JERUSALEM — Israel prepared for a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on Friday as Hamas militants continued to lob rockets into Israel, one of which landed near Jerusalem for the first time since 1970.
The rocket strikes outside Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel’s main population centers, sharply raised the stakes in the ongoing standoff between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, providing sobering evidence that Palestinian militants possess weaponry that can strike deeper inside Israel than ever before. In particular, the strike on Jerusalem — a city both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital — was viewed as a major provocation that made an Israeli ground invasion seem ever more likely.
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Hamas is EMBOLDENED by Barack Obama's (We have Israel's back") reelection. Obama put the Muslim Brotherhood in power in Egypt and Libya. He is an enemy of Israel.
Guess who Egypt is backing...the Palestinians of course...good job Pres. Obama....and good job all the jewish people that voted for you. Israel has been patient with Gaza with the thousands of rockets launched into their territory...but then would Pres. Obama allow Mexico or Canada do that to us....probably...didn't help our embassies did he in Benghazi.
This is a win-win situation for Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Egypt. He can get all kissie-kissie-solidarity with Hamas, meanwhile doing basically nothing while Israel stomps them into the ground as they are about to do in the next few hours or days. Of course, he's not going to risk any action which triggers a war with Israel, or abrogates the peace treaty, or triggers a cut in U.S. aid.
Israel is doing Morsi a favor by disarming Hamas and the other groups controlling Gaza. They're getting cocky with their weapons smuggled from Hezbollah and Iran. Israel will obviously have to destroy those weapons, and boot out the Hezbollah advisers or kill them. Gaza will be set back a few years militarily, which will make the Sinai safer. Morsi can then play the magnanimous ally who helps Gaza rebuild and rearm. That's all good for Egypt.
If by some magical chance Egypt manages to negotiate a cease-fire, Hamas will emerge stronger than before, as the article points out, having demonstrated the ability to hit Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and Egypt's regional diplomatic clout will be reaffirmed.
Israel really has little choice but to plunge ahead and neutralize the Iranian military threat in Gaza, and of course it has to hope that Hezbollah in Lebanon doesn't start shooting. If they do, it's going to be a big war that will last a longer than the one in 2006 or the 2009 Gaza incursion. They'll have to destroy Hezbollah and that's going to be a tough job, do-able but not a cakewalk.
Obama will of course be watching from the sidelines, waiting to see which side is winning before officiously jumping in and making a lot of noise. He will look weak and ineffectual next to Morsi (and every other leader in the region).
It makes me wonder what I would do if my neighbor vowed to kill me.
I agree that a blood bath between the Arabs (Palestinians) and the Israelis would be long and damaging to the worlds stability. However, before you rush to praise or condemn our Presidents posture, ask yourself the following question; “which of the two could provide the funds to keep our welfare state afloat”.
With all of the money we’ve given to this part of the world to (effectively) buy friendships, which of the two has the potential to loan us the money our economy will need if we don’t change course. Perhaps, our president playing nicey-nicey with the Arab world is needed to keep us afloat.
Just wondering.
Hamas has to be stopped. You don't do it by yet another cease-fire agreement since the group has always eventually violated the agreement. Israel has to go in and break Hamas' military capabilities and meanwhile use its highly sophisticated intelligence to find out who is providing Hamas with the weapons and then somehow stop the supplier. This can't go on.
Hamas has to be stopped. You don't do it by yet another cease-fire agreement since the group has always eventually violated the agreement. Israel has to go in and break Hamas' military capabilities and meanwhile use its highly sophisticated intelligence to find out who is providing Hamas with the weapons and then somehow stop the supplier. This can't go on.