Gaza Clashes: Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Friday opened artillery and gun fire on a group of four Palestinians rigging explosives near the Gaza border. Two of Palestinians were killed. Following the incident Hamas’s Khaled Meshal, in an interview with London-based Al Hayat newspaper, threatened that a new conflict would not be limited to Gaza.
Israel Tries to Cut Off Gaza Enquiry: The Jerusalem Post has learned that the response Israel gave to United Nations on the investigations it is conducting into Operation Cast Lead seeks to deter UN action.
“Israel feels the report it gave was a serious, comprehensive, credible and complete answer to the UN secretary-general,” one senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Another war is looming in the Middle East, say the pundits. It is hard to ignore the whispers — now louder — when they are regularly punctuated by hostile statements from various officials in the region, leading further credence to a possible conflagration.
The likely site of the newest regional battle is the Levant. Funnily enough, nobody can pinpoint exactly where, although it is clear that Israel will be involved. Which should tell us something right there.
Since the Jewish state’s military attack on Lebanon in 2006, it has been itching for a “do-over.” Why? Because for the first time in its history, Israel did not win a war. The month-long bombardment of Lebanon resulted in a stalemate — an intolerable outcome by the standards of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
To add to the indignity, it was a mere few thousand men — not even a national army — that took the IDF by surprise.
The cornerstone of Israel’s military strategy is deterrence — whether though brandishing a nuclear arsenal to warn off threatening nation-states, or by Gaza-style intensive attacks that send a strong message to a weaker party. This is a highly militarized state that has lived under the legacy of conflict its entire existence. Loss — or even perceived loss — is not an option.
On Thursday, a bomb was detonated near an Israeli Embassy convoy in Amman, Jordan. According to Israel’s Channel 2, the convoy was entering a Jordanian army base. The spokeswoman at the Israeli Embassy in Amman, Merav Horsendi, confirmed the incident and added, “All I can say now is that everyone is fine.”
So far, no organization immediately claimed responsibility for the failed attack. Israeli chatter, however, is focusing on Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The Jerusalem Post reports that, following the failed attempt to bomb the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan last year, the Israeli defense establishment has been on high alert over Hezbollah. In particular, Israel was watching for a strike on an Israeli target ahead of the 3rd anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Imad Fayez Mughniyeh death.
A new operation against Hamas is being discussed by Israeli officials, media institutions and citizens. There are two very different options: 1) hitting Hamas in a military operation even bigger than last year’s Operation Cast Lead to give a “better” lesson and open the border or 2) trying to have a dialogue, fostering economic development in Gaza.
Following “hawkish” statements by the Israeli military, The Jerusalem Post claimed that the Israeli Defense Forces are prepared to take control of the Philadelphi Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip and deploy military forces in it, a plan which was shelved ahead of the offensive in December 2008 by the Olmert Government. It is alleged that Hamas has dug several hundred tunnels under this 14-kilometer strip of land to smuggle weapons and explosives.
In contrast, an editorial in Haaretz, contends, “Israel needs to re-think of its Gaza strategy before it is too late.” Instead of an additional economic embargo and military force, which have failed to ensure Israel’s security and ease Gazans’ poor living conditions, crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip should be opened and an economic initiative should be pursued. Here is the full article:
Last Wednesday, its ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, rebuffed Washington’s “two-year time frame”: “In the past, attempts to impose time frameworks have not proved either realizable or helpful.”
For Oren, the framework of talks should include security for Israel, recognition of the nation as a Jewish state, and an end-of-claims conclusion to the talks. Oren said this would be “a statement of what Israel’s goals are and what the Palestinians’ goals are, even if the assumption is that they wouldn’t be immediately confluent”. Referring to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement following PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of a 10-month construction freeze , Oren stated that “these goals can be reconciled through good-faith negotiations.”
Clinton had said: “We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements.”
Iran: We’ve caught up with all the latest news this evening on our LiveBlog.
Josh Shahryar lets loose his frustrations at Will Heaven: “Next time, if you’re going to write on this subject, please, inform yourself about the many terms you used and try to show the real picture.” Scott Lucas offers another perspective with a tribute to the bravery of two Iranian Twitterers no longer with us.
Videos from last night’s international football game between Singapore and Iran are posted in a special section. Iranian State TV reportedly cut the soundtrack to block the sound of the very political, pro-green, chants being heard throughout the stadium.
Israel/Palestine: EA’s Ali Yenidunya analyses the various statements and asks whether change could be in the air over the peace talks.
Israel: We report on an article in today’s Jerusalem Post which compares and contrasts the current Prime Minister Netanyahu with former PM Ariel Sharon.
Gaza: Following a call from Hamas rulers on Wednesday, protesting at the delay of an international aid convoy, a policeman has died and many activists have been injured following clashes between them and Egyptian forces.
One PA official stated that Netanyahu was now apparently ready to recognize the pre-1967 borders as the basis for future talks and was ready to swap territory between the two countries. He added, “We’re beginning to hear new things from Israel. For the first time an Israeli government is willing to negotiate with us on the basis of the 1967 borders, and this is an encouraging move.”
“Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could be relaunched as early as February,” added another PA official in Ramallah.
Meanwhile, Egyptian sources told the Cairo-based daily Al-Ahram on Monday that Barack Obama’s administration will put forward a plan whereby Israel would commit itself to the establishment of a Palestinian state within two years of the launch of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. Read the rest of this entry »
An article by The Jerusalem Post’s Gil Hoffman questions Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire for peace and accuses him of being a student of the “Sharon school of thought”.
It is a curious accusation. Netanyahu was critical of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s 2004 Engagement Plan. He not only vetoed the Gaza pull-out plan in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, but also submitted his resignation prior to the approval of the plan by the Parliament.
Recent events, however, have forced a reassessment. Sharon’s spokesman Ra’anan Gissin has no doubts. He states that Netanyahu, like Sharon, moved to the center of the political map after becoming prime minister, formed a national-unity government, and is expected to approve a prisoner exchange with the Palestinians. He continues:
Those who claimed to be Sharon’s successor failed because the tsunami waves that came after his disappearance were too much for them. The tragedy is that his fiercest critics such as Netanyahu turned out to be his real successors. Netanyahu hasn’t formed a Kadima [Party], but he has realigned his own party in the Center to allow himself to make the decisions he has to make regarding the fate of the Palestinians.
Gaza Clashes: Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Friday opened artillery and gun fire on a group of four Palestinians rigging explosives near the Gaza border. Two of Palestinians were killed. Following the incident Hamas’s Khaled Meshal, in an interview with London-based Al Hayat newspaper, threatened that a new conflict would not be limited to Gaza.
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