IDF kills Six - Settler One - Iran sanctions round III

Die "Polizeiaktion" der IDF im Jabalia-Flüchtlingslager fand am Montag Morgen ihr Ende. Während des Abzuges wurden bei kleineren raids noch vier Hamas-Mitglieder und ein PRC-Mitglied getötet. Die Anzahl der seit Mittwoch getöteten wird auf 115 Personen fest gelegt, wobei 320 Personen verletzt gemeldet werden. [Die Angaben des PHM stimmen exakt mit meinen über ein. Die soliden palästinensischen Medien korregieren falsche Daten.] In einer ersten Steelungnahme hat sich die vertrauenswürdige Organisation B'Tselem zu Wort gemeldet: According to B'Tselem figures, from 27 February to the afternoon of 3 March, 106 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip. Contrary to the Chief of Staff’s contention that ninety percent were armed, at least fifty-four of the dead (twenty-five of them minors) did not take part in the hostilities. In addition, at least forty-six minors were wounded. In response to the Defense Minister's initiative to probe the legality of firing at areas from which rockets were being fired, even if the area is populated, B'Tselem reminds the military that attacks on legitimate military targets are prohibited if they are likely to cause disproportionate harm to civilians, or to breach the duty to take caution not to harm civilians. If the military’s intention is to allow shelling of general areas or whole neighborhoods from which rockets are fired, such an attack would be indiscriminate and a grave breach of the laws of war. [Der zweite Abschnitt der Stellungnahme widmet sich diesem Vorhaben: Defense Minister Ehud Barak is considering the use of artillery against populated areas of the Gaza Strip from which Qassam and Katyusha rockets are fired at Israeli communities. Strategischer Blödsinn, der nur aussagt das man sich vor einer kostenträchtigen und langwierigen Wiedereroberung sträubt und das man immer noch hofft das ein Massenaufstand in Gaza das Problem löst.] Beide Seiten feiern ihren stupiden und sinnlosen Blutrausch entsprechend mit der Androhung von noch mehr Gewalt. Derweil wird die israelische Zivilbevölkerung eingeschüchtert wo es nur geht. Während für Aussenministerin Livni "collective punishments" [für Israelis] drohen sie plappen "Experten" munter drauf los: A senior official in the Military Intelligence said Monday that militants in the Gaza Strip fired 20 Iranian-made Grad-type missiles at southern Israel over the course of the Israel Defense Forces offensive in recent days. Military Intelligence was concerned that while the IDF was confronting the ongoing rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, a new attack on Israel could be launched in the North, said the official. "Hizbullah is weighing the situation and preparing its forces. In return we must prepare our forces," Und ... eh wirs vergessen: Immer den Rat der Ultras befolgen. Brave Soldaten sein, sonst droht zudem noch ein Erdbeben! Früher, bei der Westbank-Rückeroberung gab es den berühmten Rechtsruck. Heute tanzt ein chaotisches Land wegen einer kleinen Polizeiaktion die ausser Kontrolle gerät den Hysterie-Tango. Mentale Schäden [man kauft sich jetzt neuerdings Pillen gegen iranische Atomraketen-Radiation!] sind das eine, die realen das andere: Kassam rocket attacks have caused extensive damage to factories in the Sderot region and the Gaza Strip periphery, and hundreds of workers have been forced to leave their jobs, according to the Manufacturers Association of Israel. "The state of factories in Sderot and along the Gaza border is worsening day by day," association president Shraga Brosh said Sunday. "The direct and indirect damage has already cost more than NIS 60 million, and some 300 workers have already left." Weitere Luftangriffe in Khan Younis gegen die PRC in Gaza City gegen Metallverarbeiter werden gemeldet. Am Montag Abend wird bei einem Angriff auf vorgebliche Qassam-Einheiten ein weiterer Palästinenser getötet. Nach 33 gemeldeten Qassam-Raketen am Sonntag sind es am Montag noch 14 Projektile die auf israelischem Territorium landen. Nachtragend sollte noch erwähnt werden das der kleine al-Kafarna-Junge aus einem früheren post nicht durch israelisches Feuer, sondern durch eine friendly-fire-Qassam getötet wurde.

Wenigstens Herb Keinon behält etwas den Überblick: The government has yet to define or approve the overall goals of the current military campaign in the Gaza Strip, and will wait until Wednesday - after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit - to do so, senior government officials said Sunday night. Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post the IDF had short-term goals for a limited offensive, such as the one now under way, dubbed "Hot Winter," and longer-term goals for a larger operation. The longer-term goals for an IDF operation that has not yet been approved by the government include "weakening and even bringing down the Hamas government," the officials said. The other goals of a much broader operation in Gaza include putting an end to the rocket fire and dramatically reducing the smuggling of arms from Egypt into Gaza. The short-term goals are to shift Israeli cities out of Kassam range, which explains the current IDF activity near the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip; delivering a heavy blow to Hamas; and hitting the Kassam production line. [Kommentar eines israelsichen Ex-Militärs: "Denen ist nicht mehr zu helfen."] In der Politik sehe ich momentan nur noch einen den der Chaos-Virus nicht erwischt hat: Minister Ami Ayalon is planning to propose that Israel initiate indirect negotiations with Hamas, with Egyptian mediation, to bring about a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Ayalon, a minister without portfolio and a leading figure in the Labor Party, will raise the idea during a meeting of the security-political cabinet on Wednesday. Behind closed doors, Ayalon has emphasized that "if we are talking with Hamas about [captive IDF soldier] Gilad Shalit, then why should we not talk about a cease-fire?" Warum aber Ägypter nehmen, wenn der Mutter Abbasteresa doch schon zur Stelle ist: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday he was ready to mediate a truce between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement, after five days of fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip and intensified rocket attacks from the Strip into southern Israel. "President Abbas renewed his readiness to work for a full and mutual calm with Israel to spare our people and to avoid suffering," a statement carried on the official Palestinian Wafa news agency said. Yup. Und als Unterhändler empfehle ich Folter-Dahlan. Den mögen die Hamasniks am Liebsten. Dabei ist die Lage deratig durcheinander das sich heute sogar ein ägyptischer [Kampf-]Hubschrauber im Gazastreifen verfolgen hat. Er wurde nicht abgeschossen, sondern heil zurück eskortiert.

El-Khodary + Kershner: Thousands of Palestinians came out to support Hamas in what it called a victory rally here on Monday, hours after Israeli ground forces pulled out of northern Gaza, winding up a vigorous two-day operation against rocket-launching squads.

David Rose, "The Gaza Bombshell": After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

Police on Monday expressed reservations over an Israel Defense Forces preliminary investigation into the killing of a Palestinian teen by a West Bank settler, which determined that he acted appropriately. The Neriah resident told IDF investigators he had opened fire on the Palestinian youth with his personal weapon near the West Bank city of Ramallah, after a group of some 30 protesters surrounded him during his morning walk. He was arrested after the incident and told investigators that he had begun shooting out of fear that the protesters would try to lynch him. According to the preliminary probe, the man encountered the group while walking a side street in the Talmonim settlement. When the group began hurling rocks at him, the settler said, he opened fire into the air to deter them. When the group continued to throw rocks at him, he pointed his gun at the 17-year-old protester, striking him in the lower body. [...] In Qalkilla wird ein Mann durch marodierende IDF-Milizionäre angeschossen. Vierzehn Personen werden in der Westbank über Nacht verhaftet.

Commercial break: New Ninet Tayeb Pelephone-Video. [Nett.]

Leider bleibt jetzt keine Zeit mehr die Schwergeburt zu würdigen: The U.N. Security Council ratcheted up sanctions on Iran on Monday for refusing to suspend nuclear enrichment and other sensitive activities, but Tehran dismissed the decision as illegal. There were 14 votes in favour, none against and one country, Indonesia, abstained. Previous sanctions resolutions were adopted unanimously in December 2006 and March 2007, but council envoys said Monday's message to Iran was a strong one.