Sander van Hoorn 34

Sander van Hoorn: zijn jij en de andere Nederlandse correspondenten in Israel opnieuw in het geheim via de AIVD en de Israelische geheime diensten gewaarschuwd niet naar de Gazastrook te gaan? Bericht daarover dit keer dan, zodat je straks niet hoeft te doen alsof je Gaza niet op tijd inkon.

Israeli Threats Against Gaza Grow

Thursday 14 January 2010

by: Ira Chernus, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Civilian crawling over debris in Gaza, 2006. (Photo: Zoriah)

Israel's hawks are starting to make frightening noises.

If Israel attacks Gaza again, Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant will run the operation. Galant recently saidthat right now "the sun is shining - but one can see dark clouds in the distance." His soldiers are training to face trouble ahead, and "civilians are rightly preparing themselves for another round of fighting."

A few days later, Galant's predecessor, Maj. Gen. Yom Tov Samia (who still heads the reserves who would invade Gaza), soundedeven more ominous: "We are before another round in Gaza," he predicted. "I am very skeptical about the possibility that Hamas will suddenly surrender or change its ways without being hit much more seriously than it was during Cast Lead." Israel must carry out "a more focused strike with long-lasting results."

Always ready to oblige the hawks, the Jerusalem Post reported Samia's words under the fear-mongering headline: "Another war with Hamas is inevitable."

At what "long-lasting results" might Israel aim? Samia would say only that Israel should take control of "certain areas in Gaza" to "create a situation in which Hamas runs out of oxygen." But unnamed "defense officials" told the Post of existing plans for Israel to seize and hold the Philadelphi corridor, the strip of land between Egypt and Gaza that is riddled with underground smuggling tunnels.

That would require Israeli troops to go house to house in the densely populated city of Rafah, to search out and destroy tunnels. When Israel invaded Gaza last year, the same plan was rejected because it was likely to cost too many Israeli casualties and lead to a long-term Israeli occupation of the area. Now, the hawks are pushing their government to consider paying that price.

Why? The official explanation, repeated constantly in the Israeli press, is that rockets are beginning to fly out of Gaza into Israel again, while Hamas brings larger weaponry through the tunnels. So, Israel is "forced" to defend itself.

Yet, Gaza Prime Minister, Ismael Haniyeh of Hamas, has repeated his call for all factions in the Strip to observe and maintain a total cease-fire. The cease-fire is a long-standing Hamas policy, broken in late 2008 only when Israel tightened its economic stranglehold on Gaza beyond endurable limits.

Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/healing-suicidal-veterans-an-interview-with-vic-montgomery56074