Babeled

It was a bloody weekend. Too bad it is not over yet, the Hamas and other militants succeeded in firing more than 50 rockets into Israeli cities of Sederot and Ashkelon, other rockets hit Kibbutez within the North Negev area. Israel responded with a massive attack and killed more than 35 Hamas fighters. During the two days of bloodshed, some 20 Palestinians civilians paid with their life, as well as one Israeli student who was killed on Thursday along with 10 others severely injured.

What are the goals of IDF operation in Gaza? On Saturday morning, several IDF special troops entered Gaza in their attempt to get a hold of the rocket’s senders. It was a special operation, because in the first time for more than a year, IDF troops toured North Gaza streets and in particular the neighborhood of Jebaliah (A refugee’s camp). It is the most crowded area of Gaza City, where more than 116,000 people live in an area less than 15 square miles. This is one of the highest population densities in the world, according to www.bbc.com. Sadly enough, it is hard to avoid civilian casualties in such dense areas.

So far, Israeli special troops have controlled several rocket delivery areas and now occupy the attack location in order to prevent future missiles launching. The big question is how long will they have to be there?

What are the Israelis trying to avoid? None of the Israeli politicians (at the moderate right and left parties) would like to gain control over the Gaza strip. It would be a mistake, and only the extreme at the Right parties praise such action. Gaza’s 1.3 million people, on the other hand, have decided to comply with the Hamas government in the area.

Who are we fighting? The Israeli Defense Forces are looking to stop the rocket attacks on cities within Israel territory. The Hamas militant group is clearly the dominant terrorist group active in the area, operating small teams of fighters who have the capability to send a rocket from within a public area; i.e. the backyard of a family. However, recently the ‘Islamic Gihad’ and the ‘Al Aqza’ troops, which are all militants groups associated with political parties and have a vote in the Palestinian Parliament, have entered the fray. These particular groups have more power in the West Bank, where only a preventive approach applied by the Israeli forces and sometimes even cooperation between the two sides prevent a hostile Hamas take over.

What’s new? The new situation is actually not new to anyone. To the Israelis attacks on the ground within Gaza are unavoidable. The Hamas, however, wasn’t ready to handle such a strong counter attack. Nevertheless, neither side could mark the last 24 hours as a success. It is clearly a new war. And in war every side loses.

Meet the ‘Gerad’: The missile, which was launched today by Hamas fighters over the city of Ashkelon (Only 25 miles from Tel Aviv), is an old missile, produced first by the Russians. It is superior to the more primitive ‘Kassam’. While the Kassam can hold ‘only’ 8 pounds of explosives, the ‘Gerad’ can hold 5 times more explosives. It also reaches further distances more accurately; the Kassam’s target maximum is 7.5 miles, while the Gerad’s maximum range is within 34 miles. That fact puts 65,000 people in the North Negev region in constant fear and disables their normal life. Children in these cities cannot play in their backyards and schools anymore.

The unavoidable ‘South Lebanonnization’ of Gaza: Gaza is the new ‘Hamasten’ land, with terrorist literally fighting from within civilian’s houses. They do not ask for permission; they occupy areas and take populations as hostages. The Israeli army forces don’t know the area as well as they used too. Hamas fighters changed the area completely and built base holds for their fighters. Houses are built on top of ground caves filled with explosives. Sounds familiar? In addition, both areas, South Lebanon and Gaza hosted terrorists from many militant groups. All sponsored by Iran. In fact, Iran got closer with the establishment of Hamas in Gaza. So the question is, again, who are we fighting?

What’s next? The Israeli public talks about an opportunity to remove the Hamas leadership in Gaza. In fact, many on the other side, would like to see it happen, i.e. the Palestinian president, Abbas. The IDF however, didn’t receive such a target from the government. A decision is to be made by Wednesday. In any case, will such a move require an Israeli occupation of Gaza? Well, everyone hopes that would not be the case.

Picture adopted from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2150131.stm