Israel Under Fire: Operation 'Protective Edge'

[Pretty Flamingo]

Operation Protective Edge has started.

Israel Under Fire: Operation Protective Edge - A Primer | HonestReporting

Israel once again finds itself forced into taking military action against Hamas in Gaza. Here are some of the key points and information concerning Operation Protective Edge.

Israel Under Fire
Since the beginning of 2014, Gaza terrorists have fired more than 450 rockets at innocent Israeli civilians. Rocket fire endangers more than 3.5 million people who live within rocket range of Gaza – about 40% of Israel’s population. There has been a dramatic escalation of rocket fire with some 240 rockets fired during the past month and at least 40 rockets hammering southern Israel on Monday 7 July night alone.

We are determined to lay a significant blow on Hamas’ terror capabilities and infrastructure, eliminate any threat on Israeli sovereignty emanating from the Gaza Strip and restore stability to the southern region. Terrorists perpetrating the aggression against Israel have a personal price to pay and will bear the consequences of their actions.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, IDF Spokesman

This operation is not about punishment as the Sky News headline below implies. Operation Protective Edge is meant to stop the rockets.

Hamas took the decision to escalate and will therefore pay a heavy price. The operation commenced on Monday night when the IDF attacked approximately 50 targets, including rocket launching systems and buried rocket launchers, tunnels, training camps, weapons storage sites, the homes of Hamas terrorists and other areas of terrorist activity.

Here you can watch the IDF targeting two terror sites on Monday 7 July night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hmmdz-RI6A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hmmdz-RI6A

No country in the world would put up with a situation where, in the weeks following the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, nearly 300 rockets and mortars have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli population centers.

Hamas’ Rockets
Since Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, Hamas has increased the size and strength of its rocket arsenal. It currently possesses 10,000 rockets and mortars, including long-range rockets such as the Fajr-5. See the IDF video below for more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScPLpsaFaWU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScPLpsaFaWU

The Iron Dome anti-missile defense system has proven to be remarkably effective. However, no missile shield of this nature offers 100% protection. There are also a limited number of Iron Dome batteries to cover the entire region. While Israeli casualties have been low in proportion to the number of rockets fired, this is not from a lack of incentive on the part of Palestinian terrorists who are attempting to cause as many deaths and injuries as possible.

Be Prepared for Pallywood
HonestReporting has, in the past, exposed many examples of Pallywood whereby photo images or video footage are staged or altered for maximum Palestinian propaganda value. So it is somewhat gratifying to see that the BBC has finally acknowledged that this could be a problem:

Over the past week the hashtag #GazaUnderAttack has been used hundreds of thousands of times, often to distribute pictures claiming to show the effects of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
A #BBCtrending investigation has found that many of these images are not from the latest conflict and not even from Gaza. Some date as far back as 2009 and others are from conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnO4gy8dQIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnO4gy8dQIc

Defending Israel Against Claims of Excessive Force
Palestinian rockets are not “home made” projectiles – they are deadly and threaten a large number of Israeli population centers. Gaza’s status as a terror base has also been enhanced as a result of quantities of upgraded weaponry smuggled from Sudan,Libya and Iran, which pose an even greater threat to the Israeli civilian population.

Based on previous experience, it’s only a matter of time before some of the international media criticize Israel for using “excessive” or “disproportionate force” to achieve its ends.

Follow the news also on IDF Blog | The Official Blog of the Israel Defense Forces - The Israel Defense Forces blog: Your source for news from the field, ground-breaking technology, and stories from the men and women fighting to defend Israel.



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[MrLiberty]

No country in the world would tolerate rockets landing in their country killing innocent women and children, but the world expects Israel to do just that.

When Israel retaliates they are portrayed as the bad guys and the palis the victims. That shows right there the antisemitism in the media.

I hope Bibi does what he has said he will do this time and wipe out Hamas once and for all.

[Pretty Flamingo]

Originally Posted by MrLiberty

No country in the world would tolerate rockets landing in their country killing innocent women and children, but the world expects Israel to do just that.

When Israel retaliates they are portrayed as the bad guys and the palis the victims. That shows right there the antisemitism in the media.

I hope Bibi does what he has said he will do this time and wipe out Hamas one and for all.

I hope so, and this is a last ditch opportunity to stop Hamas etc.

There is obviously, as mentioned above, a media war going on which is something that greatly interests me. You get people who believe lies and don't bother to find out what is going on.

See the BBC video above, and others known as PALLYWOOD which if you type that in Youtube you will see what I mean. Also you get the following which makes it hard for Israel to identify targets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JptxgeqEFMM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JptxgeqEFMM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRgtz9OPnmY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRgtz9OPnmY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_IZlBICeU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_IZlBICeU

[Pretty Flamingo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTArVIHDelg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTArVIHDelg

Published on Jul 9, 2014
This video clearly shows the steps taken by the IDF to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza being undermined by Hamas.

IDF aircraft targets a building with a loud but non-lethal bomb that warns civilians that they are in the vicinity of a weapons cache or other target. This method is used to allow all residents to leave the area before the IDF targets the site with live ammunition.

However, in this video,the residents flee the home but then many others come and ascend to the roof and act as human shields.

The IDF aircraft sees the band of civilians on the roof and therefore aborts the strike.


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Hamas supporters share graphics such as this one in order to encourage Palestinian civilians in Gaza to serve as human shields. The title in Arabic says "A Strong People". Share this post with more examples of Hamas using human shields.
Hamas Caught Using Human Shields in Gaza - IDF Blog | The Official Blog of the Israel Defense Forces

[mlurp]

my fear is that ISIS in one way or the other will somehow get involved in this fight.
Not at this moment but as it drags on.... Yet just maybe Hamas might be useful
at this point.

If there are enough of them left alive. So lets all keep an eye on the entire picture, okay?

[MrLiberty]

[loboloco]

Isreal should purchase, or build, a half dozen MOABs. And use them to depopulate a zone out from their borders.

[mlurp]

I agree but as MrL's cartoon suggest [and it is the truth] Israel would be hammered with world wide damnation in doing even close to this.

While Hamas fires it's rockets which have no guidance Israel has to hit pinpoint targets. And Hamas keeps children around them so these children are harmed or die.
And it is back to blaming the Jews.

[Pretty Flamingo]

Originally Posted by mlurp

my fear is that ISIS in one way or the other will somehow get involved in this fight.
Not at this moment but as it drags on.... Yet just maybe Hamas might be useful
at this point.

If there are enough of them left alive. So lets all keep an eye on the entire picture, okay?

I am not sure how ISIS could. How do you think they would?

Better the devil you know (Hamas), than any other entity. Hamas is well-known to Israel so it knows the enemy. Although of course things can change. Hamas is getting really desperate and is calling Egypt to broker a ceasefire as over a couple of hundred Hamas target areas have been eliminated.

I hope Israeli troops don't have to go into Gaza, but seeing as a lot of targets cannot be taken out by air-strikes, then it may be inevitable. Israel has to do as much as possible in a short space of time before a ceasefire is called.

[Pretty Flamingo]

Next stage imminent.

IDF Warns Gazans Near Border to Evacuate Immediately

IDF sends warnings to 100,000 Gaza residents to evacuate homes near security border, in possible sign of coming ground offensive.
By Ari Yashar
First Publish: 7/10/2014, 4:08 PM Israeli time

The IDF on Thursday afternoon contacted by phone Arab residents of Gaza living near the security border, warning them to evacuate their homes immediately.

The phone calls were sent to a total of roughly 100,000 Arab residents of the Hamas stronghold. Among the cities and towns targeted in the phone warning were Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Absan, according to Walla!.

In the phone warning, residents were told to evacuate and go to the west or south, in order to avoid civilian casualties.

Read more here
IDF Warns Gazans Near Border to Evacuate - Defense/Security - News - Arutz Sheva


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