Israel: Hamas Versus The Mob

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March 22, 2011: Palestinian terrorists fired yet another rocket into Israel. Over the last four days, at least 56 rockets and mortar shells have been fired from Gaza. Israel has made retaliatory raids each day, destroying weapons workshops, ammo storage sites and tunnels being dug under the Israeli security fence. All this began with the 50 mortar shell barrage on 19th, which was a revenge attack for the death of two Palestinian terrorists in an Israeli raid a week ago. Hamas joined in with some of the attacks, breaking a long truce. It appears that Hamas is trying to divert attention from the increasing number, and size, of anti-Hamas demonstrations in Gaza.

Hamas is not interested in uniting with Fatah unless Hamas is in charge, and does not even want to go through the motions of unity talks unless Fatah accepts that basic demand. Hamas, however, will not say this publically, despite the fact that most Palestinians understand what is going on, and that is why Hamas is beating and arresting pro-unity activists in Gaza. The pretend-talks are for foreign media and diplomats, and mean nothing. Both Fatah and Hamas will only unite under their own terms. At least Fatah is willing to allow free elections, but Hamas has become so unpopular that such elections mean certain defeat for the increasingly radical and aggressive Hamas.

In Lebanon, recent Wikileaks messages that revealed how the Lebanese government had secretly urged Israel to crush Iranian backed Hezbollah, has stirred up the usual bad relations between Hezbollah and politicians representing the majority of Lebanese.

March 21, 2011: The Gaza based Ezzedine al Qassam Brigades, which began the latest round of violence last week by firing dozens of mortar shells into Israel, has offered to stop such attacks if Israel will cease air and ground attacks against it. Israel is unlikely to agree, as no Palestinian terror group has ever carried out the terms of a truce, and boast in their internal documents about not doing so.

March 18, 2011:  Lebanon revealed that they had discovered another Israeli remote camera. Like the two found last December was disguised as a rock and was apparently activated (to transmit its photos) by a UAV overhead. Israel has increased its use of sophisticate sensors, and Information War (attacks on phone and computer networks) in Lebanon, in order to monitor what is going on up there.

March 15, 2011: A large demonstration in Gaza, in favor of a united Palestinian government, was broken up by several hundred Hamas men, who beat any demonstrators who did not flee. Foreign reporters seen filming the incident were later hunted down and attacked or threatened (into not reporting the violence.)

Some 320 kilometers off the Israeli coast, Israeli commandos seized a German freighter and found it was carrying Iranian weapons, apparently destined for Gaza. The ship and crew were taken to an Israeli port for further investigation.  

March 11, 2011: In a West Bank Israeli settlement, someone broke into a house and killed five members of an Israeli family, including five children. Two older children managed to escape the carnage. Palestinians are suspected.  West Bank Palestinian officials officially condemned the attack. Palestinian media ran stories speculating on who else, besides Palestinians, could have committed such a crime. On the street, Palestinians hailed the unnamed Palestinians who stuck a blow for all Palestinians by killing five Jews. This kind of praise is seen and heard daily in Palestinian media, but only in the Arabic versions. Palestinians do not like to discuss this media activity with Westerners.

 

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