Jerusalem Post (my comments):
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is seeking legal approval to evacuate [cleanse] thousands of residents of Gaza City to locations in the south of the Strip to enable the IDF to attack terror infrastructure [anything that people might need, like water or electricity systems or houses] without hurting civilians [the fun’s gotta stop sometime], Channel 2 reported Wednesday evening.
The report came after the Security Cabinet decided Wednesday morning to act in an “ongoing and consistent” manner to end rocket attacks and other terrorist [resistance] activity from the Gaza Strip. The cabinet held a special meeting to debate the response [discuss what they can get away with] to ongoing rocket attacks on Ashkelon and the western Negev.
The ministers also decided that it would coordinate with various elements, including Egypt [who are currently building a wall to prevent Palestinians escaping from Gaza again], in order to weaken the [democratically elected] Hamas government without creating a[n obvious] humanitarian crisis.
Israel, they decided, will continue to further peace efforts while maintaining operational freedom to conduct counterterrorism measures [blow up what the fuck they want] and focusing on hasbara (public diplomacy) [public diplomacy ha ha ha, fucking propaganda] efforts to bolster Israel’s media image [to blame the Palestinians for their own plight].
Via Lenin
AFP:
GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israeli forces pulled out of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Monday after days of clashes that killed more than 110 Palestinians and dealt a major blow to nascent Middle East peace talks.
Residents in the north of the territory cautiously ventured out from their homes and picked through the rubble as Israeli tanks and ground troops withdrew following the deadliest Israeli military blitz on Gaza in years.
“The operation is winding down. Almost all our forces have already returned to Israel,” a military spokesman told AFP.
The bloody assault earned Israel international condemnation for excessive use of force and caused moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to cut contacts with the Jewish state shortly before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in the region aiming to push revived peace talks.
Since the dramatic escalation in violence last Wednesday, 116 Palestinians, including 22 children and dozens of militants, have been killed, according to Gaza health ministry statistics. More than 350 were wounded.
Two Israeli soldiers were also killed in the clashes and one Israeli civilian died in a rocket attack launched by Gaza militants.
Of course, there was the usual bollox spouted about not wanting to kill civilians and they brought it on themselves.
OK, they people of Sderot might be scared of the rocket attacks (I’ve heard them described elsewhere as missiles. They’re hardly that), and have to run for cover now and again, but not only do the Gazans have to worry about the might of the IDF coming to not just kill their fighters, but their children too, they also have to worry about starvation, hypothermia, lack of medical stuff and other things associated with a society being strangled to extinction. Would the people of Sderot sit on their collective arse and let their occupation carry on without letting their oppressor they’re there? No. They wouldn’t. Would Israel let someone else control it’s borders, for example, put up with Syria controlling it’s borders with Jordan? No, but that is what’s happening with Gazas’ border with Egypt. And the Palestinians are just supposed to let it happen, eh?
Oh, the figure quoted above, 116 Palestinians killed, 22 of them children. That’s over a fifth of the people killed are children. Children don’t just wander about with out at least one parents about, so just how many ‘militants’ did Israel kill? Oh, yes, in Israels’ eyes, they’re all militants, aren’t they.
All Israel has done is speed up the genocide.
Blimey! It’s all action around here as one blogger calls the rozzers on another because he, well, doesn’t like being criticised.
Some of the stuff that goes on round here you wouldn’t believe.
Via Bloggerheads
