Israeli-Arab War

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West Bank security plunges out of Israel military control

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
November 11, 2008, 4:55 PM

On one day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, there were 30 Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers and border police officers on the West Bank, leaving four injured, including two policemen and an army platoon commander, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. The security situation plummeted from last month when, after men of the Lavi Brigade shot dead three Palestinian assailants who were hurling fire bombs, Israel units were prohibited from posting snipers to defend them against Palestinian firebomb ambuscades.

The prohibition came down from the office of prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Ehud Barak. It was quickly picked up by the Palestinians who, realizing that the IDF’s hands were tied, became more audacious. By Tuesday, it had reached the point, said senior military sources, that the OC Central Command, Brig. Gadi Shamni, no longer controls security in Judea and Samaria. Marauding Palestinians have seized the hilltops commanding the territory’s main highways and intersections and bombard every passing Israeli car, including military and police vehicles, with firebombs, burning tires and big rocks. Shortage of manpower prevents the army from taking those hilltops over; its function has been reduced to patrols.

Tuesday, Palestinian terror peaked. They hurled firebombs and rocks at two border police bases in Abu Dis in southern Jerusalem and Atarot at the northern end of the capital and hit four IDF patrols. At Tekoa, southeast of Bethlehem, flying rocks pinned down a military force for hours until it was relieved by reinforcements. Rocks and bottle bombs hit at least 14 passing cars, seriously damaging some of them. Rioting Palestinians in Hebron and its vicinity hurled six firebombs, blocked main junctions with burning tires and set fire to a Jewish-owned wheat-field.

Security sources told DEBKAfile that if this goes on and the government sticks to its policy of non-response, there is nothing to stop the Palestinian gangs from moving on to firearms. The US-trained Palestinian security forces, whose presence Israel accepted, keep to the main towns of Nablus, Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah and Qalqilya and do not venture outside. Palestinian terrorists have therefore won the freedom to terrorize most parts of the West Bank safe from Palestinian or Israel interference.

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Nov 16, 2008 18:00 | Updated Nov 17, 2008 2:08
Report: Iranians train Syrians to fight Sunnis

Iranian officers affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have in the past four months established intelligence cells in Lebanon, comprised of Syrian agents and Hizbullah members, whose aim is to track down and annihilate extreme Sunni armed cells, the Kuwaiti-based daily A-Siyasa reported.

The paper quoted a diplomatic source from the Gulf, who revealed the content of a report compiled by European intelligence agencies.

"Approximately 200 IRGC agents, who were based in Iraq, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, have arrived in Lebanon via Syria since late July, and began forming cells comprising members of [the Lebanese Shi'ite movements] Hizbullah and Amal, as well as Syrian intelligence officers," the diplomatic source told A-Siyasa.

The cells included between 10-20 people each, and were residing in apartments belonging to pro-Syrian parties and individuals, including former Lebanese legislators and ministers.

The intelligence report stated that the IRGC-trained cells' prime target was to track down members of Sunni terror cells and to reveal their sources of weapons and money. Another aim was to assassinate or arrest Sunnis affiliated with terror in Lebanon. This, the report maintained, would serve to prove Syrian Bashar Al-Assad's claims that Lebanon has turned into a terror hub.

"This will also prove to the United States, Europe and Israel that Syria is mending its ways," added the report.

The cells have already begun to operate, when last week several Sunnis were kidnapped and others were killed inside Palestinian refugee camps.

The Syrian army has amassed thousands of troops along its border with Lebanon in the past few weeks. This move followed statements by top Syrian officials, according to which Lebanon has turned into a terror hub that threatens Syria's stability.

Syria has nevertheless asserted that its troops along the Lebanese border are not aiming to enter Lebanon, but are rather tasked with preventing cross-border infiltration and smuggling.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...=1226404748243

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Middle East: How the Region Views the SOFA
November 18, 2008 | 2246 GMT

Summary

The Status of Forces Agreement signed by the United States and Iraq on Nov. 17 still has a few hurdles to surmount, but it has a good chance of being ratified by Iraq’s parliament. In all likelihood, most if not all U.S. forces will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. As this inevitability sinks in, the main regional players — Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria — are already starting to envision and prepare for a new reality in the region.

Analysis

So far it has been a productive week in Baghdad after months of political stagnation. On Nov. 18, a date was set (Jan. 31, 2009) for provincial elections. The day before, the Iraqi Cabinet approved the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and Iraq, setting a hard deadline for U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011. The agreement is now on its way to the Iraqi parliament, where a vote will be held Nov. 24 for final ratification.

The SOFA breakthrough did not come about spontaneously. Iran’s informal endorsement of the deal on Nov. 17 was a signal that a behind-the-scenes diplomatic exchange had likely occurred in which Iran was given sufficient security guarantees to sign off on the agreement and use its influence over Iraq’s main Shiite parties to see the SOFA through parliament. Iran knew it wasn’t about to get its wish of having U.S. forces immediately withdraw from Iraq and leave the door open for Tehran to fill the power vacuum in Baghdad. If an agreement was going to be signed setting a deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, Iran had to do everything in its power to dictate the terms.

All in all, Iran came out with a decent deal. Iran leaned heavily on its political allies in Baghdad to drive a hard bargain on the SOFA until they came out with an agreement that substantially circumscribed U.S. military power in Iraq. The revised draft of the SOFA not only sets a hard deadline for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of 2011, it also bans cross-border attacks from Iraqi soil and technically gives control of Iraqi airspace back to the Iraqis. In reality, the United States will still fly combat patrols and maintain a high level of authority over Iraq’s airspace over the next three years. The United States will also try to maintain an option whereby the Iraqi government can request that a certain number of U.S. forces stay beyond 2011 to maintain stability. But as the SOFA currently stands, Iran is now feeling a lot more secure about having the world’s most formidable military sitting across its western border for the next three years.

The SOFA is still not completely in the clear, however. The document still has to go to Iraq’s parliament for a vote, and some complications might arise if the ailing Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (Iraq’s largest Shiite political party, with close ties to Iran), dies in the coming days. Al-Hakim is a key ally of the Iranians and has been instrumental in negotiating with both the Iranians and the Americans on the SOFA. He has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and has grown critically ill in recent days. His son, Ammar al-Hakim, is likely to replace him and see through the agreement, but the United States is still on guard for any sudden upsets. Moreover, Iran is still bargaining for additional guarantees from the United States, clearly signaling that it could upset the vote in parliament by calling on its allies to resist the agreement via legal means.

But even with these remaining complications, the glass is still looking half full for the SOFA, and Iraq’s neighbors are going to have to start adjusting to a reality in which U.S. forces will be departing Iraq in three years. With the SOFA effect already sinking in, the main regional players — Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria — are already starting to prepare for this eventuality.

Israel

The Israelis see the writing on the wall. They understand that a U.S.-Iranian dialogue is already taking place and will likely strengthen under U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s administration. They also know that a political accommodation between the United States and Iran is very possible in the not-so-distant future. The Israelis therefore do not want to appear unaware if and when such a fundamental shift is publically announced. To this end, Israeli Gen. Amos Yadlin, the country’s military intelligence chief, said Nov. 17 that the time was ripe for U.S.-Iranian dialogue, according to a Nov. 18 Israeli radio report. He explained that dialogue with Iran should not be considered appeasement and that Iran is under great political and economic pressure to negotiate.

Yadlin is effectively making public the private views of much of Israel’s political, military and intelligence leadership. Privately, Israeli leaders do not regard the Iranian nuclear threat to be as pressing as they have publicly made it out to be. At the same time, they are well aware of the limitations Israel faces in trying to unilaterally carry out a non-nuclear military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel has a strong preference for returning the region to the status quo ante as much as possible, where an Iraqi-Iranian balance of power can be restored, however difficult that may be. If the United States is going to try to achieve a modus vivendi with the Iranians, the Israelis need to exhibit their cooperation with the Americans to help ensure that those negotiations result in limitations on Iran’s regional expansion and nuclear program.

Such a policy assumes that Iran’s priorities have always been concentrated in Iraq, and that its nuclear program is a means toward achieving Iranian objectives with its western neighbor, as Stratfor has long maintained. Now that the United States has committed to a withdrawal and given the Iranians appropriate security guarantees on Iraq, negotiations with Iran are bound to intensify, making it all the more urgent for Israel to start preparing its domestic audience for a shift in how it perceives and intends to manage the Iranian threat.

Saudi Arabia

The Saudis have kept quiet on the actual SOFA dealings, primarily relying on their relationship with the United States to push the Sunni agenda in Baghdad. There is little doubt that Saudi Arabia is alarmed at the prospect of the United States firming up its withdrawal date from Iraq and leaving the heart of the Arab world exposed to an Iranian expansionist agenda. But the Saudis have seen this coming for a while now and do not have much choice in the matter. The United States has other military commitments to attend to in the world and has long been pursuing a political accommodation with Tehran to facilitate its exit from Iraq. The Saudis are counting on Washington’s commitment to continue backing Iraq’s Sunni faction — particularly the Awakening Council militias that still need to be formally incorporated into the political and security apparatus — to counterbalance Shiite forces in Iraq, thereby limiting the extent to which Iran can impose its will on Baghdad. Saudi Arabia also has ample cash to influence political players in Baghdad and to keep a number of Sunni militants on its payroll to counter Iran’s own set of militant proxies in Iraq.

But the Saudis might have other, more powerful tools in reserve to keep Iran in check down the line. Saudi Arabia is the only player in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) capable of influencing the price of crude through its spare capacity. With oil prices falling and Iran’s economy already in tatters, Saudi Arabia retains the option of driving the Iranian economy into the ground by maintaining production levels and allowing the price of oil to keep slipping while the global recession worsens. Riyadh would take a hit in energy revenues and risk making enemies of key players like the Russians, but it might be willing to take those hits if it meant keeping its primary geopolitical rival boxed in over the long term. Given these calculations, it becomes all the more important to watch the Saudis’ moves in OPEC in the wake of the SOFA dealings on Iraq.

Turkey

Turkey opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq from the beginning. In Ankara’s view, the U.S. war in Iraq would only end up destabilizing the region by unleashing sectarian rivalries and, even more importantly, would circumscribe Turkey’s ability to contain Kurdish separatism in the Iraqi north. Now that the United States is committed to leaving in three years, the Turks see an opening to fill in policing their Middle Eastern backyard. The Turks have steadily increased their presence in recent years, strategically positioning themselves to mediate in negotiations between Israel and Syria and the United States and Iran in order to stake out a more influential role in the region.

While the Turks are eager to supplant the United States in the longer term, they face a shorter-term issue of having to deal with the Iraqis on certain stipulations outlined in the SOFA, particularly those that would hinder Turkey’s ability to carry out cross-border raids against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. With the United States in control of Iraq’s airspace since 2003, Turkey has essentially been given the green light to pursue military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan. Raids and troop buildups on the border not only have allowed Turkey to uproot Kurdish militant havens, but also have enabled Ankara to keep aspirations for Kurdish separatism in check by applying pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government not to push the line on critical issues, like Kirkuk. Much to the Kurds’ relief and Turks’ annoyance, the SOFA text legally gives control of Iraq’s airspace back to the Iraqis, thereby complicating Turkey’s future military operations in the border region.

But the Turks are already preparing to work around this legality. The SOFA agreement also stipulates that Iraqi territory cannot be used for attacks against neighboring countries. Though this line is primarily intended to assuage Iran over a potential U.S. military threat, Ankara can claim that the statement also applies to the Kurdish militants who use northern Iraqi territory to carry out attacks in neighboring Turkey. If Kurdish militants do not adhere to this stipulation (and it can well be assumed that they won’t), then in Ankara’s view, Turkey has just cause to violate the agreement and carry out its own cross-border raids. This idea was reflected in a statement by a Turkish foreign ministry official in a Nov. 18 Hurriyet report in which he said, “It is important to remember that Iraq does not have a strong air force. In that case, if an operation, which is deemed as crucial for Turkey is needed, then Turkey can present fait accompli.”

In short, while Turkey is not thrilled by the SOFA text, the agreement will have little bearing on how Turkey conducts itself regarding cross-border issues. There are ways to work around the legalities, and in any case, Ankara is well on its way to significantly expanding its regional influence once U.S. forces leave Iraq.

Syria

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has already spoken out against the SOFA, claiming the deal would turn Iraq into a military base for the United States to use to attack Iraq’s neighbors. Syria’s fears are understandable, considering that a little more than three weeks ago the United States launched an airborne raid into Syrian territory. But Syria is also cognizant of the fact that the SOFA, at least legally, bans cross-border attacks from Iraq. What Syria is most worried about is being left behind in the region-wide peace process.

Syria is already pursuing a complex peace deal with the Israelis that would enable the Syrians to reclaim their kingmaker status in Lebanon and potentially open the door for a U.S.-Syrian rapprochement. But those negotiations are in temporary limbo, as Israel still needs to hold elections and cobble together a new government before it can commit to any deal with Damascus. Syria’s negotiations with Israel have already put Damascus on rough footing with Iran as Syria has steadily increased its distance from their shared militant proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon. And if Iran and the United States appear to be working out some sort of political compromise on Iraq, the Syrians will try their best to get a seat at the negotiating table and make a favorable impression on the incoming U.S. administration. For this reason, Syria can be expected to exaggerate threats it claims to face from jihadist militants coming from Lebanon, and to find (or invent) common cause with the United States to bring the Syrian regime back into the diplomatic swing of things.

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/200...ion_views_sofa

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Russian donation of 10 Mig-29 fighters to Lebanon raises suspicions

www.chinaview.cn
2008-12-17 17:53:19

BEIRUT, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The announcement about Russian donation of 10 Mig-29 jet fighters to the Lebanese army was a surprising news which raised political, military and strategic questions, local daily As-Safir said Wednesday.

Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr announced Tuesday following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukove in Moscow that Russia has agreed to deliver to Lebanon 10 Mig-29 jet fighters.

The Mig-29 would be a significant donation to the Lebanese air force which currently consists of five Hawker Hunter jets from 1950s and 1960s, and a dozen helicopters.

The first question raised, the report said, is why the Lebanese army has always been forbidden from acquiring any heavy weapons, under the pretext of threatening the security of Israel, and now the 10 Mig-29 are going to be boarding in Lebanese airports.

The other question is related to Lebanon's ability to maintain the Russian donation, by sending 30 officers to be trained on flying the jets, and around 100 army soldiers to be trained on complete maintenance of such jets, in addition to the maintenance of the air force bases in Lebanon, at a time the Lebanese cabinet is refusing to pay the 20 percent allowance for field services to the Lebanese army soldiers.

The value of these jets would be worthless if they were not accompanied by radars, and early warning system for air defense, the report said.

The report hinted to a connection between the Russian donation and the upcoming dialogue session on Dec. 22 at the presidential palace in Lebanon, to discuss national defense strategy.

The daily also asked if there was a connection between the Russian deal with Murr, and the visit of Lebanese majority leader Saad Hariri to Moscow last November.

Hariri reportedly was quoted then as telling Russian Interfax news agency that Washington's military support was limited to light weaponry and Lebanon need more powerful equipment like tanks and artillery.

The U.S. has given around 410 million dollars in military aid to Lebanon, in the form of equipment and training, while other countries have said they are willing to participate in arming the Lebanese army.

Iran had offered to supply the Lebanese army with mid-range rockets as part of a five-year defense deal during the visit of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to Tehran last month.

The Lebanese president was also reported to have asked Germany for tanks during his visit there earlier this month.

Editor: Wang Yan

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...t_10519273.htm

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Dec 23, 2008
MUJAHIDEEN BLEED-THROUGH, Part 2 Lebanon: Last stop on a jihad highway
By Michael Scheuer

PART 1: Syria: Terror's made-to-order milieu

Lebanon always has been a country whose people are more loyal to family, clan, tribe and faith than to the concept of Lebanon as a united
nation-state. Since 2003, this existing internal divisiveness has been sharpened by the United States-led invasion and occupation of Iraq and the US-led international effort to drive Syria out of Lebanon.

The former opened a role for Lebanon as part of the path for would-be jihadis traveling to fight in Iraq. The latter - together with the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war - forced the precipitate decline of effective governmental authority in Lebanon, allowing jihadis to use the country for transit and basing. This made it a target for aggressive expansionist efforts by Saudis and other Salafis and encouraged the rapid growth of internal violence between political and religious factions.

Overall, the Iraq war and Syria's departure from Lebanon gave al-Qaeda and its Islamist allies an unprecedented opportunity to infiltrate their influence and manpower into Lebanon, as well as help strengthen the Sunni Salafist trend in northern Lebanon.

It is now old-hat to say that the US-led invasion of Iraq was a casus belli for Sunni Muslims worldwide, and especially among the Salafists who are prominent in al-Qaeda, other Islamist radical groups, and the Saudi regime, who are now effectively expanding their power across the Arab and Muslim worlds. A glance at the map showed jihad-bound Sunnis that Lebanon was a geographic key to infiltrating Islamist fighters into Iraq. The war itself made many Sunni Lebanese eager to assist that entry process, with some ready to go and fight there themselves.

With Syria effectively in charge of Lebanon at the start of the Iraq war, it appears that the transit of would-be mujahideen through Lebanon was kept moving by Syrian authorities and did not initially result in the buildup of non-Lebanese Sunni Islamists within the country.

The West's pyrrhic 2005 victory in forcing President Bashar al-Assad to evacuate Syrian forces from the country, however, seems to have created a situation which now finds growing numbers of non-Lebanese Salafi Islamists present in Lebanon and a growing Salafist movement in the north - especially in Tripoli, which is Lebanon's largest, most conservative Sunni city - as well as in the city of Sidon and Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps.

In addition to the growth of Salifism and Islamist militancy engendered by the passions aroused by the Iraq war, Saudi Arabia has been fishing in troubled waters by encouraging the growth of each in northern Lebanon. Riyadh has paid for the construction of new mosques in Tripoli and reportedly has assisted militants residing in the northern territory abutting Syria.

According to the media, Lebanese and Syrian sources are reporting that Saudi National Security Chief Prince Bandar Bin Sultan is supervising the Saudis' pro-Salafist agenda in Lebanon, a program which includes sponsoring Islamist terrorist operations in Syria. Riyadh's activities in northern Lebanon hold the promise of fulfilling two longstanding Saudi goals: (1) creating a viable, well-armed, and militant Sunni Salafi movement in Lebanon as a military counterweight to the Shi'ite Hezbollah, and (2) to enable Riyadh to cause domestic instability for their Syrian enemy.

The turmoil of post-Syrian Lebanon also has been exploited by al-Qaeda forces based in Iraq. Multiple media reports indicate that al-Qaeda fighters - mostly Yemenis, Saudis and Jordanians who left Iraq to avoid the US "surge" and its surrogate Sunni fighters - went to both Syria and Lebanon. They have established themselves in Lebanon along the Syrian border, in the Lebanese city of Tripoli and in the Ain al-Hawah Palestinian refugee camp; they also have built working relationships with the Sunni militant groups Asbat al-Ansar and Fatah-al-Islam. In 2007, the latter fought the Lebanese army for 15 weeks at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.

In the face of growing Salafist and al-Qaeda influence, one Lebanese academic claimed, "Security in Iraq is improving, but the militants are being driven across the border. There are a large number of militants coming into Lebanon and Syria, and our countries are paying the price for what is happening in Iraq." The academic's words are an apt description of the westward-bound jihad highway for Sunni mujahideen that the US and its allies have unwittingly built across Iraq.

As in Syria, the growing al-Qaeda and Saudi-backed Salifist movement in Lebanon's north and its Palestinian refugee camps clearly is in part a product of the militant bleed-through from Iraq. But, as in Syria, Salafism's Lebanese growth is occurring in already fertile soil: Lebanon's Sunni north has been slowly radicalizing for much of this decade - Tripoli's Sunni leaders long viewed Hezbollah as the "resistance", but now regard it as the "party of evil" - and the eviction of Syrian forces has substantially reduced Beirut's ability to limit the growth of Salafism. Bin Laden's operatives and Saudi intelligence will continue to push these trends, thereby once again demonstrating just how closely aligned are the interests of al-Qaeda and Riyadh outside the Arabian Peninsula.

This said, al-Qaeda still has considerable work to do in Lebanon. While Ayman al-Zawahiri said in April 2008 that Lebanon was now "a Muslim frontline fort", Lebanese Salafists will for the foreseeable future be more concerned with securing increased political power and communal autonomy in the country than in flocking to support the worldwide Sunni jihad.

The possibility of the Shi'ite Hezbollah and its allies winning a majority in the spring 2009 parliamentary elections, for example, could provide a flashpoint for a confrontation between Hezbollah forces and the expanding Salafist Sunni force in the north. For now, the Salafist leaders will continue to work with Saad Hariri's "Future Movement". A group of Lebanese Salafists recently told the media, "Hariri is our leader, we respect and support him." Rather ominously, however, they added, "If [cooperation with Hariri] fails, we have another option called bin Laden."

For its part, al-Qaeda will strengthen its presence in Tripoli and the north as well as its ties to Lebanese Sunni militants and Palestinian refugees. It will also continue to spread its influence across the country in a manner that will place its operatives as close as possible to Israel's territory.

NEXT: Jordan

Michael Scheuer served in the CIA for 22 years before resigning in 2004. He served as the chief of the Bin Laden Unit at the Counterterrorist Center from 1996 to 1999. He is the once anonymous author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror; his most recent book is Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq. Dr Scheuer is a Senior Fellow with The Jamestown Foundation.

(This article first appeared in The Jamestown Foundation. Used with permission.)

(Copyright 2008 The Jamestown Foundation.)

[Backstop]

Man.

I know you're all reading about it.

But this Israel/Palestinian thing is taking off.

Fortunately, the UN is prepared to help...

[wallis]

The situation "looks" really weird. Just read that the Russians want to buy Israeli drones (from DEBKA), while they are in the process of providing missiles to Iran to prevent Israel from attacking Iran's nuclear facilities.

[samizdat]

Anybody know the real dope. Or must I check pravda.com to find out?

Why are the Hizzies staying out of this?

Hassan Nasrallah announced he would back hamas, stage rallies, but is not attacking.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473432,00.html

I'm lost, so I'll give an off the wall conjecture.

The russky puppetmaster is fine as wine, so a deal was made for business as usual- little wars all about- wildfires, while guns for butter sputters and splatters. So they took out the Georgian airfields 2 prevent Israel from preempting Iran. They thanked atomic A 4 his xmas message which begs Christians to be thankful that Jesus (Sic) the prophet healthy-(Christ- King and God) will accompany the descending imam. Later, the usual suspects escape as yahoo and msm has the world focused on negotiations between the new Russky patriarch, cardinal Ratzinger, and shiite and sunni marshmellow hats. So the russkies and the Russky patriarch negotiate nuclear free peace in the world, Syria gets golan, Iran gets nukes and missiles, and the Russian people get the stick.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84699

[American Patriot]

Looks to me like the Russians need the high tech planes so they can re-sell then...

[Malsua]

Ki-Ban-Moon(bat) really enjoys damning Israel. How about an ultimatum to those animals in the west bank? How about "One more rocket and we're going to flatten the entire west bank and kill anything that moves"

[Ryan Ruck]

Because, that would be the UN doing something other than issuing a harshly worded statement.

[American Patriot]

Well, the DipShits have gone Apeshit in London.

Protests are turning into riots outside the Israeli embassy. Things are getting way out of hand. Supposed to be around 5 PM there I think, if I added right. The pictures I was seeing was showing it as almost dark. So sounds right.

[Aplomb]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473448,00.html

Israel At 'War to the Bitter End,' Strikes Key Hamas Sites

Monday, December 29, 2008


Israel's defense minister said Monday the country is engaged in a "war to the bitter end" against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and said the military operation against the terror group would continue and intensify.


"We have stretched our hand in peace many times to the Palestinian people. We have nothing against the people of Gaza," Ehud Barak said to a special session of parliament.



"But this is an all-out war against Hamas and its branches. The restraint that we have demonstrated is the source of our strength when it is time to fight."


Israel's air force obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of its overwhelming Gaza assault, striking a house next to the Hamas premier's home, devastating a security compound and flattening a five-story building at a university closely linked to the Islamic terror group.


Israel declared areas around the Gaza Strip a "closed military zone," citing the risk from retaliatory Palestinian rocket fire.


The closure could also help Israel mount a surprise ground assault, as the number of Israeli troops on the Gaza border has doubled and the Cabinet approved the call-up of 6,500 reserve soldiers.


A Hamas police spokesman, Ehab Ghussein, said 180 members of the Hamas security forces were among the dead. The United Nations agency in charge of Palestinian refugees said at least 51 of the dead were civilians. The three-day death toll rose to 320, including seven children under the age of 15 who were killed in two separate strikes late Sunday and Monday, medics said.


Israel launched the deadliest attack against Palestinians in decades on Saturday in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.


Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters Monday, while "Hamas is looking for children to kill."


"Hamas is targeting deliberately kindergartens and schools and citizens and civilians because this is according to their values. Our values are completely different. We are trying to target Hamas, which hides among civilians," Livni said.


The strikes appear to have gravely damaged Hamas' ability to launch rockets, but one medium-range rocket fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon killed a man there Monday and wounded several others. It was the second fatality in Israel since the beginning of the offensive, and the first person ever to be killed by a rocket in Ashkelon, a city of 120,000.


On Sunday, Hamas missiles struck for the first time near the city of Ashdod, twice as far from Gaza as Ashkelon and only 25 miles from Israel's heart in Tel Aviv.


The White House said Hamas was showing its "true colors as a terrorist organization" and called for it to cease its rocket attacks. "In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.


Hamas, whose charter specifically calls for the destruction of the state of Israel, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdon and the European Union and is banned in Jordan.

From 2000 to 2004, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly 400 Israelis and wounding more than 2,000 in 425 attacks, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks against Israeli targets.


At first light Monday, strong winds blew black smoke from the bombed sites in Gaza City over deserted streets. The air hummed with the buzz of pilotless drones and the roar of jets, punctuated by the explosions of new airstrikes.


One strike on Monday destroyed the home of a top commander in Hamas's armed wing, killing seven people, including several members of his immediate family, Reuters reported.


At least 20 peolpe were injured in the blast, though the target, the senior Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades commander, Maher Zaqout, was not at home at the time, Hamas said.


The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that the battle in Gaza was only beginning, and that "the worst is not behind us — it is still ahead of us" during a briefing to southern communities.


"After this operation there will not be one Hamas building left standing in Gaza," said IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Brigadier-General Dan Harel, accoding to YnetNews.


A group of Iranian hardline clerics volunteered to fight in the Gaza Strip in response to Israel's air strikes, the Fars news agency reported on Monday.


"From Monday the Combatant Clergy Society has activated its web site for a week to register volunteers to fight against the Zionist regime (Israel) in either the military, financial or propaganda fields," the semi-official news agency said.


Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree to Muslims around the world on Sunday, ordering them to defend Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks "in any way possible".


Israel's intense bombings — more than 300 air strikes since midday Saturday — wreaked unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble.


One strike destroyed a five-story building in the women's wing at Islamic University, one of the most prominent Hamas symbols. Another attack ravaged a compound controlled by Preventive Security, one of the group's chief security arms, and a third destroyed a house next to the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister. Like other Hamas leaders, Haniyeh is in hiding.


Late Sunday, Israeli aircraft attacked a building in the Jebaliya refugee camp next to Gaza City, killing a woman, a toddler and three young teenage girls, Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said.


In the southern town of Rafah, a toddler and his two teenage brothers were killed in an airstrike aimed at a Hamas commander, Hassanain said. In Gaza City, another attack killed a man and his wife.


Egypt began taking in wounded Palestinians from the Gaza Strip Monday, and allowed trucks with food and medical supplies to pass through its border crossing with the Gaza Strip.


In the most dramatic attacks Sunday, warplanes struck dozens of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, cutting off a lifeline that had supplied Hamas with weapons and Gaza with commercial goods. The influx of goods helped Hamas defy an 18-month blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt, and was key to propping up its rule.


Gaza's nine hospitals were overwhelmed. Hassanain, who keeps a record for the Gaza Health Ministry, said over 1,400 were wounded over two days of fighting, and that casualties were now being taken to private clinics and even homes.


Abdel Hafez, a 55-year-old history teacher, waited outside a Gaza City bakery to buy bread, one of the few people visible outdoors. He said he was not a Hamas supporter, but believed the strikes would only increase support for the group. "Each strike, each drop of blood are giving Hamas more fuel to continue," he said.


Israeli leaders have said the operation might be long. "The goal of our current operation is to ... create a situation where Israeli civilians living in the south of the country no longer have to live in constant fear of a Hamas rocket attack," government spokesman Mark Regev said Monday.


Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year military occupation, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to the territory to hunt militants firing rockets at Israeli towns. But it has shied away from retaking the entire strip for fear of getting bogged down in urban warfare.


Military experts said Israel would need at least 10,000 soldiers for a full-scale invasion.


The assault has sparked diplomatic fallout. Syria decided to suspend indirect peace talks with Israel, begun earlier this year. The U.N. Security Council called on both sides to halt the fighting and asked Israel to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Raed Fattouh, a Gaza border official, said Israel informed him that two key crossings would be open Monday to allow in fuel and aid supplies.


The prime minister of Turkey, one of the few Muslim countries to have relations with Israel, called the air assault a "crime against humanity," and French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned "the provocations that led to this situation as well as the disproportionate use of force."


The carnage inflamed Arab and Muslim public opinion, setting off street protests in Arab communities in Israel and the West Bank, across the Arab world, and in some European cities.


Some of the protests turned violent. Israeli troops quelling a West Bank march Sunday killed one Palestinian and seriously wounded another.


On Monday, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded four Israelis in a West Bank settlement before he was shot and wounded. It was not immediately clear if the attack was directly connected to the events in Gaza.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Ryan Ruck]

I was watching the live feed on Fox News hoping to see some idiot get the stones to try and climb into the embassy and watch the IDF drop them.

[Aplomb]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12292008...mas_146267.htm

HAMMERING HAMAS


Last updated: 6:49 am
December 29, 2008
Posted: 1:08 am
December 29, 2008


How predictable.


Israel's massive, and largely successful, Gaza airstrikes represented a "disproportionate" response to Hamas violence - or so say the likes of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.


But what would be a permissibly "proportionate" answer to three-plus years of ceaseless rocket barrages - thousands of missile and mortar attacks, hundreds of them in the past week alone - aimed at Israeli population centers?


To the critics, there is no Israeli right to self-defense. So, much better that Israel do precisely what is it now doing: Targeting the instruments of terror.


As Defense Minister Ehud Barak noted, "For us to be asked to have a cease-fire with Hamas is like asking [America] to have a cease-fire with al Qaeda."


Indeed, he added, would a US president do nothing "if San Diego was being bombarded daily with hundreds of missiles launched from Tijuana?"


After all, Israel completely evacuated Gaza in 2005, removing every soldier and settler and destroying its own towns and villages. There is no more "occupation" there for Hamas to resist.


"Until now, we have shown restraint," said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. "But today there is no other option."


Over the first 48 hours, Israel's carefully targeted attacks - which clearly took Hamas by surprise - destroyed Gaza City's main security compound, military posts, rocket-launching sites, metal workshops, the Hamas TV station and a mosque that housed armed soldiers.


Some 40 tunnels used to smuggle weapons across Gaza and fighters into Syria and Iran for terrorist training were destroyed within minutes.


True, casualties have been high.


Happily, however, most of the dead have been Hamas soldiers (including at least two senior commanders) - even though Hamas deliberately locates itself in densely populated areas, cynically using civilians as human shields.


The White House unambiguously blamed Hamas for the "the renewal of violence." So, significantly, did Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.


For Israel, there are risks to what it says will be a prolonged military operation. Its 2006 war in Lebanon, designed to root out Hezbollah, largely failed; it cannot afford a repeat of that debacle.


President-elect Barack Obama, vacationing in Hawaii, is said to be "monitoring the situation" but has declined further comment while George W. Bush is still president. But we hope that he has not changed his views since last summer, when he visited the embattled Israeli city of Sderot.


"If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters slept at night," he said at the time, "I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."


Israel is doing just that. It needs the support of decent people everywhere.

[Aplomb]

Fox is reporting that the protests in London are loud. There's more here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...sh-police.html

The Gaza backlash hits London as anti-Israel demonstrators clash with police

By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 8:32 AM on 29th December 2008


A protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London descended into chaos today as demonstrators clashed with police.
Dozens of campaigners were seen being handcuffed and dragged away by officers as events appear to boil out of control.
High Street Kensington was closed off with police vans blocking the street as the number of demonstrators swelled throughout the afternoon to about 2,000.
Several hours after the protest began violence flared as police attempted to physically remove people so they could reopen the road.


remove people so they could reopen the road.

Enlarge Late in the afternoon police said there had been half a dozen arrests for a range of public order offences and 700 protesters remained at the scene.


Protesters threw placards and screamed abuse as officers scrummaged to push campaigners back.
Some demonstrators were seen attempting to climb the gate towards the Embassy and also throwing red liquid - to symbolise blood - towards the gate.
One campaigner was seen throwing a bag and what appeared to be a book towards the building.
Several protesters left the scene with bloodied faces.
Late in the afternoon police said there had been half a dozen arrests for a range of public order offences and 700 protesters remained at the scene.
Earlier in the day, confrontations began when a small group of protesters stormed a barrier which was penning them in.
Riot police were brought in to control the crowds.
Among the protesters were Respect MP George Galloway and former MP Tony Benn, who both addressed the rally.

Police dog called in: The crowds waved Palestinian flags and held up placards, including some which read 'holocaust in Gaza' and 'no peace, no justice.'


After his speech, Mr Galloway said: 'Israel has killed hundreds and maimed hundreds more - many of whom are women and young children - yet Gordon Brown is blaming the victim rather than the aggressor.
'The support at today's demonstration has been overwhelming.
'There are even Jews who have joined us here.
'We should treat Israel as we treated South Africa during apartheid. They should be shunned.'
Commenting on confrontations with police, Mr Galloway added: 'The police are only here doing their job.'
As the demonstrations began Palestinian families and campaign supporters crammed the pavement and chanted in unison: 'Five, six, seven, eight - Israel is a terror state.'
The crowds waved Palestinian flags and held up placards, including some which read 'holocaust in Gaza' and 'no peace, no justice.'

Enlarge Police officers line up to face the protest



Among the protestors was Gamal Hamed, from Hammersmith, whose 23-year-old son still lives in Gaza.
The 68-year-old said: 'Yesterday was the bloodiest day in my homeland's history.
'We will do what we can to make the world take notice.
'I am delighted by the number of people who have pledged their support today - we are all worried about where the conflict goes from here.'
Organiser Ghada Razuki said she was delighted by the turnout.
She added: 'It could not have gone any better for us. Sometimes these confrontations are necessary but the police have been very good to us.
'I hope that events like today's show that there is hope for Palestinians - I really hope they see it.'

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather outside the Israeli Embassy



After the chaos erupted, a security guard at the nearby Royal Garden Hotel said police had handled the situation 'terribly'.
The member of staff, who did not want to be named, said: 'I have been watching this throughout - there were only eight officers trying to contain a protest with about 500 demonstrators.
'They are trying to break down the barriers towards the Embassy and the police can do nothing about it.
'It has been handled terribly and now they are chasing to catch up a scene which is already out of control.'
As the crowd continued to swell, dozens of Islamists took out their prayer mats and got down on their knees to pray.
Meanwhile protesters continued to scream at police near the gates of the assembly.
With police and protesters locked in an apparent stalemate on High Street, Kensington, some eyewitnesses complained of heavy-handedness by officers.

Enlarge Riot police were brought in to control the crowds


Annie Galvin, a 53-year-old mother from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, said she was reporting one officer.
She added: 'Police actions have been appalling and over-zealous today.
'The situation was allowed to get completely out of control. I saw dozens of people being dragged away in a brutal manner by police - one officer even kicked a protester in the head.
'I am just on my way down to Charing Cross Police Station with my daughter to report him.'
The road was eventually re-opened to traffic as the crowds of protesters dispersed.
A heavy presence remained around the embassy as several campaigners continued to chant for the Palestinian cause.
Protesters said further rallies would continue tomorrow.

[Aplomb]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...646633,00.html

Senior Jihad man, 14 others die in IDF strikes

Ziad Abu Tir, fourteen people killed in strikes on northern Gaza; terror organizations prepare for ground incursion, vow to send out 'hundreds of car bombs and suicide bombers'. Over 60 rockets fired at Israel Ali Waked

Latest Update:

12.29.08, 17:56 / Israel News

Gaza under fire: Palestinian source in the strip reported Monday evening of several IAF strikes across the strip. Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck two targets in northern Gaza, both near the home of one of Hamas' senior military wing operatives. News agencies reported that at least 20 people were killed and dozens were injured.

Another strike in the Northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya hit the home of a senior member of the group's recruiting branch; and a third took out a truck carrying Grad rockets in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Jabalya. According to the IDF, the truck was either headed towards a hiding place or to launching pads.

According to the Palestinian, none of the Hamas operatives were in their homes during the strikes.
Eelier Monday, Ziad Abu-Tir (35) a senior member of the Islamic Jihad's military wing was among five people killed in an IAF strike in the Khan Younis area. His brother, nephew and two other people died in the attack as well. Five people were injured and the area sustained heavy damage.
A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad's military wing said that "this is another massacre and crime" and that Israel must wait for the organization's response.
A source in one of the organizations warned that gunmen in Gaza were well prepared for a ground offensive. "We'll kidnap soldiers, and it will equal all of this destruction," he told Ynet.
Meanwhile, the rocket fire continued Monday, with more than 60 rockets landing in southern Israel since the morning hours and one person killed in a construction site in the city of Ashkelon.

One of the rockets hit a house in Sderot, which was fortunately empty. Neighbors reported of complete devastation, as security forces evacuated the area fearing a gas leak. Several people suffered shock and were treated by Magen David Adom emergency services' paramedics.
'We still have ace up our sleeve'

The armed Palestinian organizations reported that they were completing their preparations for Israel's expected ground offensive. A Palestinian source told Ynet that "the Israeli side must wait for a united Strip under the ground and for hundreds of car bombs and hundreds of suicide bombers."

Another senior source in the groups said that all of the organizations were preparing to abduct soldiers. "If the kidnapping plan proves successful it will compare to all the destruction Israel had caused."

A Hamas source rejected the reports suggesting that the rocket fire at Ashdod, as well as the reports of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was hurt, are evident of the organization's distress. "We have sent messages that we can fire to longer distances that the Israelis are used to and that the Israeli soldier is held in the Strip," he said.



The source refused to elaborate on Shalit's condition.

According to Hamas, the rockets on Ashdod was fired from deep within the Strip and any launchings from its northern part would surely hit targets northerly in Israel, perhaps bringing them closer to central Israel.

"We have other aces up our sleeves and we will use them when the time and place are right," said the source; adding that while the number of Palestinian casualties' numbers in the hundreds, no more than 10 Hamas operatives have been killed.

First Published:

12.29.08, 16:21

[Aplomb]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...646633,00.html

Senior Jihad man, 14 others die in IDF strikes

Ziad Abu Tir, fourteen people killed in strikes on northern Gaza; terror organizations prepare for ground incursion, vow to send out 'hundreds of car bombs and suicide bombers'. Over 60 rockets fired at Israel Ali Waked

Latest Update:

12.29.08, 17:56 / Israel News

Gaza under fire: Palestinian source in the strip reported Monday evening of several IAF strikes across the strip. Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck two targets in northern Gaza, both near the home of one of Hamas' senior military wing operatives. News agencies reported that at least 20 people were killed and dozens were injured.

Another strike in the Northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya hit the home of a senior member of the group's recruiting branch; and a third took out a truck carrying Grad rockets in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Jabalya. According to the IDF, the truck was either headed towards a hiding place or to launching pads.

According to the Palestinian, none of the Hamas operatives were in their homes during the strikes.
Eelier Monday, Ziad Abu-Tir (35) a senior member of the Islamic Jihad's military wing was among five people killed in an IAF strike in the Khan Younis area. His brother, nephew and two other people died in the attack as well. Five people were injured and the area sustained heavy damage.
A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad's military wing said that "this is another massacre and crime" and that Israel must wait for the organization's response.
A source in one of the organizations warned that gunmen in Gaza were well prepared for a ground offensive. "We'll kidnap soldiers, and it will equal all of this destruction," he told Ynet.
Meanwhile, the rocket fire continued Monday, with more than 60 rockets landing in southern Israel since the morning hours and one person killed in a construction site in the city of Ashkelon.

One of the rockets hit a house in Sderot, which was fortunately empty. Neighbors reported of complete devastation, as security forces evacuated the area fearing a gas leak. Several people suffered shock and were treated by Magen David Adom emergency services' paramedics.
'We still have ace up our sleeve'

The armed Palestinian organizations reported that they were completing their preparations for Israel's expected ground offensive. A Palestinian source told Ynet that "the Israeli side must wait for a united Strip under the ground and for hundreds of car bombs and hundreds of suicide bombers."

Another senior source in the groups said that all of the organizations were preparing to abduct soldiers. "If the kidnapping plan proves successful it will compare to all the destruction Israel had caused."

A Hamas source rejected the reports suggesting that the rocket fire at Ashdod, as well as the reports of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was hurt, are evident of the organization's distress. "We have sent messages that we can fire to longer distances that the Israelis are used to and that the Israeli soldier is held in the Strip," he said.



The source refused to elaborate on Shalit's condition.

According to Hamas, the rockets on Ashdod was fired from deep within the Strip and any launchings from its northern part would surely hit targets northerly in Israel, perhaps bringing them closer to central Israel.

"We have other aces up our sleeves and we will use them when the time and place are right," said the source; adding that while the number of Palestinian casualties' numbers in the hundreds, no more than 10 Hamas operatives have been killed.

First Published:

12.29.08, 16:21

[Aplomb]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle%2FShowFull

Dec 29, 2008 19:01 | Updated Dec 29, 2008 19:04 US demands Hamas stop firing rockets

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CRAWFORD, Texas

The Bush administration pleaded once more Tuesday for an end to the new flare up in violence in the Mideast, demanding that Hamas "stop firing rockets into Israel."

Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, released a statement from President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, saying the United States wants to see a lasting peace in the region and the administration is trying to help bring it about.


He said that bringing an end to the new wave of violence - which has caused hundreds of deaths and injuries - hangs on the willingness of Hamas to "agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire."


Johndroe had said earlier that Bush spoke on the phone from his ranch with national security adviser Stephen Hadley to receive an update on the situation and was being kept abreast of developments. He added that Bush was to receive an intelligence briefing via a secured video hookup at the ranch early Monday and would be briefed then on any overnight developments.


Amid plans by the administration to say more at a midday briefing in Texas, President-elect Barack Obama's transition team was choosing its words carefully.


The current administration has blamed the renewed violence on Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, saying it broke a cease-fire by firing rockets and mortars deep into Israeli territory.





But it's unclear whether Obama will be as supportive of Israel as President George W. Bush has been.


The deaths of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel's deadly air assault on Hamas has brought vocal criticism from the Arab world, and the renewed violence will further complicate Obama's challenge to achieve a Middle East peace - something that eluded both the Bush and Clinton administrations.


David Axelrod, senior adviser to Obama, said the president-elect would honor the "important bond" between the United States and Israel.


"He wants to be a constructive force in helping to bring about the peace and security that both the Israelis and the Palestinians want and deserve," Axelrod said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."


Pressed about how much support Obama will offer Israel, Axelrod said: "He's going to work closely with the Israelis. They're a great ally of ours, the most important ally in the region. ... But he will do so in a way that will promote the cause of peace, and work closely with the Israelis and the Palestinians on that - toward that objective."


Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, speculated that Israeli leaders synchronized their retaliatory attacks to political calendars in both Israel and the US More moderate politicians running in the February 10 national election needed to appear strong against Hamas, and it was perhaps better to strike before Bush left office on January 20 because they weren't as sure about what Obama's reaction would be.


"I think Obama will be supportive of Israel, but will bring a little more skepticism to it," Alterman said. "I think Obama will start from premise that Israel is an ally, but that we have to look at this fresh."


According to an aide on Obama's transition team, the president-elect, who is in Hawaii, continues to closely monitor global events, including the situation in Gaza. He had an intelligence briefing Sunday and plans to talk with his incoming national security adviser, Gen. James Jones, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his nominee for secretary of state.


The aide said Obama appreciates the information the Bush administration is sharing with him. The aide requested anonymity because the Obama team is refraining from comment, saying the US has only one president at a time.

[Aplomb]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle%2FShowFull

Dec 29, 2008 19:01 | Updated Dec 29, 2008 19:04 US demands Hamas stop firing rockets

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CRAWFORD, Texas

The Bush administration pleaded once more Tuesday for an end to the new flare up in violence in the Mideast, demanding that Hamas "stop firing rockets into Israel."

Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, released a statement from President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, saying the United States wants to see a lasting peace in the region and the administration is trying to help bring it about.


He said that bringing an end to the new wave of violence - which has caused hundreds of deaths and injuries - hangs on the willingness of Hamas to "agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire."


Johndroe had said earlier that Bush spoke on the phone from his ranch with national security adviser Stephen Hadley to receive an update on the situation and was being kept abreast of developments. He added that Bush was to receive an intelligence briefing via a secured video hookup at the ranch early Monday and would be briefed then on any overnight developments.


Amid plans by the administration to say more at a midday briefing in Texas, President-elect Barack Obama's transition team was choosing its words carefully.


The current administration has blamed the renewed violence on Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, saying it broke a cease-fire by firing rockets and mortars deep into Israeli territory.





But it's unclear whether Obama will be as supportive of Israel as President George W. Bush has been.


The deaths of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel's deadly air assault on Hamas has brought vocal criticism from the Arab world, and the renewed violence will further complicate Obama's challenge to achieve a Middle East peace - something that eluded both the Bush and Clinton administrations.


David Axelrod, senior adviser to Obama, said the president-elect would honor the "important bond" between the United States and Israel.


"He wants to be a constructive force in helping to bring about the peace and security that both the Israelis and the Palestinians want and deserve," Axelrod said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."


Pressed about how much support Obama will offer Israel, Axelrod said: "He's going to work closely with the Israelis. They're a great ally of ours, the most important ally in the region. ... But he will do so in a way that will promote the cause of peace, and work closely with the Israelis and the Palestinians on that - toward that objective."


Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, speculated that Israeli leaders synchronized their retaliatory attacks to political calendars in both Israel and the US More moderate politicians running in the February 10 national election needed to appear strong against Hamas, and it was perhaps better to strike before Bush left office on January 20 because they weren't as sure about what Obama's reaction would be.


"I think Obama will be supportive of Israel, but will bring a little more skepticism to it," Alterman said. "I think Obama will start from premise that Israel is an ally, but that we have to look at this fresh."


According to an aide on Obama's transition team, the president-elect, who is in Hawaii, continues to closely monitor global events, including the situation in Gaza. He had an intelligence briefing Sunday and plans to talk with his incoming national security adviser, Gen. James Jones, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his nominee for secretary of state.


The aide said Obama appreciates the information the Bush administration is sharing with him. The aide requested anonymity because the Obama team is refraining from comment, saying the US has only one president at a time.