In Islamic law, truces are not meant to last. They are called when the Muslim fighters are weak and need to regroup, and Hamas may be considering that they might have bitten off more than they can chew here militarily. An update on this story. "Gaza violence: Hamas declares ceasefire with Israel," from BBC News, April 7:
Islamist group Hamas says it has brokered a deal for Gaza's militant groups to stop firing on Israel, after another day of violent exchanges.
Hamas, which governs Gaza, said the truce was designed to stop an escalation of Israeli "aggression".
They just hit a school bus with an anti-tank missile and they're talking about avoiding escalations of aggression. What are they smuggling in those tunnels? It may be causing some short-term memory loss.
The militant wing of Hamas earlier hit an Israeli bus with an anti-tank shell, injuring two people.
As opposed to the pacifist wing?
Israeli forces replied with air strikes and tank fire, killing four and wounding 30, Palestinian doctors say.
The bus attack was condemned by the US, which said it was particularly concerned by reports that the Gaza militants had used an advanced anti-tank weapon to target civilians.
The bus had been dropping off schoolchildren near the Nahal Oz kibbutz, and was carrying only one passenger when it was hit, Israeli medical sources said.
A 16-year-old boy suffered a serious head wound and was taken to hospital for surgery.
After the attack, witnesses said more rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip. [...]
Later, the Hamas Interior Ministry announced it had been in talks to broker a truce, saying: "We received a positive response from most of the factions."
The ministry did not announce which groups had refused the truce.
Muslims are experts at attacking children. It's one of the very few things they really excel at: http://crombouke.blogspot.com/2010/01/beslan-child-rape-torture-enforced.html
'Islamist group Hamas says it has brokered a deal for Gaza's militant groups to stop firing on Israel,...'
This is to pretend that there are lots of splinter groups and that each one operates independently of any others.
The way to deal with these clowns is to hit the blocks the Hamas leadership live in with their families. That would make 2 things clear: 1) we don't believe for a moment there are independent groups operating alone, and 2) every time you attack us, we will make the cost of that attack extremely high for you.
According to the JPost, the missile was a 9M133 Kornet ATM (NATO:AT-14 Spriggan).
These missiles carry a 7kg HEAT or 11kg Thermobaric warhead. The bus appears to be largely intact, so I assume the warhead, by the grace of God, did not detonate. If it would have, the bus would have been blown to shards no larger than a nickel. These missiles were deployed by Hizb'allah, in the 2006, completely destroying two Merkava tanks and damaging many more. The paper trail most likely leads back to Syria.
http://www.kbptula.ru/eng/atgw/kornet.htm
I hate to say it but I don't think Israel can protect its children by just picking off a few militants here & there, now & then, with high precision targeting. These zombies love death (martyrdom) more than life. Israel has to care less about hitting "civilians" as collateral damage - the Palestinians, after all, love killing Jewish civilians - and go after bigger targets. IN short, IMHO, if Israel loves and wants to protect its children it has to worry less about the enemy's kids and kill a lot more Palestinians with no sucker's "truce" until they do.
They were a few minutes -- most of the kids had just been let off the bus -- and a couple of yards (or an undetonated warhead) from starting a war that time. From what I hear, if they had blown up a school bus full of Israeli children that would have been it.
Well, Canto,
I would never attempt to prescribe to Israel what to do, as they are living their situation 24/7. However, I think the US should be aware of the fact that Hamas and the other terror groups are attempting to make Israel unlivable through a constant threat of violence. They employ the strategy of low-level terror attacks which over time erode the life of Israel, but are never quite enough to justify, in the eyes of the UN, a declaration of war. And, Hamas and the other terror groups also use the strategy of blending into the population so Israel is condemned as a country for collateral damage.
The US ought to be prepared to defend Israel's back in international bodies such as the UN, when Israel decides to end the low-level warfare engaged in by Hamas.
Maybe Isreal should take a play from old Mohammed. Take Palestine and exile the natives to nobody give a care where. It is the Islamic and therefore perfect thign to do afterall, is it not?
The wrong guy is in office for the US to back Israel...The wrong guy set a president in Libya...Where ever people are getting killed the US will intervene...Of course this protection is selective, but would most likely include Israel if it attacks Hamas or the area seriously...If the UN thinks Israel should be attacked to stop it's 'butchery', the wrong guy will commit troops...The military junkie likes nothing better than to commit the troops...We may be getting a look at the wrong guys addiction, just starting to surface...
First, turn the place into glass for as far back as it takes. Let the balance of the world thump their chests and bleat about how "disproportionate" the response from Israel was. Past tense...WAS. After the fact, those folks that remain will have to be concerned with feeding themselves and finding shelter in the rubble and would not have time to be thinking about how next to hurt Israeli people.
Why did the U.S. demand unconditional surrender in World War II?
Why shouldn't Israel attack Gaza and demand unconditional surrender from Hamas?
Inquiring minds would like to know...............
Israel, with my blessings---flatline 'em.
Caliphate News Networx reports:
Israel breaks truce
Disproportionate Response: Israel launches air strikes and tank fire against innocent Palestinians, killing four and wounding 30, sources say.
"Hamas says it has brokered a deal for Gaza's militant groups to stop firing on Israel."
Brokered a deal!?! What the hell kind of government is hamas supposed to be if it has to negotite deals with itself to stop parts of it from firing rockets?
This would be like the department of transportation fireing missles into canada and the rest of the government having to negotiate with them in order to make them stop.
This means if we were to ever negotiate something with those spazmos some part of the organization will do what they like anyway. What's the point?
If little splinter groups of hamas can start wars whenever they want what is the point of diplomacy with anyone who claims to control hamas when EVEN HAMAS CAN'T CONTROL HAMAS.
And "Imam" Rauf said we should engage them diplomatically? What a tool.
Every time Hamas lobs ordianance into Israel it has no impact on the IDF's capacity to defend the nation. You hit a school bus with a anti-tank missile, we will take out a power generating plant in Gaza. For every explosive round that impacts Israeli soil, disturbing the quality of life of the civilian population, we degrade your power generating capacity until the only targets left are hamsters on wheels. How supportive would Gazans be twards Hamas living in the dark ages? Destroying a few smuggling tunnels isn't going to turn the public. A disproportiate response that takes away creature comforts you can't hang a high body count on will.
Unconditional Surrender from Hamas would mean nothing. Especially coming from Hamas. With hamas surrender would just mean the same thing as a truce and they would start firing rockets whenever it suited them again.
If they gave up their weapons those weapons would be instantly replaced.
If they promised to not fire on israel then there would all of a sudden be a bevy of BS splinter groups that continue the campagn terrorism as usual.
It looks to me as if the only possible solution is to drive hamas completely out of Gaza and hand administration over to the PA (or not)op.
And they had better do it soon.
Mark my words: Even if hamas means this truce they will start murdering Israelies again in the run up to the Egyptian Election.
-Hamas will fire on soft targets in Israel
-Israel will respond
-the MB will use that responce to gin up arab anger at Israel
-they will present themselves as the people who will "restore arab honor" to help thier chances in the Egyptian elections.
-the MB will then instruct hamas to fire on Israeli civilians whenever it suites their political purposes. Thereby holding the lives of Israeli citizens forever hostage to the undending chaos of arab politics.
In order to prevent this Israel has to remove hamas completely from Gaza and start letting the senior MB leadership know in the MOST PERSONAL AND PERMINANT way possible that meddling in Gaza for their own local petty political reasons is not kosher.
Think Logic notes: "The paper trail most likely leads back to Syria."
Israels recent capture of weapons laden ships seem to support this theory.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/03/15/3086414/israel-seizes-ship-carrying-weapons-for-gaza.
"The bus attack was condemned by the US, which said it was particularly concerned by reports that the Gaza militants had used an advanced anti-tank weapon to target civilians."
Obama's concern for Israel is lacking as the attached article about his Israel doctrine points out...
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/obamas_israel_doctrine.html
Israel FTW bomb Gaza,there can be no peace with islam until it is dead.May God save the muslime from islam.
As and when Israel decides that jihad fortress and armed camp Gaza (that seething cauldron of venomous Mohammedan Jew-haters, possibly worse even than Hitler's Munich in terms of the hair-raising content of what is spewed out of its Jew-hating media outlets) requires to be seriously hammered, the rest of us, out in the rest of the as-yet-relatively-free world, who know that what is going on is self-defence of the Jews against the Jihad, will *have* to be prepared to get out on the streets in support of Israel.
BEFORE the Muslims and their Useful Idiots get out on the streets screaming 'genocide'.
*We* have to be the ones in front of the Israeli embassy in our countries, before the haters of Zion have even got out of bed. *We* have to be the ones marching in the streets.
All the serious and Islamosavvy friends of Israel , whether Jewish or Gentile, whether religious (Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist...) or non-religious (the likes of Wellington, and Mr Hugh Fitzgerald who is one of the most passionate and eloquent Lovers of Zion that I have ever encountered) will have to be getting out there in force - not in dozens but in hundreds - and letting our governments know, loudly and often, that we want and expect them to stand with tiny, beleaguered Israel in the snake-pit that is the UN. That we want them to defy the Islamintern. That we expect them to stand up to the Mohammedan Mob that is plotting and planning nothing less than a second Shoah.
EXCELLENT IDEA. There is an Israeli Consulate in Ny as well as the UN. There should be as large a presence as possible (and as early in the day) at both locations.
It can be set in motion the day before with facebook and twitter but should be organized somwhat before hand.
Perhaps people could prepare signs that are pro Israel or with simple statements against antisemitism, or highlighting the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhoods control of Hamas. But nothing about islam, nothing anti arab or anti muslim.
"No to Genocide"
"No to Antisemitism"
"No to anti jewish agression"
"MB Stop exploiting palestinian lives"
"Hamas Stop holding palestinians captive"
Stuff like that.
Perhaps someone could set up a facebook group for this. I have one set aside called the Anti Facist League. I chose that name specifically to stick it to phony groups like the UAF.
Whoops- here is the link
http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_187728581239501&ap=1