Gaza  Strip  should  be  invaded  by  the  Israelis  if  the  Hamas breach  the  truce

What is the Hamas? It is an Islamic Resistance Movement whose prime goal is to destroy Israel. Their members are primarily in the Gaza Strip (hereinafter simply referred to as Gaza) which is a small piece of land on the coast of the Mediterranean that borders both Israel and Egypt. Unfortunately for the people of Gaza, they voted for the Hamas to govern them in 2007. The United States, the European Union, and Japan to name a few have classified Hamas as a terrorist organization, while Arab nations, Russia, and Turkey have not.

Hamas was founded in 1987 during the First Intifada as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987 and the Hamas’ Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. In Gaza, are approximately 1.6 Palestinians living in that small piece of land.

In August 2005, Israel voluntarily evacuated all of the roughly 9,000 Israelis living in Gaza and handed control of Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority Israel had hoped that doing so would pave the way for an independent Palestinian state. Instead, Iran-backed Hamas has continually used Gaza as a launching pad for attacking Israel with thousands of rockets, missiles, and mortars.

Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 in a bloody domestic battle against the Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party. In addition to the rocket and mortar attacks, Hamas, with the help from Iran has carried out numerous deadly attacks on Israelis in Israel and Israelis land next to the border with Gaza.

Gaza has a military wing called the al-Qassam Brigades, (hereinafter referred to as the Brigades) which is really an Islamic Jhihad terrorist organization whose main object is to destroy Israel as a nation. . It was created in 1992, under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, the primary objective of the group was to build a coherent military organization to support the goals of Hamas, which was at the time concerned with blocking the Oslo Accords negotiations.

Hamas apologists are always complaining that Israel is an occupying force in Gaza but that is not true. The Israelis gave up their claims to Gaza seven years ago and it forced hundreds of Israelis farmers from Gaza and removed every Israelis soldier from Gaza and even disinterred Israelis graves and took the coffins back to Israel. 

I believe that many of the people in Gaza were not aware that the Israelis drove truckloads of food and medicine into a compound built by the Israelis near the Israelis settlement of Kerem Shalom. The food and medicine had been donated by private donors, and also some were purchased by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and some donated by the international community. After unloading the trucks, they would leave the compound and trucks driven by drivers from Gaza would then enter the compound and load their trucks with what had been unloaded by the Israelis and return to Gaza and begin distributing the supplies. The rockets fired from Gaza repeatedly interrupted the deliveries to the compound however 80 of the trucks managed to drop off food and 16 trucks carrying medicine also dropped off their supplies in the compound during the firing of rockets. Even without those drop-offs, there was still ample food and medicine in Gaza that had been dropped off earlier.  Gaza also receives more than 100 megawatts of electrical power from Israel. Further, the Israelis evacuated 26 critically injured Gazans to Israelis hospitals on the 18^th of November. These actions are hardly what could be considered abusive conduct against Gazans by the Israelis.

Israel has opened the entry roads into Gaza and after a brief cooling off period, and has pledged to ease its blockade of Gaza, though there were no firm assurances on how that will be done. Israel has maintained the blockade since Hamas seized power of Gaza in 2007, though it has gradually lifted many of its restrictions.

From 1994 to this present day, the Brigades have carried out a number of attacks against both Israeli soldiers and civilians. Recently they have been firing rockets from the homes of Gaza citizens into Israel in hopes that the Israelis won’t bomb their rocket locations. The Hamas are in effect using these helpless homeowners and their families as human shields and that constitutes a war crime.

The Brigades have a substantial weapons inventory of light automatic weapons and grenades, improvised rockets, mortars, bombs, suicide belts and explosives. The Brigades fire Qassam rockets and mortar shells into Israel on a regular basis. The group engages in military style training, including training which take place in Iran and Syria on a range of weapons designed to inflict significant casualties on civilian and military targets.

The Brigades in the past operated several cells in the West Bank, but most of them were destroyed by 2004 following numerous Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) operations in that region. However, because the Hamas retained its political presence in the Gaza, the Brigades operate from there.

Although the Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, they actually operate independently of Hamas, and at times contrary to Hamas' stated aims. The Brigades is a separate armed military wing of the Hamas that has its own leaders and who do not take their orders from the leaders of Hamas nor do they tell them in advance of their plans.

While the number of members is known only to the Brigades leadership, in 2011 Israel estimated that the Brigades have a core of several hundred members who receive military style training, including training in Iran and Syria. Additionally, the brigades have an estimated 10,000 operatives of varying degrees of skill and professionalism who are members of Gaza’s internal security forces, the Hamas and their supporters. These operatives can be expected to reinforce the Brigades in an emergency situation.

The Brigades’ fighters' identities and positions in the Brigades are often secret until their deaths; even when they fight against Israeli incursions. The reason is obvious. If their identities are known by the Israelis, they will be hunted down and killed. All of the militants wear the characteristic black hood on which the group's green headband is attached. The Brigades operate on the structure of independent cells and even high-ranking members are often unaware of the activities of the various cells. This allows the group to consistently regenerate after some of their members are killed. During the al-Aqsa intifada, the leaders of the group were targeted by numerous Israelis airstrikes that killed many of their members. The same defensive tactic by the Israelis is still happening.

In 2003 and 2004, the Brigades in Gaza resisted IDF incursions, including the siege of Jabalya in October 2004. However, these battles took a heavy toll in the Brigades's ranks, which suffered heavy losses. The group, however, continued to gain strength and remained capable of carrying out attacks in the following years. The Brigades can count on a large pool of people willing to join them, smuggle in supplies and provide the fighters with homemade weapons such as the al-Bana and the Batar, (rocket launchers) the Qassam rockets they get from Iran.

In early 2005, the Brigades appeared to stand by a truce negotiated between the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. However the Brigades took advantage of the truce to regroup. Following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005, the Brigades staged several rallies in which they displayed thousands of fighters and an assortment of weaponry in Gaza. These celebrations ended abruptly when on September 23, 2005, twenty Palestinians were killed as a car carrying Qassam rockets exploded amongst a dense crowd. Since this incident, the Brigades has refrained from staging public displays of force.  However, it didn’t later prevent them from launching attacks at Israel, nor have the Israelis refrained from targeting the Brigades’ leaders in assassinations and arial bombing raids.

In May 2006, a police force was formed in Gaza, consisting of thousands of Brigades fighters. It aimed to restore law and order in the city but instead broke out into clashes with Fatah militias On June 10, 2006, after the Gaza beach blast in which seven civilians died, the Brigades then announced a cessation of the 2005 truce with Israel. In the following hours, they claimed responsibility for launching Qassam rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot and threatened to step up their attacks.

In June and July 2006, the Brigades was involved in the operation which led to the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and in the subsequent heavy fighting in Gaza following Operation Summer Rains, launched by the (IDF). It was the first time in over 18 months that the Brigades were actively involved in fighting against Israeli soldiers. In May 2007, the Brigades acknowledged they lost 192 fighters during the operation.

In June 2008, Egypt brokered a cease fire which lasted until the 4^th of  November when Israeli forces crossed into Gaza and killed six Hamas fighters which the resulted rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation increase from two rocket attacks in September and October to 190 such attacks in November. Both sides claimed the other had broken the truce. If in fact the Israelis entered Gaza for the sole purpose of killing Hamas fighters without first being provoked, then Israelis are at fault for the breach of the cease fire.  

Here is a list of the bombings by Hamas terrorists in the 1990s.

16 April 1993: A Hamas suicide car bomb kills two in Mehola Junction bombing.  

                                                                       

19 October 1994: A suicide bomber detonates on a bus in Tel Aviv, killing 22 and injuring 56. Hamas claimed responsibility.

               

25 December 1994: A suicide bomber detonates at a bus stop in Jerusalem, wounding 12.

                                                                       

9 April 1995: Two suicide bombers detonate in Gaza, killing one American, seven IDF soldiers and injuring 50. Hamas and Islamic Jihad both claimed responsibility.

                                                       

21 August 1995: A suicide bomber detonates on a bus, killing one American, four IDF soldiers and injuring 100. Hamas claimed responsibility.   

                                                                               

21 March 1997: A Hamas suicide bomber detonated at a Tel Aviv sidewalk café, killing three women and wounding 46.                                  

4 September 1997: Three suicide bombers detonate in Jerusalem, killing four and injuring up to 200. Hamas claimed responsibility.        

       

27 August 1998: A bomb in a garbage bin explodes in Tel Aviv during rush hour injuring 14. Hamas claimed responsibility.

                       

19 October 1998: Two grenades thrown into a crowd at the Be'er Sheva bus station during rush hour injuring 59. Hamas claimed responsibility.                                                                                     

29 October 1998: A Hamas suicide car bomber attempts to ram a school bus head on near the Gush Katif Junction. An IDF jeep escorting the bus blocked the bomber who detonated the vehicle, killing the driver of the jeep and injuring two others. Six people in the bus received light injuries.

In one case, nails and bolts packed into explosives detonated by a Hamas suicide bomber in a December 2001 attack at the Ben-Yehuda street in Jerusalem were covered in rat poison.

Here is a partial list of the bombings by the Hamas in this century.

1 January 2001: A Hamas suicide car bomber detonates in the city of Netanya, injuring 59. One victim died seven days later.

14 February 2001: A Hamas suicide bomber drove a bus into a crowd and detonated, killing 8 and injuring 21.

4 March 2001: A Hamas suicide bomber detonates in the city of Netanya, three killed and 68 injured.

28 March 2001: A Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up amidst a group of students waiting at a bus stop in Qalqilya in the West Bank. Two killed and four injured.

22 April 2001: A Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up Kfar Saba killing one and injuring 50.

18 May 2001: An Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a shopping mall in the city of Netanya. Five people were killed with more than 100 injured.

1 June 2001: A suicide bomber linked to Hamas kills 21 and injures 76 in the Dolphinarium massacre in Tel Aviv.

9 August 2001: A suicide bomber detonates in Jerusalem killing fifteen and wounding 130 in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing. Hamas and Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine both claimed responsibility.

4 September 2001: A Hamas suicide bomber detonates in West Jerusalem injuring 15.

26 November 2001: A suicide bomber detonates at the Erez Crossing injuring 2. Hamas claimed responsibility.

2 December 2001: A suicide bomber boarded an Israeli bus traveling from the Neveh Sha'anan district in Haifa, paying the driver with a large bill he then blew himself up killing 15 and injuring 40. Hamas claimed responsibility.

4 December 2001: Two suicide bombers detonated one after the other followed by a car bomb in a mall in West Jerusalem. 11 killed and more than 130 injured. Hamas claimed responsibility.

9 March 2002: 11 people were killed and 54 injured, 10 of them seriously, when a suicide bomber exploded in the crowded Moment cafe in the center of Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

31 March 2002: A suicide bomber kills 15 and injures over 40 in an Arab restaurant in Haifa in the Matza restaurant massacre. Hamas claimed responsibility.

10 April 2002: Six IDF soldiers and two civilians were killed and 22 injured in a suicide bombing on a bus near Kibbutz Yagur, east of Haifa. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

7 May 2002: 16 people were killed and 55 wounded in a suicide bombing in a crowded pool hall in Rishon Lezion, southeast of Tel-Aviv. According to the Israeli government, Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack

19 May 2002: Three people were killed and 59 injured when a suicide bomber disguised as a soldier, blew himself up in the market in Netanya. Both Hamas and the PFLP took responsibility for the attack.

18 June 2002: A suicide bomber detonates on a bus in Jerusalem in the Patt junction massacre. The attack kills 19 people and wounds over 74. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

16 July 2002: Nine people were killed and 20 injured in a terrorist attack on a bus traveling from Bnei Brak to Emmanuel. An explosive charge was detonated next to the bullet-resistant bus. The terrorists waited in ambush, reportedly wearing Israeli army uniforms, and opened fire on the bus. Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the DFLP, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad all claimed responsibility for the attack.

31 July 2002: Nine people, including five Americans, were killed and 85 wounded when a bomb detonated by a cell phone exploded in the Frank Sinatra student center cafeteria on the Hebrew University's Mt. Scopus campus. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack but expressed regret for the death of the Americans.

4 August 2002: Nine people were killed and some 50 wounded in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus at the Meron junction in the Galilee. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

19 September 2002: Six people were killed and about 70 wounded when a terrorist detonated a bomb in a bus opposite the Great Synagogue in Tel-Aviv. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack

10 October 2002: One man was killed and about 30 people were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up while trying to board a bus across from Bar-Ilan University on the Geha highway. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

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27 October 2002: Three soldiers were killed and about 20 people were wounded in a suicide bombing in Ariel. The victims were killed while trying to prevent the terrorist from detonating the bomb. The terrorist was identified as a member of Hamas.

17 May 2003: A suicide bomber detonated himself next to a pregnant Israeli woman and her husband at a public square in Hebron. Hamas claimed responsibility.

19 May 2003: A suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked an Israeli checkpoint on the Gaza Strip. Hamas claimed responsibility.

11 June 2003: A Hamas Palestinian suicide bomber, dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, detonated his explosives belt on a bus in downtown Jerusalem. Palestinian terrorists have attempted 11 suicide bombings and murdered 23 Israelis in the last 4 days, since Palestinians "accepted" the "roadmap for peace" and the end of violence.

14 January 2004: A violent suicide bomber blew herself up at one of the entrances to Gaza's main Erex crossing terminal to Israel, killing three Israeli soldiers and a civilian and wounding twelve others. Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (Fatah) jointly claimed responsibility. Hamas stated it used a woman suicide bomber for the first time in order to counter Israeli precautions.

17 January 2004: The armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for an attack in which two gunmen infiltrated Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, and killed a settler and wounded two others. The armed attackers knocked on the door and opened fire inside when it was answered.

29 January 2004: A suicide bomber blew up a bus near the prime minister's residence, killing ten bystanders and wounding at least fifty. Prime Minister Sharon was not home at the time of the bombing. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas has also claimed responsibility for the bombing and denounced al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Hamas has also sent a picture of the suicide bomber to the media to verify their claim.

14 March 2004: Ten Israeli civilians and two Palestinians suicide-bombers were killed when they blew themselves up at the southern port of Ashdod. One bomb went off at a citrus fruit packaging factory and the other at an office just outside the perimeter of the port. A cache of grenades was found later hidden in a bag with a false bottom. Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades claimed joint responsibility for the blasts, stating they were in retaliation for recent members deaths in Jenin.

28 June 2004: Two Israelis were killed and about fifteen others were injured when two home-made Qassam rockets landed on Sederot. Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attack.

29 June 2004: A Palestininan rocket attack near a kindergarten in Sederot killed a child and a man. More than ten people were injured. Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attack.

25 July 2004: children were injured when an anti-tank rocket was fired at a community center in Neve Dekalim. The rocket was fired from Khan Yunis and came as thousands of people were gathered at the center to protest against the Gaza disengagement plan. The children were playing in the yard outside of the center when the rocket struck. The Al-Qassam Brigades, a Hamas-linked militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack.

31 August 2004: Two buses near the Beersheba municipality building were blown up by a suicide bomber. The suicide bomber took advantage of the fact that the two buses were standing together. He blew up a bomb on one bus and then exploded a second bomb on the second bus. At least fifteen people were killed and around eighty-five injured. The military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it as a response to the assassination of Yasin, a leading Hamas official.

7 September 2004: A rocket was fired at the Sederot settlement. One person sustained slight injuries. The military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Is there any doubt in anyone’s minds that the Israelis are extremely angry at these senseless bombings by the Hamas terrorists and want to get even?

In a renewed burst of violence at the end of 2008, Palestinian terror groups in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets and mortars at Israeli cities and towns for several weeks, prompting Israel to launch a defensive operation against Hamas in Gaza from December 2008-January 2009. Over 1,400 people in Gaza were killed. The Israelis bombings of buildings left parts of Gaza in ruins. After the month-long operation; the number of Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks against Israel were decreased dramatically but only temporarily.

The Israelis have brought some of these attacks on their own heads when they foolishly released over a thousand detainees, many who were terrorists captured by the Israelis and set free just to save one Israelis soldier who was captured in Gaza by the Hamas years earlier.

In 2008, Iran helped Hamas upgrade its mortar supply for attacks on Israeli communities bordering Gaza. Hamas operatives (and no doubt many who were released from Israelis detention) undergo training in tactical warfare and weapons operation. They acquire skills for launching rockets, detonating improvised explosive devices, sniper tactics, and other terrorist and guerrilla warfare techniques, similar to those commonly used by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Then in November 2012, the terrorists in Gaza were at it again, firing hundreds of rockets into Israel and Israel was retaliating by flying over Gaza and bombing sites they believe to be manned by the terrorists or their leaders. The peace keepers meanwhile were trying to bring about a peaceful solution but even if they did, it will only be a brief peaceful solution because the terrorists in Gaza will invariably break the deal as they have in the past and continue sending rockets into Israel.

On November 21^st, 2012, the Hamas leader, Khaled Moshcel while he was in Egypt announced that there was a temporary cease fire between Gaza and Israel with both Israel and Gaza promising to halt attacks on each other and Israel easing its blockade of the Gaza Strip. It was also agreed that in 24 hours there would be talks about Israel ending their blockade against Gaza and other matters of concern to those living in Gaza.  There were five rockets fired at Israel after the ceasefire however Israel decided not to let that effect the ceasefire. It is possible that the persons who fired the rockets weren’t aware of the ceasefire.

As many as 1,506 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza of which 421 were intercepted and destroyed by the Israelis Iron Dome (rockets that me and destroyed incoming rockets from Gaza). There were 1,500 Israelis air strikes that hit targets in Gaza. As many as 162 people were killed by these air strikes whereas only 5 Israelis were killed by the rockets. The ratio is 25 to 1 in favour of the Israelis. You would think that the Hamas and the Brigades would be conscious of the fact that they will never win a battled between themselves and the Israelis armed forces but I doubt that they care that innocent Gazan citizens are being also killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that if the Egyptian-brokered truce with the Islamist militants in Gaza does not work, then while Israel’s troops are still massed on Gaza’s borders, he would consider more severe military action against Gaza. The trouble facing the Hamas leader is that he really doesn’t have any control over the Brigades and that being as it is, if they, on their own volition, continue firing rockets into Israel, the truce will be broken.

If anymore rockets are fired into Israel from Gaza, then there can be only one way to stop the continuous slaughter of Israelis by the terrorists in Gaza and that is for the Israelis to invade Gaza with ground troops and literally take over all of the Gaza Strip and place it under Israelis administration until they are satisfied that Gaza’s leadership is back in the hands of the Fatah and the Brigades as an armed faction is eliminated and the terrorists are either killed or imprisoned for life in Israelis prisons.

I believe that the Israelis are hoping that this extreme measure doesn’t have to be taken but if the Hamas can’t control the Brigades and the latter continue firing rockets into Israel, the Israelis have no other choice but to send ground troops into Gaza and put an end to the Brigades and the Hamas control of Gaza.

I also believe that the Israelis should continue blockading ships and smaller boats coming in close to Gaza shores and prevent aircraft from landing anywhere in or near Gaza to prevent military hardware from being smuggled into Gaza. However, I think however that the Israelis should still permit the fishermen of Gaza to fish 5 kilometres from their shores where there are more fish for them to catch.

These are harsh measures of course but I can’t see any other way to stop the terror and death brought to the people of Israel that the Hamas and the Brigades are causing. If in ten years, there is still peace between Gaza and Israel, then the blockade can be lifted and planes should be able to fly directly into Gaza without any restrictions.

In 2006, the Hamas stated that Israel has no right to exist as a nation. The Hamas had better change their views. First of all, they must recognize Israel’s right to exist as a nation, secondly they must renounce violence. In my opinion, it is not absolutely imperative that they abide by Israel/Palestine Agreements (except the current cease-fire agreement)  as they are subject to review.

If the Hamas and the Brigades can then be trusted to keep the peace (and in my opinion I doubt that they will) and the Brigades are dismantled and a responsible police force takes their place, then maybe there can be peace in that region. Certainly many if not most of the citizens of Gaza want peace even when they don’t necessarily like the Israelis. As far as I am concerned, this temporary cease fire is simply temporary as far as the Hamas are concerned. They are simply biding their time so that they can get more rockets, ammunition and guns from Iran before they begin doing what they have always been doing—attacking Israel for the sole purpose of bring about Israel`s extermination as a nation.

If the warmongering men in Gaza waver from the peace treaty with Israel and continue to be violent and continue to denounce Israel’s right to exist as a nation, then the Israelis should get firm and do whatever they have to do to drag them back in line. Let me paraphrase the late President Nixon. “If you grab them by their testicles, their hearts and minds will follow.”