Israel has launched into a ground offensive into Gaza.
Israeli Ground Forces Cross Border Into Gaza Strip
Saturday, January 03, 2009
DEVELOPING: Israeli ground forces began moving across the border into the northern Gaza Strip in an escalation late Saturday night of the weeklong offensive against Hamas.
Israeli defense officials told FOX News that 20 Hamas militants had been killed in the incursion so far.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the new offensive was the “second phase” of its battle to disable Hamas while pledging to protect Palestinian civilians. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel’s campaign “won’t be easy and it won’t be short.”
Nope. The “easy” way would be to heed the voice of “world opinion” and just lay down and bare their throats to the Muslim extremist knives. Hamas has stated in public documents that one of their goals is the destruction of the nation of Israel and Jews. Hamas has control of Gaza. Hamas has used Gaza as a training base of terrorists. Hamas has launched indiscriminate rocket attacks at targets within Israel. Israel has a DUTY to its citizens to protect them. Therefore, Israel MUST go into Gaza, including a ground assault.
“We do not seek war but we will not abandon our citizens to the ongoing Hamas attacks,” Barak said in a televised address.
Pretty much the way I see it…
Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip had intensified Saturday evening, setting the stage for the incursion that comes despite international efforts to secure a cease-fire and avert a ground war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel launched the aerial campaign a week ago in a bid to halt weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. The offensive has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas, but failed to halt the rocket fire.
Israel has caught quite a few of Hamas’ top people, but being a “top person” in Hamas isn’t necessarily a matter of superior education and management skills. You need to be a particularly vocal whack-job, and Hamas in specific and the Islamist movement in general is sufeit with mouthy whack-jobs.
No amount of “international efforts” is going to stop Hamas from doing exactly what they state is a goal of their organization: the destruction of Israel. If any of their “leaders” is foolish enough to acquiesce to “international efforts”, then there are plenty of radicals to step in and take up the torch. WE saw that with that homosexual sh*thead Yassir Arafat. When he softened his tone on the world stage, there were a herd of radicals ready to step in and actively and vocally “lead” the “Palestinians” in their continuing terror campaigns.
The aim of the ground offensive “is to make a dramatic change in the circumstances on the ground, whereby Israeli citizens on our side of the border will be able to resume living normally,” Israeli Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog told FOX News.
“Right now we’ve started a ground operation, which is aimed at preventing missile launchings against Israel from various sites in Gaza Strip,” Herzog said. “It may take time Hamas will try to show in their arrogant way that they are still around, and our aim is to protect our citizens like any normal society would do.”
No government worth its salt is going to do any less.
Into the night Saturday, heavy Israeli artillery fire hit east of Gaza City, in locations were Hamas fighters were deployed. The artillery shells were apparently intended to detonate Hamas explosive devices and mines planted along the border area before troops marched in.
Gun battles could be heard, as troops crossed the border into Gaza. Local TV networks broadcast images of troops marching single file. The troops were also backed by helicopter gunships.
Aside from our own folks, I cannot think of a more capable military on the planet than the Israelis. They have the technology. They have the training. And they have the motivation. I wouldn’t want to pick a fight with them.
But nobody ever accused Hamas of having common sense:
An SMS message sent by Hamas’ military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, said that “the Zionists started approaching the trap which our fighters prepared for them.
Yeah, yeah, yeah… They’re gonna beat the Israeli fist bloody with their Hamas nose…
Hamas said it also broadcast a Hebrew message on Israeli military radio frequencies promising to kill and kidnap the Israeli soldiers.
“Be prepared for a unique surprise, you will be either killed or kidnapped and will suffer mental illness from the horrors we will show you,” the message said.
I have no doubt that the Israelis will see horrors as Hamas uses their typical tactic of hiding behind women and children as they fight. But that’s all Hamas has. There’s no way they could come close to winning the fight. All they can do is parade a willing international media through the blood of their own people and try to make Israel to be the aggressor.
. . .
From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks against Israeli targets, and on Friday, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said from Damascus that his group was prepared for an invasion and may attempt to abduct soldiers, as it has in the past.
This is in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention, but nobody seems to think that Hamas can even READ the thing, much less have a thought about applying it to their war.
And so the story goes. I hope that Israel does a particularly complete job of fighting their enemy.