Urgent (Rolling) Update: Israeli Ground Forces Reportedly Entering Gaza

Latest update: Gaza: The Israeli Invasion


1:10 a.m. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon calls for immediate cease-fire. CNN prefers to repeat, without analysis, the statement of Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.

1 a.m. Watching Fox News to find out their angle --- They go to their man on the Israel-Gaza border, Mike Tobin, who quite clearly has no decent sources of information and is just making up "news", such as possibility that Hamas set fires to the gas tanks in Gaza --- The media-literate might find a Tobin/Fox News look-a-like in The Day Today's Peter O'Hanra-hanrahan

12:55 p.m. Al Jazeera: US State Department says cease-fire is needed as soon as possible and is concerned about humanitarian situation but says "Hamas is holding Gaza's people hostage"

12:42 p.m. CNN gives 10 minutes to military analyst Retired General David Grange, who says despite "extraordinary precautions" by Israel, Number One risk is civilian casualties --- He says Hamas wants to "induce casualties among its own people" as well as Israeli forces

Why not just identify Grange as "spokesperson for Israeli Defense Forces"?

12:25 a.m. Hamas spokesman says battalion of Israeli commandos surrounded ---5 soldiers killed, 29 injured

12:10 a.m. Israel TV says Gaza gas terminal hit.

12 midnight. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband calls for immediate cease-fire. UN Security Council to meet at 7 p.m. New York time (2 hours from now).

Massive explosion in Rafah.



11:33 p.m. As Israeli troops invaded, Israel jammed Al-Aqsa, Hamas' television station, and posted message, "Hamas --- Your Time is Over".

11:30 p.m. Al Jazeera reports that France has condemned the Israeli invasion. Israeli military says dozens of Gazans killed.

11:15 p.m. West Bank Palestinians on streets of Ramallah condemning invasion and calling on Arab states to respond.

11:10 p.m. UN has now set up shelters for refugees from Gaza fighting.

10:57 p.m. Al Jazeera correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin in Gaza City is very good, making excellent point that Israeli operation may have to attempt reoccupation of all Gaza. Rationale? Because Hamas has better rockets than in recent years, it can put them deeper in the territory. So if Israel wants to remove all the sites, they cannot go for a "limited" operation.

10:39 p.m. Israeli spokesman Mark Regev now talking to Al Jazeera. In response to Mahmoud Abbas's warning of "grave consequences" of Israeli invasion, he holds to the line of an operation responding to Hamas' "terrorism" of rockets. He does not rise to Al Jazeera's bait that Israel "wants to overthrow Hamas", arguing that this is "up to the Palestinian people themselves".

Regev is good: he gets in all the political hyperbole with Hamas as "a totalitarian, Taliban-type regime".

10:37 p.m. CNN's Ben Wedeman is officially hopeless. He passes on Tel Aviv's spin, "Our understanding from Israeli officials is that it's going to be, at least initially, the first stage, is going to be limited in scope," even as Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza City reports a two-pronged Israeli attack, one from east and one into Gaza towns (Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun) in northeast.

10:28 p.m. Al Jazeera reports that airport, in southern Gaza, "destroyed" by Israeli artillery.

10:24 p.m. Israeli state TV says number of Hamas fighters killed.

10:20 p.m. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman tells Al Jazeera that military operation is not "reoccupation" of Gaza, as it is only to destroy "Hamas infrastructure of terror". He then gives away the political aim, however, referring to a "legitimate Palestinian leadership" (Palestinian Authority) that could lead Gaza.

10:10 p.m. Palestinian Authority takes public position of criticising Israel: chief negotiator Saeb Erakat says, "What this will do is undermine the peace process."

10:00 p.m. Brigadier Avi Benayahu on Israeli television: "This won't be a school outing. We are talking about many long days."

9:50 p.m. Israel/Gaza: Ehud Barak, Israeli Defense Minister, is giving a press conference. The aim of the operation is "to force Hamas attacks and to stop its hostile activities....We are not war hungry but we should not allow a situation where our towns ... are constantly targeted by Hamas....It will not be easy or short, but we are determined."

The invading force is "columns" rather than a "column", coming in from four directions into northeastern Gaza.

9:45 p.m. Israel/Gaza: There has been contact between the invading Israeli column and Hamas fighters, according to a witness. Hamas is claiming on Al-Arabiya television that there have been Israeli casualties.

9:15 p.m. Israel/Gaza: Reuters, citing Palestinian witnesses, and Press TV are headlining that a "small Israeli ground force" has entered Gaza. (CNN is headlining but has yet to post story.)

Al Jazeera is reporting that the force is an Israeli armoured column supported by attack helicopters. Apparent objective is to seize sites from where rockets have been fired. Point of entry is in northeastern Gaza, on open land (and site of former Israeli settlements) near Beit Hanoun.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman has told Al Jazeera that ground operation is to continue until "situation on the ground...transformed".

Comments

[Dan Guttman]

As long as Hamas is controlling Gaza, and keeps threatening to destory Israel, and keeps firing rockets at Israeli towns, Israel has every right to defend its citizens.

Palestinians should stop supporting the Hamas terror organization and stop blaming everybody else for the mess they are into in Gaza. Even Egypt gave up of them.

I hope Hamas learns the lesson and start take care of its people, not use them as human shields...

[Foo]

I feel about as much sympathy for the Gaza population as the Germans in WWII... actually, even less sympathy, seeing how Hamas got significantly more of the popular vote than the Nazis did in 1933.

[Addeinius]

When we start analyzing about the stimulus behind the ground operation commenced by the State of Israel, there are a few options in terms of Israel' s self interests while there is no strategic depth against its forces in Gaza and while Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have implicitly approved the general Israeli operation in Gaza:
1- Israel wants to destroy Hamas before the February elections.
2- Israel wants to give a lesson to Hamas that it can not succeed through rocket-launching strategy and has to deal with Israel.
3- Israel wants to give a lesson to Gazans that they should not vote for Hamas again and their future is mainly bound to the decisions given by Israel; not any terrorist party in Gaza.

As for answers:
1- Hamas can not be destroyed. Indeed, if you are waging war against a settlement - 10km in width and 40km in length - where 1.5 million people live, it is not possible to differantiate who is terrorist and who is not. The first tank fire showed that a little boy was killed in the first 10 minutes of the ground operation. Throwing warning messages of quitting Gaza to the population from planes is merely a psychologic war strategy; nothing else. Thus, when you can not know who is terrorist and you are determined to continue an operation, you are bound to fail in shifting the mass support in favor of your "legitimate" side. Shortly, violence in a small city is going to bring a much bigger one. Actually, Gaza' s strategic depth is not as useflul for resistance as it was in Lebanon. It looks that Hamas is disadvantaged in Gaza which is a closed and confined city. However, as Hezbolah had declared in prior to the recent air strikes, it can open a new front from the north of Israel and Iran can benefit from this situation through missiles of Hezbollah. And lastly, if this ground operation takes longer, as Barak has stated so, Hamas can gain much support from the West Bank. Because Fatah knows this and knows that it can be counted as "the advocater of the Devil," Fatah has declared that it will be fighting against Israel with Hamas. At the end of the next two days, if Hamas can succeed in resisting against Israel, I dont think that it will loose the game.

2- It is a fact that Israel can not destroy Hamas and (indeed, for me, it does not want to) ironically Hamas must win the game in order to give up arms and come to the table; but this will lead to a belief that political rights can be won through terrorizing legal boundaries. It will not be what Israel wants. Only if Hamas losed, then it would remain a much more marginalized identity which would continue its illegal fight against Israel which would not be a too bad alternative for Israel too.

3- To make it, Israel has to win the game at first. However, because the operation is a long-term-decided move, Israel is going to loose its both public and international support in the course time along with the commence of other possible fronts against Israel. But, if it can kill the head squad of Hamas in a few days, can give a big damage to Hamas's infrasturctures and retreat as soon as possible, that message still will not be on the correct adress cause a lot of other socio-economic steps are need to gain the sympathy - or let's say neutral position - from Gazans in order to build a strong relationship between Gazans and Israels.

Consequently, if Israel could succeed this in a few days with the least damage in Gaza and build a totally different approach afterwards, the pointer would turn in favor of itself. However, because Israel has not attacked to do so, really harsh days are waiting the Israelis...

Prof Lucas will remember that my point of view was that all this air strikes were a continuation of Israeli domestic affairs as the election is coming up. However, I must admit that it looks that Israel' s recent ground operation looks more like a part of a broad-based operation in the region. Of course this decision was given from Washington and Israel seems like playing the role given to itself. Otherwise, this ground operation is absolutely senseless for Israeli self-interests. This gives us another two consequences: First of all, it is again proven that the US politics are not determined by Israel and Israel has other political gains which we dont know yet in return of this ground operation. As I have said, risking the high possibility of a second military failure since 2006 is not something Kadima and Labour parties can venture. If it was restricted with mere air strikes, my opinions would be the same but it changed now... That is why, Olmert, Lvni and Barak would like to get out with the least damage from Gaza...

[Stef]

As an Israeli I feel R E A L sorry for the civilians in Gaza !
Even more I feel sorry for 8 years of targeting Israeli towns !
Did any of those stupids in gaza thought that there won't be any replay when targeting Water & Electricity plants which suplied gaza ?
How stupid a person can be to ask for strategic aid from people they are shooting at ?
How stupid people can be to start a battle that you can't win ? because you missdjuged the contaparty ? On which you depend for basic supplies ?
There is a limit to humanitarian attitude !! 8 years is more than enough !!!

[Addeinius]

As for the comments,

Yes, Israel has the right to defend its citizens but not every right, including killing people randomly!!!

[Ahmad Ibn Sharmutah]

We are Westernizing and Look What Thanks We Get

1. For the first time we held open Democratic elections to choose which Terrorists would represent us in govt. and you would not recognize our Terrorist govt.

2. We also accept your concept of Freedom of Religion and have been launching Rockets freely from the Mosque in Gaza. And what does Israel do with respect to our Freedom, they blew up the Mosque.

3. We also want to promote Freedom of Speech and Expression. We have been expressing our opinions to the Israelis using Qassams, mortars, and Grads. Look how you Israelis have responded to our Freedom of Speech.

4. We also embraced your Freedom of Press and spent enormous amounts of money staging the deaths of Muhammad Dura, photoshoping other humanitarian disasters to broadcast on our propaganda Networks and Israel blows up our broadcast facilities.

How do you expect us to behave like Western Civilization if this is the way you respond to our attempts?

[winston]

To the ignorant troll behind Ahmad Ibn Sharmutah's comment:

1. The elections which brought Hamas to power were no the first of its kind in Palestine. Secondly, it is incredibly rich to criticise Palestinians for having voted Hamas into power. Israel routinely shuns and ignores Fatah's or any other organisation's attempts to tackle the issue peacefully; Palestinians have been given little option as Israel refuses to negotiate with any Palestinian authority. May I also remind you that Hamas have been involved in significantly fewer attacks on civilian populations than Israel - rocket attacks by Hamas in the last decade have killed fewer civilians than Israel in this wave of hostilities alone. Who do you think is the greater terrorist? The political party with the armed wing which fires inaccurate missiles toward Israeli settlement, killing or maiming people less than 0.1% of the time (4 Israeli citizens have been killed by rockets so far. In the first 7 days of hostilities around 100 rockets were being fired per day - this averages out at a 0.0057% success rate), or the state who indiscriminately fires on one of the most densely over-populated regions on the face of the earth? Israel has a patent disregard for Palestinian life. I do not support the firing of missiles on either side, but it is quite clear to see that Israel has far more to answer for in this conflict.

2. Claims that a mosque in Gaza have been used to fire rockets from are unsubstantiated and most likely false. Given the poor aiming capabilities of the rockets, most of the rockets fired have been from less populated areas in the east of the Strip in order to maximise accuracy potential.

3. With regards to the expression of opinion of Palestinians, see my first point. Israel has persistently ignored and declined the option of meaningful dialogue with any Palestinian organisation.

4. These claims that any Palestinian news network have spent "enormous amounts of money" faking news stories are wholly unsupported by any published fact and are indecent to suggest. The Occupied Palestinian Territories (this is the official name designated by both the UN and the International Court of Justice) are incredibly impoverished and I really suspect this claim that news networks have had money to spare to create any of these apparent elaborate conspiracist hoaxes.

All in all the aforementioned post is unsubstantiated, ignorant and hateful nonsense.

[Ahmad Ibn Sharmutah]

To the ignorant misanthropic uniformed troll Hamas [edited by moderator] defender:

1. You never get around to noting that Israel has conducted less than a thousand air strikes in response to over 7,000 Hamas rocket attacks since 2005. Disproportionality is Hamas forte. Mosques, hospitals, schools etc. are being used to store weapons. Proof? I'll provide when you do for even a single one of your ridiculous claims.

2. Hamas’s war aim is entirely out of proportion to Israel’s. Israel wants to halt the incoming rocket fire, while Hamas seeks the destruction or evacuation of Israel.

3. How come the people complaining about disproportionate responses never protest when Israel trades a couple hundred Palestianian prisoners for the dead bodies of one or two Israeli soldiers?

Actually, Israel has proven their willingness to engage in negotiations to resolve this conflict. See: Peace Treaties with Egypt & Jordan. Hamas, however, are NOT remotely interested in dialogue let alone peace. Your post entails willing ignorance and vitriol. All the best.

[Muslims Against Sharia]

Let us pray for the safety of Palestinian civilians who held hostages by Hamas and the safety of Israeli soldiers. May this campaign end swiftly and may Hamas be destroyed.

http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2009/01/israel-invades-gaza-in-attempt-to.html" rel="nofollow">http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2009/01/israel-invades-gaza-in-attempt-to.html

[winston]

Ahmad:

1. Are you joking? The individual rocket attacks under Hamas (I don't know how you attribute this to Hamas back to 2005 when Hamas came to power in 2006) can hardly be compared equally to Israel's air bombardment. The Qassam rockets used in the attacks against Israel are dreadfully ineffective and by no means comparable to the F-16 bombing employed by Israel. What's more is that the areas in Israel vulnerable to rocket attacks are by no means comparable to those in the Gaza strip. As I have already mentioned, the Gaza strip is one of the most densely over-populated regions on the entire planet. Furthermore it would be helpful what exactly you mean by "air strikes". Do you mean the number of munitions Israel has dropped on Gaza? I'd be incredibly surprised if this was the number of individual munitions dropped on Gaza given that over 2,500 Palestinians have been injured so far.

2. The apparently common concept in the Western media that Hamas seeks to destroy Israel is a myth. Hamas recognises Israel, and there is no such passage in its manifesto that calls for the elimination of Israel, though it used to.

3. I can't actually recall an occasion when "a couple hundred Palestinian prisoners" have been traded for the "dead bodies of one or two Israeli soldiers". Perhaps you could enlighten us here?

And for the record, I'm not defending Hamas, I'm criticising Israel's incredibly aggressive, inhumane and ultimately stupid actions.

[Muslims Against Sharia]

(edited by moderator)

winston,

A [person] who is unaware of the occasion when “a couple hundred Palestinian prisoners” have been traded for the “dead bodies of one or two Israeli soldiers" has no business calling anyone else ignorant or discuss Gaza for that matter.

[Ahmad Ibn Sharmutah]

To Winston

You apparently are not even remotely familiar with Hamas, its Charter or the most vile anti-semitism which Hamas expresses on a regular basis of the Nazi variety.

Highlights of Hamas Charter [NEVER retracted whatsoever]:

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."

"The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. "

"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."

"After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying."

In 2002 the Hamas monthly Falastin Al-Muslima published a series of articles by Ibrahim Al-'Ali on how Allah punished the Jews by transforming them into animals such as "apes, pigs, mice, and lizards".

Sheik Yunus al-Astal, a Hamas legislator and imam, in a column in the weekly newspaper Al Risalah in 2008 discussed a Koranic verse suggesting that "suffering by fire is the Jews' destiny in this world and the next." Astal concluded "Therefore we are sure that the Holocaust is still to come upon the Jews.

"We will not rest until we destroy the Zionist entity" said Hamas leader Fathi Hammad in Gaza on Friday January 2nd 2009 - quoted by the BBC and numerous media sources.

In 2003 Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi published an article in the Hamas weekly Al-Risala in which he called the Holocaust "the false Holocaust" and "the greatest of lies". In this article Rantisi expressed support to Holocaust deniers Roger Garaudy, David Irving, Gerd Honsik, and Fredrick Töben, and to the idea that the gas chambers were a myth. Rantisi also stated that "the Nazis received tremendous financial aid from the Zionist banks and monopolies, and this contributed to their rise to power", and accused the Jewish owned Berlin-based investment bank Mendelssohn & Co. of funding the Nazis, calling it a "Zionist bank".

The above is just the tip of the iceberg.

Anyone who claims Hamas recognizes Israel is completely unaware of the facts, to put it mildly (or to avoid editing by the moderator).