Katif.

According to the spokesman, the primary purpose of the central Gaza mission is “to search for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.”

In a separate airstrike near Kissufim, the IDF targeted armed gunmen. In Gaza city, the IDF fired from the air on a vehicle containing explosive devices and Kassam rockets to be used in future attacks on Israeli soldiers or civilians.

In addition to firing missiles from the air, the IDF has been dropping leaflets containing a strong warning to civilians in Gaza. The leaflets caution Arabs to steer clear of areas in which the IDF is operating against terror infrastructures.

The text of the leaflet follows:

    The IDF is carrying out operations throughout the Gaza Strip. The operations will last as long as needed.

    The objective of the operation is to determine the whereabouts of our abducted soldier, Gilad Shalit, to bring about his release, and to ensure the safety of Israel citizens.

    For your safety, and as we want to prevent any harm to civilians who are not involved in attacking our forces, you should stay clear of areas where the IDF is operating and adhere to instructions from IDF forces.

    People who try to disrupt the IDF's activities which are meant to ensure the safe return of our soldier, do so at their own risk.



”A terrorist mastermind”
The IDF referred to Deif as a “terrorist mastermind” responsible for the murder of dozens of Israeli citizens, through the planning of numerous suicide attacks. The IDF had tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Deif on at least three occasions. Deif has been in hiding since 1992.

Deif took command of Hamas’ military wing in 1996 following the assassination of former chief Yehya Ayash, who was known as “the engineer.” Deif has been responsible for several attacks within the Gaza Strip and the biblical Jewish provinces of Judea and Samaria. Deif has also been involved in the development of Kassam rockets.

Deif stated on Al-Jazeera this past week that “all the land conquered in 1948 is Palestine’s land. Every Muslim in the world has the right and duty to fight in order to liberate this land because it is Muslim land.”

"We are a nation which has been defeated, deprived and expelled from our
lands, and we are operating to obtain what we deserve - what we had before
1948. Then there was no state called Israel. This occupation state was
founded due to a United Nations decision. One can still see that all the UN
rules apply to the weak side and not to the Israeli entity," he said.

"We did not carry out attacks against Israel, but as retaliation acts," Deif said.

Deif has been an IDF target despite pleas by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to spare the terror mastermind. Several attempts to assassinate Deif have been unsuccessful, although a previous attempt may have injured Deif in the face and head. (now who does that sound like?? .... DW)

Israel´s Most Wanted Terrorist Targeted In Gaza

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Netanyahu: Opposition backs gov't in war on terror
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 13, 2006

Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu told Prime Minster Ehud Olmert on Wednesday night that the opposition would support the government in its war on terror.

Olmert was updating Netanyahu about the start of a long-lasting offensive against Hizbullah.

No political proposals were discussed, including the idea of an emergency government.

Netanyahu: Opposition backs gov't in war on terror

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 Qatar Amends Draft Resolution for UN Security Council
03:15 Jul 13, '06 / 17 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Qatar revised its proposed resolution against the IDF military operations in Gaza, which was rejected at the UN Security Council, to overcome the objections against it expressed by the United States and France.

Representing the Arab nations in the United Nations, Qatar circulated a new, amended resolution which still demanded that Israel ends its incursion into Gaza and release the Hamas officials it arrested, but also called for the terrorist kidnappers of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit to release the hostage. The draft now also calls for the terrorists to stop firing rockets at Israel.

The final form of the resolution was submitted Wednesday afternoon bv Qatar, enabling a vote within 24 hours.

Qatar Amends Draft Resolution for UN Security Council