Some observers feel a house of worship belonging to any religion is sacrosanct, and should not be targeted by a military attack under any circumstances.
Others argue that if a mosque is used to house weapons, it loses its sanctity.
Apparently the U.S. army sides with the latter opinion.
In 2004, in Fallouja, Iraq, U.S. forces were engaged in gunfire exchanges with Sunni Muslim insurgents, who had been using the mosque as a launch pad for attacks.
Following sniper fire from the rooftop of the mosque, the U.S. Marines called in a Cobra helicopter, which then shot a Hellfire missile at the complex, hitting a
perimeter wall. An F-16, also brought in to assist the ground troops, then dropped a laser-guided bomb at the base of
the building.
Marines said the decision
to call in airpower was made after discovering insurgents had hidden
weapons and fighters in the back of an ambulance. Sounds familiar.
"It was no longer
a house of worship," Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne told The Los Angeles Times. "It was a military target. We had to protect our Marines."
I wonder what type of reaction we would see in the world press if an IDF spokesman were to issue a remark like that.
Hamas use of mosques for military purposes has been documented for years. As for as I am aware, the U.N. has yet to state any objections.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Rockets found at UNRWA school for third time
I'm starting to feel sorry for the UNRWA. After rockets were found in one of their schools for the third time, they must be running out of excuses.
I don't envy the job of their spokesman, Chris Gunness. This time around he didn't mention the incident on his Twitter feed and the UNRWA didn't announce it on their website.
A press release said, "All the relevant parties have been notified." That's a bit murky.
Likewise, the press release did not mention how many rockets were found and where they are now.
"This is yet another flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises," said the press release. But that claim of neutrality is starting to ring hollow.
Following the first discovery, UNRWA workers called Hamas to come remove the rocket stockpile. And although UNRWA confirmed the second discovery last week, it refused an Israeli request to provide photos of the munitions found.
One commentor referred to the UNRWA as the United Nations Rocket Works Agency.
In 2009, a video called Camp Jihad showed how Western countries are funding a summer camp program that teaches Gaza children how to
One 2009 article reports on an IDF video showing rockets being fired from an UNWRA facility, with Gunness admitting the school had been used for that purpose, but claiming that this was done without his knowledge and after it was deserted. "Allegations that UNRWA facilities are used by militants are always investigated and we will cooperate so our name can be cleared," Gunness stated.
After rockets were found at UNRWA schools for the third time, it's instructive to go back and take a look at how spokesman Chris Gunness defended his organization after the first time.
“UNRWA has strong, established procedures to maintain the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy…UNRWA will uphold and further reinforce its procedures."
If the agency does indeed have a "strict no-weapons policy," that policy has failed dismally. Not only have the discoveries further eroded UN credibility and neutrality, but the agency is in effect endangering the lives of people seeking shelter.
I don't envy the job of their spokesman, Chris Gunness. This time around he didn't mention the incident on his Twitter feed and the UNRWA didn't announce it on their website.
A press release said, "All the relevant parties have been notified." That's a bit murky.
Likewise, the press release did not mention how many rockets were found and where they are now.
"This is yet another flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises," said the press release. But that claim of neutrality is starting to ring hollow.
Following the first discovery, UNRWA workers called Hamas to come remove the rocket stockpile. And although UNRWA confirmed the second discovery last week, it refused an Israeli request to provide photos of the munitions found.
One commentor referred to the UNRWA as the United Nations Rocket Works Agency.
In 2009, a video called Camp Jihad showed how Western countries are funding a summer camp program that teaches Gaza children how to
One 2009 article reports on an IDF video showing rockets being fired from an UNWRA facility, with Gunness admitting the school had been used for that purpose, but claiming that this was done without his knowledge and after it was deserted. "Allegations that UNRWA facilities are used by militants are always investigated and we will cooperate so our name can be cleared," Gunness stated.
After rockets were found at UNRWA schools for the third time, it's instructive to go back and take a look at how spokesman Chris Gunness defended his organization after the first time.
“This
incident, which is the first of its kind in Gaza, endangered civilians
including staff and put at risk UNRWA’s vital mission to assist and
protect Palestine refugees in Gaza,” he said.
Asked what was being done to ensure those seeking shelter are not put in danger again, Gunness said the agency had begun an inquiry into the circumstances.
“UNRWA has strong, established procedures to maintain the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy… UNRWA will uphold and further reinforce its procedures,” he said.
- See more at: http://www.msri.org.my/v5/archive/articles/gaza/gaza-nowhere-to-go/#sthash.ih9NaDuq.dpuf
“This incident, which is the first of its kind in Gaza, endangered civilians including staff and put at risk UNRWA’s vital mission to assist and protect Palestine refugees in Gaza,” he said, adding that the agency was launching an inquiry into the matter.Asked what was being done to ensure those seeking shelter are not put in danger again, Gunness said the agency had begun an inquiry into the circumstances.
“UNRWA has strong, established procedures to maintain the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy… UNRWA will uphold and further reinforce its procedures,” he said.
- See more at: http://www.msri.org.my/v5/archive/articles/gaza/gaza-nowhere-to-go/#sthash.ih9NaDuq.dpuf
“UNRWA has strong, established procedures to maintain the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy…UNRWA will uphold and further reinforce its procedures."
If the agency does indeed have a "strict no-weapons policy," that policy has failed dismally. Not only have the discoveries further eroded UN credibility and neutrality, but the agency is in effect endangering the lives of people seeking shelter.
“This
incident, which is the first of its kind in Gaza, endangered civilians
including staff and put at risk UNRWA’s vital mission to assist and
protect Palestine refugees in Gaza,” he said.
Asked what was being done to ensure those seeking shelter are not put in danger again, Gunness said the agency had begun an inquiry into the circumstances.
“UNRWA has strong, established procedures to maintain the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy… UNRWA will uphold and further reinforce its procedures,” he said.
- See more at: http://www.msri.org.my/v5/archive/articles/gaza/gaza-nowhere-to-go/#sthash.ih9NaDuq.dpuf
Asked what was being done to ensure those seeking shelter are not put in danger again, Gunness said the agency had begun an inquiry into the circumstances.
“UNRWA has strong, established procedures to maintain the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy… UNRWA will uphold and further reinforce its procedures,” he said.
- See more at: http://www.msri.org.my/v5/archive/articles/gaza/gaza-nowhere-to-go/#sthash.ih9NaDuq.dpuf
Monday, July 28, 2014
Pray for the Palestinians
I don't know how it happened, but somehow I found myself reading an incendiary, deceitful opinion piece on Al-Jazeera. And then instead of escaping the garbage they spew out, I started debating one of the commentors, an ardent pro-Palestinian who calls himself Anatole Pushkin. He wrote back to me as follows:
The thing is, I do pray for the Palestinians.
I pray that they be spared from the Hamas, who knew with absolutely certainty that if they continue firing rockets, eventually there would be a massive retaliation to put a stop to Hamas terror. Instead of building civilian bomb shelters, they took 800,000 tons of concrete and went about building terror tunnels, burrowing themselves out of reach and leaving Gaza's civilians exposed.
I pray that Gazans who are not bent on killing Israelis are able to speak out against Hamas, without fearing for their lives.
I pray that the Palestinians in Gaza make a decision to start making Gaza flourish, rather than blaming Israel for all their woes.
I pray that the IDF is successful in its extraordinary efforts to minimize civilian casualties, without compromising its offensive against Hamas terrorists.
And I'm not the only one praying for the Palestinians. Binyamin Netanyahu closed the last cabinet meeting with the following remarks:
"Please pray this will all end quickly. Please pray for calm to be restored. And please pray for mercy for Israelis and Palestinians. It is so painful to see the suffering and trauma on both sides. The Bible commands us to pray for peace — let us be faithful."
Tell that to the massacred Palestinian women and their infants.
I see with my own eyes what the Zionists have been doing...if you want peace, protect life. Pray for the Palestinians.
The thing is, I do pray for the Palestinians.
I pray that they be spared from the Hamas, who knew with absolutely certainty that if they continue firing rockets, eventually there would be a massive retaliation to put a stop to Hamas terror. Instead of building civilian bomb shelters, they took 800,000 tons of concrete and went about building terror tunnels, burrowing themselves out of reach and leaving Gaza's civilians exposed.
I pray that Gazans who are not bent on killing Israelis are able to speak out against Hamas, without fearing for their lives.
I pray that the Palestinians in Gaza make a decision to start making Gaza flourish, rather than blaming Israel for all their woes.
I pray that the IDF is successful in its extraordinary efforts to minimize civilian casualties, without compromising its offensive against Hamas terrorists.
And I'm not the only one praying for the Palestinians. Binyamin Netanyahu closed the last cabinet meeting with the following remarks:
"Please pray this will all end quickly. Please pray for calm to be restored. And please pray for mercy for Israelis and Palestinians. It is so painful to see the suffering and trauma on both sides. The Bible commands us to pray for peace — let us be faithful."
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Who is holding Gazans hostage: Israel, Egypt -- or Hamas?
Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip nine years ago. The world was ready to shower Gaza with help. In fact, Jewish American donors provided $14 million to buy the
greenhouses Israeli had built in Gaza to shared with the Palestinians.
"The agricultural techniques Israelis developed could have made Gaza the Palestinian Riviera," wrote Gil Troy in The Toronto Star. "Had this experiment in Gaza nation-building succeeded, it could have encouraged a peaceful transition toward an independent West Bank state.
"Instead, claiming that not one inch of Palestinian land is free until all of it is freed, which means destroying Israel within pre-1948 borders, blinded by the totalitarian, anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist Islamist ideology articulated in Hamas’s charter and celebrated in mainstream Palestinian political culture and street culture, Palestinian extremists trashed the greenhouses within hours of receiving them. By 2007 Gaza had degenerated into Hamasistan, an Islamist thugocracy."
Somehow Hamas succeeded in convincing Palestinians that Hamas is in fact menacing its neighbors because Gaza remains “occupied,” rather than laying the blame on Hamas failures.
Today, headlines constantly focus on the death toll in Gaza, as if this is the sole parameter of the war, as journalists fail to report the extent to which Hamas sacrifices its own people to inflame world opinion. Sent halfway around the world, in many cases, they largely fail to provide in depth reporting, investigating the events leading up to various tragedies they see on the street.
They do a good job of finding images of blood and gore and destruction, and interview victims about their personal tragedies. But you rarely hear a reporter ask Gazans to what extent they hold Hamas responsible for their plight.
"The agricultural techniques Israelis developed could have made Gaza the Palestinian Riviera," wrote Gil Troy in The Toronto Star. "Had this experiment in Gaza nation-building succeeded, it could have encouraged a peaceful transition toward an independent West Bank state.
"Instead, claiming that not one inch of Palestinian land is free until all of it is freed, which means destroying Israel within pre-1948 borders, blinded by the totalitarian, anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist Islamist ideology articulated in Hamas’s charter and celebrated in mainstream Palestinian political culture and street culture, Palestinian extremists trashed the greenhouses within hours of receiving them. By 2007 Gaza had degenerated into Hamasistan, an Islamist thugocracy."
Somehow Hamas succeeded in convincing Palestinians that Hamas is in fact menacing its neighbors because Gaza remains “occupied,” rather than laying the blame on Hamas failures.
Today, headlines constantly focus on the death toll in Gaza, as if this is the sole parameter of the war, as journalists fail to report the extent to which Hamas sacrifices its own people to inflame world opinion. Sent halfway around the world, in many cases, they largely fail to provide in depth reporting, investigating the events leading up to various tragedies they see on the street.
They do a good job of finding images of blood and gore and destruction, and interview victims about their personal tragedies. But you rarely hear a reporter ask Gazans to what extent they hold Hamas responsible for their plight.
Palestinians receive medical treatment in Israel
One week ago the IDF set up a field hospital at the Erez Checkpoint,
along the northern Gaza border, providing a maternity ward and basic medical services for Gazans, including this abandoned elderly woman.
They won't be the first Palestinians to cross into Israel proper for medical treatment. About one month ago Amina Abbas, the wife of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, underwent minor foot surgery at a small hospital near Tel Aviv.
Add to the list Hamas leader Fathi Hamad, who sent his three-year-old daughter to Jordan for medical treatment. He was granted authorization to transport her through Israel via the Erez Checkpoint. From there she received initial medical treatment at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Barzilai needed to earmark NIS 150 million to fortify its emergency ward and other facilities against Gaza missiles.
On the day Operation Protective Edge began, seven Palestinian children arrived at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon for treatment.
"It does not matter what side of the political map you are on," said Dr. Akiva Tamir, head of pediatric cardiology at Wolfson. "The parents of these children want them to live – just like parents [in Israel]."
During the week of July 7, an NGO in Israel called Save a Child's Heart was treating 34 children with heart defects, including 22 from eastern Africa, 4 from Iraq, 3 from Syria and 5 from the Palestinian Authority.
According to a July 11 article in Hamodia, Palestinian patients from Gaza have mixed feelings. “On the one hand, they are in Israel and see the consequences of the actions of Hamas and how people get hurt on this side of the border," says Yazid Falah, the coordinator for Palestinian patients at the Rambam Health Care Campus. "On the other hand, their families in Gaza are under attack by the IDF and they fear for the lives of their loved ones."
“There are those who tell me they are ashamed of what Gaza is doing, and others say they are afraid of how people will talk and look at them here in the hospital," said Falah. "Other say they are afraid to return to Gaza.”
A 14-year-old Gazan underwent a very difficult kidney translant at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, where he spent eight months recovering.
In Oct. 2014, Prof. Richard Horton, editor of the prestigious medical journal Lancet, had a change of heart regarding his criticism of Israeli treatment of Arab patients after first-hand observation at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
He expressed “deep regret for the unnecessary polarization” caused by the publication of a letter that included accusations of war crimes.
The IDF also runs a field hospital near the Syrian border, providing urgent medical care to victims of the ongoing conflict in Syria.
Post written by B. Slobodkin, who sells tallit and tzitzit to customers worldwide.
They won't be the first Palestinians to cross into Israel proper for medical treatment. About one month ago Amina Abbas, the wife of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, underwent minor foot surgery at a small hospital near Tel Aviv.
Add to the list Hamas leader Fathi Hamad, who sent his three-year-old daughter to Jordan for medical treatment. He was granted authorization to transport her through Israel via the Erez Checkpoint. From there she received initial medical treatment at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Barzilai needed to earmark NIS 150 million to fortify its emergency ward and other facilities against Gaza missiles.
On the day Operation Protective Edge began, seven Palestinian children arrived at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon for treatment.
"It does not matter what side of the political map you are on," said Dr. Akiva Tamir, head of pediatric cardiology at Wolfson. "The parents of these children want them to live – just like parents [in Israel]."
During the week of July 7, an NGO in Israel called Save a Child's Heart was treating 34 children with heart defects, including 22 from eastern Africa, 4 from Iraq, 3 from Syria and 5 from the Palestinian Authority.
According to a July 11 article in Hamodia, Palestinian patients from Gaza have mixed feelings. “On the one hand, they are in Israel and see the consequences of the actions of Hamas and how people get hurt on this side of the border," says Yazid Falah, the coordinator for Palestinian patients at the Rambam Health Care Campus. "On the other hand, their families in Gaza are under attack by the IDF and they fear for the lives of their loved ones."
“There are those who tell me they are ashamed of what Gaza is doing, and others say they are afraid of how people will talk and look at them here in the hospital," said Falah. "Other say they are afraid to return to Gaza.”
A 14-year-old Gazan underwent a very difficult kidney translant at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, where he spent eight months recovering.
In Oct. 2014, Prof. Richard Horton, editor of the prestigious medical journal Lancet, had a change of heart regarding his criticism of Israeli treatment of Arab patients after first-hand observation at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
He expressed “deep regret for the unnecessary polarization” caused by the publication of a letter that included accusations of war crimes.
The IDF also runs a field hospital near the Syrian border, providing urgent medical care to victims of the ongoing conflict in Syria.
Post written by B. Slobodkin, who sells tallit and tzitzit to customers worldwide.
Hamas captives reveal plot for Rosh Hashana mega-attack
This upcoming humanitarian truce in honor of the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday has a bit of irony to it: Just two days ago it was reported that Hamas was hatching a plot for a mega-attack in which it would send over 200 armed terrorists on multiple missions, creeping through the tunnels and emerging in nearby kibbutzim to kill Israeli civilians in their sleep and take as many hostages as possible.
And what day was this attacked scheduled to take place? On Rosh Hashana.
The plot was revealed through interrogations of several dozen Hamas fighters taken captive by the IDF. According to speculation, it could have resulted in thousands of Jewish casualties.
“Unlike tunnels that I had seen during the Iraq war that were designed for smuggling, this Hamas tunnel was designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids," retired general James T. Conway, USMC, back from a recent trip to Israel, told the Wall Street Journal, describing a Hamas tunnel he saw. "The 3-mile-long tunnel was reinforced with concrete, lined with telephone wires, and included cabins unnecessary for infiltration operations but useful for holding hostages.”
At this point it remains unclear whether the IDF will agree to the temporary ceasefire, but in either case IDF forces will continue Hamas tunnel demolition operations unabated.
And what day was this attacked scheduled to take place? On Rosh Hashana.
The plot was revealed through interrogations of several dozen Hamas fighters taken captive by the IDF. According to speculation, it could have resulted in thousands of Jewish casualties.
“Unlike tunnels that I had seen during the Iraq war that were designed for smuggling, this Hamas tunnel was designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids," retired general James T. Conway, USMC, back from a recent trip to Israel, told the Wall Street Journal, describing a Hamas tunnel he saw. "The 3-mile-long tunnel was reinforced with concrete, lined with telephone wires, and included cabins unnecessary for infiltration operations but useful for holding hostages.”
At this point it remains unclear whether the IDF will agree to the temporary ceasefire, but in either case IDF forces will continue Hamas tunnel demolition operations unabated.
Hamas Hasbara: 'Anyone martyred is to be called a civilian'
The IDF blog posted a report on the Hamas Interior Ministry urges Arab Facebook and Twitter users to join the propaganda campaign against the IDF and Israel.
I actually think that's fairly reasonable, just as I do not object to pro-Israel "hasbara." But I do object to instructing people to engage in lies and deceit. Here's a sampling of the Hamas Interior Ministry's guidelines and recommendations:
I can forgive Darren for his poor English, but not for poor thinking and a myopic perspective.
No, Darren, I wouldn't fire rockets at Israel. And certainly not if a blockade had only been imposed as a result of Hamas aggression.
Also, if I did agree with you that firing rockets at civilians is a legitimate tactic, I would ask myself why Hamas chose to fire 3,000 at Israel and 0 at Egypt, which has also imposed a blockage against Gaza.
Just four months ago a Hamas spokesman referred to Egypt's closing of the Rafah crossing point as "a crime against humanity by every criteria and a crime against the Palestinian people."
I think I might know the reason for the selective targeting. Were Hamas to direct 1% of its rockets south, I have a feeling Egypt would simply flatten half of Gaza within 24 hours. No flyers, no phone calls, no text messages and no "knocking on the roof."
I actually think that's fairly reasonable, just as I do not object to pro-Israel "hasbara." But I do object to instructing people to engage in lies and deceit. Here's a sampling of the Hamas Interior Ministry's guidelines and recommendations:
- Anyone killed or martyred is to be called a civilian from Gaza or Palestine, before we talk about his status in jihad or his military rank. Don’t forget to always add ‘innocent civilian’ or ‘innocent citizen’ in your description of those killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
- Begin [your reports of] news of resistance actions with the phrase ‘In response to the cruel Israeli attack,’ and conclude with the phrase ‘This many people have been martyred since Israel launched its aggression against Gaza.’ Be sure to always perpetuate the principle of the role of the occupation is attack, and we in Palestine are fulfilling [the role of] the reaction.
- Avoid publishing pictures of rockets fired into Israel from city centers. This [would] provide a pretext for attacking residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Do not publish or share photos or video clips showing rocket launching sites or the movement of resistance [forces] in Gaza.
- Avoid entering into a political argument with a Westerner aimed at convincing him that the Holocaust is a lie and deceit; instead, equate it with Israel’s crimes against Palestinian civilians.
- [When speaking] to an Arab friend, start with the number of martyrs. [But when speaking] to a Western friend, start with the number of wounded and dead.
I can forgive Darren for his poor English, but not for poor thinking and a myopic perspective.
No, Darren, I wouldn't fire rockets at Israel. And certainly not if a blockade had only been imposed as a result of Hamas aggression.
Also, if I did agree with you that firing rockets at civilians is a legitimate tactic, I would ask myself why Hamas chose to fire 3,000 at Israel and 0 at Egypt, which has also imposed a blockage against Gaza.
Just four months ago a Hamas spokesman referred to Egypt's closing of the Rafah crossing point as "a crime against humanity by every criteria and a crime against the Palestinian people."
I think I might know the reason for the selective targeting. Were Hamas to direct 1% of its rockets south, I have a feeling Egypt would simply flatten half of Gaza within 24 hours. No flyers, no phone calls, no text messages and no "knocking on the roof."
Palestinian Ambassador: Every rocket fired at Israel is 'a crime against humanity'
Palestinian Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi acknowleded on Palestinian television
that every Palestinian missile launched against Israeli
civilians constitutes “a crime against humanity.”
Hard to believe? Just watch the first two minutes of the video.
"I am not a candidate in any Palestinian elections, so I don’t need to win popularity among the Palestinians," Khraishi said in a July 9 interview on Palestinian Authority television. "The missiles that are now being launched against Israel – each and every missile – constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or misses, because it is directed at a civilian targets...targeting civilians – be it one civilian or a thousand – is considered a crime against humanity."
In the same interview, Khraishi also explicitly notes that in a number of instances Gazans chose not to heed IDF warnings that their homes were about to be bombed.
"Please note that many of our people in Gaza appeared on TV and said that the Israeli army warned them to evacuate their homes before the bombardment. In such a case, if someone is killed, the law considers it a mistake rather than an intentional killing, because [the IDF] followed the legal procedures.
"As for the missiles launched from our side… We never warn anyone about where these missiles are about to fall, or about the operations we carry out. Therefore, people should know more before they talk emotionally about appealing to the ICC. "
Hard to believe? Just watch the first two minutes of the video.
"I am not a candidate in any Palestinian elections, so I don’t need to win popularity among the Palestinians," Khraishi said in a July 9 interview on Palestinian Authority television. "The missiles that are now being launched against Israel – each and every missile – constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or misses, because it is directed at a civilian targets...targeting civilians – be it one civilian or a thousand – is considered a crime against humanity."
In the same interview, Khraishi also explicitly notes that in a number of instances Gazans chose not to heed IDF warnings that their homes were about to be bombed.
"Please note that many of our people in Gaza appeared on TV and said that the Israeli army warned them to evacuate their homes before the bombardment. In such a case, if someone is killed, the law considers it a mistake rather than an intentional killing, because [the IDF] followed the legal procedures.
"As for the missiles launched from our side… We never warn anyone about where these missiles are about to fall, or about the operations we carry out. Therefore, people should know more before they talk emotionally about appealing to the ICC. "
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Gaza Combat: Anti-Tank Rockets Confront New Defense System
Strangely a report published by Globes last week has not drawn the interest of the world media. Israel is now making use in the field of a tank defense system no less impressive than Iron Dome.
IDF tanks and armored vehicles operating inside the Gaza Strip have debuted a first-of-its-kind active defense system for tanks and armored personnel carriers developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., which made the Iron Dome system.
Known as the Trophy system, it identifies RPG or anti-tank fire headed towards the tank or armored personnel carrier. Working automatically, the system calculates the rocket or missile’s trajectory, and if it presents a threat the system intercepts and detonates it at a safe distance. The system then informs the tank crew regarding the precise source of the missile or rocket launch, enabling the crew to return fire accurately and strike the target.
First used in 2011, the system has now been declared operational, and is installed on Merkava 4 tanks and the Namer APCs. According to one unconfirmed report, Hamas strategists are trying to buy time and are pressing Iran to help them formulate a strategy and bring in weapons to overcome the tank defense system.
Rafael spent 20 years working on the development of the groundbreaking system.
IDF tanks and armored vehicles operating inside the Gaza Strip have debuted a first-of-its-kind active defense system for tanks and armored personnel carriers developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., which made the Iron Dome system.
Known as the Trophy system, it identifies RPG or anti-tank fire headed towards the tank or armored personnel carrier. Working automatically, the system calculates the rocket or missile’s trajectory, and if it presents a threat the system intercepts and detonates it at a safe distance. The system then informs the tank crew regarding the precise source of the missile or rocket launch, enabling the crew to return fire accurately and strike the target.
First used in 2011, the system has now been declared operational, and is installed on Merkava 4 tanks and the Namer APCs. According to one unconfirmed report, Hamas strategists are trying to buy time and are pressing Iran to help them formulate a strategy and bring in weapons to overcome the tank defense system.
Rafael spent 20 years working on the development of the groundbreaking system.
Al-Wafa: Hospital or Hamas Military Compound?
The Al-Wafa rehabilitation center was used as a command center and anti-tank rockets were fired from it.
"Firing on our soldiers has grown in recent hours and endangered forces," said an IDF statement. "As a result, the IDF has decided to strike terrorists operating in the hospital complex." The patients and staff were all evacuated before the IDF launched its attack on the hospital.
Several access shafts led from the hospital to the Hamas tunnel network. The hospital director had initially refused to have the facility evacuated, denying any weapons were stored there.
"Firing on our soldiers has grown in recent hours and endangered forces," said an IDF statement. "As a result, the IDF has decided to strike terrorists operating in the hospital complex." The patients and staff were all evacuated before the IDF launched its attack on the hospital.
Several access shafts led from the hospital to the Hamas tunnel network. The hospital director had initially refused to have the facility evacuated, denying any weapons were stored there.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Concrete in Gaza: The Hard Facts
Gazans have been griping about a severe concrete shortage for years. Now it's becoming clear why.
"Remember the complaints that the heartless Israelis were not allowing enough imports of concrete for schools and hospitals?" asks syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. "Well, now we know where the concrete went — into an astonishingly vast array of tunnels for infiltrating neighboring Israeli villages and killing civilians."
IDF soldiers now in Gaza have found at least 18 tunnels built by Hamas using an estimated 800,000 tons of concrete. For comparison it took 110,000 tons of concrete to build the world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
In other words Hamas could have built seven enormous skyscrapers and had enough left over to build bomb shelters for kindergartens. And that's only the tunnels Israel has uncovered. Egypt recently claimed it has destroyed 1,370 tunnels. That’s a whole lot of concrete.
As Tablet notes, they used the concrete supplies to transform "a strip of coastal farmland into a giant concrete aircraft carrier that’s impossible for your enemy to sink." And then they left their civilian population up on the deck.
According to Dan Margalit, Hamas made little use of the enormous network of tunnels. He believes they were planning a mega-attack in which they would send out several terror squads simultaneously to capture Israeli children, dead or alive, from every Israeli town in the area.
"For the past 20 years, Israel has been asleep at the wheel," he writes. "The threat of the tunnels has not been taken seriously. It is nothing short of a miracle that we woke up at the last minute."
At the start of the week, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said it would take two or three days to neutralize the tunnels, but on Tuesday a senior officer said Israel would need one to two weeks.
"Remember the complaints that the heartless Israelis were not allowing enough imports of concrete for schools and hospitals?" asks syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. "Well, now we know where the concrete went — into an astonishingly vast array of tunnels for infiltrating neighboring Israeli villages and killing civilians."
IDF soldiers now in Gaza have found at least 18 tunnels built by Hamas using an estimated 800,000 tons of concrete. For comparison it took 110,000 tons of concrete to build the world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
In other words Hamas could have built seven enormous skyscrapers and had enough left over to build bomb shelters for kindergartens. And that's only the tunnels Israel has uncovered. Egypt recently claimed it has destroyed 1,370 tunnels. That’s a whole lot of concrete.
As Tablet notes, they used the concrete supplies to transform "a strip of coastal farmland into a giant concrete aircraft carrier that’s impossible for your enemy to sink." And then they left their civilian population up on the deck.
According to Dan Margalit, Hamas made little use of the enormous network of tunnels. He believes they were planning a mega-attack in which they would send out several terror squads simultaneously to capture Israeli children, dead or alive, from every Israeli town in the area.
"For the past 20 years, Israel has been asleep at the wheel," he writes. "The threat of the tunnels has not been taken seriously. It is nothing short of a miracle that we woke up at the last minute."
At the start of the week, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said it would take two or three days to neutralize the tunnels, but on Tuesday a senior officer said Israel would need one to two weeks.
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