War on Gaza Update #8.5

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Jack

Hello Yourish readers,

I am Jack and I am pleased to be given the privilege to post here. Meryl has been kind enough to provide some links to the updates I have been running on the war.

I am going to continue that process by encouraging you to go review the War on Gaza Update #8.5.

You’ll find that is a collection of articles from the main stream media and post from around the blogosphere. The goal is to help provide a more comprehensive and complete understanding of the war. It is a challenging task because of the number of obstacles to overcome.

Those obstacles include sloppy reporting, intentional misinformation and or mischaracterization of what is going on and the willingness of some people to close their eyes and put their fingers in their ears. More on this at a later date.

In addition to the updates I am also the administrator of the Jewish/Israeli blog carnival called Haveil Havalim. I’d like to point out that I took over from the inimitable Soccer Dad who also posts here.

The most recent edition of Haveil Havalim #199 is the aptly named:
The We Can’t Stop Twittering/Blogging/Reading/Worrying/Watching/What’s Going On in Israel Right Now Edition….
or….The Stuck To My BlackBerry Like Glue Edition….

Thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing you again.

Posted in Israel | 3 Comments

Gaza war – a random selection

Posted on 01/04/2009 by SnoopyTheGoon

Several not necessarily related items that caught my attention since yesterday. If you want a blow by blow war journal, you better look elsewhere – some people do it much better.

Israel

Vice premier, Industry, Trade and Labor minister refrain from voting in favor of sending ground troops into Strip, after cabinet denies their motion for mission’s operational goals to include toppling Hamas regime.

Toppling Hamas regime, no more and no less. Do they also mean offing all the voters who… aw, what the heck – the Trade and Labor, being a Shas mouthpiece and thus as close to the deity as possible, is running around with “kill all Hamasniks” idea for a fairly long time. But Ramon? Gee… Have these two any idea what’s the program after the army act is over? Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel, World | 1 Comment

French police bar pro-Israeli protesters from Israeli embassy

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

Now there’s logic for you. The French police can’t handle “youths” who burn hundreds of cars in the Parisian suburbs nightly, but they decided that a pro-Israel rally can’t be held in front of the Israeli embassy.

Several thousand demonstrators waved Israeli flags and sang Hebrew hymns in Paris Sunday to show support for Israel in its military offensive in Gaza, a day after a huge pro-Palestinian rally.

Warmly dressed to brave seasonably cold weather, about 12,000 demonstrators gathered on a street not far from the Israeli embassy, according to organizers, the CRIF, an umbrella group of French Jewish organizations.

Police said 4,000 people turned up for the demonstration held on a side street after city authorities barred them from massing directly in front of the embassy.

By the way, the difference between us and them:

Pro-Palestinian protesters Saturday burned Israeli flags, torched several cars and smashed windows of shops along the chic Hausmann Boulevard near the Paris Opera house.

Click the link. Nice pictures of a sea of Israeli flags.

Posted in Gaza, Israel | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Introducing Jack

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

Jack and I found a new division of labor: I let him do the work right here, so I don’t have to.

Seriously, I’m going to be busy today and the work week starts tomorrow, so I can use all the help I can get.

Please remember that I have several co-bloggers before you say, “Meryl” in the comments.

One of these days I need to make the byline larger. By a lot.

Posted in Site news | 2 Comments

In search of objective reporting

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

CNN does not disappoint.

The headline: Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza; death toll rises

In the summary: NEW: At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza Sunday, sources say

The context: None.

The AP: Accepting Palestinian casualty figures blindly while pretending that they’re actually using objective sources and confirmations.

Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, cutting the coastal territory into two and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas militants gained momentum.

The military used overwhelming firepower from tanks, artillery and aircraft to protect the advancing soldiers, and Gaza officials said at least 31 civilians were killed in the onslaught. The military said troops killed several dozen militants, but Gaza officials could confirm only four dead — in part because rescue teams could not reach the battle zones.

Reuters: Oh, please. They’re not even pretending to be objective anymore.

Israeli troops and tanks split the Gaza Strip and ringed its main city on Sunday in an offensive against Hamas militants but civilians trapped in the Palestinian enclave suffered more bloodshed.

Bloomberg News: Finally, a somewhat objective piece.

MSNBC: The headline and subhead say it all.

Israeli forces bisect Gaza, surround biggest city
500 Palestinians killed in just over a week; Hamas rockets slay 4 Israelis

The rest of the story is AP. But the subhead is all MSNBC.

Fox News: What’s that I see? Objectivity? Can.t be. The lead:

Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, dividing the coastal territory into three parts in an effort to prevent Hamas militants from accessing weapons.

Israeli defense officials told FOX News that an estimated 30 Hamas militants had been killed in the incursion so far, though precise numbers are difficult to pin down.

Israel’s army also announced that a soldier was killed in the fighting on Sunday — the first Israeli fatality in the ground offensive launched late Saturday

Yes, it can be. Objectivity.

Fox wins.

Update to my readers who are getting here from the CNN article: I’m trying to present the side that you never see—particularly by watching CNN. Try looking around and reading some of the other posts. There are plenty of contrasts to the stories you’ve been getting. And they’re all true. I post nothing that I can’t back up with facts.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Media Bias | Tagged , , | 59 Comments

Countering Hamas propaganda

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

Bookmark this post, people, and use it when you are defending Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The Hamas police officers were just police officers: No, they weren’t. They were members of the Hamas military wing.

Rashid Thabet, who writes regularly for a website identified with Hamas, has praised the policemen killed in Gaza, stating that they were no mere regular cops who flunked out of school and were recruited to oppress the residents on behalf of a tyrannical regime, but policemen who were the elite of Palestinian soceity.

He said that nearly all of them were ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam members, who by day carried out security missions and by night engaged in jihad and attacks.


Palestinian rockets are “crude, homemade rockets” that almost never kill: Aside from the fact that no other nation in the world is expected to accept the daily bombardment of its citizens, there are these facts (French link):

Hundreds of Hamas members were sent for training in Damascus and Tehran to learn to launch Katyusha and Grad 2 rockets, a former head of security in the Palestinian Authority in Gaza told Le Figaro.

The Gaza operation will unify Palestinians against Israel: Hamas is far too busy executing Fatah members to think about Palestinian solidarity. But I think not.

Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.

Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets.

The Palestinians voted for Hamas because they wanted a less corrupt government, not more terrorism: Really? I don’t think that’s going to happen..

Back then, Hamas ran in the parliamentary election under the banner of Change and Reform. Its leaders promised the Palestinians good government and an end to financial corruption. But Hamas also promised the Palestinians that it would “pursue the resistance against the Israeli enemy.” It also pledged never to recognize Israel’s right to exist in this part of the world.

To its credit, Hamas did not hide its agenda. Its leaders were very clear in the messages they sent to the Palestinian public and the international community. Hamas’s message was the same in Arabic and English.

When Hamas talked about pursuing the “resistance” against Israel, it was referring to the firing of rockets and the launching of suicide bombings.

Hamas will moderate, and can be negotiated with: No, Hamas will never moderate.

Hamas is dead set against a two-state solution, whether it joins a unity government or remains in the opposition. Indeed, Hamas deploys suicide bombers specifically aimed at derailing progress toward peace. Engaging Hamas will not help the peace process, but it will legitimize the group most violently opposed to such progress.


Muslim and Arab states will rise up as one against Israel: They haven’t even managed to agree on a special meeting of the OIC.

A senior aide to President Ahmadinejad says only eight Islamic states had voiced their readiness to attend an emergency meeting on Gaza.

Arab nations know that Iran’s hand is behind Hamas. They fear Iranian hegemony in the Middle East.

The myth of disproportionate response: I could go into all the technicalities of international law here, but as I’m not a lawyer, I’ll simply pass along Alex Bensky’s comment on that:

I have discerned that the people claiming Israel is making a disproportionate response aren’t liars or hypocrites, they have just given “disproportionate” a new meaning–it’s now synonymous with “effective.” They don’t mind Israel doing something, just as long as it’s quiet and useless.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Chipsy tunnels

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Soccerdad

Tne NYT’s the Lede had an interesting feature on Israel’s attacks on Gazan smuggling tunnels.

One man interviewed by Mr. Eranger claims that the Israeli military seems to know the difference between the two kinds of tunnels:

Muhammad al-Zarb said that the Israelis somehow seemed to know which tunnels were commercial and which were run by Hamas, and that they seemed to be selective in their bombing. “If someone has a tunnel for Chipsy, it seems O.K.,” he said. “When a Hamas guy has a tunnel for weapons, they bomb it.”

Ralph Peters:

From earlier briefings in Israel, I know the IDF takes an almost absurd degree of care in its targeting. The questioning doesn’t stop with “Is that the right building?” it then asks, “What should be our angle of attack to ensure any rubble falls into the street, not atop the primary school next door?” (Hamas consistently embeds terror facilities among innocent civilians.)

Hitting a terrorist hideout in an apartment building, for example, an F-16 would be armed with the smallest warhead that could do the job. If the terrorists are tucked into rooms on the fourth floor, targeting officers evaluate which window the guided missile should go through to kill the terrorists, while minimizing harm to civilians living below.

Any military veteran can tell that the Israelis are taking enormous care to spare civilians. Given the number of airstrikes thus far and the hundreds of tons of bombs dropped, it remains remarkable that so few innocents have been injured in such a dense urban environment.

Yaacov Lozowick:

So far this post hasn’t said anything new: you knew it all already. Well, in my professional life I deal with complex IT systems, and I’ve given a bit of thought t this issue seen from that perspective:

First, Israel clearly has created a sophisticated GIS (geographic information system). A system that records tens of thousands of buildings, their location, and their distance from each other. Then there’s a database with the names of the tens of thousands of families who live in the buildings, and the phone number of each family. The system has the ability to identify all the families and phone numbers that could be affected by an attack on any given building. Finally, given the numbers involved, there must be a system that automatically makes concurrent phone calls to dozens of families, since everybody has to have the same ten-minute warning.

Ah, and someone put tens of thousands of piece of information into that database.

Such a system costs real money, takes time to set up, and since it is obviously operating close to flawlessly, it was tested, fiddled with, tested, fiddled with, and tested again. The purpose, I remind you, is to save the lives of thousands of Palestinians who happen to have murderous neighbors.

I hope to get to numerous posts on the relevant international when I have time, but just consider these three accounts when you hear someone talking about the disproportionate Israeli response.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 1 Comment

We get hatemail

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

We’ve gotten a couple of really charming comments lately.

Some brave, brave mujahid from Australia left this for me this morning:

all what i wanna say is that you fucking bitch ..you all will pay for it

Uh-huh. Nice to see that Australian jihadis still have that respect for “covered meat” that their religious leaders have. By the way, that’s the nicest sexist comment that’s been left. The rest, of course, use the c-word.

Most of the comments are just clueless moonbats spreading clueless moonbat talking points like this:

More innocent Palestinians have been killed in the last 7 days by Israel than all innocent Israelis killed by Hamas in the last 7 years! For every Israeli killed, there have been more than 100 Palestinians killed. Can a home made Qassam rocket (which a former Israeli Defence Minister said is more a psychological weapon than an effective one) compare to the Israeli tanks, F16s, Apache helicopters, drones…. How can the Isrealis do this to a people when they have underwent horrors of the holocaust is beyond me. Who is the worse terrorist? The one who kills more civilians, and by simple math it is Israel. The whole world, except for 2 countries, Israel and the US, has condemned the genocide. I guess the whole world is wrong. I always used to wonder how a whole nation could follow a psychopath like Hitler in killing Jews while the rest of the world stood silent! We now stand silent as the massacre continues. Gone are the days when I used to view Israel as a shining morale beacon of the Middle East!

Yes, Jeff (he left a real name), the whole world is wrong. But you’re a particularly dumb example of the wrong side who managed to hit just about every fallacy in one comment. Thanks!

Here’s a Canadian that makes a seemingly logical argument that stays evenhanded—until he hits the usual “blame it all on Israel” conclusion.

It’s unfortunate that with 2000+ years of unrest in the Middle East, there is no light at the end of this tunnel… except for an oncoming locomotive. Whatever excuse or decisions each side makes to escalate to full war, nothing changes or gets better. There must be a stronger “will” by the global community to take a stand against Israel and Palestine. They should be forced by the international community and hold each nation responsible for their hostilities. Both Israel and Palestine need their supporting nations to keep them inline. In regards to Israel defending itself, just an excuse…

I’m sorry, there were 2000+ years of unrest? Really? The Palestinians 2000 years ago were called “Jews,” genius. The enemy were the Romans. Palestinians are a nomenclature that was invented in the 1960s to give terrorist groups a pretend claim to Israel.

Here’s another one from Canada that’s just breathtaking in its anti-semitism.

But is it anti-semetic to wonder if the banking in Gaza City was or is meant to be seized?; is it attacked and entirely expected to be refused for Jewish interests: indeed that it has secretly been agreed to that gaza become part of Israel officially. Erabat, is not reassuring to my opinion or desires enough.

Right. Israel did it for the money in Gaza. The 3,000 rockets fired into southern Israel were just a cover. (Is that the Twilight Zone theme I hear?)

This one just puzzles me. It’s another Canadian who acts like she knows me, but I don’t recognize the name. Or get the logic.

I see Meryl is still up and at it, betraying Jewish ethics in favour of Jewish tribalism.

A great big “WTF?” to Anne.

Here’s one that makes you laugh at the unintended punchline. This guy’s from Philly.

why are Isralies in the midddle east
when what 99.0% are from Europe or the former USSR. I live in America and they would all be deported . I say import Mexicans and stop Fighting GOD DOES NOT LIKE UGLY LEARN FROM YOUR PAST AND BE GOOD CHRISTIANS SHOW CHARITY …

That’s right. Learn to be good Christians, Israeli Jews. (Cognitive dissonance and stupidity. Not a good combination.) God does not like ugly? But I thought God loves us all.

Zelda (from Virginia) is actually one of my favorites. I generally don’t approve comments like this because I have a problem with insanely stupid commenters. They annoy me. But this needs to be shared.

Is this war over a relgious piece of territory they both claim?
How Godly if that is fact.
The madness and egoistic reasoning behing all this bloodshed is beyond all human rights of existance.
The world is small.
We are killing the planet.
We are insane.

That’s enough for now. The truly vile comments will stay completely unpublished, as those hit the trash bin and stay there. Unless I decide to send them to the abuse departments at their companies of origin.

Posted in Israel | 13 Comments

Told you: Bush stops anti-Israel resolution

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

Told you so.

The United States thwarted an effort by Libya on Sunday to persuade the UN Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after Israel launched a ground invasion, diplomats said.

Several council diplomats told reporters that the U.S. refusal to back a Libyan-drafted demand for an immediate truce at a closed-door emergency session had killed the initiative, since council statements must be passed unanimously.

He owes Israel, and he knows it.

Then there’s the matter of Bush knowing the difference between terrorist attacks and defending yourself from terrorist attacks. Too bad he let State bash that perspective out of him where Israel was concerned.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel, United Nations | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fight CNN propaganda

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

CNN is asking for first-hand reports. To my Israeli readers: Click here and write about your experience with rocket and terror attacks.

Share photos. Do what you can to fight the anti-Israel propaganda.

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Tagged | Comments Off on Fight CNN propaganda

Overvaluing the street

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Soccerdad

Anthony Shadid wrote Attacks Further Split Arab Rulers, People for the Washington Post. In it he concludes:

The disconnect between policy and sentiment has become a feature of Arab politics, especially in recent years, as U.S. influence has dominated a region long contested during the Cold War. But some analysts say the divide today has threatened the very legitimacy of governments that, in public at least, offered support for Palestinian rights as a staple of policy. Egypt once deemed itself at the forefront of that conflict.

“That’s the real story,” said Karim Makdisi, a professor of political studies and public administration at the American University of Beirut.

“This gap, which has always been there, is greater than ever. I think we’re in the middle of something new,” he said. “This polarization — where you have regimes perceived as getting closer to American and Israeli interests at the expense of very clear Arab and Muslim rallying points. They’re acting oddly against their own interests. They’re misreading the pulse of the people, the extent of the anger among most Arabs.”

First of all these are not regimes that are not dependent on the consent of the governed, so to say that taking a policy that disagrees with the sentiments expressed in the “Arab street” is misleading. Arab regimes derive their “legitimacy” such as it is from force or threats of forces, and they will continue to do so. Second of all, given that Arab regimes are not famous for their records on freedom of assembly and freedom of the press, if they are allowing demonstrations and publications against Israel, it is because they approve of the sentiment. In other words, the gulf that Shadid describes, is superficial. But there is a reason that Shadid wrote this article. Go to the op-ed page and there’s David Ignatius writing in For Obama a tough page to turn:

The unyielding response of Hamas was conveyed in a statement from its military wing, quoted in the New York Times: “It would be easier to dry the sea of Gaza than to defeat the resistance and uproot Hamas.” Until the Israeli assault, that would have been a fatuous boast; Hamas was increasingly unpopular in its home base. But the attacks have boosted its popularity, in Gaza and around the Arab world.

Pro-Hamas demonstrators were on the streets last week, from Egypt to Jordan to Lebanon to Turkey. Indeed, the biggest worry among diplomats wasn’t so much stopping the fighting as preventing its spread.

In other words, Ignatius in continuing the Post’s assault on Israel. There’s a need to show that Israel’s actions are counterproductive, Shadid provided the reporting to support Ignatius’s conclusion.

Here’s Barry Rubin:

For years now, anti-Americanism has served as a means of last resort by which failed political systems and movements in the Middle East try to improve their standing. The United States is blamed for much that is bad in the Arab world, and it is used as an excuse for political and social oppression and economic stagnation. By assigning responsibility for their own shortcomings to Washington, Arab leaders distract their subjects’ attention from the internal weaknesses that are their real problems. And thus rather than pushing for greater privatization, equality for women, democracy, civil society, freedom of speech, due process of law, or other similar developments sorely needed in the Arab world, the public focuses instead on hating the United States.

The same applies to hatred of Israel. (I’m pretty certain that Prof. Rubin has written similar paragraphs regarding Arab hatred of Israel, but I haven’t found them yet.) The official Arab media are virulently anti-Israel and most of the public statements of the government encourage hatred of Israel.

The gulf that Shadid describes then is largely superficial and temporary. Promoting the Palestinians cause and demonizing Israel is what Arab regimes do. To make unquestioning support of the Palestinians a requirement for legitimacy – as Shadid does – is to excuse every excess of the Arab regimes and serves to legitimize the hatred of Israel in the Arab world.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, Media Bias | Tagged | Comments Off on Overvaluing the street

W.’s parting gift to Israel

Posted on 01/04/2009 by Meryl Yourish

I’m quite sure President Bush is feeling guilty that he allowed State to pressure Ariel Sharon into giving up the Philadelphi corridor, which allowed Hamas to import thousands of tons of weapons and arms, and which greatly contributed to the current constant attacks on Israel.

So I think his parting gift to Israel will be to continuously block UN resolutions against Israel until this war is done.

He blocked a one-sided statement from coming out.

The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a Security Council statement calling for an immediate Israeli-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza and southern Israel and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence.

US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week’s council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time “would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success; would not do credit to the council.”

Good.

Bush has nothing to lose. He’s outta here on January 20th.

As for all those idiots wondering why Obama doesn’t act, or say anything: We have a president. It’s George W. Bush until January 20th, after Obama is sworn in. Deal with it, crybabies.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel | Tagged , | 3 Comments

One more Gaza update for the evening

Posted on 01/03/2009 by Meryl Yourish

Dawn is a couple of hours away in Israel. I’m going to let the Israeli bloggers take it away.

Spanish FM sides with Palestinians: Shocked, shocked I am. Go click on this link to see how shocked I really am. Three years ago, the world told Israel to suck up the rocket fire. Three effing years ago.

Israeli film critical of Israel wins critics award: There’s a shocker.

Ban Ki-Moon finds a spine: Of course, it’s only where Israel is concerned. Still waiting to hear him tell Hamas to stop firing rockets before Israel responds to the rocket fire.

According to Ban’s spokesman, the UN chief “reiterated his call for an immediate cessation of all violence, and urged regional and international partners to exert all possible influence to bring about an immediate end to the bloodshed and suffering.”

What’s diplo-speak for “Eff no”?

Keen Grasp of the Obvious Winner of the Day: C’mon, JPost headline writers. Don’t make me come over there.

Palestinians were throwing explosive devices at IDF soldiers operating in the Jebaliya refugee camp late Saturday night, Israel Radio reported.

Clashes ensued between troops and Hamas terrorists after the military embarked on a ground operation in the evening.

Anyone out there that thought they wouldn’t do this? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Oooh! Donny and Marie, live on Larry King! Really folks, don’t miss it! (Must switch to other station during commercials.)

Alan Dershowitz looks like a puppet. Really. Right out of Team America. (James Zogby looks like a dick. Whoops, did I type that out loud?)

Hamas slaughtering Fatah in Gaza: It’s a repeat of 2007.

JPost says Hezbullah will step in: Iran has supposedly told its proxy that if Israel goes in on the ground, Hezbullah comes in in the air. Tomorrow will tell. Omri is convinced that Hezbullah believes the IDF when Israel said it would flatten Beirut if Hezbullah launched more missiles. Not Hezbullah-controlled Beirut. ALL of it.

James Zogby, effing liar: Just told Wolf Blitzer Gaza is the most densely populated place on earth. Lie. But then, the Palestinian side lies, lies, lies, and then lies again.

I think that’s enough for the night. Over to you, Israelis and Californians.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Some observations

Posted on 01/03/2009 by Meryl Yourish

Can we please stop running and rerunning and rerunning the same damn footage of the fuel depot getting hit, over and over again? Yes, I’m talking to you, Fox News.

On that same note, can you kindly stop showing flares being fired and having to keep correcting yourself every time you call them mortars?

Aaron David Miller, CNN analyst and former adviser to the State Dept.: The combover is fooling no one. Really. No one.

Crap. There are two episodes of How It’s Made on. They’re like crack, I tellya! Crack! I can’t stop myself. Resin figures! How they make resin figures! Help! Help! I can’t turn away! (Oh, so that’s how they make that tacky crap you can buy at the gas station shops.) Look! It’s wearing a six-pointed star. Joooooos! Zionists control everything, even making tacky figurines. “Her fine brushwork is what brings this figurine to life.” Uh-huh. Sure. Nothing says “lifelike” more than eight-inch high tacky resin figurines.

Yes! Another tacky commercial on Fox. It’s the Snuggie! The blanket with sleeves! And only $19.95! Call right now!

We are using far too many exclamation points in this post. But then, you know, we could all use a break from the grim.

All right. I think it’s dinnertime for me. Talk among yourselves.

Posted in Humor | 8 Comments

Gaza objective defined: Rocket launch sites

Posted on 01/03/2009 by Meryl Yourish

The ground operation’s objective is the rocket launching sites Hamas has created throughout Gaza.

And the headline is the only part of that Ynet story that expounds upon that objective. Bad headline writer! Bad! Well, anyway:

IDF ground troops entered the northern Gaza Strip Saturday evening, as the army launched its long anticipated ground operation.

Army officials confirmed that dozens of terrorists were hurt in clashes with IDF ground troops, some of them were killed. In several cases, armed terrorists approached Israeli forces and were shot at by ground troops and IDF gunships. There are no reports of Israeli casualties at this time.

Large IDF ground forces, including Armored and Engineering corps units, as well as infantry soldiers are currently operating in the Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun areas, from which rockets have been launched toward Israel.

The army is preparing to enter the third phase of the operation, which is expected to be much broader in scope. In this framework tens of thousands of reserve soldiers will be pouring into training bases in north and south Israel during the early hours of Sunday morning.

In a shocking twist, Fox News says the UN Security Council resolution, introduced by Libya, says absolutely nothing about Hamas rocketing Israel. I know, I know. Shocking.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel | Tagged , | 3 Comments