Saturday
Dec272008
Breaking News: Israeli Attacks Kill More than 100 in Gaza
Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 11:45
Last week we projected, as the Hamas-Israel truce ended, that the cycle of rocket attacks and Israeli raids would spiral.
The wait is over. After an escalation in the rockets across the border, with the deadly irony that it was two Palestinian schoolgirls who were killed when a missile misfired, the Israeli Defense Forces launched their own deadly strikes against "a series of Hamas targets and infrastructure facilities".
The Israelis are leading with the claim that the Hamas police chief is dead. Information from medical sources and officials in Palestine indicate 120 have been killed and more than 250 wounded.
UPDATE: Scott has posted a more in-depth analysis here.
The wait is over. After an escalation in the rockets across the border, with the deadly irony that it was two Palestinian schoolgirls who were killed when a missile misfired, the Israeli Defense Forces launched their own deadly strikes against "a series of Hamas targets and infrastructure facilities".
The Israelis are leading with the claim that the Hamas police chief is dead. Information from medical sources and officials in Palestine indicate 120 have been killed and more than 250 wounded.
UPDATE: Scott has posted a more in-depth analysis here.
tagged Al Jazeera, CNN, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Israeli Defense Forces, Palestine in Middle East & Iran
Al Jazeera, CNN, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Israeli Defense Forces, Palestine in Middle East & Iran
Reader Comments (95)
So who has the true power to terrorize:
a- Hamas w/ +60 rockets/day that does not even extend more than few miles into the state of Israel or
b- Israel with who has in its arsenal nukes, laser guided bombs, cluster bombs (remember Lebanon 2006 huh!), high-resolution satellite imaging, F-16s and what not?
Don't get me wrong, I am against all forms of terrorism, but it offends my intelligence and hurts my soul to listen the crap pro-Israeli propaganda about defending itself...
Are you guys loathing yourselves so much that you must lie yourselves so blatantly!
Only sick people can enjoy watching innocent or guilty people die. Great example of what religion can do to the convictions and the morality of human beings.
In my book, both sides have extremists. Both side have terrorists (even if only one side had one that killed it's own head of state) and both sides have a majority that want peace and are light years away from the nuts that posted comments enjoying the death of people.
And both sides are being highjacked by the minority I described above.
Peace will come when both sides accept their own crimes and reject their own extremist. It is obvious this time has not arrived yet.
And please, give me a fu...ng break with the use of the word terrorist. Total abuse of this word.
From a self hating jew and self hating palestinian and self hating human...
they stole the palenstines lands.. killed them.. kicked them out from their homes, burned their school and hospitals..
who is the terrorist?????
the holyland is palestine land not israeli!!
they stole it! but its not for them!
the time has come after 8 years of attacks!!!! Good luck IDF
More than 5000 rockets have been fired at Israel in the past 3 years; 200 in
the past 20 days.
This is another reminder to please keep comments constructive. Debate is good, causing offence isn't.
I'd also like to suggest that everyone read Scott's longer post on the current situation in Gaza here:
http://enduringamerica.com/2008/12/27/peace-on-earth-goodwill-to-all-men-except-in-gaza/
Thanks for reading, MD
Thank you Israel for finally striking back. Is it horrible that people had the die in the strike? Yes, all people who value human life know that. Unfortunately, Israel is in a war, and Israel has conducted a very humane war to be sure. When the US bombed Tokyo after Pearl Harbor, do you think only members of the Japanese military were killed?
Unfortunately, this is the reality when you have an enemy that only understands bloodshed. Sadly, we have people who still honestly believe the Islamic psychopaths when they hold up their hands and say 'We're innocent and just want our homes back!!' Please, please, please, people who believe in that, please research the curriculum that is taught in Hamas sponsered schools. You'd be amazed.
To all who claim that Israel is using disproportionate force are you trying to say Israel is only allowed to kill as many Palestinians as Palestinians kill Israelis? The Palestinians launch rockets and missiles at Israel. Israel warned them to stop for several days and then counter striked. It isn't Israel's fault that they have more accurate and powerful missiles. All this could have been avoided if Hamas were to stop attacking missiles. Israel needs to launch more attacks in my opinion, once Hamas has been defeated there will be no more attacks. Don't forget it was the Palestinians who broke the ceasefire-they attacked Christians who were on there way to Bethlehem!!
Didn't we execute untold numbers of nazis for so-called "war crimes" and one of the reasons was collective punishment, targeting civilians and not military targets?
Yet some savages posted above me praise this savagery and this double standard.
I'm a US citizen, but I can't wait for 2009 and the collapse of the US so we can no longer support those animals in israel, pakistan, africa, and eastern europe.
These people disgust me, this is all nothing but a big taunt to the arab world to come defend the palestinians so they can fullfil their bullshit egyptian religious prophecy of ruling the world.
My heart goes to Palestinians. May God help them. And people with comments like "go israel" you are f***** monsters!!!!!!!!! Or just plain stupid for thinking that encouraging israel to propagate hate will benefit anybody.
God will damn israel for this.
It's about time Israel attack. There are alot of countreys who condemn Israel's steps with no reason.
There is no other countrey in the world who wont respond to aggression against it's people!! Can you think of someone lunching rockets to Manchester or Paris and gets away with it? NO WAY! Israel have the right to respond and should keep doing it FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKE for Hamas to understand he cant continue with his actions.
One more thing. As always, Hamas is attacking, and lunching rockets so Sderot and Ashkelon, but when Israel attacks him in return he gives his usuall "We didnt do anything and every one attacks us, mercy on us" show.
DONT BUY IT!
The ONLY REASON why the people in Gaza lives in those bad conditions is becouse of the Hamas. It's a fanatic group, one who dosnt care about it's people and the hate for Israel and the western-culture it's their only fuel.
GALIA why wont you and your family move the live in Sderot for a few months?
Then you'll understand the situation.
Hamas shots rockets ALL DAY LONG at Israel citys! What will you say to the citizens of Israel who spend HOURS A DAY in shalter? what will you say to those who go killed and inj?
The big diffrence between Hamas attacks and Israel attacks is that Israel attack 'rockets lubs' and 'explosive warhouse' - while Hamas attack whoever he can!
Emi,
Please research the curriculum taught by the settlers in the occupied land of paelstine's school and you will be as or more amazed.
Focusing on the extremist from the ennemy side and ignoring the extremist of your friends is a sterile exercise that will only benefit the ones you hate.
We have a living proof today, don't we?
[Removed by moderator]
From a middle east self hater that believes today is a sad day.
Orel,
Can the Eintsein in you explain to us, miserable ignorants, what other way the Hamas could use against Israel from the largest jail exisitng on this planet?
I agree they could accept their living conditions in Gaza, they could accept the settlements in the West Bank, they could accept to say: Yes master, you are so kind to make live in my misery.
But the question is: what you do if you were a palestinian living in Gaza or the West bank?
Nobody will deny that extremist exist on both sides of the conflict. JCruz needs to study the conflict a bit more before he starts asking for Jews to be executed. Israel goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties..that doesn't mean they havent killed civilians but name me a conflict where no civilians were ever killed! It should be noted that Hamas fires rockets from playgrounds and schools. According to international law these save zones lose their status when they become conflict zones. If Hamas didn't operate from schools Israel wouldn't blow them up. Also keep in mind that a majority of Israeli deaths are civilians when a majority of Palestinian deaths are militants...think about that....Its oblivious which side likes to kill civilians! The U.S. sides with Israel b/c were recognize intent....Palestinians target Israeli civilians while Israel targets Palestinian militants!
As a person or Hindu origin, I am sad to hear about this attack as many innocent people have lost their lives on both sides. I have always been an advocate of non-violence, however my view has been changed, Islamic terrorists can't be reasoned with, only full retaliation gets their attention. I sympathize and rationalize Israel’s attack policy. In India we have had 300 years of constant Islamic terrorism before the British colonialist and 50 years after Independence from Pakistan. We have not attacked back and this has made us appear to be a weak target and have attacks every now and then - Mumbai being the most recent. There are small attacks every week in the rest of India which don’t get press coverage. I can only imagine how bad Israel has it. Let me clarify one thing for people, Islamic jihad is not a political movement, it is a “religious” movement. Islamic radicals want to convert the world to Islam, listen carefully to people like Osama and the rest of these Jihadis, they want to convert people to Islam and are willing to do so by force. Even in places like Thailand, Islamic terrorists have been butchering the peaceful Thai Buddhists. There are even instance where they have gone and shot Buddhist monks - these are individuals who are nonviolent and will not even retaliate. I always hear Muslims voice outrage about Palestine and any attack on Muslims, but they never talk about the wrongs Muslims have done. In India over a million Hindu Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their land when Muslim terrorists where butchering them in the 90s while the Indian government as useless as it is did nothing. In Pakistan and Bangladesh Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians are treated like animals, they are routinely denied their rights, women are raped and forcibly converted, and children kidnapped and killed, places of worship are attacked and looted. Look at the example of the Taleban blowing up Buddhist statues that date back a thousand years. Treatment of minorities in other Muslim dominant countries like Malaysia and Indonesia is very similar. A poll in Britain of Muslims showed that over 90% hoped to have an Islamic Britain, Muslim imams are telling their followers to have more children so they can become the majority in Britain. Indians have seen what 50 years of non-violent response to Islamic terrorism has been -> more Islamic terrorism. Israel is doing the right thing, Islamic radicals cannot be reasoned with him, if they expect victims of there terrorist activity to sit quietly and take it, they are in for a surprise - just like the one Israel has given. I am like the majority of Americans in not being a great fan of George Bush, but give him credit for one major good he has done, he has prevented another Islamic terrorist act on American soil.
When Arabs are slaughters nobody cares, you can even find some self-righteous people cheering for it.
If your president did something stupid would you justify it if your enemy shot rocketsd at your house and killed all of your family?
ISrael has always been a state of terror and today's events prove it
Brainwashed,
As long as Palestinians use terrorist methods such as targeting civilian areas and blowing up buses of men, women, and children they will remain in the state they are today. Israel has their foot on the Palestinians throat...if they Palestinians want the situation to change they need to use diplomacy. The UN, along with the US, will get the most of the settlements removed as well as the wall; however until the Palestinians stop using terroristic methods nobody will do anything for the Palestinians. As long as Israel is threatened the US will never pressure them to step down. Peace will come when the rockets stop. A majority of the Israeli population is for the settlements being removed-Israeli police have hauled away Jews settlers from illegal outpost. But don't get than the rockets started firing when Israel left Gaza!! If Israel were to open their boarders with the Palestinians past history shows us that Palestinian terrorist use the opportunity to launch more attacks. Israel must choke Palestine for their own safety.
When Arabs are slaughtered nobody cares, you can even find some self-righteous people cheering for it.
If your president did something stupid would you justify it if your enemy shot rocketsd at your house and killed all of your family?
ISrael has always been a state of terror and today's events prove it
Matt,
Everybody knows it, but only a ridicoulous tiny few take action against the ones from Israel. Your comment is a living proof.
Regarding your comment regarding Tsahal going great length to avoid civilian casualties, excuse-me if I'm skeptical but I do not believe that the geographic and demographic reality in Gaza allows pin point accuracy bombing from an F-16.
And I'm not talking about a 2 ton bomb that was dropped a few years ago because it was a stupid military mistake.
I am talking about any airborne action on an area with a density more than 10 000 people per square mile.
Common sense will make you realize the stupidity of such a claim.
Brainwashed, I tried to understand your words you said that Hamas is attacking Israel with rockets and this is okay because the Palestinians don't live that good in Gaza strip?
So the way to solve this is to attack with rockets?!?
And:
1)Why do you think they live in bad conditions? Because of the Hamas!
2)I am sure you know that without Israel's help Gaza strip wouldn't look like it is now.
Who is giving Gaza strip Water, electricity, food, fuel, humanitarian help, cach for their banks? Tell me who? The answer is ISRAEL!!!
Israel is doing so much for the Palestinians that live in Gaza that are suffering because of the Hamas and this what you people think?
I really don't care anymore what the world will think. Yes, I saw all those pictures of people in Gaza with blood and everything. I am not happy. This is a WAR not a joke. There are casualties from both sides. Look at the whole picture and not only on the Palestians. Hamas brought it to themselve. They stopped the ceasfire and started launchin rockets on Israel. I have only one thing to tell the Hamas and the Palestinians that elected the Hamas: I am really sorry that innocent people may be injured but if you want a normal life you MUST understand that this is the only way Hamas will understand and launching 60 rockets on Israel daily and expecting Israel to do nothing is not an option.
Hareega,
It isn't that we don't care but rather we don't blame others for Arab mistakes. The Palestinians declared the ceasefire over, the Palestinians launched rockets and mortar attacks against Israeli civilians. The Palestinians voted Hamas into power. Hamas wants to battle Israel...fine but the dead Arabs aren't dead b/c of Israeli policy but rather Hamas policy. Israel did do the killing but only after Hamas left them with no choice but to respond to attacks. You say Israel has always been a terrorist state? How, they were created by a UN resolution. It was the Arab nations, all six of them surrounding, that attacked Israel. Israel came into existence wanting peace but its neighbors wanted war...they got what they wanted they just didn't know they were gonna lose the battle...because of that i have little sympathy for the Palestinian leaders. I hate the fact that innocent children wither they be Arab or Jewish or any race are being killed everyday but you have to understand i hold those who instigated everything responsible. I hold the Palestinians forces responsible. They are killing Arabs and Jews and don't care about anybody but themselves.
The apartheid and racist Israeli regime and the governments of the so called free world have once again shown their contempt towards Palestinian men, women, and children. Happy Holidays, everybody…
Israel's attacks that killed 200 (mostly civilians) people in Gaza would be the equivalent of killing over 40,000 Americans. Disproportionate force? Absolutely! With all of the [US-funded] technology in the Israeli army, I find it hard to believe that they can't be more precise in their attacks. Israel has done nothing more than ensure that an entire generation of young Palestinians would like to see it disintegrated.
Brainwashed,
I agree that it is nearly impossible to avoid civilian deaths in such a densely populated area but don't deny either that Hamas has as a policy used that for tactical use. I'm not expecting them to march at Israeli forces on an open battle field b/c i know that would be suicide. However, launching an attack from school playgrounds is inexcusable. Have you read the stories about Israeli schools being hit with those rockets? Luckily the classrooms have been evacuated in time but what happens if sometime in the future they don't evacuate the school in time and 50 Israeli children and killed? I don't believe any child is worth more or less than another now but i'm also a realist i know that Israel will launch a complete invasion of Palestine if such a thing were to happen. Israel has to respond to the rocket attacks, if they just let them occur without a response then one day a classroom full of Israeli children will be hit and you will see thousands of Palestinians die in the counter strike. This war is a no win situation for Palestine! They cannot win tactically they must seek to marshal word opinion to their side but that won't happen as long as they launch rockers at Israeli civilians.
"When Arabs are slaughtered nobody cares, you can even find some self-righteous people cheering for it. "
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When the Israeli government did not stop a Lebanese massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982, huge crowds of Israeli Jews came together to protest their country's moral failing. Why has there been no comparable public demonstration by Palestinians or other Muslims to morally condemn Palestinian or other Muslim-committed terror?