The sound and dust of war's canons , first replaced the Corona terror, which seemed completely forgotten, as if from another time galaxy, and then by the elusive "thunderous silence" of the ceasefire.
Yet, the campaign of deterrence against Gaza, ended not in a decisive victory only in a pause and serenity can't be seen on the hemorrhaging horizon...
11 days (until May 21st) was the duration of this last deliberate round of murderous rockets' shelling on Israeli civilians, initiated by the infamous Gaza's genocidal Islamist terrorist organizations, primly- Hamas , before intensive international intervention was induced, and the Egyptian-brokered bilateral cease-fire, without any conditions, had kicked in.
I was too emotionally distressed and nervous all this time, fearing for the nation's, family's and my own life, and in need to digest the latest developments, so refrained from writing.
This escalation round
Named ridiculously " Guardian of the Walls" or as I reframed "Gatekeeping of the Walls" is the 4th militarycampaign, within 20 years, since Hams initiated, each time, an indiscriminate rocket shelling, onto Israeli major towns and cities, Including for the first time, also onto Jerusalem and TLV , as well as the many Gaza's neighboring communities of the country's south..
Israel's deterrence campaign, mildly ambitious, aimed to inflict severe damage on Palestinian arsenal of rockets and military improved in range and capabilities, so Hamas would refrain from future firing at Israel ever, again.
The 3 battle rounds which preceded this last one were "creatively" named
Operation "Cast Lead" December 2008, Operation "Cloud Pillar" or Pillar of Defense, October 2012.
Operation "Protective Edge "July 2014,
The popular actor/stand up comedian -Adir Miller - created a parody clip (above) on the previous operations (in Hebrew),
More then Half of the country, does not trust this Gov. lead run by prime minister Bibi Netanyahoo, nor believe, that this is the last round!
Many Israelis suspect and speculate (45%) that political concerns motivated Bibi to exploit, provoke, maneuver, and instigate an explosive situation, which lead to the recent escalation, in hope to: sabotage a change in Gov, prolong his stay in power, and avoid his court sentence.
Yet one thing must be crystal clear - There are arsonists and pyromaniacs on each sides, but murderous arsonists shouldn't be confused with firefighters who are summoned, to an ignited blazing battleground.
NO provocation justifies deliberate targeted rocket shelling on innocent civilian.
"Hamas targets Civilians, Israel targets Terrorists" declared Israeli UN Ambassador
Even the former U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross told the Jerusalem Post :
"As long as Hamas has rockets, there can only be a Short-Term Truce -
and the prospect of changing anything in Gaza will be very limited.
And here is what Tzipi Livni the former Israeli vice prime minister, minister of foreign affairs and justice minister who was chief negotiator in the last two rounds of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, has to say:
We Cannot, and Should Not, Give Hamas Legitimacy - Tzipi Livni (New York Times)
National conflicts cannot be resolved by wars and violence, but only by a political resolution, leadership and compromise. A religious conflict is not a conflict over rights, but a fight against the right of others to live by their faith. For religious ideologists, there is no compromise.
Hamas is a radical Islamic terror organization that is fighting not to establish a Palestinian state but against the existence of Jewish "infidels" living in Israel. In 2006 the international Quartet set forward parameters for Hamas that included acceptance of previous peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, commitment to nonviolence, and recognition of Israel. Hamas refused.
Had Hamas adopted these principles, the lives of the residents of Gaza might today look different, and Gaza could flourish. But for Hamas, ending the conflict is something to which it will never agree. Without accepting these conditions, there's no hope for peace with Hamas; therefore, we cannot, and should not, give it legitimacy.
There is no doubt, as President Biden rightfully expressed, that a country has the right to defend itself. In this case, we must defend ourselves against terror by a group that does not accept our very existence. Criticizing any government policy is legitimate, but denying the right of a country to defend its citizens is not.
We must cooperate and support everything that strengthens pragmatism and weakens extremists. The solution must reflect both sides' legitimate rights, aspirations and interests, with compromises that allow us both to fulfill our legitimate national aspirations and live side-by-side in peace and security.
******************************* The Gaza–Israel conflict is a part of the localized Israeli–Palestinian conflict,
However, it is also a scene of power struggle between the Palestinian Authority of the West bank and Hamas, which strategically positioned itself, this time around, as the religious defender of the El Aqsa Mosque, and thus had also ignited Israeli Arab mobilizing internal riots.
The conflict is also a scene of power struggle between the meddling regional powers including mainly Iran ,Egypt and Turkey together with Qatar, each supporting different sides of the conflict. The regional standoff between Iran and Saudi Arabia] on one hand, and between Qatar and Saudi Arabia on the other, as well as crisis in Egyptian-Turkish relations, all have played a roll.
Some of the Absurdities in the region
A ship belonging to a shipowner close to the Turkish president Erdogan is sailing in the Mediterranean. On board, a cargo of weapons bound for Israel.
UA small 150-meter-long container ship, flying the Singapore flag, the Asiatic Island, has been sailing for several days in the waters of the Mediterranean. Departing on May 12 from Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, then joined the Italian ports of Genoa on the 13th, Livorno on the 14th and Naples on the 15th, before heading for Mersin, in southern Turkey. On May 19, it is due to reach its final destination, the Israeli port of Ashdod,
but was stopped.
Iran Sent Armed Drone into Israel Iran had sent an armed UAV into northern Israel earlier this week from Iraq or Syria that was intercepted by Israel near the town of Beit She'an.
The role of Iran which is overtly committed to the obliteration of Israel, thus activates
Hamas as its military arm proxy, while using the Palestinian as their pawns. is a well known fact.
"Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, who founded a research center in London that does work on the Middle East, had put out a report this year about Iranian militias that are operating in our region. More read here, and here,
Video: Palestinian Islamic Jihad Leader Thanks Iran for Missile Technology Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziad Al-Nakhaleh spoke about IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soliemani's role in arming and training the military factions in Gaza on Al-Alam TV (Iran) on January 1, 2021. Al-Nakhaleh said that thanks to the experience earned under Soleimani's guidance, people in Gaza learned how to manufacture missiles locally. "This was in addition to the strategic step of sending missiles and weapons to Gaza," he said. (MEMRI-TV)
Iran: Gaza Is "the Advance Bunker of the Resistance Front" - Amir Taheri (Gatestone Institute) The writer was editor-in-chief of the Iranian daily Kayhan.
Official media in Tehran describe Gaza as "the advance bunker of the Resistance Front" as it emerges from its latest mini-war against "the Zionist enemy." In messages to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei asserts that he has received "a divine pledge that total victory is on the way," and demands that the two groups continue the fight until "our holy land is cleansed of the existence of the usurper." Tehran media claim that "the great victory" achieved by Hamas and Islamic Jihad is, to a large extent, due to financial, material and training support from Iran.
Iran's Supreme Leader stated:
The Global Balance of Power Is Tilting toward "Palestine" and Muslims - Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael Segall
Iran is once again trying to present itself as the main power fighting for the Palestinians and the Muslim nation. . In Tehran's view, a changing balance of power occurred.
The the Palestinians have progressed from stones to missiles, while Iranian nuclear power will provide the strategic blanket to enable continued terror and subversive activity.
A poster, based on the Supreme Leader's speech on al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, reads: "Today, the balance of power has shifted in favor of the Muslim world..., today the hope of achieving victory is stronger than ever." . "Death to Israel" and "Death to the United-States" marches. Khamenei stressed that Iran is arming Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza and allowing them to strike a balance in the armed struggle against Israel.
"We can easily tighten our grip around the throat of the Zionist regime, because it is surrounded from all directions."
Former President Bush: Gaza War Is about Iranian Influence Targeted toward Israel - Brooke Singman .
Former President George W. Bush, when asked about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian violence, told on Wednesday that what "you're seeing playing out is Iranian influence targeted toward Israel." . "Right now, those who don't want peace are provoking and attacking Israel, and Israel is, of course, responding for national security reasons....You've got to understand that Israel is going to defend itself. So long as there is a threat to their people, they will defend themselves."
With Dan Shiftan on Iran Strategy עם דן שיפטן על האסטרטגיה של איראן
Hamas has been firing thousands of missiles over the years, building cross-border terror tunnels, kidnapping Israelis, and foregoing development in Gaza to focus on damaging Israel.
The Big Riddle
It is well known that Israel for years, and almost on a weekly basis, has been, aborting Iranian nuclear scientists/engineers/terrorists, as well as sabotaging Iranian entrenchment and military capabilities in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, as to cut back on Iran's aggressive expansion, and ambition to get closer to Israeli Northern borders.
So why in G-d sake, has Bibi and his Gov. let Hamas militias for 7 years, to fortify its power, stock pile on rockets, and other fire arms, since the last round of 2014 ???
Why Hamas was let to entrench in hundreds of dug meters (over 60 miles) of underground "Metro tunnels" by a much closer Southern border ???
There is not yet a reply to this inquiry, but I do hope an investigation will provide some clarity, on this, as well as on the the merit of showering Hamas with funds and services thus providing the terrorist organization an oxygen line, thus keeping it in power, and facilitating its habitual and brutal abuses, against its own and against Israel.
These tunnels in Gaza which have been used to move troops, weapons, and other supplies as the Hamas terrorists fight, were destroyed as claimed by Israeli military, only
during this recent campaign.
On June 16th/2021 a partial reply to this riddle, was published in Haaretz:
Israeli Oversight Lets Hamas Build Tunnels, New Reports Reveal
<<According to security sources, supervision of materials entering Gaza is not sufficiently budgeted or staffed, and Hamas has taken advantage of that.
The reports also say that the lack of a state budget led to a freeze in funding to strengthen these oversight units, undermining their enforcement ability and allowing Hamas to build hundreds of kilometers of tunnels the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip.>>
So bad governance under Bibi's leadership, serial election rounds and lack of state budget of the past years , compromised security issues and jeopardized the lives and property of so many. A real Shanda..
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A trickling of Rocket fire, mortars arson, balloons and "suicide drones" from Gaza onto Israel had started prior to the Israeli massive deterrence response of May 10/2021
Since that night Hamas has launching a multiple barrage of almost 4,500 rockets at Israel, all aimed at civilians. Fire was targeted at Ben-Gurion Airport, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beer-Sheba. and the Tel Aviv region. City after city: Rishon LeZion, Herzliya, Holon, Ramat Gan and Ramat Hasharon were all impacted..
Millions of Israelis, including us, were rushing to bomb shelters,to in house protective spaces (Mamad) ,or building's lobby, caring for the elderly and disabled, and comforting traumatized children. Other in mid-drive were forced when hearing the warning sirens, to step out in haste, from their cars and find cover by road side, often unprotected, and fully exposed, to the overhead flying rockets, which could strike anywhere, even with the amazing Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, in place.
luckily 90% of the rockets heading toward Israeli populated areas were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system.
Sadly 12 Israelis died, over 300 wounded, and many more were shell shocked devastated and traumatized.. Much damage was also done to property., especially
that in the south of the country which had suffered a lot from this deliberate and indiscriminate shelling of these zealous uncompromising groups.
The time was quite surreal as in between the shelling, life proceeded
Thanks to sheer "protective luck" we were all well when staying in TLV.
We did to run a few times to the bomb shelter in our building, in the middle of the night, Also one day, when on the beach in TLV, where the toilette also serves as a protective shelters, we joined the crowd together, taking cover from the falling missiles.
We could hear the interceptions of the iron Dom system from the near by towns, and
saw the white smoke spread, against the clear blue sunny sky..
Sadly, in Gaza over 200 Palestinian died, and over 1000 injured, many more were shell shocked, devastated and lost their houses and property.
The scale of destruction which Hams brought about onto the highly populated dense strip, during the 11 days of insane fighting, is enormous
About 640 ( ~20%) of the rockets fire lounged by Hams and Islamic Jihad fell inside Gaza, and are considered a war crimes
Rockets fired at Israel by Hamas that fell within Gaza killed about 50 Palestinians
Hamas' Rocket Barrage Is a Blatant Act of Aggression under International Law - Geoffrey S. Corn and Rachel E. Vanlandingham Hamas is illegally and indiscriminately firing Iranian-provided rockets at Israeli civilian centers. Hamas rocket that fell short destroyed buildings and damaged power lines in Gaza, cutting off electricity to 230,000 residents. In addition, the power line to the Rafah sewage treatment plant has been damaged .
Along with the Israeli impacting hellish fire, huge swaths of the territory, were left without electricity or water, and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.
Did a Hidden Hamas Weapons Cache Cause Deadly Gaza Explosion? - Felicia Schwartz (Wall Street Journal)
Israeli airstrikes targeted underground tunnels used by Hamas on Al-Wahda Street in Gaza City on May 16. An Israeli military official said the attack only struck the street and not any nearby buildings, but in the resulting explosion, three apartment buildings collapsed and 48 people died, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, making it one of the deadliest hours of the recent conflict.
The official said that something located above the tunnels that the military didn't know about "caused a different and much bigger explosion," collapsing the buildings. The official said there was no warning to the buildings' residents because Israel had carried out strikes on other similar tunnels without impacting the homes above them.
Azzam Al-Kolak, who lived on the top floor of one of the buildings, said engineers who visited the site told him the building dropped some 40 feet below street level. (Wall Street Journal)
* ***************************
Israel may have lost the propaganda war, but emerged from this conflict the strongest, its security boosted by a hugely degraded enemy, while its army is viewed by those sane and unbiased, as a moral one. Israel Has Acted Like a Moral Beacon in the Latest Gaza War - John Podhoretz The idea that the act of defending citizens against incoming rocket fire could possibly constitute a war crime is the textbook definition of moral idiocy.
War criminals don't drop "knock-knock" dud bombs on buildings to provide warning to the residents that an attack is coming so they can get out of harm's way.
War criminals don't telephone the owners of buildings to let them know a strike is coming, so that residents might be evacuated. The fact that fewer Israelis have died than Palestinian Gazans is due entirely to the success of Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system. This has led some moral idiots to complain that Hamas doesn't possess an Iron Dome system to protect it against Israel's strikes. Really? Hamas has something far simpler and more cost-effective: It can just not fire rockets. (New York Post)
.
Hamas sought to position itself as the true figurehead of the Palestinian people by launching a major rocket barrage.
Yet the price it paid was much higher than the terror group had anticipated.
In addition to destroying Hamas' "flagship" tunnel network, IDF conducted 570 airstrikes targeting rockets and their launchers, had severely damaged Hamas' ability to develop and produce weapons, and destroyed workshops and research centers designed to upgrade their weaponry. It also struck 10 government offices, 11 internal security targets and five banks that manage terror funds. Dozens of command rooms, some in high-rise buildings, were also destroyed. The IDF eliminated 25 senior officials and operatives belonging to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Not to forget of course the devastating loss life
Palestinians Die as Hostages of Hamas - Tarek Fatah
The tragedy of the Palestinians is that they are being held hostage by a leadership that, decade after decade, does not learn the lessons of their accumulated defeats. (Toronto Sun-Canada)
These murderous/suicidal terrorists that hijacked their own population and used it as human shields, are bent on destroying Israel, and killing any jew, even if it means bringing destruction on themselves.
Their hate of Israel supersedes their love for their people, themselves and of life.. The Hamas charter of 1988 is a bloodthirsty document in which the group vowed to to eradicate Israel and Jewish people, no matter where they live, and replace Israel with an Islamic state Hamas In Their Own Words Video: Hamas - "We Must Attack Every Jew on Planet Earth"
Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the streets of Gaza City to celebrate Hamas has won a political victory within Palestinian politics with its show of force.
Loudspeakers at mosques called on residents to come out "to celebrate the victory," while Hamas supporters with weapons fired into the air. "It's the most luxurious victory because at least we struck Tel Aviv," said Ibrahim al Najjar, 26. "I wasn't as happy on my wedding day as I was when they hit Tel Aviv." was quoted in the NYT
Until the last minute, before the cease fire came into effect, Palestinians Fire 40 Rockets at Israel , at 2 a.m. Friday, with 90% falling in open areas and the others intercepted.
Hamas leaders, supported by a partial derange population, aim now to pocket a political win, walk away with their military capabilities intact, and their coffers refilled.
Another mega Absurdity
Why would the international community, time and again, run to the rescue of this murderous terrorist organization, and despite repetitive evidence, still trust its leaders to care for the welfare of the people, whom Hams bullied its way to rule over ???
Why would the International community flood Gaza with billions in aid, when there is a proof beyond any doubt, that the Hams corrupt kleptomaniacs, deploy the money not to improve living condition of the suffering population, but waste it all on rocket building and arsenal purchasing, tunnel digging and continued war mongering???
Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results, stated Albert Einstein
Not mobilizing an international coalition in support of eradicating Hamas, but instead maintaining the stats-quo, the International community is an accomplice in crime!
Gaza's International Protectors Have Eyes, But Do Not See - Gerald M. Steinberg For many years, Gaza has been a major location for an army of international aid providers. Their reports consistently portray an impoverished Palestinian enclave on the brink of disaster, usually blamed on Israeli policies. The suffering of innocent children is a frequent theme used to raise donations, which exceed $1 billion annually. Yet no one talked about the massive arsenal of rockets deployed by Hamas and its allies, and the costs involved. Instead of using very limited resources for economic development and to create real jobs, Hamas diverted hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to build a vast war machine. Aid materials disappeared into the rocket assembly lines, and the concrete provided for housing was used to build cross-border attack tunnels. Now, with millions of Israeli citizens targeted and terrorized by Palestinian missiles, many are demanding an end to the years of impunity for Hamas and the international organizations involved in or complicit with this ongoing assault. President Biden declared that U.S. Will Partner with the Palestinian Authority, Not Hamas, for Gaza Reconstruction.
"The United States is committed to marshal international support for Gaza reconstruction efforts. We will do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority - not Hamas - in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal"
Well... lets see how that will work...as Abbas refused to transferring funds to Hamas.
Furthermore, Hams who is also bent on toppling the Palestinian Authority , and who has a growing base of Hams supporters also in the West Bank, is a threat to the PA.
Another unbelievable positive development about which I am cautiously optimistic, and which may lead to a change in handling Hamas is the perspective shared by Benjamin Haddad - director of the Future Europe Initiative at the Atlantic Council in Washington
How Europe Became Pro-Israel - Benjamin Haddad
<<Show of solidarity, by Austrian and German leaders, the Abraham accord, and strong economic and scientific ties have the changed the mood as the Palestinian question has been de-prioritized. But the main change has come from European societies themselves. facing terror attacks in the last few years.>>
Lets hope this change in trend continues, though I have my doubts...
A brave voice of reason .
Bassem Eid - is an Arab writer, a Jerusalem-based Palestinian political analyst and human rights pioneer of the Investigative Project on Terrorism .
He was born in the Jordanian-occupied Old City in Jerusalem and lived in a UN refugee camp from 1966 until 1999. In 1996 he founded the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring group. With his background, one might assume that he is against Israel's current military actions, but this could not be further from the truth.
Below is his realistic perspective on this madding situation:
<<The blame for the bloodshed lies solely at the feet of Hamas.>>
An Open Letter to My Palestinian Brethren - Bassem Eid I am writing to you, my Palestinian brothers and sisters, to open your eyes from the disinformation that your real captor, Hamas, is feeding you. Please do not let Hamas brainwash you into thinking it has "achieved" anything on our behalf. Hamas is not a social justice movement. It is a criminal gang that only cares about increasing its own power at all of our expense. Your lives start to improve only when the Hamas reign of terror finally ends. Only then will you actually taste the fruits of real peace with your Jewish cousins. Hamas incited violent riots at Al Aqsa by falsely claiming that the Jews are going to destroy Al Aqsa when that has never been true. It is Hamas that diverted much of the massive humanitarian supplies meant for you that Israel has been allowing in daily in hundreds of trucks.
It is Hamas that has been stealing the cement and metal from the imports meant to build houses for you so that it could spend billions of dollars on a massive subterranean network of tunnels for its purposes only. When it came to war with the Israelis, Hamas deliberately used you as human shields, stationing rocket launchers and missile arsenals in your homes, apartments, office buildings and even hospitals - just as it did in 2014.
I know from my sources in Gaza that as many as 25% of all rockets launched by Hamas crash within Gaza. That has resulted in Hamas killing as many as 50 of the civilians that it falsely blames on Israel. And when hostilities end, you can be sure that it won't be the people of Gaza but the Hamas gang that will be cutting the lucrative financial compensation deals with Qatar and European NGOs "to rebuild Gaza." Remember who got rich last time after the 2014 war with Israel?
Gaza Fighting Has Nothing to Do with the Sheikh Jarrah - Bassem Eid As a Palestinian living in Jerusalem, I can only blame Hamas. The fanatics who rule over Gaza with an iron fist cannot resist the opportunity to stir up anti-Jewish violence for their own political gain. If innocent Jews and Muslims die in the process, all the better for them. The pretext for the latest missile barrage is the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, where a long-running legal dispute was scheduled for a court hearing.
It is the kind of situation that would be handled by a local municipal court in any other country and there would be no public interest.
After Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas canceled highly anticipated elections, Hamas saw an opportunity it could not pass up and exploited the Sheikh Jarrah situation. They are encouraging Palestinian youth to throw their lives away by hurling rocks at police. Hamas-led riots outside of the Al Aqsa Mosque prove that Israeli police are not at fault for preventing Muslims from praying. Hamas has incited mobs and provoked violence with the intention of framing Israel for ethnic cleansing.
It is important to remember that Hamas' penchant for murder is almost matched by their blundering incompetence, which is partly the reason one out of every three of their rockets crashes into Gaza, where the only possible victims are Palestinian.
This dispute is about Hamas seeing a chance to seize the narrative and increase its own influence and control over Palestinians in Jerusalem. In the coming days, (Times of Israel)
And from an International Law expert- Eugene Kanterovitz
Hamas, Not Israel, Is to Blame for the Latest Bloodshed - Bassem Eid Those who wish to divert attention from Hamas war crimes would like to blame the latest conflict on a complicated legal dispute in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. But this was a private matter between Jews who have a property deed from the 1800s and the residents of four homes who have refused to pay rent. This is little more than a landlord-tenant squabble and cannot be framed as "ethnic cleansing."
Hamas is not fighting for a human rights cause; they are committing war crimes to boost their political standing. Hamas sees a lopsided body count as a positive development, as it allows them to claim that Israel is the aggressive party in the conflict they started.
Western media reporting out of Gaza is not honest. Hamas tightly controls all press access and foreign media have the choice of reporting the news the way Hamas tells them to, or not being allowed into Gaza at all. Almost all of them choose the former.
73 years have passed since Israel was established. Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Sudan, and the UAE all understand that Israel is a permanent feature of the Middle East. Unfortunately, many Arabs, including most Palestinians, still deny this obvious truth.
Obsessing over the Israeli-Palestinian issue has been a disaster for the Arab world: it has held back our development for generations and cost the Palestinian people dearly. Instead of focusing our wealth and talent on creating a better life for us, our leaders have spent decades fighting Israel. (Spectator-UK)
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These words of wisdom should be a warning also to the Israeli Arabs.
An inferno scenario from hell, is not a sane alternative to peaceful coexistence,
More leaders, locally and internationally, should take a firm stand against violence
as per the clip below