Thursday, November 22, 2007

Meanwhile we suffer!

Israeli Peace Efforts Continue Despite Increased Attacks In the past few months, the Israeli government has advanced a peace agenda aimed at promoting an international gathering to establish a framework to make progress on fundamental issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The government’s good faith efforts have included releasing 783 Palestinian prisoners this year [1] as well as granting amnesty to 178 wanted terrorists. [2] Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also promised that Israel would not build any new settlements in the West Bank and dismantle illegal outposts, in line with the country’s commitments described in the first stage of the Road Map. [3]

Meanwhile, 1,839 Qassam rockets and mortars have been fired at Israeli towns in the western Negev region this year. [4] More than 112 tons of explosives have been smuggled into Gaza since 2005 and 150 rocket-propelled grenade launchers were smuggled into Gaza during the month of August alone. [5]

By the numbers: Attacks on Israel by Palestinians as Israel works for peace

* 2,586 rockets and mortar bombs have been fired from Gaza at Israeli communities since Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005. [6]

* In 2007, 1,839 Qassam rockets and mortar bombs have been launched at Israeli civilians. On average, that amounts to 1 rocket every 4 hours for the past 11 months. [7]

* Since January 2001, 7,191 rockets and mortar bombs have been fired at Israeli civilians. [8]

* Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza strip in June 2007, more than 809 Qassam rockets and mortars have been fired at Israeli towns in the western Negev region. [9]

* Before Hamas took over, there was an average of 48 rockets and mortars fired every month from Gaza. Since Hamas took over the average has skyrocketed to 233 per month. [10]

* During September and October 2007, 68 percent of all Qassam and mortar strikes were launched from Beit Hanoun. [11]

* 14 percent of all Qassam and mortar launches came from Beit Lahiya and 8 percent came from the Jabaliya refugee camp, at the northern end of Gaza. [12]

* 10 people have been killed by rocket fire, including a 2-year old baby, Dorit Inso, and two 4-year olds, Yuval Abebah and Afik Zahavi. [13]

* The IDF and Israeli security forces have prevented 39 suicide bombings in 2007. 22 of those originated in Gaza and 17 in the West Bank. [14] (By way of comparison, there were 35 suicide bombings in 2001 which killed 85 Israelis. [15])

* In 2007 so far, there have been 492 attacks on IDF soldiers in the West Bank. Of those, there were 340 incidents of small arms fire, 112 incidents involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and 32 knife attacks. [16]

* In 2007, 60 Israeli civilians have been injured by rocket and mortar fire and 2 people killed. [17]

* Over 140 people have been physically wounded by the missile fire in Sderot alone. [18]

* In Nov. 2006, it was found that 33 percent of children in Sderot suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. [19]

* More than 200 families (about 1,200 people) have fled Sderot due to the ongoing shelling from Gaza by Palestinian terrorists. [20]

* Israel has released 783 Palestinian prisoners this year (441 of them were approved for release before the Annapolis meeting.) [21] and granted amnesty to another 178.


Palestinian Terrorist Activity in Gaza During November 2007

* On Monday Nov. 20, Israeli civilian Ido Zoldan was killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank, carried out by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed branch of Fatah. The terrorist group stated that the shooting was “an act of protest against the Annapolis conference and a response to Israeli crimes.” Zoldan is survived by his wife Tehila and his two small children, 3-year-old Aharon and 1-year-old Rachel. [22]

* 3 Palestinian terrorists from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades attempted to carry out a terror attack on the Israeli community of Netiv Ha’asara in the western Negev. The terrorists climbed the security barrier surrounding Gaza but were shot by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops during a gun battle that ensued. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members were armed with assault rifles and grenades. [23]

* 136 Qassams rockets and mortars have been fired at the western Negev region as of Nov. 20, 2007. [24]

* On Nov. 11, the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired a rocket that hit a cowshed on Kibbutz Zikim killing 7 cows. [25]

* On Nov. 1, Israeli security forces operating in the Gaza Strip uncovered 7 tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle terrorist operatives and weapons from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. The IDF destroyed the tunnels in controlled explosions. [26]

Hamas’s Most Extreme Faction in Control of Gaza Strip

Hamas has strengthened its foothold on the Gaza Strip in recent months, partly through the support of Iran and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which have provided Hamas vastly improved weaponry and has enabled Hamas to deploy a coordinated network of observation posts, infantry and anti-tank forces. In addition, dozens of militants trained in Iran and Lebanon have created a system of control and coordination, complete with a chain of command for every area in the Gaza Strip. [27]

More than 350 Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting between Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party since Hamas’s June 2007 seizure of the Gaza Strip. [28]

Palestinian Authority and Israel Defense Forces sources concur that Hamas’s most extreme faction, which controls Hamas’s military wing and relies primarily on Iranian funding, is currently in control of Gaza. [29] One of its main leaders, former Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, recently stated that if Israel withdraws from the West Bank, Hamas would seize control.

Referring to the fierce fighting that characterized Hamas’s takeover of the Gaza Strip, al-Zahar warned: "We say to those in the West Bank take a lesson from what happened in Gaza.” [30] Senior Hamas officials have stated that Hamas will overthrow Fatah in the West Bank in less than a year. [31]

Since Hamas’s violent takeover, Palestinians who do not support Hamas’s brand of militant Islam have been routinely victimized. A recent Amnesty International report accuses Hamas of increasingly resorting to arbitrary detentions and torture and attacking civilian demonstrators and journalists. [32] For example, on Nov. 9, Hamas militants killed two civilians and wounded four others when members of a family refused to allow Hamas militants to plant near their house bombs intended to kill Hamas’ adversaries.

Another civilian who attempted to prevent Hamas militants from using his home to fire at IDF military posts was killed on Nov. 10. [33] On Oct. 31, video footage showed three militants using a Gaza schoolyard as a launching pad from which to fire mortars shells at Israel. [34] Because the schoolyard belonged to a United Nations-run school, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has requested a full investigation of the incident. [35]

Additionally, Iranian weapons and funding, as well as Hamas militants trained in Iran, are routinely smuggled through tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. For example, since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Palestinian militants have illegally transported more than 112 tons of explosives through these tunnels. According to the IDF, Hamas is working to establish a bunker system with fortified rocket-launching and surveillance positions along the security fence on Gaza’s border with Israel. [36] In addition, Hamas has a declared policy of providing jihadist militants sanctuary in Gaza. [37]

Footnotes

[1] Federman , Josef, “Israel approves release of 441 prisoners”, Associated Press, Nov. 19, 2007, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_15, Weiss,Mark, and AP, “57 Palestinian prisoners head home”, Jerusalem Post, Sept. 30, 2007, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1189411515123&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull and Entous, Adam, “Olmert and Abbas and negotiating teams to meet” Reuters, Oct. 2, 2007, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071002/wl_nm/pal
estinians_israel_dc_18 and “Ministerial committee recommends release of 256 Palestinian prisoners”, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 17, 2007, http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2007/M
inisterial+committee+reco
mmends+release+of+256+Palestinian+prisoners+17-Jul-2007.htm; “57 Palestinian prisoners head home”, BBC, July 20, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6907716.stm; Butcher, Tim, “Israel releases 255 Palestinian prisoners”, July 23, 2007, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/21/wmid121.xml; Kershner, Isabel, “Fatah Militants Lay Down Arms to Bolster Abbas” New York Times, July 22, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/wo
rld/middleeast/22alaksa.html?_r=1&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topic
s/Organizations/A/Al%20Aksa%20Martyrs%20Brigades&oref=slogin; Benn , Aluf, Issacharoff, Avi and Harel, Amos , “Fatah men, including Zbeidi, turn in their guns in amnesty deal”, Ha’aretz, July 15, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881764.html; Benn , Aluf, Issacharoff, Avi and Harel, Amos , “Fatah men, including Zbeidi, turn in their guns in amnesty deal”, Ha’aretz, July 15, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881764.html

[2] Kershner, Isabel, “Fatah Militants Lay Down Arms to Bolster Abbas” New York Times, July 22, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/world/middleeast/22alaksa.html?_r=1&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/A/Al%20Aksa%20Martyrs%20Brigades&oref=slogin; Benn , Aluf, Issacharoff, Avi and Harel, Amos , “Fatah men, including Zbeidi, turn in their guns in amnesty deal”, Ha’aretz, July 15, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881764.html

[3] Ravid, Barak, “PM: Freeze settlements, dismantle outposts”, Haaretz, Nov. 20, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925859.html

[4] IDF Spokesman’s Unit, Nov. 20, 2007

[5] “Briefing by Assistant Chief of the Israel Security Agency at the weekly cabinet meeting”, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Newsletter, Aug. 28, 2007, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry
/Behind+the+Headlines/Behind+the+Headlines+-+The+arming+of+Hamas+27-Aug-2007.htm; Katz, Yaakov, “Hamas building bunkers near border”, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 29, 2007, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1192380683478&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[6] IDF Spokesman’s Unit, Nov. 20, 2007

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “Missile fire from Gaza on Israeli civilian targets” from the Web site of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, retrieved on Nov. 20, 2007, http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Miss
ile+fire+from+Gaza+on+Israeli+civilian+targets+Aug+2007.htm

[10] IDF Spokesman’s Unit, Nov. 2007.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Retrieved from the Web site of the Committee for a Secure Sderot on Nov. 20, 2007,
http://www.matesderot.co.il/info_en.asp?cat=119457167

[14] “News of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation, Oct. 15-31, 2007”, retrieved from the website of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Nov. 20, 2007,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/t30oct_e07.htm

[15] “Suicide bombing terrorism during the current Israeli-Palestinian confrontation (September 2000 – December 2005)”, pp. 13, 22, retrieved from the Web site of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Nov. 20, 2007, http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/eng_n/pdf/suicide_terrorism_ae.pdf

[16] IDF Spokesman’s Unit, Nov. 2007

[17] Ibid.

[18] Yossi Cohen, Spokesman for the City of Sderot, Nov. 19, 2007

[19] Ashkenazi , Eli, “Report: 33 percent of Sderot kids suffer post-traumatic stress”, Haaretz, Nov. 27, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/792848.html

[20] Yossi Cohen, Spokesman for the City of Sderot, Nov. 19, 2007

[21] Federman , Josef, “Israel approves release of 441 prisoners”, Associated Press, Nov. 19, 2007, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_15; Weiss, Mark, and AP, “57 Palestinian prisoners head home”, Jerusalem Post, Sept. 30, 2007, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1189411515123&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull; Entous, Adam, “Olmert and Abbas and negotiating teams to meet” Reuters, Oct. 2, 2007, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071002/wl_nm/palestinians_israel_dc_18; “Ministerial committee recommends release of 256 Palestinian prisoners”, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 17, 2007, http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2007/Ministerial+committee+recommends
+release+of+256+Palestinian+prisoners+17-Jul-2007.htm; “57 Palestinian prisoners head home”, BBC, July 20, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6907716.stm; Butcher, Tim, “Israel releases 255 Palestinian prisoners”, July 23, 2007, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/21/wmid121.xml; Kershner, Isabel, “Fatah Militants Lay Down Arms to Bolster Abbas” New York Times, July 22, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/world/middleeast/22alaksa.html?_r=1&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/A/Al%20Aksa%20Martyrs%20Brigades&oref=slogin; Benn , Aluf, Issacharoff, Avi and Harel, Amos , “Fatah men, including Zbeidi, turn in their guns in amnesty deal”, Ha’aretz, July 15, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881764.html; Benn , Aluf, Issacharoff, Avi and Harel, Amos , “Fatah men, including Zbeidi, turn in their guns in amnesty deal”, Ha’aretz, July 15, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881764.html

[22] Weiss, Efrat, “Israeli killed in West Bank terror attack”, YnetNews, Nov. 20, 2007, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473402,00.html

[23] “Gaza: Terror Attack Thwarted”, retrieved from the Web site of the IDF, Nov. 20, 2007, http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/the_Front/2007/11/2002.htm; Greenberg, Hanan, “IDF foils terror attack on Netiv Ha'asara”, YnetNews, Nov. 20, 2007, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473411,00.html

[24] IDF Spokesman’s Unit, Nov. 20, 2007

[25] Grinberg, Mijal, “Qassam strike kills 7 cows on kibbutz near Gaza”, Haaretz, Nov. 13, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/922739.html

[26] “News of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation November 1-14 , 2007," retrieved from the Website of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Nov. 20, 2007 http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/t14nov_07e.htm

[27] Harel, Amos, “IDF's tactical upper hand over Hamas in Gaza is diminishing,” Haaretz, Oct. 30, 2007, http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/918243.html

[28] “New report slams Hamas and Fatah over human rights abuse in factional fighting,” Amnesty International Web site, accessed Nov.13, 2007, http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17497

[29] Isacharoff, Avi and Harel, Amos, “Hamas arrests scores of Fatah activists after Arafat rally in Gaza,” Haaretz, Nov. 13, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/923594.html

[30] “Hamas leader sees W.Bank takeover if Israel leaves,” Reuters, Nov. 9, 2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL0995750

[31] Waked, Ali, “Hamas: We'll take control over West Bank in autumn,” Ynetnews.com, Oct. 30, 2007, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3465575,00.html
[32] “New report slams Hamas and Fatah over human rights abuse in factional fighting,” Amnesty International Web site, accessed Nov.13, 2007, http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17497

[33] “2 Palestinians, Including a Child, Die from Previous Wounds and 4 Others, Including 2 Children Wounded in Armed Clashes in Gaza and Wadi al-Salqa,” Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Web Site, Nov. 11, 2007, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/weapon/english/2007/report108.html

[34] Greenberg, Hannan, “Video: Terrorists firing mortars from schoolyard,” Ynetnews.com, Oct. 31, 2007, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3466387,00.html

[35] Worsnip, Patrick, “UN's Ban orders probe of shooting from Gaza school,” Reuters, Nov. 8, 2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSN08229763

[36] Katz, Yaakov, “Hamas building bunkers near border,” The Jerusalem Post, Oct. 30, 2007, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1192380683478

[37] Dahoah-Halevi, Jonathan, “"The Army of the Nation" - Another
Al-Qaeda Affiliate in the Gaza Strip,” Jerusalem Issue Briefs, Vol. 7, No. 12 via The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Web site, Aug. 7 2007, http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&
LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PID=0&IID=1748
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