by Felix Quigley
December 26, 2008
How many people in Europe and America know that on December 24 two days ago there were over 50 missiles launched at Israel from the Gaza along with other mortar rounds? Very very few is the answer.
This points to the real issue. That the situation of lies has to be changed and the ordinary people must be made known the truth.
The following report from DEBKAfile tells of the reality Israelis face every day. This is NOT being reported by the western Media.
[begin this report from Debkafile here]
The fifty or so missiles and rockets Hamas sent crashing into Israel Wednesday, Dec. 24, along with dozens of mortar rounds, represent no more than a quarter of its capabilities, DEBKAfile‘s military sources report.
IDF officers calculate that the fundamentalist Palestinian group can shoot 200 missiles a day, on a par with Hizballah’s barrage against Galilee in the 2006 Lebanon war, with devastating consequences in casualties and damage to property.
They can reach an area far broader than the strip taking hits from Gaza Wednesday which was delimited by Ashkelon to the north and Netivot to the east. Therefore an outer rim of 30 locations 30 km distant from the Palestinian enclave has now been connected to the Homeland Command’s early warning system, including Kiryat Gath, Kiryat Malachi, the Lachish Region and Ashdod. Homeland Command operations units have been deployed there too, together with emergency medical, firefighting and rescue teams. Magen David Adom is on top terror preparedness with 200 ambulances on standby in southwestern Israel.
The Israeli security cabinet meeting Wednesday concluded that Israel would have to resort to military action to extinguish the escalating missile, mortar and rocket barrage from Gaza, which Wednesday left a trail of some 57 shock victims – half of them children – and wrecked homes, vehicles, shops, workshops and roads. The ministers took into account that Hamas would counter effective Israeli air strikes in Gaza by fielding its long-range missiles now believed to have a range of 42 km. This takes in the important Mediterranean port town of Ashdod and the outskirts of Beersheba.
The dilemma facing Israel’s military command is this: Will Hamas if attacked immediately throw its long-range weapons into the fray against southern Israel, or rather build up the tempo of its short-range missiles in stages? They hope that, like the IDF, Hamas will exercise a measure of restraint and not lose sight of its goal, believed to be the renewal of the “ceasefire” which it formally terminated last Friday.
However, field officers in the South are less optimistic. They told DEBKAfile‘s sources that they don’t believe half-wars are a practical option.
(Of course they are correct here. There is no such thing as a half war. It is either war or not war and Hamas has clearly stated that it intends to destroy Israel. So given that intention the only answer is to defeat that enemy totally. But Israel must also defeat Fatah, it is a must to look at the Fatah intentions and at its Constitution. This MUST bring Israel into total conflict witht he US and EU which builds up the Fatah enemy of Israel behind the Hamas smkescreen…FQ)
Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni has been invited to meet Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak Thursday, Dec. 25, to discuss the Gaza crisis. Cairo has broken the embargo on the Gaza Strip by inviting any government wishing to send aid to the Palestinian population to send it via Egyptian territory.
4international 