Gaza details: Hamas sinking

How Badly Has Hamas Been Hurt in Gaza? -Tim McGirk

The Israelis say they have identified more than 400 known Hamas militants among the Gazans that Palestinian sources say have been killed in the fighting.

One thing is certain. Every symbol of Hamas rule in Gaza, every government building, police station and office block, has been replaced by a very large hole.
(TIME)


Hamas Is Damaged But Reluctant to Concede -Roni Sofer

Israel Security Agency head Yuval Diskin noted, "There is clear evidence of Gaza residents refusing to have rocket launchers placed next to their homes." This suggests that Gaza residents [may be] beginning to rethink their leadership.
(Ynet News)


It's Not Israel's Fault It Has a Well-Run Army -Yoel Marcus

If Israel had not acted now, we would have woken up one morning to find missiles in Tel Aviv, special delivery from Iran via the Philadelphi tunnels.

The operation is not a reprisal raid but a defensive war meant to clip Hamas' wings before it surprises us with a Palestinian version of the Yom Kippur War.
(Ha'aretz)


Hamas Leaders Hide in Foreign Missions

Hamas officials reject Israeli insinuations that their behavior is cowardly. Hamas parliamentarian Mushir al-Masri said: "Martyrdom is our dearest wish, but God has ordered us not to pose ourselves as easy prey for our enemies."
(Reuters)


Hamas Hides in Red Crescent Ambulances -Yaakov Katz

A senior military officer who is commanding forces fighting inside Gaza said that Hamas terrorists hiding inside Red Crescent ambulances were trying to cross the IDF line separating northern Gaza from the south.
(Jerusalem Post)


The Hamas Strategy to Defend Gaza -Azmi Keshawi, Martin Fletcher & Sheera Frenkel

[A] man wearing an explosives belt sprang from a side alley in Jabaliya as an Israeli patrol walked past. They shot him seconds before he could detonate himself.

Early in the ground war a suicide bomber ran up to a lone Israeli bomb dismantler and literally hugged him as he blew them both up. There have been several such attacks, two by women.
(Times-UK)


Iran: Don't Accept Egyptian Truce -Khaled Abu Toameh

Iran is exerting heavy pressure on Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel. "The Iranians threatened to stop weapons supplies and funding to the Palestinian factions if they agreed to a cease-fire with Israel."
(Jerusalem Post)


Palestinian Rockets Leave 28 Israeli Families Homeless -Zvi Lavi

Since the beginning of the Gaza operation, 28 Israeli families have become homeless after Palestinian rockets destroyed their apartments or homes.
(Ynet News)