Post by Watchman on May 22, 2007 14:38:35 GMT -5
www.cuttingedge.com
As Israel approaches her celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the recapture of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, Hamas launches a rocket attack so sustained and so ferocious that military analysts throughout the world must be presuming that this barrage is a prelude to war.
NEWS BRIEF: "Hamas missile barrage resumes against Sderot and S. Ashkelon", DEBKAfile Intelligence, May 18, 2007
"Twelve missiles land in Israel, most in Sderot, early Friday, Day Four of Hamas missile offensive. In first three days, 101 Qassams fired. Israeli helicopters hit Palestinian squad targeting Kfar Maimon"
"Overnight, the tempo of missile fire accelerated, targeting Israeli locations east and north of the Gaza Strip: Sderot’s Ohalei Sinai Synagogue took a direct hit, leaving 21 injured, most lightly, also Netiv Ha’asarah, Mefalsim, Kibbutz Saad, Carmieh, Yad Mordecai and Moshav Shuva."
After spending the first couple of days of this offensive deciding to not respond, the Olmert government finally ordered the IDF to counterattack.
"Israeli Air Force also bombed a Hamas unit poised to attack the Palestinian President Guard’s 4th Battalion guarding the Palestinian side of the Karni Gaza-Israel border goods terminal. Hamas is bent on seizing from the Fatah-led guards the terminal through which Gaza receives food, fuel and basic supplies. It was Israel’s first intervention in the Palestinian factional war raging in the Gaza Strip. Thursday, 11 Palestinian gunmen were killed in five Israeli air force raids of Hamas and Jihad Islami installations and vehicles carrying missile squads and ordnance."
Typically, a run-up to all-out war begins with a level of violence that fulfills two (2) criteria:
1) Is sustained day by day; and
2) Increases in tempo.
This current Hamas offensive fulfills both these criteria. Military analysts throughout the world must be watching this gradually increasing scenario with great interest, wondering if they are viewing the opening salvo of all-out war between the Palestinians and Israel.
Hamas then breathed two more threats which, if actually carried out, would represent an even greater level of escalating violence.
"Hamas’ Abu Obeida has threatened to retaliate for Israeli reprisals with a return to suicide bombings in Israel ... The Hamas threat is serious. The Islamist group covertly maintains a sleeper network of suicide bombers on the West Bank awaiting call-up."
This next statement is breathtaking, for it reveals the seriousness with which Hamas leadership is viewing this current rocket offensive.
"Friday, the Hamas military spokesman threatened to execute any Palestinian interfering with the group’s missile assault on Israel."
On the northern border, the Palestinian terrorist organization, Hezbollah, has boasted that they have now replenished all the ammunition they expended in the 33-day Second Lebanon War of last year, and they have said that they have replaced all the military capability which Israel destroyed.
IDF Intelligence has confirmed these two Hezbollah claims. Today, both Hezbollah leaders and fighters are brimming with confidence, because they perceive that they defeated the Israeli Defense Force in this Second Lebanon War.
Furthermore, the Winograd Report issued just weeks ago, stated that the leadership of Prime Minister Olmert and of the IDF was nearly incompetent. Even more importantly, the report asserted that the Israeli people are dispirited and almost incapable of fighting another war.
Further, Syrian Army units have been sneaking steadily toward the Israeli border. Just a couple of weeks ago, an elite Syrian unit was sent to the border, causing military analysts considerable alarm. As Israel prepares to celebrate her 40th Anniversary of recapturing Old Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, her Islamic enemies may be preparing an all-out attack.
Hamas can mount a significant war from within Israel. Hezbollah, Syria, Egypt, and possibly even Jordan, could then attack from outside Israel's borders.
But, why should we be surprised? The Pentagon reported to the Congress in December, 1996, that Arab leadership is preparing just such a war.
Quoting segments of NEWS1056, "The Next Israeli-Arab War".
NEWS BRIEF: "The Next Arab-Israeli War", by Emanuel A. Winston, A Middle East Analyst and Commentator, The Jewish Press, Week of January 31, 1997, Vol. XLVII, No. 5, p. 43 and 53.
"In brief, this report tells us that such nations as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Egypt are planning and building for a final, devastating war of annihilation against Israel. This includes acquiring nuclear, biological and chemical weapons (NBC) in a mix with conventional weapons, e.g., tanks, aircraft, and soldiers, all in massive, overwhelming numbers." [P. 43]
As Israel approaches her celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the recapture of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, Hamas launches a rocket attack so sustained and so ferocious that military analysts throughout the world must be presuming that this barrage is a prelude to war.
NEWS BRIEF: "Hamas missile barrage resumes against Sderot and S. Ashkelon", DEBKAfile Intelligence, May 18, 2007
"Twelve missiles land in Israel, most in Sderot, early Friday, Day Four of Hamas missile offensive. In first three days, 101 Qassams fired. Israeli helicopters hit Palestinian squad targeting Kfar Maimon"
"Overnight, the tempo of missile fire accelerated, targeting Israeli locations east and north of the Gaza Strip: Sderot’s Ohalei Sinai Synagogue took a direct hit, leaving 21 injured, most lightly, also Netiv Ha’asarah, Mefalsim, Kibbutz Saad, Carmieh, Yad Mordecai and Moshav Shuva."
After spending the first couple of days of this offensive deciding to not respond, the Olmert government finally ordered the IDF to counterattack.
"Israeli Air Force also bombed a Hamas unit poised to attack the Palestinian President Guard’s 4th Battalion guarding the Palestinian side of the Karni Gaza-Israel border goods terminal. Hamas is bent on seizing from the Fatah-led guards the terminal through which Gaza receives food, fuel and basic supplies. It was Israel’s first intervention in the Palestinian factional war raging in the Gaza Strip. Thursday, 11 Palestinian gunmen were killed in five Israeli air force raids of Hamas and Jihad Islami installations and vehicles carrying missile squads and ordnance."
Typically, a run-up to all-out war begins with a level of violence that fulfills two (2) criteria:
1) Is sustained day by day; and
2) Increases in tempo.
This current Hamas offensive fulfills both these criteria. Military analysts throughout the world must be watching this gradually increasing scenario with great interest, wondering if they are viewing the opening salvo of all-out war between the Palestinians and Israel.
Hamas then breathed two more threats which, if actually carried out, would represent an even greater level of escalating violence.
"Hamas’ Abu Obeida has threatened to retaliate for Israeli reprisals with a return to suicide bombings in Israel ... The Hamas threat is serious. The Islamist group covertly maintains a sleeper network of suicide bombers on the West Bank awaiting call-up."
This next statement is breathtaking, for it reveals the seriousness with which Hamas leadership is viewing this current rocket offensive.
"Friday, the Hamas military spokesman threatened to execute any Palestinian interfering with the group’s missile assault on Israel."
On the northern border, the Palestinian terrorist organization, Hezbollah, has boasted that they have now replenished all the ammunition they expended in the 33-day Second Lebanon War of last year, and they have said that they have replaced all the military capability which Israel destroyed.
IDF Intelligence has confirmed these two Hezbollah claims. Today, both Hezbollah leaders and fighters are brimming with confidence, because they perceive that they defeated the Israeli Defense Force in this Second Lebanon War.
Furthermore, the Winograd Report issued just weeks ago, stated that the leadership of Prime Minister Olmert and of the IDF was nearly incompetent. Even more importantly, the report asserted that the Israeli people are dispirited and almost incapable of fighting another war.
Further, Syrian Army units have been sneaking steadily toward the Israeli border. Just a couple of weeks ago, an elite Syrian unit was sent to the border, causing military analysts considerable alarm. As Israel prepares to celebrate her 40th Anniversary of recapturing Old Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, her Islamic enemies may be preparing an all-out attack.
Hamas can mount a significant war from within Israel. Hezbollah, Syria, Egypt, and possibly even Jordan, could then attack from outside Israel's borders.
But, why should we be surprised? The Pentagon reported to the Congress in December, 1996, that Arab leadership is preparing just such a war.
Quoting segments of NEWS1056, "The Next Israeli-Arab War".
NEWS BRIEF: "The Next Arab-Israeli War", by Emanuel A. Winston, A Middle East Analyst and Commentator, The Jewish Press, Week of January 31, 1997, Vol. XLVII, No. 5, p. 43 and 53.
"In brief, this report tells us that such nations as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Egypt are planning and building for a final, devastating war of annihilation against Israel. This includes acquiring nuclear, biological and chemical weapons (NBC) in a mix with conventional weapons, e.g., tanks, aircraft, and soldiers, all in massive, overwhelming numbers." [P. 43]