Posted on 03/01/2008 5:26:18 PM PST by jhpigott
Operation Warm Winter concludes first stage, as IDF forces target rocket firing grounds in Gaza over weekend. Second stage to include urban patrols on search-and-destroy mission for hidden weapons
Hanan Greenberg Published: 03.02.08, 01:58 / Israel News
Operation "Warm Winter" has finished its first stage – targeting terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip neighborhoods of Sajaiya and Jabalya, the IDF said Saturday.
The operation's first stage also targeted ditches and similar places used as firing grounds by launchers, which were blown up. The second stage of the operation includes patrolling urban areas on a search-and-destroy mission – a hunt for hidden weapons.
Military Might
70 Palestinians killed in IDF operation in Gaza / Hanan Greenberg
Israeli forces launch military operation Friday night near town of Sajaiya in northern Strip. Some 70 Palestinians killed in heavy exchanges of fire with soldiers, dozens of casualties reported Full story
Warm Winter's weekend resulted in dozens of Palestinian fatalities; as the Israeli side suffered two fatalities, and seven casualties.
"The military operation against all ranks responsible for Qassams will continue. The gloves are off and we have no intention of sitting on the sidelines while rockets are being fired," said a security source. The massive strikes, he added, will continue and may even increase.
IDF forces in the field reported most of the Palestinian casualties were affiliated with Hamas. The IDF denied the Palestinians' claims of mass casualties among innocent residents, citing only a few such incidents were known.
Hamas, said the IDF, often states false casualty claims in order to generate sympathy in the international community.
Senior defense establishment officials held a security briefing Saturday night in which it was decided that the IDF will continue its operation, as means to foil Hamas' plan to have a large-scale ground incursion claim many innocent lives in the Strip.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin, Israel's military intelligence chief, Major-General Amos Yadlin and other officials attended the briefing.
"The operation in Gaza is ongoing," said Barak. "Hamas will be held responsible… we are not happy Gaza residents are hurt, but the responsibility lies with Hamas and those firing rockets. Our responsibility is to keep the residents of Sderot, Ashkelon and the Gaza vicinity communities safe, and that we will do."
The IDF's main concern continues to be Warm Winter's final price tag: Hamas has fortified its strongholds and has snipers war-ready. "Overall, our forces are doing admirable work," said the officers present at the briefing.
The IDF operation in Gaza is currently engaging combatants from the Givati Brigade, the Ninth Armor Battalion, IAF forces and Engineers Corps' combatants; and while no large-scale operation was launched during the weekend, a lot depends on the coming developments.
IDF officials did not rule out a possibility of the operation leading to yet another escalation, which in turn lead to a large-scale operation; but some believe several in-depth pinpoint operations may cause Hamas to rethink the ceasefire.
According to the IDF, some 130 have been fired at Israel since Wednesday.
ping
“Second stage to include urban patrols on search-and-destroy mission for hidden weapons”
The IDF is as good as it gets when it comes to this type of urban fighting . . . however, that being said, the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world . . .
Hamas declared three days of official mourning in the Gaza Strip following the deaths of over forty Palestinians, mostly terrorists, killed during IDF operations on Saturday.
The IDF has been operating intensively in the Strip since Wednesday, when an Israeli student and father of three was killed by a rocket launched at Sapir College in Sderot.
Over 40 rockets, including Grad-type Katyushas, have been launched at western Negev communities on Saturday alone.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1204213994614&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The Munich massacre occurred at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September, assumed to be an operational cover for Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group[citation needed]. The attack led directly to the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes, five of the eight kidnappers, and one German police officer.
“Abu Daoud, one of those believed to have planned or executed the Munich attack, alleged that Mahmoud Abbas was responsible for funding the operation in his autobiography, Memoirs of a Palestinian Terrorist (ISBN 1-55970-429-2). This allegation has not been confirmed by any other former members or affiliates of Black September, nor has it been verified by any historical studies.”
OK, Condi Rice is either the stupidest person to ever hold the office of Sec State, or she just hates Jews. She is jerking this yahoo (abbas) for what? For Bush’s legacy? If we had 2 missles land in this country, we would be invading....Unfortunately, Israel had more than 60 yesterday, and more than 2000 in the last 6 months...
RUN,,,MOOZZI,,,RUN!!!
Not to be confused with the batf.
I hate feeling this way but ever since the 2006 Lebanon debacle I have no confidence in the Israeli government’s will to see an operation through. That said I hope they surprise me this time.
The entire Pallie leadership are a bunch of killers and thugs, sunshine. But you've got to negotiate with somebody. So quit puttin' the blame on Condi.
Nixon sat down with Mao, and that SOB was responsible for the death of some sixty million souls.
Nice to see the Izzies putting the hurt on Hamas, though.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Really? It's all the about political will to fight.
But that ought to be some junior assistant to the Big Guys, upon the not so unfortunate demise of the "leaders".
I don't recall us negotiating with the Al Qaeda In Iraq pooh bahs. We just killed them whenever we could find them.
I like it. A man with a plan.
Regards
Amen. We have the best and bravest fighting force in the world. Problem is that our government and most Americans don’t have the stomach for a fight. Our government can start a fight but won’t finish it.
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