Hamas seeks renewal of Israel cease-fire

So Hamas treats for a hudna (ceasefire). Such a plea is only allowed to the Muslims by the doctrine of jihad when the Muslims are at a military disadvantage. The ideology of Islam is a manifest failure and its twin doctrines of jihad and dhimmitude belong in the dustbin of all of history's failed ideologies.

I am tired of their circus. Israel must have hammered them somewhat hard, or more likely, they want some time off for their merry little civil war before they start their rockets against Israel again. This is all it is 'time out'.

Why is Ham-Ass given unlimited timeouts?

Exactly when Hamas calls for a ‘time out’ should Israel attack them hard. I’m getting tired of hearing about the ‘Israeli aggressors’ so maybe it’s time they go ahead and be aggressive. Remember all of that land they gave up last year? What are those poor Palestinians doing with it besides using it to stage more attacks on Israel? They’re certainly doing nothing to better themselves or their lives. They’re a sad, pathetic, ignorant, useless and worthless group of criminals who deserve everything Israel gives them ...other than reconciliation.

Israel can't call for a time out, so along the side of the rockets the Israelis use to blow up the peace-loving Islamists, they should write: "No more time outs. Ever."

Olmert gave some firm answers this week. If a man comes to kill you, you kill him first. If the "Palestinians" can't or won't negotiate, they don't have to. Simple. They should keep up the pressure and get some decent press oficers to show a little front to the Pallywood suckers. Merchandising, marketing... propaganda. 2nd Draft style. Israel has to be able to produce better TV than the terrorists? It shouldn't be so hard to get the truth out.

Exactly when Hamas calls for a ‘time out’ should Israel attack them hard.

Sun Tzu much?

If Mexico fired rockets into the US would Americans accept no retaliation by our government for open attack aganist America???

This is the equivalent of a whine of pain. Hamas must be hurting. Having misguidedly launched an attack on Israel at the same time as they are at daggers drawn with Fatah - who, however much of a minority they may have been, have a longer experience in fighting and huge financial reserves and weapon stores - they are finding that two enemies at once are one too many. I hope Israel tells them what they can do with their ceasefire.

If I were in charge of Israel, I would ask for the range of these rockets and then create a DMZ from the wall back into the PA territory in Gaza as far as that range + 10 to 20%.... a swath of "no man's land" if you will.... maintain it by artillery fire.

What further condemnation from the U.N. or any other authority has meaning to Israel? Stop the insanity through artillery.

But I'm not in charge.

"Hamas fired several dozen rockets toward southern Israel over the weekend, but in recent days there has been a lull."

Today is Thursday. How dare the AP say there has been a lull when several dozen (sounds less than 100's doesn't it?) rockets were launched into Israel less than 5 days ago???

"Lull": to become less in intensity or strength;
a temporary drop in activity

Lull does not equal Null. Even one rocket is too many to call peace and quiet.

arjun:

This particular offer, timed as it is, is no more than a pretty desparate PR effort intended to distract people from:

* the truth about the "IDF shelling" of Palestinians on that Gaza beach the other day and the obvious cleaving together of "misinformation" about what happened;
* the Wart-nosed one caught transporting $20M around in suitcases; and
* Hamas mourning the passing of Zarqawi (spitting in the eyes of the 99% of Iraqis, who don't much like Palestinians in the first place, who were happy to see the end of the Emir of Mesopotamia.

Sympathy for the Palestinians was already plummeting in places like France and Germany and starting to soften in Britain too.

Captains Quarters wrote this excellent article on the Hamas "truce" offer.

Did They Run Out Of Rockets?

Less than a week after declaring an end to the "truce" with Israel -- a truce that allowed Palestinian terrorists to continue launching rockets at Israeli citizens -- Hamas has offered to resume the truce. This time, Hamas leaders will pledge to stop all other groups from launching separate attacks:

The Hamas-led government offered Thursday to restore a cease-fire with Israel, several days after calling off the truce to protest a deadly explosion on a Gaza beach, but said the calm would depend on Israel's response.

Hamas said it is ready to put pressure on other militant groups to halt rocket fire against Israel. The rocket attacks have drawn tough Israeli reprisals and raised the possibility of a broader conflict.

"This is very clear for us. We are interested to keep the situation and quiet, especially in the Gaza Strip," said government spokesman Ghazi Hamad. "We have contacts with the Palestinian factions. We are ready to do it, but (only) if the Israeli side has a strong intention to respond positively to the call ... to stop their aggression."

Israel welcomed the gesture. "If it is quiet, we will answer that with quiet," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry.

Hamas has belatedly realized that they had initiated a two-front war, one with their rival Fatah terrorists and the other with the IDF. Nothing has shown Hamas capable of beating either of them separately, and they certainly could not fight both at the same time. For a brief moment, Hamas had some hope that Fatah might throw in with them and Islamic Jihad in a united fight against Israel with the deaths of several Palestinian civilians that Hamas blamed on Israel. Unfortunately for PM Ishmael Haniyeh, president Mahmoud Abbas did not rise to the bait, and the explanation of those deaths shifted the focus from IDF shells to illegal mining of the Gaza beaches.

Both Hamas and Fatah have a big problem with their own people. They have had to resort to smuggling cash over the border to fund government functions, and they do not have the resources to fight a war against a modern, fully-equipped army like the IDF. The Palestinians now want to get paid so they do not lose what little they have to bankruptcy and foreclosure, and the rationing of pay will undoubtedly erode what little confidence the Palestinians have with their government. Despite smuggling $22 million into the territories in two successive days, it only comprises less than eight percent of what the Palestinian Authority owes in wages alone. Until Hamas proves it will renounce violence and recognize existing treaties signed with Israel and the West, their economic catastrophe has no hope of ending.

However, what seems to have finally prompted the Hamas offer was a warning from the Israeli defense minister that Hamas leadership would be considered open targets if hostilities continued. That apparently caught the attention of Haniyeh and his cohorts and convinced them to look for a way out.

So far, the Hamas government has produced a disaster for the Palestinians who voted them into power. People argue that the Palestinians voted for Hamas as a protest against the corruption of Fatah. However, even Fatah managed to make their payroll on a regular basis, and they also had made progress with the West in pressuring Israel for more creative solutions to end the 39-year impasse over the occupation. Now all of the goodwill has dissipated, thanks to Hamas, and if the corruption has truly stopped, it's due to the fact that no one has any money to steal.

Perhaps the Palestinians might learn a lesson from this debacle, but first they have to accept responsibility for it. If they truly want peace and a two-state solution, they need to start demonstrating this by electing politicians who also support that conclusion. Until now, they have shown no inclination to do so. Maybe those mobs in the street rampaging through the Palestinian parliament would be better served by forming a political party based on clean government and engagement with Israel and the world in order to get the soverignty they desire.

Israel should announce that they intend to re-occupy Gaza "for security's sake", and, once the outraged Hamas members beging firing renewed rocket attacks, hit them so hard that the fillings in the teeth of the imams up in Lebanon ring.

profitsbeard l completely agree with you Israel should take over Gaza, kick out the Hammas and send them to Jordon, Syria, where ever. and bring on the Hammer to Hammas, totally destroy them.