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(by Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post) – The Israeli Air Force [IAF] struck and killed Hamas’s head of military operations Ahmed Jabari in central Gaza on Wednesday. Theairstrike marked the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations in Gaza, Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said.
“The first aim of this operation is to bring back quiet to southern Israel, and the second target is to strike at terror organizations,” Mordechai said.
Shortly afterwards, the IDF struck over 20 underground rocket launchers belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an airstrike.
The airstrikes targeted long-range rockets in the possession of terror organizations, such as the Fajr-5 and other rockets that are capable of striking Tel Aviv from Gaza. The IDF believes it has eliminated the majority of the long-range threat.
A large part of the weapons storage sites were located in civilian residential buildings, the IDF confirmed. “This is further evidence of the pattern of Hamas to use the population in Gaza as human shields,” the IDF said in a statement. Palestinian sources said that six people in Gaza had been killed in IDF strikes on Wednesday.
Brig.-Gen. Mordechai told Channel 2 that “the days we face in the South will, in my estimation, prove protracted. The homefront must brace itself resiliently,” he added.
Mordechai described Jabari as a man with “a lot of blood on his hands.” The IDF has urged civilians to pay attention to instructions from the Home Front Command in light of the developments.
Born in 1960, Jabari joined Hamas…in 1995, and in 2004 established himself as one of the top military commanders in Hamas, according the IDF. The IDF says Jabari carried out and ordered numerous terror attacks against Israel, including the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit and the firing of hundreds of rockets in recent years.
Mordechai added that Gaza is a “forward Iranian base,” adding that the latest campaign of air strikes targeted most of the long-range offensive capabilities in the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. …
In response to the attacks, Hamas said that “the occupation has opened the gates of hell.”
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said the assassination will not “break the will of our people, nor weaken our resistance,” Al Ahram reported. Al-Rishq made the comments on his Facebook site, adding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is using the “war crime” to boost his chances of reelection, but that it could “cost him his political future.”
Over the past 48 hours, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz has approved a series of steps following a four-day rocket barrage on southern Israel from Gaza. “All options are open,” the IDF spokesman said, adding “we are very determined to strike at terror organizations.”
The IDF confirmed that Jabari was killed in the attack which came after four rockets landed in the Eshkol area of Israel on Wednesday. The IDF was reportedly checking if the rockets were fired from Gaza or Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. …
Wednesday’s violence came after a four-day rocket barrage which began Saturday appeared to have come to an end on Tuesday evening. The hostilities saw over 100 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel and Israeli retaliatory strikes which killed six Palestinians.
Both Israel and Hamas sent signals to each other via Egypt that they would hold their fire unless attacked, after five days of mounting violence. An official involved in the Egyptian mediation confirmed both sides were ready to stop. “The message was clear, and Israel too told Egypt they were not interested in escalation if rocket firing stopped. The situation now is calm for calm and I hope it does not deteriorate,” the official told Reuters.
The tacit truce arrested an escalation, but did not completely stop the violence or the rhetoric, as Israel continued to promise that it would defend its citizens.
“Whoever thinks that he can routinely attack the daily lives of the residents of the South without paying a heavy price is mistaken. I am responsible for choosing the right time to exact the highest possible price and so it will be,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said.
Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from the Jerusalem Post. Visit the website at jpost.com. Reuters contributed to this report.
Questions
1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)
2. What is the goal of Israel’s “Operation Pillar of Defense”?
3. Who was Ahmed Jabari?
4. What caused the Israeli military to attack specific targets in Gaza?
5. Consider the following:
- Approximately 1 million Israeli civilians live within range of terrorist rockets being launched from Gaza. Between January and October 2012, over 800 rockets had been launched at Israel from Gaza. Over a 24 hour period on Nov. 13, Palestinian terrorists fired some 70 rockets and mortars into Israel from Gaza, wounding three Israelis, causing damage to property and sending a million residents of the south into bomb shelters. In these towns and cities of Israel, schools are closed during the attacks and people go into bomb shelters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said: “Whoever thinks that he can routinely attack the daily lives of the residents of the South without paying a heavy price is mistaken. I am responsible for choosing the right time to exact the highest possible price and so it will be.”
- A large part of the terrorist weapons storage sites the Israeli Air Force targeted for destruction were located in civilian residential buildings. Israeli policy is generally to drop leaflets warning the Palestinians to vacate these areas because of imminent attacks. The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip called on Arab states, especially Egypt, to halt Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave, which was launched earlier on Wednesday. “We call on our Arab brothers, and especially Egypt…and the new Egyptian presidency, to suppress this barbaric campaign in defense of Gaza and its people,” Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of Hamas’s Gaza government said in a statement. “I call for an urgent Arab summit to confront the brutal aggression,” he added.
a) Is Israel justified in attempting to end rocket attacks on its citizens by targeting Hamas leaders? Explain your answer.
b) Should Egypt attempt to force Israel to stop its attacks on rocket sites in Gaza as Hamas prime minister of Gaza Ismail Haniyeh has called on them to do? Explain your answer.
Background
THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY’S RULING POLITICAL PARTIES:
The Palestinian Authority is currently ruled by two parties, Fatah and Hamas. Hamas holds the majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament and the office of Prime Minister. Fatah holds a minority of seats in the Parliament, and the office of President.
Fatah ruled the Palestinian Authority from its establishment in 1994 until 2006. [Yasser Arafat was the head of Fatah until his death in 2004.] Fatah is a major secular Palestinian political party…. In Palestinian politics it is on the center-left of the spectrum. ….. [Since its loss in 2006 as the ruling party] it has … been described oftentimes in the media as the more “moderate” party, although many dispute this due to its past actions and current policies. (from Wikipedia.org)
Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist terrorist organization that currently (since January 2006) forms the majority party of the Palestinian Authority…. Hamas is known outside the Palestinian territories for its suicide bombings and other attacks directed against Israeli civilians, as well as military and security forces targets. Hamas’ charter…calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip……In January 2006, Hamas won a surprise victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections…. Many [Palestinians] perceived the preceding Fatah government as corrupt and ineffective… Since Hamas has taken control, the Palestinian territories have experienced a period of sharp internal conflicts, known as Fauda (anarchy), in which many Palestinians have been killed in…fighting [between Hamas supporters and Fatah supporters]. (from Wikipedia.org)
FROM 2009 ON THE ISRAELI-HAMAS CONFLICT: (most of this information is from wikipedia.org posted 1/2009)
- In 2005 Israel withdrew all troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in an effort to establish peace with Palestinians. In 2007 Hamas took control of Gaza after defeating Fatah in armed conflict. Hamas’ objective is to destroy the state of Israel.
- Following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, Israel sealed its border crossing with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah was no longer providing security, and imposed a blockade on the territory, except for humanitarian aid. (Egypt also closed its border with the Gaza Strip when fighting between Fatah and Hamas started on June 7, 2007.)
- On December 19, 2008 when a six-month cease-fire between the Hamas-led de facto government of Gaza and Israel ended, Hamas refused to extend the cease-fire on the grounds that Israel was continuing a blockade on Gaza.
- Israel started the operation against Hamas following a major increase in Hamas rocket attacks into Israel, culminating with 80 rockets fired into Israel on Christmas Eve. These Hamas rockets were and continue to be aimed at Israeli civilians.
- Israel is targeting Hamas military targets. The government says that the attacks are being undertaken in order to destroy Hamas’ capability and motivation to launch future similar attacks on Israel.
Resources
Visit the Israeli Defense Forces blog for updates on Operation Pillar of Defense.
For background information on Hamas click here.
Go to worldatlas.com for a map of Israel and the Middle East.
Watch a video of the strike, released by IAF (Israeli Air Force):
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