Israel grasped an opportunity to assassinate one of Hamas’ top military leaders, Mohammed Deif, last night and instead murdered his pregnant wife and daughter at the Al Dalou home. A Palestinian Twitter user posted this:
AlDalou Family house was targeted by 5 GBU28 bombs. The “Guided Bomb Unit 28” is a 5,000pound laser-guided “bunker busting” bomb made in USA
— Rajai abuKhalilرجائي (@Rajaiabukhalil) August 20, 2014
We may now thank the U.S. government for permitting Israel to further escalate the massacre Israel wants us to call Operation Protective Edge. You thought bunker busters might be used against Iranian nuclear sites. You thought they might be used to prevent it from getting WMDs. Little did you know it would be used to kill a mother and her little daughter. Congratulations, U.S. citizen. This is your handiwork. And send further regards to Barack Obama and John Kerry who don’t have the b(&@s to do what has to be done to reign in the psychopaths pursuing this annihilationist strategy against Gaza.
Deif, whom Israel has attempted to kill many times, may have survived, though reports say a third unidentified person was killed as well. UPDATE: It appears likely that Deif survived the attack as Israel media are conceding this. The reason why the assassination attempt is especially important is that Israel was supposedly observing a temporary ceasefire and supposedly negotiating in good faith with Egypt and Hamas about a permanent ceasefire.
We can clearly see how genuine Israeli ceasefires and commitments are. When they can drown their enemies in blood, they do so no matter what agreements this may violate.
Over the past few days, I’d been reading about Hamas’ wish list in the talks and Israel’s demands. Given an ounce of good will and willingness to compromise, the demands weren’t mutually contradictory. If Israel had agreed to demilitarize its border with Gaza it could’ve reasonably demanded that Hamas disarm as well. Had Israel been willing to allow either the PA or European specialists to assume control of border crossings and inspections, it might’ve lifted the Gaza siege it’s implemented since 2006. Had Egypt had any genuine interest in securing the peace it might’ve announced an end to its own siege on Gaza pending resolution of any outstanding issues between it and Hamas.
But none of that happened. Israel would never demilitarize anything. Nor would it lift its siege. Israel’s answer to the stall in the talks was to assassinate Deif. Presumably, Bibi Netanyahu and his intelligence apparatus thought delivering such a blow against Hamas would punish it for its recalcitrance. I doubt Israel believed that such a murder would bring Hamas to heel, since any reasonable person would know it’d have the opposite effect. Indeed, the rockets have been flying all day, hitting sites near Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other towns.
Another reason Israel might’ve targeted Deif is yesterday’s announcement by the Shabak that it had foiled a major conspiracy by Hamas in the West Bank to commit coordinated terror attacks inside Israel and the West Bank which would spur a third Intifada and topple Fatah. Israel’s intelligence services highlighted a Hamas leader named the “Deif of the West Bank,” as the mastermind behind the conspiracy.
There are a number of major problems with the story: this “Deif” would have to be insane to believe he could organize multiple, coordinated terror attacks both in Israel and the West Bank. He would be even more insane to believe that such attacks would set off a Third Intifada. Finally, he’d have to be certifiable to believe this would lead to a Hamas coup in which it took control of the West Bank from Fatah.
It is possible that some small portion of this claimed terror plot is true. But due to the aggrandizing of the Shabak we’ll never know, or be able to separate fact from fiction. It’s even possible that Shabak conveniently released this news the day before it already intended to assassinate Deif. Had they succeeded they could’ve (and would’ve) pointed to this 9/11 style terror project as justification for killing him. They would’ve argued that the only way to frustrate such criminal enterprises is by killing the masterminds. Deif would’ve been the poster boy for such a strategy.
Returning to the ceasefire, the U.S. had the right idea in involving Turkey and Qatar in the original talks (which Israel resisted with all its might). Turkey has had, and Qatar still has good relations with Israel and with Hamas. They might’ve acted as honest brokers to resolve the conflict. But Israel sabotaged this effort and froze Kerry out of subsequent ceasefire efforts.
I marvel that Hamas has even been willing to attend talks brokered by its enemy, the Egyptian junta. I see no way the Muslim-Brotherhood-hating generals can represent anyone’s interests but Israel’s. I suppose it’s possible Hamas felt this was the only diplomatic game in town and if wasn’t seen to be playing it might reflect badly on it. At any rate, I see little or no hope for success in Egypt-brokered talks. There is no party there Hamas trusts.
With this most recent war, Israel refuses to recognize that the game has changed in the Middle East. No longer can Israel impose its will on its Arab enemies. They are increasingly resisting both politically and militarily. Though Israel still maintains a formidable military force that still rules supreme in the region, it can no longer call the tune to which everyone else must dance.
Not to mention that Hamas is an enemy Israel cannot subjugate. Gaza has been virtually levelled to the ground. There is almost nothing left. Yet Hamas refuses to concede. It can still fight. Therefore it has won. One may argue about what exactly it has “won” given the devastation. But Gazans had little before the war, now they have less. Perhaps much less. But “when you ain’t got nothin’ you got nothin’ to lose,” to quote Dylan.
A final word about what is ghoulishly being called Gaza “reconstruction.” It is ludicrous for any nation to attend or pledge to an international fund to rebuild Gaza. Every potential donor must know that whatever they build will be destroyed in two years when the next war occurs. If you want to throw away your petro-dollars, by all means do so. Flatter the vanity of Israel that you will clean up after the mess it makes. Do take Israel off the hook.
When will someone in the world look Israel in the eye and say, to paraphrase Colin Powell: you break it, it’s yours. Make Israel pay. If it won’t then place it under sanctions. If no one will hold Israel accountable for its actions, then it eventually will drag down the entire region as Samson did the Philistine temple just outside what is now Gaza.
It makes my blood boil to hear anonymous Israeli officials claiming they recognize the obligation they have to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It would have been better had they honored an even more important humanitarian obligation not to kill 1,500 Palestinian civilians, including 450 children.
For Yossi Melman’s “take” on Israel’s assassination is far too mild, but he does raise the question of whether it is effective or even can be effective.
What Israel is doing is bang out of order. USA & UK stoping supporting Israel’s genocide of the Palistinians.
○ Hamas says Israel killed three top Gaza commanders
Aug 21 (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed three senior Hamas military commanders in the Gaza Strip.
In an update details were given:
Hamas named the men as Mohammed Abu Shammala, Raed al-Attar and Mohammed Barhoum and said they were killed in a bombing of a house in the southern town of Rafah.
Palestinian police and health officials say that six people were killed in the Rafah strike and that dozens of others remain trapped in the rubble of a four-story building targeted by Israel.
Netanyahu’s ‘mindset’ reminds me of vide, I saw, of an interview with Golda Meir. Unfortunately, I don’t have the link.
“Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil!” G. Meir
“We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon – no alternative.” G. Meir
[comment deleted: c’mon, have a little decency. Your comment was juvenile.]
Also, as evident, Israel has failed to achieve its objectives through terror.
The point that always seems to get forgotten is that all of Israel is built on land stolen from the Palestinian people. That Israel, which ethnically cleansed 700,000 people to steal that land, has no legitimacy. 80% of the people who reside in Gaza are refugees from that expulsion. Racist, settler-colonialist Israel has no right to control Gaza or the West Bank or Jerusalem or any other part of Palestine. These are thieves. Every inch of that land belongs to the Palestinian people. One can’t talk about their right to do X or Y or Z. The millions of Palestinian refugees must be permitted to return, the state must cease being a racist Jewish state and become a democracy. The BDS movement is the beginning of forcing the real issue. But let’s not think Israel has any rights in this matter whatsoever.
I am concerned about the willingness of even the most enlightened commentators to continue the language of the oppressor even in critical pieces. I am thinking here of “terror plot” and referring to Israel’s murder spree as “war.” The use of these phrases, regardless of the outrage expressed, serves the colonizing power. The “terror plot,” real or not is rightly just homespun defense against an occupying power which has stolen the property of the native people. When world power was perceived as distributed between the Soviets and the Americans, we had no problem naming those pushing back as “freedom fighters” (from either side.) Now, they are “terrorists” if they oppose the world order specified by the US. The violent arm of the defending natives was “rebellion” or “resistance” not “terror.” Think of how differently this Gaza fight would be viewed if Palestinian violence directed at Israel were termed “resistance,” which is what it is. I can’t expect world controlled mass media to oblige me, but I think that we here could choose our terms more carefully.
(It’s a difficult choice, but I think that biggest disaster of modern history will likely be seen as the dissolution of the Soviet bloc, the offsetting power which assured something close to peace generally for decades. Now the US/Israel new imperialists have carte blanche.)
It is highly suspicious that Hamas would break a cease-fire just when Israel received some pinpoint information as to the location of Deif. That is of course in addition to the fact that Hamas has no interest in breaching the cease-fire while Netanyahu does as it (a) gives him an excuse to leave the talks and (b) show a victory picture and satisfy his disappointed constituency’s blood thirst.
Most reasonable what happened is that IDF reported rockets launched into the Negev, even though no sirens were heard and their landing location is unknown – nobody would bother checking anyway and Western media is quick to print any IDF version with a hint of skepticism. Then used that as a pretext to attack Deif, knowing very well the expected response which would enable Netanyahu to pull out of the talks.
Of course one would answer why would Netanyahu would leave the talks – after all cease fires and agreements are most often agreed during the war, not after a war. So apparently when the spoiled brat-bully says he’s not playing anymore, everyone is supposed to blame Hamas, as if it’s not in Israel’s interest to reach an agreement for a long term cease fire.
1. Hamas says he is alive, although in one interview one of Hamas spokesmen reffered to him as shahid and immdiately said he misspoke and that he is actually alive.
2. “5 GBUs” seems funny that minutes after the attack a writer from east jerusalem knows the exact armor used in that attack.
3. You forgot to mention that a couple of hours prior to this attack Hamas actually fired several rockets at Israel.
@ Nimrod: 1. Israeli officials conceded they missed him. Did you miss that?
2. Actually, Hamas said that bunker busters were used. And they actually live in Gaza where the bombing occurred. Or did you miss that as well?
3. Hamas didn’t fire any rockets at Israel. In fact, minutes after those missiles were fired Hamas announced it had not fired them. And you missed that as well?
You’re a bit off on the hasbara tonight, Nimrod.
“It makes my blood boil to hear anonymous Israeli officials claiming they recognize the obligation they have to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. ”
Yeah, in general when hasbarists make arguments like this, what they are really saying is that Gaza is a prison camp, but not a death camp. They keep 1.9 million innocent people in prison, but they don’t starve them to death or prevent all forms of aid from getting through.
So by that logic, if a repressive regime holds political prisoners but doesn’t kill them, this is something to brag about.
○ IAF uses new US-supplied smart bunker-buster missile GBU-39 – Dec. 28, 2008
Although only weighing 250 pounds, its ability to strike is comparable to much heavier bombs, and its small size (180 centimetres long and 19 centimetres wide) means a large number can be deployed during a single sortie: Israeli Air Force F-15Is will typically carry up to 20 at a time.
Like the USAF experience in comflict zones, the IAF will also use Strike Eagles as SDB launch platforms. Israel operates modified Strike Eagles known as F-15I Ra’ams (Thunders), while the official IAF designation for the SDB is the ‘Sharp Hail’. For the future, the IAF may team the SDBs up with its F-16 Fighting Falcon combat jets, too.
The Israeli Air Force is a major Middle Eastern military power, with a fleet of 750 aircraft. Established in 1948, it has been involved in numerous combat engagements over the past six decades including Yom Kippur and the 1982 Lebanon War. [Excuses, info from the Boeing website – Oui]
○ Raytheon / Texas Instruments GBU-28 Bunker Buster
These are the so-called “pin-point” bombs from a new development. Focused Lethality Munition (FLM) , a derivative of the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), uses a multiphase-blast explosive compound along with a carbon-fiber-composite warhead case to minimize fragmentation, as well as an anti-jam GPS aided by inertial navigation.
A carbon-fiber-composite warhead maims and causes the most horrible injuries that can’t be treated in a emergency room in Palestinian hospitals. Many limbs: arms and legs go missing. First delivered in time for the Dec/Jan 2009 Gaza War by the Bush administration. The war ended days before Obama’s inauguration.
Dr Abu Shabaan is more concerned by evidence of new, mysterious weapons and appeals for an impartial international investigation into Israel’s use of new weapons. Palestinian and foreign doctors who’ have treated the war-wounded at Shifa suspect the injuries may be caused by Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME), also known as Focus Lethality Munition, a weapon invented through Israeli-American cooperation.
The “Focused Lethality Munition” is a variant of the 250 pound Small Diameter Bomb I that changes its casing and internal fill, in order to produce more devastating effects within a smaller area. A carbon-fiber bomb body disintegrates instead of fragmenting, which adds explosive force nearby, but largely removes sharpnel issues farther away.
GAZERNICA: The Palestinian Holocaust
Here’s a link that sums up the Palestinian Holocaust with a single picture/caption:
link to defyingsilence.blogspot.com
Elad, Shmuel,
There were numerous opportunities for comprehensive peace agreements throughout Israel’s history, and especially in the 2000s. Non were accepted ** by Israel ** and Israel alone. The current fighting shouldn’t be happening at all! It is only the Zionist Israeli **reality displacement** that allows you to continue to argue as if nothing ever happened. There is a consequence to rejecting peace. You lose credibility . People don’t trust you anymore. Hamas is now understood to be a defensive force, fighting occupation.
[comment deleted: go right now and read the Comment Rules. If you do not, or you post another comment violating them, you will be moderated or banned.]
Walla. I can tell you that I exist and will continue to exist until the death takes me away, as it did and will do to everyone else. I hope you will not read a death wish of mine into the above sentence.
Of course, one can find much more offensive statements in the Hamas charter. They are a terrorist organization, for heaven’s sake. But history is full of terrorist organizations which fought against foreign occupation. Sometimes, terrorism is the only way a people can overthrow an occupying force (and sometimes it isn’t).
[comment deleted: if you post another Islamophobic off-topic comment you will be moderated.]
[comment deleted–comment rule violation]
Let’s see…Hamas is a “terrorist organization” because it targets and kills civilians…
Israel is NOT a “terrorist organization” because it is FORCED to kill civilians (Hamas’ fault).
Yep. I can see it all now, thanks for helping me understand this complex thought
Hamas is no more “terrorist” than the “Minutemen” at Concord or the Viet Cong were terrorist or any others fighting for rights in the country, the ground, in which they live and have lived against imperialist forces. Do not concede the term “terrorist.”
[comment deleted: you can spin your comment any way you like, but if you read the comment rules (which I doubt) & still don’t understand how you violated them you’re so far submerged in Islamophobia you don’t know which way is up. Next Islamophobic comment earns you banning.]
You can call me names as much as you want. Again, I used the term “Muslim extremists” which is the same as your last words in your next post – “Islamist extremists”
If you delete this comment I’d know you don’t really want to have a conversation.
Elad. You seem to be okay with using “Muslim Extremists’, but do you also use the term “Jewish Extremists” when you refer to Israeli settlers, Israeli military (I “D” F), Israeli border Police or, Israeli politicians?
If yes, then I suppose you would be justifed in using “Muslim Extremists”.
This is a reply to Jafar’s comment below (the comment thread is too long to continue):
Yes, I do use the term “Jewish Extremists” when referring to some settlers and some politicians. I also use this term on other Israelis. For examples those who call “death to Arabs” in demonstration.
You know, there are different kind of extremists…
Elad. [“Some” settlers and politicians]. Given that Settlers are ALL terrorists because of their occupation of Palestinian lands by force (Oops! I guess that includes almost ALL Israeli Jews!) and given that almost ALL Israeli politicians are involved in the brutalities being perpetrated upon Palestinians, I wonder how you decide which Muslims fall in your “terrorist” category.