I conducted scores of private interviews of service members and civilians, alone, with no command oversight. Detainees are fed 4,200 calorie, halal-prepared meals each day. They get special treats for Muslim feasts. A detainee at Guantanamo sees medical personnel on average four times a month.Let's teach them how to sky dive ... minus the ... well you get it.
American service men and women are subject to constant abuse. They are doused with noxious body-fluid "cocktails," assaulted physically and endure vicious name-calling filled with racial epitaphs and profanity. Nevertheless they soldier on. Rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from duty at Gitmo are staggering. It is a combat zone where one side only the detainees are permitted to attack.
Hamas Text Message Sent to Israelis...Not Quite How It Worked OutPalestinian sources reported Thursday that the "Iranian Unit" of Hamas, members of the group's military wing trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, had been destroyed.
According to the sources, most of the unit's members were killed in fighting in the Zeytun neighborhood, where they had been deployed by the military leadership of Hamas.
The unit numbered approximately 100 men who had traveled to Iran and Hezbollah camps, mostly in the Beka'a Valley, where they were trained in infantry fighting tactics. The militants were also trained in the use of anti-tank missiles, the detonation of explosives, among other skills.
Explosion from an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of Gaza CityGunshots and an anti-tank missile were fired at IDF troops near the UN compound that was attacked by the IDF on Thursday, senior defense official told The Jerusalem Post.
Accordng to the officials, the IDF responded by firing artillery shells at the location of the gunmen and that the shells caused damage to the UN installations. At least three people were wounded and the building was set on fire.
Israeli troops have pushed into outlying neighborhoods in Gaza City, possibly signaling the onset of a new phase in the ground operation launched 17 days ago. Although in the first two days of the ground offensive the Israeli military had surrounded Gaza City, so far Israeli troops have not entered the dense urban sprawl of the Gaza Strip cities.
Now hundreds of Israeli troops have advanced several blocks into the neighborhoods of Zaytoun, Sheikh Ajleen, Tuffah, Tal el Hawa, Shejaeya, and Zeitun on the southern and eastern edge of Gaza City, according to reports.
January 12, 2009, 11:07 PM (GMT+02:00)
Hosni Mubarak whips up an Arab front against Hamas
When Hamas-Damascus clamped a veto on his Gaza ceasefire ultimatum Monday, Jan. 12, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak acted fast: He summoned an Arab summit for setting in motion a plan for an inter-Arab force to monitor the Philadelphi Corridor. Arab foreign ministers meet in Kuwait Friday, Jan. 16, to prepare the summit for next week.
This step shrinks to a few days the time left for Israel's military progress to set the pace of events in the Gaza conflict. At the moment, Israel can still present the Arab rulers with a military fait accompli in the Gaza Strip, after flattening hundreds of Palestinian buildings separating the town of Rafah from the Philadelphi corridor. Those buildings, though tenanted, were false fronts for the openings to the Hamas arms smuggling tunnels running under the Gazan-Egyptian border.
Cairo quietly tipped Jerusalem that it was not against broadening its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Razing the populated area dividing Rafah from the Philadelphi border assures Israeli tanks of firing control of this key segment of the smuggling labyrinth and smoothes the way for it capture. No inter-Arab or other international monitoring force could have controlled the sector had the buildings remained in place.
Egypt plans to match the Israeli project by flattening the buildings and tunnel openings on its side of the border. The two projects will enable Mubarak to put before the Arab summit a draft resolution for appointing a workable multi-Arab or international body to monitor cross-border traffic in this sector. Both Hamas and Israel will find it hard to oppose this plan, particularly if the US and Germany pitch in with high-tech monitoring equipment.
Mubarak's pan-Arab initiative presents Israel with two difficulties: For one, it faces losing the prospect of a clear-cut victory over a terrorist organization. Furthermore, Egypt will be required to make concessions at Jerusalem's expense to buy the support of Syria, Libya, Yemen and Qatar for its plan.
Hamas' rejection of the Egyptian proposal was there a cold blast that dispelled the early hopes in Jerusalem and Cairo that Hamas had been punished enough to drop its conditions for a ceasefire.
The ball reverts now to Jerusalem, which must determine whether the army goes forward into Gaza City and Philadelphi or stands still on present battle lines.
As the Palestinian death toll rose past 900, Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya delivered a taped speech from his hiding-place Monday pledging support for any effort to end the bloodshed, ousting the enemy and opening the crossings, while on the other hand declaring that the fight must go on.
Haniya kept the door open to the Egyptian initiative without defying Khaled Meshaal, his hardline boss in Damascus.
DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report that Mubarak feels the ground is burning under his feet too, but he would rather not grasp the nettle of a Gaza solution on his own. He is therefore seeking broad Arab backing for a resolution, starting with a trip to Riyadh Tuesday, Jan. 13, to ask for Saudi cooperation and a pledge of funding for the Arab force he is promoting.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that Israel announced Wednesday, Jan. 7 a three-hour daily halt in military operations from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. as a goodwill gesture for the passage of humanitarian aid. Israel will suspend attacks in certain areas – though not the entire territory - to allow people to get supplies. The measure took immediate effect. Ashkelon took 4 rockets as the Israeli pause began.
Hamas' missile fire continued. More food, medicines and fuel supplies entered Gaza from Israel Wednesday.
The Israeli Gaza offensive has cut by half the daily missiles/ rocket level from Gaza by wiping out 60 percent of Hamas' missile stocks, demolishing its production facilities and knocking out of action the Philadelphi smuggling tunnels on the Egyptian border. However, DEBKAfile's military sources report that Hamas appears to have preserved an unused stock of Iran-made Fajr rockets capable of hitting central Israeli towns, such as Rehovot and Rishon Lezion, 16 km short of Tel Aviv.
And if the Israeli assaults on the Philadelphi border route were to be halted at this point, Hamas could restore part of its supply network within 3-6 weeks.
Tuesday, Jan. 5, Rehovot mayor Shuky Furer assured his town it was out of Hamas' rocket range. Military sources are less confident. Whereas the Homeland Command decided to leave the town out of its emergency planning, intelligence sources do not rule out the possibility that Hamas has kept hidden in one of its bunkers long-range rockets with ranges of 70-75 km, which would put Rehovot and Rishon within their sights and also the nuclear installation at the Negev town of Dimona.
Suspicions of a concealed stock of Iranian-made Fajr-3 - or the more advanced Fajr-5 rockets - was strengthened Monday, when the Hamas military spokesman threatened to target Rehovot, Rishon Lezion and even Tel Aviv. At the same time, the stock cannot be very large and is likely preserved as a "doomsday weapon" against Hamas' total collapse. External go-betweens have cautioned Hamas that firing long-distance weapons would provoke harsher retaliation than the Israeli Air Force has meted out till now.
Hizballah's Hassan Nasrallah tried more than once to bomb Tel Aviv in the 2006 Lebanon War, but every time he set up a launcher, the Israeli air force struck them down. But the Faj-5 rockets he received from Iran did hit the sand dunes of Caesaria north of Tel Aviv, as well as Afula and the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel.
Just Another Example ... hat tip for pic to Muqata blogFrom various sources it appears about 100 Hamas fighters have been killed and nearly 200 taken captive in ground ops. This does not include casualties inflicted through air strikes- Wolverine
Much is being made in the media of the casualties caused by an Israeli strike on a UN school in the Gaza strip. Any and all civilian casualties are tragic (and we may never know the make up of the casualties ... how many were civilians/fighters ... how many of the bodies were brought in from other sites etc(as in lebanon). However, it should be noted that Hamas used UN schools as mortar firing positions in the past, and it is coming out that this was exactly the case here. It should also be noted that yesterday a Hamas rocket scored a direct hit on a kindergarten in Ashdod, and there was a near miss recently on one in Beersheba. There were no casualties in Ashdod only because kids were held out of school. As the hysteria mounts ... it's important to have some perspective.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that on the second day of their ground offensive, Sunday, Jan 4, Day 9 of its offensive against Hamas, Israeli forces have closed their siege encirclement of Gaza City. Thirty Israeli soldiers were wounded, an officer and soldier seriously. At least 30 Hamas gunmen were killed in the first thrust of Israel armored infantry, tanks, engineering, artillery and intelligence units into the enclave after a week of intense airstrikes.
Western and Arab informants report that Sunday, Israeli armored forces had taken up position at Hamas launching sites in Beit Hanoun in the north and captured parts of the Zeitun refugee camp and Netzarim to cut off Gaza City and carve the enclave into three segments. They also fought their way into the disused airfield at Dahaniya.
Israeli warships were reported to have dropped troops in the southern Philadelphi enclave through which smuggling tunnels carry Hamas weapons supplies. Armored and infantry unites are fighting for control of the strategic sector after dozens of tunnels were destroyed in previous Israeli air strikes.
Foreign correspondents are not operating inside the Gaza Strip and both Israel and Hamas have cast "a fog of war" over developments.
Hamas gunmen engaging Israeli forces are first battered by fire from Israeli helicopters, artillery and navy. This accounts for their heavy casualties.
On Jan. 1, DEBKAfile reported that Hamas' tacticians did not plan to send the bulk of their elite fighting force against the Israeli invaders or the forces besieging Gaza City. Several hundred were to mingle with the Gaza City population and carry out nocturnal forays behind Israel lines.
Taking this into account, defense minister Ehud Barak warned shortly after the offensive began that it would not be short or easy. Besieging a city of 800,000 densely packed inhabitants is a daunting mission by any military reckoning, requiring large numbers of troops both to control the city and secure its environs up to the enclave's southern border at Rafah.
Hence the tens of thousands of Israeli reservists called up for combat duty.
Some are assigned to Israel's northern frontiers in case Hizballah decides to send Palestinians armed with rockets to open a second front from Lebanon.
DEBKAfile' sources report that in early December Hizballah's Hassan Nasrallah secretly visited Tehran and met with senior Revolutionary Guards officers. He later welcomed in Beirut the al Qods commander Gen. Qassem Suleimani. Another Iranian dignitary, Saeed Jalili, chairman of the national security council and senior nuclear negotiator was due in Beirut Sunday, Jan. 4 after talks in Damascus with Syria, Hamas and Jihad Islami leaders.
The IDF said that the purpose of the ground operation was to eliminate launching pads in northern Gaza from which specific long-range rockets had been fired into southern Israel.
Large forces from the army's infantry, tanks and artillery units are among those participating in the mission.
Several hours earlier, the army began to fire artillery shells into the northern part of the Strip.
Smoke trail from rocket fired from Gaza towards IsraelDEBKAfile's Washington source report that in a telephone conversation with prime minister Ehud Olmert, US president George W. Bush okayed Israeli air, sea and ground operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He promised the US would veto a resolution condemning Israel at the UN Security Council meeting next Monday. Early Saturday morning, Jan. 3, Day 8 of Israel's Gaza operation, US and British media described the Israeli invasion as hours away.
In his weekly radio address - brought forward by a day, the US president spoke with exceptional firmness: "Another one-way ceasefire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable," he said. "This recent outburst of violence was instigated by Hamas – a Palestinian terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria that calls for Israel's destruction."
He noted that "Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup and routinely violated an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire…" and went on to define the exit point for Israel's military operation:
"Promises from Hamas will not suffice," he said. There must be "monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end."
This left Israel the option of sustaining its military activity against Hamas until such a mechanism was installed. He implicitly criticized Egypt for failing to control the smuggling of rockets and other munitions through its territory.
In his radio address, President Bush noted that president-elect Barack Obama is being kept up to date on the latest developments. With just over two weeks left in power, the Bush administration is preparing to hand over the problem to his successor.
DEBKAfile's military sources list 9 pointers to an imminent Israeli incursion:
1. Israel's three decision-makers, the prime minister, defense minister Ehud Barak and foreign minister Tzipi Livni, met Friday, Dec. 2, and resolved "to keep up the military pressure on Hamas" – a decision that gives the IDF a free hand.
2. Hamas' conduct Friday: After 9 Grad Katyusha rockets were fired against Ashkelon, destroying two buildings and injuring five Israelis, the tempo slowed to 40 launchings the whole day - half the week's daily average. The Palestinian terrorists were evidently reserving stocks for a grand climax when Israeli tank and armored infantry crossed into Gaza.
3. Hamas threats have mounted to a new pitch: Damascus-based Khaled Meshaal, who is in hiding, warned Israel (in a taped speech) of a "black fate" if it invades Gaza, including more kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Underlying his words was the threat of guerrilla action behind Israeli lines to snatch hostages.
4. Israeli air strikes against the empty homes of Hamas leaders continued early Saturday after 45 were destroyed Thursday and Friday. Their objective is to demoralize the Hamas command echelon and break its will to fight.
5. The Hamas military wing reported thwarting an Israeli special forces' attempt to steal into the Sejaya refugee camp in Gaza City early Saturday. This is the third such claim in three days. The IDF spokesman denied knowledge of the incident.
6. DEBKAfile's military sources report mass-desertions by teenagers who form the backbone of Hamas' fighting rank and file. They are going home to their parents.
7. Early signs that former Palestinian security officers unaffiliated with Hamas are getting together to seize control of Gazan districts in which Hamas rule has collapsed.
Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets from Friday night advising people living in the northern and eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City to leave their homes. Defiance of this curfew directive carried the risk of being shot.
8. Cairo forwarded an urgent request to Hamas leaders in Damascus to make known their conditions for a ceasefire.
9. The arrival in Damascus of the chairman of Iran's national security council and nuclear negotiator Said Jalili for urgent talks with Syrian president Bashar Assad and the leaders of Hamas and Jihad Islami.
Bush's speech followed his conversations with Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi leaders as well as Olmert. He said he was concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza and noted that "Hamas terrorists often hide within the civilian population which puts innocent Palestinians at risk."
