News & Politics - Israel masses forces near Gaza

Lexis · 06-27-2006, 11:59 AM

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Israeli tanks and troops massed near Gaza on Tuesday for a threatened offensive against Palestinian militants as the Israeli government said it would target Hamas leaders if an abducted soldier was not freed.

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In northern Gaza, Palestinians blocked roads with dirt and barbed wire. Militants wielding automatic rifles and anti-tank rockets rigged explosive devices along a road as tensions hit their highest since Israel quit Gaza nearly a year ago.

The United States urged Israel to give diplomatic negotiations a chance to win the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was seized on Sunday by militants who also killed two soldiers in a raid on a military border post.

Israel's military build-up came as Palestinian factions put aside months of internal acrimony and agreed on a manifesto at the heart of a power struggle between the moderate President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

The proposal calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel. But one Hamas lawmaker said the deal did not mean the militant group was recognizing Israel, which it is sworn to destroy.

Hamas's armed wing said it carried out Sunday's attack with other gunmen but has not said it was holding Shalit.

Israel said Hamas leaders could become assassination targets, including the group's supreme chief Khaled Meshaal who lives in exile in Damascus.

"They have to understand one thing, that nobody is immune, including Khaled Meshaal," cabinet minister and former general Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said on Army Radio.

Clutching an AK-47 assault rifle, Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, warned: "The enemy will regret the moment they raid Gaza. The price will be so heavy."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060627/...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl

They keep showing the poor guy's picture on the news - he's only 19. I can totally understand why Olmert thinks is the only course of action left. If these militants think that they can get away with these kind of abductions, the conflict in the region really will blow up.

Let's just pray they get him back before a big military operation is required - Gaza is so densely populated, innocents are bound to get hurt otherwise.

sportsfangirl · 06-27-2006, 07:14 PM

I hope they give him back--in one piece; this behavior from Hamas is just unacceptable...I personally don't recognize their government. It's just terroism.

He's only 19, they NEED to set him free.

Lexis · 07-12-2006, 07:34 AM

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Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid Wednesday, and dozens of Israeli troops crossed the frontier with warplanes, tanks and gunboats to hunt for the captives.

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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the soldiers' capture "an act of war" and his Cabinet prepared to approve more military action in Lebanon — a second front in the fight against Islamic militants by Israel, which already is waging an operation to free a captured soldier in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli jets struck deep into southern Lebanon, blasting bridges and Hezbollah positions and killing two civilians, Lebanese security officials said.

The Israeli military planned to call up thousands of reservists, and residents of Israeli towns on the border with Lebanon were ordered to seek cover in underground bomb shelters.

Israel's Defense Ministry said the Lebanese government was responsible for the two soldiers' safety.

At least six Israeli soldiers were killed in the Hezbollah attack and Israeli response, the Lebanese officials said. The Israeli army confirmed casualties among its troops.

The United States, U.N., European Union, France and Germany expressed deep concern about the fighting. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the immediate release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers and condemned Israel's retaliation in southern Lebanon.

3 Israeli soldiers die, 2 captured in raid - Yahoo! News

*Ledi* · 07-14-2006, 01:15 AM

I am scared by this. I don't know what Israel is doing. Where is this going to go?

Lexis · 07-14-2006, 04:43 AM

I understand why the reaction is so big - people want the soldiers back safe and sound. But as always, its the innocents who get caught up - from what I hear, quite a few children were killed in the last few days.

Its tragic but I don't know where it will end up - if the soldiers are brought back fine, it might ease the pressure. But if they are not...all bets are off.

Ms Carolyn · 07-14-2006, 06:14 AM

Here is an interesting commentary on the Middle East situation in general, before the current round got started -- it's from Dennis Miller. I don't agree with all of his views, but some of this makes a lot of sense, and boils down a complex situation with some accuracy.

For those who don't know, Dennis Miller is a comedian who had a show called Dennis Miller Live on HBO. He had the following to say about the Middle East situation:

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A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all Americans who still don't get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need.

Here we go:

The Palestinians want their own country. There's just one thing wrong about that: There are no Palestinians. It's a made up word. Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years. Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is really a modern invention. Before the Israelis won the land in the 1967 war, Gaza was owned by Egypt, the West Bank was owned by Jordan, and there were no "Palestinians."

As soon as the Jews took over and started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation."

So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word "Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy at our deaths until someone points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they are: "Other Arabs Who Can't Accomplish Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death."

I know that's a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN. How about this, then: "Adjacent Jew-Haters." Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country. Oops, just one more thing: No, they don't. They could've had their own country any time in the last thirty years, especially years ago at Camp David. But if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse, you actually have to figure out some way to make a living.

That's no fun. No, they want what all the other Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel. They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course -- that's where the real fun is -- but mostly they want Israel.

Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel - or "The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it -- for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries to divert the attention of their own people away from the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and tribally backward on God's Earth, and if you've ever been around God's Earth, you know that's really saying something.

It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic about the great history and culture of the Muslim Mid-east. Unless I'm missing something, the Arabs haven't given anything to the world since Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that one.

Chew this around and spit it out: Five hundred million Arabs; five Million Jews. Think of all the Arab countries as a football field, and Israel as a pack of matches sitting in the middle of it. And now these same folks swear that if Israel gives them half of that pack of matches, everyone will be pals..

Really? Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the string of wars to obliterate the tiny country and the constant din of rabid blood oaths to drive every Jew into the sea? Oh, that? We were just kidding.

My friend, Kevin Rooney, made a gorgeous point the other day: Just reverse the numbers. Imagine five hundred million Jews and five million Arabs. I was stunned at the simple brilliance of it. Can anyone picture the Jews strapping belts of razor blades and dynamite to themselves? Of course not.

Or marshaling every fiber and force at their disposal for generations to drive a tiny Arab State into the sea? Nonsense. Or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents? Impossible. Or spreading and believing horrible lies about the jews baking their bread with the blood of children?

Disgusting.

No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of peace, the worst Jews would ever do to people is debate them to death.

Mr. Bush, is walking a tightrope. I understand that with vital operations in Iraq and others, it's in our interest, as Americans, to try to stabilize our Arab allies as much as possible, and, after all, that can't be much harder than stabilizing a roomful of super models who've just had their drugs taken away.

However, in any big-picture strategy, there's always a danger of losing moral weight. We've already lost some. After September 11th our president told us and the world he was going to root out all terrorists and the countries that supported them. Beautiful. Then the Israelis, after months and months of having the equivalent of an Oklahoma City every week (and then every day) start to do the same thing we did, and we tell them to show restraint.

If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma City every day, we would all very shortly be screaming for the administration to just be done with it and kill everything south of the Mediterranean and east of the Jordan.

**Avatar** · 07-14-2006, 06:26 AM

No, not Dennis Miller, but Larry Miller wrote that load of hooey: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Inboxer Rebellion (The Millers' Tale)

A better article than that load of codswallop: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Israel's monstrous legacy brings tumult a step closer

marina86 · 07-14-2006, 07:23 AM

well, I live in Israel and I can honestly say it's not about the soldiers anymore. The whole northen area of Israel is being bombed by the Hezbollah.

**sum1** · 07-14-2006, 08:04 AM

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Originally Posted by Avatar

A better article than that load of codswallop: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Israel's monstrous legacy brings tumult a step closer

An article from The Guardian? They're not worth listening to.

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Originally Posted by marina86

well, I live in Israel and I can honestly say it's not about the soldiers anymore. The whole northen area of Israel is being bombed by the Hezbollah.

Yeah, northen Israel is being bombed from Lebanon and in the south Israel has been bombed from Gaza for ages now. That's a very important part of what all this is about.

elisheva · 07-14-2006, 08:29 AM

Heh, the Grauniad. So well known for its unbiased reporting.

Now that we've had two extreme POV articles, how about a moderate one? Someone? Anyone?

It's extremely frightening and it looks like it's going to turn into a real war. I had really hoped the pull-out was the start of a good process, but it sure doesn't seem that way.

Btw, Haifa was targeted too. That's seriously scary. That's not just the Golan anymore.

**Avatar** · 07-14-2006, 09:31 AM

Aw, the Grauniad isn't that bad - they are publishing things like this in addition to the opinion (it was an opinion, not an article) I linked to up there, so I definately think there's more biased sources of news on both sides of the political spectrum (Robert Fisk, I'm looking at you).

**sum1** · 07-14-2006, 10:46 AM

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Originally Posted by Avatar

Aw, the Grauniad isn't that bad

The Guardian IS that bad. It's way out and has shown a clear grudge against Israel. And that thing you posted isn't even an article, it's a comment by an independent poster on their website. Even if it were an article it'd be a rare token case of an article that's in a diection opposed to The Guardian's own, published in pretence of balance. Doesn't change an overall record of consistent extreme bias against Israel. Hardly balanced or reliable.

dayne · 07-14-2006, 06:34 PM

I think Israel's response is was out of proportion. A couple of soldiers get kidnapped, and they go berserk. It seems more like a knee-jerk response from a military to exact as much damage as possible for their abducted fellow comrades. Sure, the Palestinians should be forced to give back the soldiers - but bombing everything in sight is not the answer.

From Israel's pont of view, everything is one-sided. Never mind that two weeks before the initial kidnapping of the soldier, they bombed 10 innocent civilians on that beach in Gaza. And they have killed 150 civilians (in both Gaza and Lebannon) just to get back a couple of soldiers. Are the lives of a couple of Israeli combatants worth more than the lives of hundreds of innocent Arab civilians? I guess so.

It also seems more like an excuse for them flex their power in the region with all their military toys just to show how strong they are.

sportsfangirl · 07-14-2006, 06:55 PM

And what about Hamas and those other extremists? Israel is just protecting its own, and I admire how they're doing this for their captured--at least it's more than what the U.S does sometimes...

You can't simply condemn Israel; many civilians have been killed on both sides. But just out of curiosity: what do you advise Israel to do? Kick back their feet while the kidnappers do only God knows what to their men? I think not.

Soory for the rant; that's just the way I feel about it.

*Ledi* · 07-14-2006, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportsfangirl

And what about Hamas and those other extremists? Israel is just protecting its own, and I admire how they're doing this for their captured--at least it's more than what the U.S does sometimes...

You can't simply condemn Israel; many civilians have been killed on both sides. But just out of curiosity: what do you advise Israel to do? Kick back their feet while the kidnappers do only God knows what to their men? I think not.

Soory for the rant; that's just the way I feel about it.

You really believe that Israel is doing this just for thw two soldiers? I'm just wondering.


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