A Last Chance before an IDF Thrashing
June 19, 2008
http://www,tribulationperiod.com/
The following article from the Jerusalem Post some three years ago does make it quite understandable why so few believe the current Tahdiya, between Israel and terrorists in the Gaza Strip, will last very long.
Begin 2005 Article from Jerusalem, which is followed by 4 excerpts from several sources on the current status of the Tahdiya which went into effect today.
Shin Bet: Terror attacks on rise despite ‘tahdiya’
Margot Dudkevitch, THE JERUSALEM POST
August 1, 2005
The first seven months of the year have witnessed a marked, gradual increase in attempts by all the terror organizations, especially the Islamic Jihad, to launch attacks, despite the Palestinian declared “tahdiya” (truce) in January 22, a seven page report published by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed, on M
onday.
In one of the more horrific plots conjured up by the Jihad terrorists, Omar Bardwill, a member of the Islamic Jihad arrested on June 9 by security forces, was responsible for digging a tunnel between Khan Younis and the Neveh Dekalim industrial site. Once finished it was to be used to smuggle suicide bombers and weapons into the settlement to launch an attack.
Bardwill also revealed to investiga
tors that in January, he had planned
together with another cell member to embark on a suicide mission in the
Muwassi refugee camp area, where they planned to stab security forces to death.
They were to have posed as farm workers in order to pass through the checkpo
ints. The two decided to use knives out of fear that security forces manning the checkpoints would reveal any weapons they carried.
Since the beginning of the year, 33 Israelis have been killed, 21 of that
number after the so-called January 22 truce. The deterioration of the calm simultaneously continued as terror threats increased, coming to a head in July, with 436 attacks being registered for that month alone.
There was also a fifty percent increase in Gaza based mortar attacks during the same period, with a total of 142 mortar shells fired at settlements, compared with 65 in May, the report stated.
Jenin and Nablus in the West Bank continue to be considered hotbeds of terror, and were the focus of a number of widespread operations conducted by the Shin Bet and IDF in recent months.
The arrests of key Islamic Jihad and Fatah Tanzim members revealed terrorists’ intentions to kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers, launch suicide bomb attacks in Israel, and establish a Kassam rocket capability. Less then a week ago the ongoing crackdown on terrorists by security forces succeeded in thwarting a suicide bomb attack in Israel.
Nablus, where terror cells continue to stockpile weapons, explosives, chemical elements to compile bombs and attempt to manufacture Kassam rockets for attacks, was the site of a number of raids by security forces in recent weeks.
Jenin was also the focus of widespread operations, and the city where Islamic Jihad and Fatah Tanzim members joined forces to improve their capability.
The Islamic Jihad infrastructure in Jenin was described in the report as one of the most dangerous in the northern Samaria region.
On July 27, during a raid in Jenin, security forces arrested Hamza Kakur, 26, a senior Islamic Jihad fugitive sought after by Israel since 2002.
According to officials, Kakur recruited suicide bombers, planned shooting and bomb attacks and was a member of the same infrastructure responsible for the Stage nightclub suicide bombing earlier in the year.
On July 23, security forces arrested a suicide bomber who was en route to launch an attack in Israel. His arrest was made possible after security forces nabbed two key planners of the attack in a raid in the Balata refugee camp, Said Abu Salim, 23, and Ahmed Saba, 26.
The arrests of three Islamic Jihad fugitives in the Hebron area on June 5 and June 30, revealed plans to abduct three Israeli civilians at a hitchhiking station in Gush Etzion and smuggle them to a safe house in Hebron, where the terrorists intended to use them as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian security prisoners incarcerated in Israel.
The three terrorists involved in the plot were identified as Omar Shahidam, 24, of Hebron and Mahmud, 21, and Muwad, 22, Atsafra of Beit Kahil near Hebron. They had planned to purchase a car with Israeli license plates, stalk out their intended victims at a hitchhiking station, subdue them with tear gas and flee with them to Hebron.
The arrest of Ra’ad Hajawi, 26, a key Fatah Tanzim member, on June 20, revealed his involvement in failed attempts to fire two Kassam rockets at Kadim near Jenin several months ago.
Hajawi told investigators that he received assistance from Hizbullah
operatives in Lebanon. He also revealed that together with other cell members he had planned to murder three Israelis in the north of the country.
Hajawi who worked for a car repair shop in the north planned to murder Israelis who brought their cars for repair.
Begin Four Current Excerpts from Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs – Daily Alert
Excerpt 1 – Haaretz
The Tahdiya (Temporary Truce) with Israel
June 19, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Trying a Truce First
Ari Shavit
According to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Israel and Hamas are on a collision course and apparently, in the end, there will be no getting around a military operation in Gaza. However, since the repercussions of an operation could be grave, it is necessary first to try the other alternative – so that every mother of an Israeli soldier, every Israeli civilian in the Gaza envelope, and Egyptian President Mubarak will know that Israel did not choose a military move before giving a chance to a diplomatic move.
The Israeli leadership had to try the truce before opening fire. (Ha’aretz)
Excerpt 2 – Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Israeli Goals in the Gaza “Calm”
For seven years, and especially since the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005, Israeli communities alongside the Gaza Strip have been subjected to a relentless barrage of rockets and mortar bombs. As a result of Hamas’ difficulties in dealing with Israeli pressure as well as with IDF activity, an Egyptian proposal was developed for a “state of calm” that would end terrorism from Gaza.
The goals of the calm are the total cessation of terrorism and firing at Israel by all factions, the end of Palestinian smuggling and military build-up, and progress in securing the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit. Any terrorist act originating from Gaza – regardless of which organization is responsible – will be considered a fundamental breach of the understandings. Israel is aware the calm is likely to be fragile and short-lived, but believes that it is important that every avenue that could lead to a non-violent solution to the problem of Gaza be exhausted.
(Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Excerpt 3 – Wall Street Journal
Israel’s Truce with Hamas Is a Victory for Iran
Michael B. Oren
The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas represents a historic accomplishment for the jihadist forces most opposed to peace, and defeat for the Palestinians who might still have been Israel’s partners. Israel never mounted the rolling, multi-month operation in Gaza that the IDF had planned. Like Hizbullah in 2006, Hamas won because it did not lose. Its leaders still walked Gaza’s streets freely while children in Sderot and other Israeli border towns cowered in bomb shelters.
In exchange for giving its word to halt rocket attacks and weapons smuggling, Hamas receives the right to monitor the main border crossings into Gaza and to enforce a truce in the West Bank. If quiet is maintained, then Israel will be required to accept a cease-fire in the West Bank as well. Hamas initiated a vicious war against Israel, destroyed and disrupted myriad Israeli lives, and has been rewarded with economic salvation and international prestige. Tellingly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who once declared Hamas illegal, will soon travel to Gaza for reconciliation talks. Abbas’ move signifies the degree to which Hamas now dominates Palestinian politics. It testifies, moreover, to another Iranian triumph as the primary sponsor of Hamas. The writer is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.
(Wall Street Journal)
Excerpt 4 – Institute for Contemporary Affairs
The Hamas Interest in the Tahdiya (Temporary Truce) with Israel
Jonathan Dahoah Halevy
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
The Egyptian government succeeded in securing a temporary cease-fire agreement [tahdiya] between Israel and Hamas that took effect at 6:00 a.m. on June 19, 2008. Hamas regards the temporary cease-fire as a tahdiya and not a hudna. A hudna implies recognition of the other party’s actual existence, without acknowledging its legitimacy. As Hamas’ leader Khaled Mashaal explained, a tahdiya is “a tactic in conflict management.”
Official sources in Israel have explained that Hamas’ interest in a lull in the fighting is a result of the “distress” it has suffered.
But Hamas did not experience “distress” – ne ither in a strengthening of the oppos
ition to its administration nor in an increase of popular protests against it.
The tahdiya agreement for a lull is an important achievement for Hamas. Hamas will gain the recognition it wants as the legitimate ruler of Gaza.
Another important objective for Hamas is winning the Palestinian presidential election, which will be held when Mahmoud Abbas finishes his term of office in December. The cease-fire grants Hamas a golden opportunity to expand its military build-up for the next round of terror and violence.
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