Let Israel Do Its Job

Protective Edge Updates:

• On July 16, a five hour humanitarian cease fire was observed by Israel and Hamas. 
• Meetings in Cairo to try to work out a longer agreement failed. The Egyptians blamed Hamas. 
• Rocket fire from Gaza continued, targeting most of Israel. 
• The IDF increased air and artillery attacks against Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorism infrastructure.
• To date: 1,400 rockets have been fired at Israel since July 8. 
• July 17 – The IDF launches major ground operation against terrorist tunnels between Gaza and Israel that enable terrorists to carry out terror attacks. Hamas builds these terror tunnels close to Israeli communities in order to infiltrate and abduct Israelis. Hamas terrorists used such a tunnel to infiltrate into Israel Wednesday morning in order to perpetrate a large-scale attack against Israeli citizens. 
• Large formations of IDF armor, infantry, engineers and support units entered Gaza. 
• In the first few hours, the IDF discovered several tunnels and engaged Hamas terrorists. One Israeli soldier was killed. 
• On Friday, July 18, the ground operations were expanded, as Hamas continued to fire missiles at Israel’s major cities.

  The anti-missile system Iron Dome is doing an outstanding job of intercepting over 90% of the rockets headed for populated areas.

How did it start?

What was Hamas thinking when it decided to rain rockets on Israel? That Israel’s reaction would be any less fierce than in the two previous Gaza wars? Knowing exactly what Israel does when even one rocket or mortar shell is fired, why would they launch hundreds, bringing on themselves so much pain and destruction?

      

To answer these questions we have to go back to June 12th, when the three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered in the West Bank.

Within 24 hours the Israelis knew, from the forensic evidence in the “burnt car” that they had been shot and were probably dead. They also knew the names of the two Hamas terrorists who did it. And yet for the next three weeks, thousands of soldiers and Shin Bet agents searched almost every hill, house, well, cave and valley, especially in and around the city of Hebron where the car had been found. 

So while it’s true that some of them were looking for the teens, either to rescue or retrieve, the IDF’s main mission was to utilize a unique opportunity to dismantle the political and terrorist infrastructure that Hamas had carefully and quietly built in the West Bank. It included political offices, terrorist recruitment and training bases, command and control centers, weapon and ammunition factories and stockpiles, and an elaborate network of underground spaces and tunnels under the city of Hebron.

During the operation over 600 active members of Hamas were arrested, including 50 that had been released in the Gilad Shalit deal. Dozens of computers and hundreds of files were seized, together with substantial quantities of weapons. Some of the most significant seizures were very large sums of money that were deposited in local Arab banks, as part of an elaborate and illegal worldwide Hamas funding scheme.   

   

The leadership of Hamas in Gaza and Qatar panicked. Realizing that they were losing their entire infrastructure and assets in the West Bank, and that Israel, even after the teens were found slain, was intensifying the operation against them, they decided to start what the thought would be a small tit-for-tat “skirmish,” in the South to force Israel to ease up in the West Bank.

Hamas fired two small rockets and one mortar shell into Israel. In the immediate response, the IDF killed the terrorists and their commander. Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, triggering operation “Protective Edge”.         

The objective of Operation Protective Edge, as defined by Prime Minister Netanyahu, is to restore long term quiet and security to Israeli civilians by seriously degrading Hamas and other terrorist groups' military capabilities while inflicting a significant blow to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

Lebanon:

The three rockets fired last Friday from Lebanon into Northern Israel were answered immediately with pinpoint artillery fire that destroyed the launchers. Hezbollah was not involved. Shiite Hezbollah has no intention of opening another front in the North. Neither will Iran allow it to put the over 40,000 rockets and missiles it has in Lebanon at risk – certainly not to help Sunni Hamas. Also – because Iran is convinced that with the expected failure of the P5+1 nuclear deal this weekend, Israel may now launch a military strike. With the extensive damage to Hamas in Gaza, those rockets in Lebanon are the only force projector Iran has left to either deter Israel, or be used in punishing retaliation.

The Israelis and their allies in the region (Jordan, Saudia, Egypt, etc.) know that the rockets and missiles in Lebanon must be neutralized before any strike on Iran is possible.  There is nothing the Israelis would like more than to be given the justification to go into Lebanon with double the fire-power being used in Gaza today to eliminate that threat.

In the new Middle East, with ISIS gaining strength and support daily, with Hezbollah taking over Lebanon and Iran racing to have nuclear weapons, showing weakness is not a luxury Israel can afford. With the failed cease-fire attempt, and Hamas still holding a stockpile of over 6,000 rockets, Israel has a job to do. It will not be short. There will be casualties and pain. 

Bottom line:

Strange as it may sound, a defanged, demilitarized Hamas in power in Gaza is the lesser of evils – as long as Israel finishes destroying the rockets and tunnels. Hamas can be overthrown. The alternative could be worse. Just Imagine ISIS taking over Gaza with all the rockets, mortars and terrorist tunnels still intact.

 Let Israel do its job.