Israeli Troops Deep Inside Gaza -Dan Williams
The teeming city of Gaza is encircled by Israeli forces and pounded by the air force as part of a campaign to counter Palestinian rocket fire. Having bisected the strip by straddling its main roads, Israeli troops [pictured above] are probing ever deeper into Gaza's population centers, trying to draw out Palestinian gunmen, while waiting for the government to decide whether to order a full-on assault.
(Reuters)
American Public Backs Israel Firmly in War with Hamas -William Douglas
The American people are squarely behind Israel and overwhelmingly think that using force against Hamas is appropriate, according to a new McClatchy/Ipsos poll.
(McClatchy)
Israel Feels No Pressure to End Gaza Operation -Roni Sofer
Prime Minister Olmert has made it clear that Israel does not face any pressure to end the campaign in Gaza, a senior official in Jerusalem told Ynet Tuesday.
"We don't want to see another Resolution 1701 like we did in Lebanon," he said. "We don't want to find ourselves tomorrow, in two days, or in five or 10 years facing a terror organization armed with missiles that cover the whole of Israel."
"We are not seeking an exit, but rather, success," he said.
(Ynet News)
48 Hours after Wedding, IDF Soldier Critically Wounded in Gaza
-Nadav Shragai, Dana Weiler-Polak, & Nir Hasson
Two weeks ago, 2nd Lt. Aharon Karov got leave from his paratroop unit so he could attend his own wedding. Less than 48 hours after marrying Tzviya Mordechai, he was called back to his unit, and was critically wounded in an explosion in a booby-trapped house in northern Gaza.
(Ha'aretz)
The Gaza-Egypt Smuggling Tunnels Must Be Closed -Dore Gold
When Israelis look back on what caused the current conflict in Gaza, they point to their government's decision in September 2005 to leave the narrow "Philadelphi Route" that runs along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula [click on map above for larger view]. More than Israel's disengagement from the Strip as a whole, the abandonment of this strategic area made full-scale war inevitable.
Israelis are concerned that even if Hamas is defeated militarily, its stocks of rockets will be fully replenished by Iran in a matter of months unless the tunnels under the Philadelphi Route are addressed. That is precisely what happened with Hizbullah after the 2006 Lebanon War. There is an added concern that Iran will supply rockets that reach well beyond the 40-kilometer range. In the next war, Hamas could strike Tel Aviv from inside the Gaza Strip.
But the crisis over the Philadelphi Route has taught Israel a bitter lesson about relinquishing critical territory: It was a cardinal error to leave this strategic zone at the perimeter of Gaza, even if Israel wanted to get out of the Strip in its entirety. Israeli leaders including Yitzhak Rabin [of blessed memory] have warned that Israel must never leave the Jordan Valley, the equivalent perimeter zone in the West Bank.
(Wall Street Journal)
The teeming city of Gaza is encircled by Israeli forces and pounded by the air force as part of a campaign to counter Palestinian rocket fire. Having bisected the strip by straddling its main roads, Israeli troops [pictured above] are probing ever deeper into Gaza's population centers, trying to draw out Palestinian gunmen, while waiting for the government to decide whether to order a full-on assault.
(Reuters)
American Public Backs Israel Firmly in War with Hamas -William Douglas
The American people are squarely behind Israel and overwhelmingly think that using force against Hamas is appropriate, according to a new McClatchy/Ipsos poll.
(McClatchy)
Israel Feels No Pressure to End Gaza Operation -Roni Sofer
Prime Minister Olmert has made it clear that Israel does not face any pressure to end the campaign in Gaza, a senior official in Jerusalem told Ynet Tuesday.
"We don't want to see another Resolution 1701 like we did in Lebanon," he said. "We don't want to find ourselves tomorrow, in two days, or in five or 10 years facing a terror organization armed with missiles that cover the whole of Israel."
"We are not seeking an exit, but rather, success," he said.
(Ynet News)
48 Hours after Wedding, IDF Soldier Critically Wounded in Gaza
-Nadav Shragai, Dana Weiler-Polak, & Nir Hasson
Two weeks ago, 2nd Lt. Aharon Karov got leave from his paratroop unit so he could attend his own wedding. Less than 48 hours after marrying Tzviya Mordechai, he was called back to his unit, and was critically wounded in an explosion in a booby-trapped house in northern Gaza.
(Ha'aretz)
The Gaza-Egypt Smuggling Tunnels Must Be Closed -Dore Gold
When Israelis look back on what caused the current conflict in Gaza, they point to their government's decision in September 2005 to leave the narrow "Philadelphi Route" that runs along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula [click on map above for larger view]. More than Israel's disengagement from the Strip as a whole, the abandonment of this strategic area made full-scale war inevitable.
Israelis are concerned that even if Hamas is defeated militarily, its stocks of rockets will be fully replenished by Iran in a matter of months unless the tunnels under the Philadelphi Route are addressed. That is precisely what happened with Hizbullah after the 2006 Lebanon War. There is an added concern that Iran will supply rockets that reach well beyond the 40-kilometer range. In the next war, Hamas could strike Tel Aviv from inside the Gaza Strip.
But the crisis over the Philadelphi Route has taught Israel a bitter lesson about relinquishing critical territory: It was a cardinal error to leave this strategic zone at the perimeter of Gaza, even if Israel wanted to get out of the Strip in its entirety. Israeli leaders including Yitzhak Rabin [of blessed memory] have warned that Israel must never leave the Jordan Valley, the equivalent perimeter zone in the West Bank.
(Wall Street Journal)
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