Military defeat can still be a strategic victory for the Islamist militants of Gaza.
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Why Hamas Will Never Surrender
Tag: hamas
A view from afar on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where the Jewish-American lobby looks all too much like the Cuban-American lobby.
TEL AVIV — Last February, a court in Jerusalem ordered a seven-year prison sentence for Kifah Sarhan, a senior Hamas official based in Jerusalem, on charges of membership in a terror organization and dealing with property for terrorism. A resident of East Jerusalem and member of the organization’s advisory council, Sarhan had a key position […]
Palestinian Authority President Abbas surprised some by backing Hamas. But it is growing protests among youth in Ramallah that may have the real power to make a change.
No Iron Dome here…
About two weeks before Israel started its Operation Protective Edge, the entire political leadership of Hamas in Gaza attended a funeral for five members of the movement’s military wing — among the attendees were former premier Ismail Haniyeh, Speaker of the Gaza parliament Ahmad Bahar and other senior figures from Hamas’ politburo. On its face, […]
Quit or double down? The risks for Israel rise in step with the number killed on both sides of the conflict in Gaza.
Protests over the weekend in major European cities to support the people of Gaza were fertile ground for a growing movement of anti-Semitism.
TEL AVIV — Don’t know where to run when you hear the sirens? Want to send a distress signal in an emergency to security forces or assure your family you’re okay with a tweet? Here is a list of the latest smartphone applications that are getting downloaded during the current military “Operation Protective Edge,” as […]
It is becoming harder and harder to even imagine an end to the cycle of anger and vengeance.
Here is a sample of how Israel’s ground offensive into Gaza was playing out on Twitter in Arabic and Hebrew. Tweets in Arabic *A young Palestinian named Mustafa Abu Zir tweeted this morning from Gaza, “the electricity has been cut to our neighborhood for 18 hours.. my laptop and phone battery died and we have […]
JERUSALEM — Nobody wanted to believe it. Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet had of course called up reservists and warned the 100,000 inhabitants of Gaza who lived near the border not to stay long. But for most Israeli political analysts, this had appeared to be mainly an exercise in communications. And everything pointed to their being right […]
-Analysis- CAIRO — The events unfolding in Egypt since July 1, 2013, when General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, has been by all accounts detrimental to the interests of the Palestinians in Gaza and to Hamas, an offspring of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, which has governed the tiny territory since […]
A prominent Iranian politician has characterized Israeli operations against Gaza as the third phase of Israel’s current plot to destabilize the Middle East region. Mohsen Rezai, a former Revolutionary Guards commander and current member of a state arbitrating body, said the first two phases of Israel’s strategy were the civil wars provoked in Syria and […]
Relatives of Amer Abu Aisheh, accused of abducting three Israeli teens, don’t expect to see him again. His mother’s definition of a martyr: “one who chooses to give their life to kill the Jews.”
TEL AVIV — It’s the joke of the evening and they tell it again and again, happy with themselves, a lukewarm glass of Coke in their hands: “Are you ready to hear a lie? Because if I tell you the truth, we’ll have to kill you.” They probably wouldn’t, but then again the participants of […]
Thursday, August 28, 2014 UKRAINE DENOUNCES “RUSSIAN TROOP DEPLOYMENT” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko cancelled a trip to Turkey over what he described as “Russian troop deployments” in eastern Ukraine. His decision comes amid reports of a Russian “invasion” and the gathering of special OSCE meeting in Vienna. Writing on Twitter, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey […]
Wednesday, August 27, 2014 UN DENOUNCES ISIS AND SYRIAN GOVERNMENT ACTIONS In a report following months of investigation in Syria, the United Nations said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Syrian government forces had used chlorine gas, a chemical agent, eight times on civilian areas in April. The UN also denounced crimes committed by […]
Friday, August 22, 2014 PENTAGON CONSIDERS ANTI-ISIS STRATEGY After a week that saw an escalation in the horror from ISIS, Pentagon officials are trying to develop a strategy to contain and defeat what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff described as “an organization that has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision.” According to The […]
Thursday, August 21, 2014 WASHINGTON’S FAILED HOSTAGE RESCUE A secret operation involving “several dozen U.S. commandos” failed earlier this summer to rescue photojournalist James Foley and other American hostages held by Islamist terrorists in northern Syria, The Washington Post reports. An article in The New York Times, meanwhile, explains that the infamous ISIS jihadist group […]
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 U.S. SENDS MORE MILITARY ADVISERS TO IRAQ Washington is sending 130 more military advisers to northern Iraq to assist in the evacuation of displaced people trapped on Mount Sinjar, The New York Times reports. The article quotes U.S. officials as saying that a ground presence is needed to secure the evacuation, […]
NEW IRAQ GOVERNMENT “PROMISING” Iraqi President Fuad Masum is forming a new government to help halt the ISIS insurgency in the country’s north, replacing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a development U.S. President Barack Obama characterized as “a promising step forward.” Masum has asked veteran Shia politician Haider al-Abadi to replace Maliki, whose political support […]
Monday, August 11, 2014 IRAQ SINKS DEEPER INTO CRISISThe United States is providing weapons to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq as they battle Islamic State (IS) terrorists who are slaughtering civilian minorities, the AP reports. The Obama administration had previously said it would only sell arms to the Iraqi government, but that policy has changed. […]
Friday, August 8, 2014 OBAMA AUTHORIZES IRAQ AIRSTRIKES Marking the most significant intervention in Iraq since American troops were withdrawn in 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against Islamist extremists there and aid to desperate civilians a day after the country’s largest Christian town was seized, forcing thousands to flee. “Earlier this week, one […]
Wednesday, August 6, 2014 GAZA CEASEFIRE HOLDS FOR SECOND DAYThe Israel-Hamas ceasefire that began yesterday is still holding, ending at least temporarily a month of war in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports. Negotiations for a more permanent truce between Israel and Hamas are expected to take place in Cairo in the coming days with the […]
Tuesday, August 5, 2014 ISRAELI TROOPS LEAVE GAZA AS 72-HOUR CEASEFIRE BEGINSIsrael announced the withdrawal of its ground troops from Gaza this morning after Egyptian mediators brokered a 72-hour truce with Hamas late Monday. An Israeli military spokesman said the army’s main goal of destroying Hamas’ cross-border tunnels had been completed, adding that the troops […]
Monday, August 4, 2014 LIMITED CEASEFIRE FRAGILE AFTER ISRAEL STRIKE KILLS CHILD Palestinians have accused Israel of breaking its own ceasefire Monday after it launched a strike on the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, killing an eight-year-old girl and wounding 29 people. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the strike took place after […]
Thursday, July 31, 2014 ISRAEL CALLS UP 16,000 RESERVISTSAs the conflict in Gaza continues, Israel announced it was calling up 16,000 extra reserve soldiers for its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza — bringing the total of soldiers mobilized to 86,000. The BBC quotes Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying he is “determined” to […]
Tuesday, July 29, 2014 U.S. SAYS RUSSIA VIOLATED NUCLEAR MISSILE TREATY The United States claims Russia has violated a landmark Cold War-era arms treaty by testing a prohibited cruise missile, an assertion that President Barack Obama has conveyed by letter to President Vladimir Putin, The New York Times reports. “It is the most serious allegation […]
Monday, July 28, 2014 UN’S MIDNIGHT CALL FOR CEASEFIRE GOES UNHEEDED The UN Security Council agreed on a statement during an emergency midnight meeting calling for “an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas that has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 40 Israeli soldiers […]
GAZA: NO TRUCE, BANNED BROADCAST, SEEN FROM SPACE 37 Palestinians were killed this morning in Gaza, taking the death toll after 17 days of the Israeli operation to 734, with more than 4,000 injured, Ma’an news agency reports. Hamas meanwhile claimed to have killed 8 Israeli soldiers early this morning, as Tel Aviv was targeted […]
Wednesday, July 23, 2014 GAZA: WAR CRIME ACCUSATIONS An emergency UN Human Rights Council is being held in Geneva as Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” enters its 16th day, with the death toll in Gaza now standing at least 647, after new attacks this morning. UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay opened the meeting saying that […]
GAZA WAR ENTERS THIRD WEEK Israel’s assault on Gaza and Hamas rocket fire into Israel show no sign of abating. Gaza’s Health Ministry officials reports 604 Palestinians killed in 15 days, with more than 3,700 injured. Most of the victims are civilians. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday, taking the total to 27 since the […]
The Israeli Defense Forces’ one-of-a-kind Internet strategy aims to bypass an international media known for unfriendly fire.
Monday, July 21, 2014 GAZA DEATH TOLL TOPS 500 Israel pushed ahead with its military operation in Gaza, with Reuters reporting massive attacks, including one that killed 25 members of the same family, as the death toll reached 508 in 14 days of the operation “Protective Edge,” with at least 81,000 displaced. The Guardian also […]
Friday, July 18, 2014 RUSSIA, UKRAINE TRADE BLAME OVER MH17 DISASTER Moscow and Kiev are accusing each other of being responsible for the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 yesterday in eastern Ukraine, with 298 people on board, most of them Dutch. All sides agree on the fact that the aircraft was hit by a […]
Thursday, July 17, 2014 GAZA’S SHORT-LIVED CEASEFIRE A temporary ceasefire that was planned to last at least five hours was broken less than three hours after it started, with the southern Israeli town of Eshkol targeted by what the Israeli military says were three mortars. The Guardian says there are conflicting reports about the attack […]
Wednesday, July 16, 2014 ISRAEL TARGETS HAMAS LEADERS IN FRESH STRIKES The Israeli air force is continuing to strike Gaza, targeting the residences of four Hamas leaders hours after warning 100,000 Gazans to flee their homes, AP reports. This comes after Hamas rejected an Egypt-brokered ceasefire yesterday. Blogger Richard Silverstein writes that a well-placed Israeli […]
Though Israeli leaders were pleasantly surprised by some aspects of Mohammed Morsi’s reign, they are not sorry to see him go. For one thing, it’s a big blow to Hamas.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 ISRAEL PREPARES FOR GROUND OFFENSIVE IN GAZA Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to prepare for a possible ground offensive in Gaza, Haaretz quotes a senior official as saying. This comes after the Israeli military launched “Operation Protective Edge” hitting more than 50 targets in air strikes. Palestinian militants […]