From Arlene Kushner come the following thoughts which I believe are reflected in the hearts of a vast majority of Israelis today

Truly do I wish I knew how to coherently describe what is going on now with regard to Hamas.  But the situation is terribly unclear and fluid.  There is no closure, no finality.  IDF troops have definitely pulled back from portions of Gaza, and lend the impression that the operation is close to an end.

Some troops have been pulled out and are being given a break, with the understanding that they might go back in.  

Yet, today, the JPost cites a senior IDF figure thus (emphasis added): 

“There is no decision to stop the operation. We are preparing to attack, not only to defend.  If a decision is made that this is necessary, we will attack."

http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/We-are-preparing-to-attack-not-just-defend-IDF-source-says-369861

It could not really be otherwise, as the south of Israel is still being hit rather fiercely by Hamas rockets.

~~~~~~~~~~

At the same time, Palestinian Arab delegations – Hamas and the PA, with other smaller groups such as Islamic Jihad - have shown up in Cairo to begin the “negotiations” that Israel will not be attending.

Other “international” figures such as Tony Blair are also present.

The agenda called for those Arab delegations to first meet amongst themselves regarding a joint position, which they would then take to the Egyptians.  And word tonight is that the delegations have already agreed:

“Cease-fire, the pullout of Israeli forces, ending the blockade, releasing the prisoners ... and starting the reconstruction process..” And an end to Israeli “incursions, invasions, assassinations, house shelling and flights over the Gaza Strip.” They are also demanding free passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, freedom of fishing within 12 miles of the coast, reopening the Palestinian airport in the southern Gaza Strip, construction of a seaport and cancellation of buffer zones along the border with Israel.

http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Palestinian-factions-unanimously-agree-on-main-points-of-cease-fire-deal-says-official-369918

Cute?  A pretty comprehensive list. 

What happens next is anyone’s guess.  Israel is in constant touch with the Egyptians.  At some point Egypt is going to come forward with a “plan,” which will not incorporate all of the above demands but may well honor some of them. 

Both the Egyptians and the US are pressuring Netanyahu to join the talks. The very excessive nature of the Arab demands surely will stiffen his back. It is terribly important that the terrorists in Gaza not be rewarded for agreeing to stop launching rockets at us, and that he hold to his position that Hamas cannot be trusted to honor commitments.

~~~~~~~~~~

It may be that something is transpiring behind the scenes that we are unaware of.  Our prime minister, who is under breathtaking pressure in this situation, may know what he is doing.  Who knows what “other options” he is weighing.

But I write today with an enormous sense of unease.  We cannot permit this to end badly for Israel.  And I am hardly the only one who would like to see a definitive victory. 

That Hamas is still launching rockets at us means they are not yet on their knees. Their leaders are still hiding out – whether in Qatar or in tunnels under Gaza City.  As long as the heads of some of them have not been separated from their shoulders, they will emerge from their tunnels with intent of rebuilding.

The risks of a reinvigorated Hamas, which manages to secure even better weapons for next time – perhaps because demilitarization has not been genuinely enforced, not genuinely embraced by the international community – do not bear thinking about.   

My friends, this is an existential issue for us.  We cannot allow ourselves to be defeated by the likes of that Palestinian Arab mother who loves death.

We here in Israel are all moving about with heavy hearts. None of this is simple for us.

Typical family point of view

A personal point of view from a friend, views probably reflected in many households around the country

Dear family and friends,

To those of you who we speak to daily, receive emails, face book messages, sometimes more than once a day, (my two incredibly special sisters), a huge thank you for your love, care and concern. Much appreciated.

I decided to write some thoughts down, call it my therapy, so here goes…. 

Hard to believe that we are into our 4^th week of Operation Protective Edge.  Almost 4 weeks ago, we were sitting at an open air concert listening to the best of the Israeli classics across the road from our apartment, no sooner had we got home, when we heard our first siren.

We were stunned, and then it was followed by this loud “boom”.  We ran into our stairwell as per our instructions, and for the first time in years, we were a full house!  All the kids came home to sleep.  I vaguely remember the soccer was on as Gary insisted on watching!

It has been a very painful, difficult and frustrating time for all of us, but for the citizens of Southern Israel, and for our beloved army, a nightmare.

They have between 15 and 45 seconds to get into a safe room or shelter, some of my friends kids won’t go to the toilet alone, let alone take a shower.

You have no conception of the feeling you have when you hear that siren going – we have had our fair share in central Israel, and at work in particular, the residents and staff at Beth Protea Retirement Home, have been amazing.

Dana’s boyfriend was called up twice, he had to go north to relieve soldiers on active duty, so they could go south.

Everyone knows someone who has a son, brother, grandson, husband, nephew , friend, etc in Gaza.

We personally have very close friends and family who have kids in Gaza; it is impossible to describe the absolute fear that they are experiencing.  They wait for a call, that is infrequent, breathe a sigh of relief when they receive one, which doesn’t last very long, as they know they will be going back in again.  What can one say?

We have lost over 50 soldiers, as a write this, another 5 last night and 100’s more injured with light to serious injuries.  Every soldier that dies is like one of our children.  Not sure if the world quite understands our army. I saw on one of our TV channels today, a Grandfather eulogizing his grandson – this is just not right.

The citizens of Israel, together with the support from people all over the world has been overwhelming. People and various organizations have made sure that the soldiers have all they need from underwear, toiletries to cigarettes etc. Parcels have been made up for the children stuck in shelters now for a month and whoever has spoken to their kids in Gaza, has only praise for the residents of the South, who are taking such good care of them.  Let them just be safe.

We thank G-d every second of every day for the Iron Dome; there are no words to describe the sound you hear when it prevents a rocket from landing in civilian areas.  The boom is deafening, but also music to one’s ears.  One has to wait a further 10 minutes before leaving your safe place as it shatters the rocket and all the pieces come falling out of the sky.

There are no winners in this war against evil.  What Hamas has done to it’s own population, defies all sense of humanity. Their latest is they took away the UN food cards from the Palestinian people, so they can feed their fighters in the tunnels.

The rise of anti Semitism is horrific; I believe the Orr Sameach Shul in Sea Point was painted with swastikas.

And last night we were sent the statement from Woolworths in South Africa concerning their new policy of identifying products from Israel. Is this not shades of a dark past, reminiscent  in both the worst of both Germany and South Africa!

It is 1939 all over again, only this time we have our own country.  Unless we are walking to our death like lambs, the world hates the fact that we can now defend ourselves.  We are the most humane and moral army in the world, making phone calls, dropping leaflets, making more calls to warn the people to vacate a targeted building housing Hamas fighters and caches of ammunition.  We don’t set out to deliberately kill civilians.

What you probably don’t hear or see are the schools, mosques, UNWRA facilities, hospitals, all sitting on top of tunnels filled with rocket launchers, rockets etc and the leadership of Hamas deep underground. Three soldiers died last night, entering a clinic for heaven’s sake, booby trapped with explosives, a clinic – I ask you????

Some 150 Palestinian children died digging those tunnels. Hamas have treated the Palestinian population with not an ounce of humanity and now there is no electricity or food. We set up a field hospital at the Kerem Shalom crossing, Hamas are preventing the wounded from being treated.

An interesting development, Egypt and Israel are actually on the same page; Egypt does not want Hamas anywhere near them, Muslim brotherhood, so Sisi is destroying tunnels on the Egyptian side, some 13 tunnels into Sinai. Hamas are ruining their tourist industry.

Another 16,000 soldiers were called up, this means, they have a couple of hours to get their stuff together, leave their families, jobs, studies and get to the various pick up points heading down south to meet up with their units.

I feel ill all the time, I cannot concentrate on anything, all consumed with the news and no-one wants to go anywhere or do anything.  

At work, we have the Television on 24/7; we need to see where the rockets are falling, if our number comes up we can spring into action as we hear the siren wailing outside.

And so it continues, no end in sight.  Hamas want the blockade lifted, probably to re-group and strengthen their assault. Listening to Bibi this morning, he posed the question “ If the world is so concerned with the Palestinians in Gaza, then do something other than provide Hamas with the means to build tunnels and stock pile weapons, help create a viable place where they can live and work without the threat of Hamas destroying their lives.”

I am so tired of hearing the word “disproportionate” – we put our money into shelters, Iron Dome etc to keep us safe, Hamas put their money into weapons and hide behind their civilians. 

We not only have to fight on the battlefield, but in the media, which is unrelenting in their criticism of us, and so I relate this wonderful story that happened this evening.

A lot of cities in the center of Israel and north are providing places for the residents of the South to sell their goods, clothing, fresh produce etc, and one such market is going on as I write, at the Port in Tel Aviv in two huge hangars.  It came as no surprise at 6pm this evening, when the siren wailed across Tel Aviv as Hamas sent a barrage of rockets – instead of running to a shelter, 100’s of people stood in these hangars singing “Am yisrael chai”. (The People of Israel are Alive)

Wake up world. As Bibi said, “We will do what we have to do to protect our country”, after yet another cease fire had been breached by Hamas. As one commentator remarked about Hamas’ understanding of a ‘ceasefire’: “We cease and they fire!” 

This country has been facing death and destruction from time immemorial; our futures always decided by foreign leaders. We need to go back to basics - this country was built by the people for the people and we shall overcome, prevail and keep inventing ground breaking technologies, whether in science, medicine, social media, defence -  Israel will be at the forefront, so to sing along with the Tel Avivians tonight:

  “AM YISRAEL CHAI”.

Love,

Hilary

Hamas' Violations of Ceasefires – A Chronology

Israel is acting in Gaza in self-defense to hostilities initiated - and prolonged -by Hamas. In clear violation of international law, Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in Gaza have fired thousands of rockets, indiscriminate weapons that target Israeli civilians. Tunnels dug from Gaza have been used to carry out terror attacks inside Israeli territory.

Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, Israel has respected numerous ceasefires. Most of these were humanitarian lulls for the benefit of the residents of Gaza.

Hamas, on the other hand, has violated all the ceasefires. Even a humanitarian lull initiated by Hamas was promptly violated by the terrorists themselves. 

Hamas also violated the 15 July ceasefire initiated by Egypt, supported by most of the international community, including the Arab League and accepted by Israel. Had Hamas respected this ceasefire, Israel would not have had to start its ground operation and much loss of life on both sides would have been avoided.

Following is a chronology of Hamas' violations of the ceasefires:

·       15 July: Israel accepted the ceasefire initiated by Egypt and stopped all fire at 09:00. However, terrorists fired more than 50 rockets at Israeli communities. Only after six hours of continuous rocket attacks did the IDF respond.

·       17 July: Israel agreed to a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire. The terrorist organizations rejected it and fired rockets, including at the city of Be'er-Sheva.

·       20 July: Israel approved a two-hour medical/humanitarian window in the area of Shejaiya, following an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) request. Forty minutes after the ceasefire began, Hamas violated it. Nevertheless, Israel implemented the ceasefire, even extending it for two more hours.

·       26-27 July: Israel respected an UN-requested humanitarian ceasefire from 08:00-20:00 on Saturday, 26 July. Israel announced its readiness to prolong the ceasefire until midnight, but a few minutes after 20:00, Hamas renewed firing rockets at Israeli civilians.

On the same day (26 July), Hamas announced a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire, at 14:00. Hamas violated its own ceasefire a short time later.

Despite Hamas’ continuous fire, Israel decided to extend the humanitarian ceasefire a second time, from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday.

·       28 July: Israel accepted Hamas' request for a ceasefire in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. The IDF was instructed to cease military attacks, but Hamas continued to launch rockets at Israel.

·       30 July: Israel announced a temporary humanitarian ceasefire between 15:00-19:00. A few minutes after the ceasefire began Hamas fired rockets at the southern cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, as well as other Israeli communities. 

Another Rocket Hits Aleh Negev

Aleh Hanegev is a center based in the Negev taking care of severely disabled children. I have visited there and seen the wonderful conditions and the staff.

With a war in Gaza and the indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas, who knows where they will land. Consequently at the Aleh center, special precautions have to be taken. read and account of how they deal with a code red alert of an incoming missile.

Another Rocket Hits Aleh Negev-Nahalat Eran! Damage caused to property, but residents & staff are safe

Jul 20, 2014

“Only after I saw that all the residents were ok and that no one was hurt was I able to breathe a sigh of relief.  When the piercing sound of the siren blared, we didn’t have time to think about ourselves – our immediate concern was the residents.  The minute I closed the door of the safe room, we heard a deafening boom – the whole house shook from the impact.  Most of the residents were sleeping when it happened; amazingly, despite the commotion, they managed to sleep safely on…”

-- Eyal Hyosub, in charge of the overnight shift at Bet Shachar-one of the Residence Houses at Aleh Negev-Nahalat Eran

Timeline:  Thursday night – Friday    

July 17-18

1:00 a.m.

A barrage of rockets cleave the skies over Ofakim and the neighboring area – including the Aleh Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village for the Disabled.

A rocket falls directly inside the Village.  Shards and shrapnel scatter widely – hitting Bet Shachar.  Damage is sustained, with windows shattered and property destroyed.

Miraculously – and also through careful adherence to the rules and regulations laid out by Home Front Command –residents and staff are unhurt.

The windows shattered only in rooms that were empty at the time. 

Eran Hyosub, the shift manager, and Galia Ezekiel, the young woman volunteering at ALEH Negev as part of her National Service, were two of the staff members on duty that evening who had to make sure the residents were safely in the shelter.

The Home Front Command has advised the management of the village to keep all residents in the safe rooms around the clock for the duration of the operation. Only those who can walk or can be moved quickly inside are able to take a short trip outside with their caregivers, but they are not allowed to venture very far from the shelters. Every building on the premises has a safe area.

“But some of the residents are not willing to sleep in the shelters,” says Hyosub, “so when the siren went off, we had to rush them back inside as quickly as possible. Only after seeing all the residents were safe and sound, could we relax. While the siren sounds, we do not think about ourselves, but only think about the residents.

“As soon as I closed the door of the shelter, we heard a strong explosion. The house shook from the impact. Fortunately there were no casualties. Most of the residents were asleep at the time and didn’t hear anything.”

Hamas's Attack Tunnels: Analysis and Initial Implications

by Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan Dahoah Halevi

Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, delivered a revealing speech on March 23, 2014, in which he stressed the strategic importance of the Hamas attack tunnels, which, he argued, have changed the balance of power with Israel, when taken together with his organization's military build-up. In the meantime, the IDF's war against the tunnels continues. On Monday IDF forces thwarted another terror attack after two groups of Hamas operatives (numbering about ten) infiltrated from Gaza to Israel through a tunnel, apparently on their way to carry out a mass casualty attack at Kibbutz Erez and/or Kibbutz Nir Am.

Since Operation Protective Edge began, IDF forces have foiled several other attempted attacks by Hamas near Kibbutz Sufa and Kibbutz Nirim that also made use of attack tunnels, while uncovering and blowing up dozens of tunnels in Gaza along its border with Israel. Thesetunnels penetrate deep into Israeli territory, sometimes reaching a length of 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles).

Hamas has accumulated a great deal of experience in using the tunnels for operational purposes. Since 2000, hundreds of tunnels have been dug along Gaza's border with Egypt, providing a lifeline for Hamas's military buildup. The tunnels have been a main conduit for Palestinian imports from Egypt on a scale of millions of dollars annually, and for smuggling military supplies (from ammunition to missiles) and the construction materials needed to buildthe network of attack tunnels in Gaza.

Importation through the tunnels (it was in Egypt's political interest that this be referred to as "smuggling”) was fully controlled by the Hamas government, which levied a tax on the items and used its huge profits to accelerate its military buildup and preparation for hostilities with Israel.

During the Second Intifada, which began in September 2000, Hamas made use of attack tunnels that were dug opposite IDF positions along the Philadelphi Route. These tunnels enabled Hamas to lay powerful explosive charges beside the IDF positions in an effort to destroy them. On June 25, 2006, a joint Hamas/Jaish al-Islam (an al-Qaeda affiliate) unit infiltrated from Gaza to Israel through a tunnel whose opening was about a hundred meters from the border in Israeli territory, near the Kerem Shalom crossing. In that attack, an officer and a soldier were killed and the soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted.

Hamas, Hizbullah and even North Korean Tunnels

Based on Hizbullah's experience in the Second Lebanon War, and with the assistance and guidance of Iran, Hamas has also made use of the tunnels to build an underground network of missile launchers. During the Second Lebanon War, Hizbullah greatly expanded its underground fortifications in Southern Lebanon with the aid of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) and even North Korean engineers, who also provided guidance in how to incorporate the tunnels into Hizbullah's military doctrine.¹

Tunnel warfare provided armies facing a technologically superior adversary with an effective means for countering its air superiority. For example, atunnel is opened only briefly to launch rockets and then immediately closed to prevent detection of the launchers' location by the IDF. The concealment of these launchers in tunnels, in the heart of the civilian population, makes it very difficult to detect them in real time and attack them.

The rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during 2012-2013 was a golden age for Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood. During the tenure of President Mohamed Morsi and his foreign policy adviser Khaled al-Kazaz (a resident of Canada), missiles and a great deal of ammunition moved through the tunnels to Gaza, along with the materials needed to construct plants and manufacture missiles.

In addition to receiving close to half the budget of the Palestinian Authority, the economic aid the Hamas government received from international actors, including European countries, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, has helped it channel significant resources to its military buildup and the construction of the attack tunnels.

Also of help to Hamas were Israeli and international human rights organizations, which constantly pressured Israel to allow the entry of cement and iron into Gaza for purposes of civilian construction. In reality, these materials mainly went into building the attack-tunnel network, instead of houses for the Palestinians.

The attack tunnels create a new equation in the power balance between Israel and Hamas. They give Hamas an ability to infiltrate Israel and carry out strategic attacks involving mass killing, along with an ability to launch missiles from locations concealed within civilian population centers that serve, in effect, as human shields. Should Hamas retain in the future 20 tunnels, and dispatch 50 operatives in each, they could deploy 1,000 men behind Israeli lines. The tunnels would allow Hamas to wreak havoc if they are left in place.

Hizbullah's tactics, learned from Iran, have been replicated in Gaza, particularly the use of the tunnels to provide "breathing space” in waging the military campaign. The Hamas-Hizbullah-Iranian aim is to cause as much harm as possible to the civilian population and weaken Israel by damaging its economy. Like Hizbullah, Hamas in the current round has tried to strike strategic targets in Israel and inflict mass casualties, including the nuclear reactor in Dimona, the chemical plants in Haifa, and Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Despite the reconciliation agreement with Fatah and the establishment of the unity government, one of Hamas's objectives in the war is to ignite another intifada on the West Bank aimed ultimately at the toppling of Palestinian Authority rule and instituting a Hamas takeover of the Palestinian national movement. This current round of fighting highlights the importance of continued Israeli security control of key areas of the West Bank to prevent a Hamas takeover of the Palestinian Authority, and the maintenance of minimal defensible borders should a Palestinian state be established.

Note

1 "Carl Anthony Wege, "The Hizballah-North Korean Nexus,”Small Wars Journal, Jan, 23, 2011http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-hizballah-north-korean-nexus

Reflections on “The Situation”

Just as the British open a conversation by talking about the weather, so here in Israel the opening question is “Nu, ma hamatzav?” in other words, what is the status of the present  “situation”, another word for the war with Hamas. These days are not normal days for majority of the population. Even here in the North of the country (we have had only a single “red alert”, and that at 3:30 am!!) everyone is affected in some way or another.

Attendees at funeral of Sean Carmeli

At the beginning of the week the airwaves were humming asking everyone to pay their last respects to an American who went into the army as a lone soldier and was killed. The funeral was planned for 11:00 pm and the usual short 10-12 minute drive turned out to be 50 minutes. Cars blocked the roads as everyone tried to get to the cemetery and find somewhere to park. Estimates suggest that 20,000 people turned up, it was such an emotional feeling of national unity. I don’t know what the parents, who flew in from the States, thought.

Today, another outpouring of national emotion was evident  as another lone soldier from the USA was buried in Jerusalem. Estimates suggest that 30,000 people attended.

Today, we received a text message informing us of a seriously injured soldier who is the grandson of a good friend in our neighbourhood and as we filled up with petrol after returning from Jerusalem, the attendant was telling me how worried he was because a grandson was in Gaza with the Israeli army.

Presenting goods for the soldiers

Another sign of the general public’s support for the soldiers in Gaza was the activity outside the supermarkets asking customers to buy “supplies for the boys”.  See attached picture of my wife presenting todays contribution. Yesterday our neighbourhood also arranged a collection which was well supported.

It is hard to imagine the “hell” they are in, fighting a gang of terrorist who  know absolutely no rules and break all with impunity and yet the world seems more focused on the legal actions of a well-trained and humane army.

A final reflection is that of one of our 17 year granddaughters with friends, taking time from their smart phones to go and visit injured soldiers and their families in a nearby hospital.

Thus we approach the 17^th day of the operation to clear out all the tunnels which are there for one purpose and one purpose only – to kill the maximum number of Jews!

There's a Tunnel Under My House !

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, hearing sounds of digging and drilling. You know that underneath your house there are monsters that are digging tunnels, trying to infiltrate your town. 

They are armed to their teeth with weapons, anesthetics and handcuffs, with the sole purpose of killing or kidnapping as much people as possible.

This description is not a horror story. This is the reality for thousands of Israelis living around Gaza strip.

No country can ignore such a threat. No nation would tolerate such danger. Israel has the right to defend itself.