IDF Says Ground Invasion in Gaza ‘Matter of Time’

[iSong6:3]

IDF Says Ground Invasion in Gaza ‘Matter of Time’
It is only “a matter of time” before the IDF has to re-enter Gaza to control terror, IDF Chief of Benny Gantz warns.
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 2/21/2012, 8:58 AM

It is only a “matter of time” before the IDF has to re-enter Gaza to control terror, IDF Chief of Benny Gantz warns, three years after the three-week Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign.

The IDF has carried out a consistent policy since several months after Cast Lead to retaliate after almost every terrorist attack on Israelis. Hamas and other terrorist groups, both allies and rivals, have carried out hundreds of rockets, missiles, mortar shells and sniping attacks since the end of Cast Lead in January 2009.

Israel has been operating on the basis of a “Negev roulette” policy, by which the military usually carries out a symbolic response to terrorist attacks that cause no physical injuries or serious property damage.

When damage is more severe, so is the response, even though most of the terrorist attacks are launched without guidance systems that can pinpoint targets. Gaza terrorists basically attack rural areas in the hopes of hitting human targets and know that if they hit a crowded urban center, there is more likelihood of a large-scale retaliation.

Last week, Be’er Sheva was targeted, but there were no physical injuries or major damage. Past experience has shown that Hamas strategically escalates its attacks to achieve a political end or when it thinks is will win media sympathy if it draws the IDF into a ground incursion not Gaza.

The IDF lost most of its ability to directly hit terrorists after the Sharon government expelled more than 9,000 Jews and ordered the withdrawal of all military presence from Gaza in the summer of 2005.

The “Disengagement” program ostensibly was aimed at removing any reason for Hamas to attack Israel, but the rocket strikes actually increased and struck deeper into central Israel until Cast Lead.

The military previously has said it is preparing for returning to Gaza, but Israel Defense suggested that next time around it might carry out a strategy of “divide and conquer” by dividing the region into several parts, effectively preventing Hamas from exercising control.

The terrorist organization is in the midst of returning to a unity government with the rival Fatah faction, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas' “peace” with Hamas has weakened his support from the United States and may cost him European Union backing as well. If Hamas and Fatah complete their unity arrangement and rocket attacks on southern Israel continue, the return of the IDF to Gaza could have severe consequences for Abbas as well as Hamas. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152980

[dinaljc]

IDF gearing up to invade Gaza
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 | Ryan Jones
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Israeli media this week reported that the IDF is gearing up for another large-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip to halt terrorist rocket fire and curb the threat posed by groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The Jerusalem Post reported last month that the IDF General Staff had ordered the Southern Command to draw up plans for a Gaza incursion. Over the weekend, the paper revealed that a growing number of senior officers in the Southern Command are now pushing for the order to be given to begin the attack.

One officer argued that, unlike in the past, "there is no need to wait for a provocation to launch an offensive against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. The ongoing attacks...are cumulatively more than enough to justify immediate action."

Israel's government and the army were harshly criticized in the past for waiting until after Gaza terrorists managed to kill or wound enough Israelis before launching a significant retaliation.

Thirty rockets and medium-range missiles have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel during the first two months of 2012. In 2011, there were 680 rocket and mortar attacks, including 80 firings of medium-range Grad-type missiles. Casualties were minimal, but the constant attacks have had the effect of putting southern Israel under siege.

When a Grad-type missile landed in the outskirts of the southern city of Beersheva last week, IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Benny Gantz said it was only a "matter of time" before the Israeli army would have to reenter Gaza.

The IsraelDefense website reported that according to its sources in the defense establishment, the army will not follow the outline of its 2008 invasion of Gaza, Operation Cast Lead. This time, the IDF is likely to divide Gaza into three segments, possibly establish a permanent presence along the Gaza-Egypt border, and topple the ruling Hamas regime.

In other news signalling that a fresh Gaza war is on the horizon, the IDF last week sped up plans to deploy anti-missile systems near Tel Aviv. Intelligence suggests that Gaza-based terrorists now possess missiles capable of reaching the densely-populated metropolitan area.
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/News/ta...S/Default.aspx

[Raphael]

Whenever anyone in our "government" criticizes the Israeli policy towards Gaza, all Israel has to do is ask "How would you feel if rockets were indiscriminately launched on a regular basis into the U.S. from Mexico?"

[Joseph The Carpenter]

For every rocket that lands in ISRAEL they should bulldoze one square block in Gaza. One way or the other it will stop.

[RandallB]

For every rocket that lands in ISRAEL they should bulldoze one square block in Gaza. One way or the other it will stop.

Except that enough missiles have already landed that all of Gaza is forfeited.

Time for Amos & Zephaniah...

Amos 1:6-8 Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they took captive the whole captivity To deliver them up to Edom. But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, Which shall devour its palaces. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn My hand against Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish," Says the Lord GOD.

Zephaniah 2:4-5 For Gaza shall be forsaken, And Ashkelon desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, And Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant."

[iSong6:3]

Except that enough missiles have already landed that all of Gaza is forfeited.

Time for Amos & Zephaniah...

It's too sad. Ashdod and Ashkelon are Israeli.

Ashdod is the fifth or sixth largest city in Israel, a seaport with a population of over 200,000 and Ashkelon has a population of about 113,000.

I was in Ashdod last time I was in Israel and looked around at the peaceful city and thought of this prophecy.

[RandallB]

It's too sad. Ashdod and Ashkelon are Israeli.

Ashdod is the fifth or sixth largest city in Israel, a seaport with a population of over 200,000 and Ashkelon has a population of about 113,000.

I was in Ashdod last time I was in Israel and looked around at the peaceful city and thought of this prophecy.

Wow... I had no idea that they were Israeli cities. That is indeed sad..

It would still be sad if they were Gaza cities because there are many people that live in Gaza cities that are "good" people.

The Judgement of God is indeed His strange work.

This is reason # 873,245 that I do not want to be here when any of this happens. He will indeed be busy wiping away our tears.

[LightOfMyLife]

I can understand how they have to deal with these troublemakers, but if we are hearing this news I am sure this is no surprise to Hamas in Gaza. This would be no sneak attack if they already know what Israel is planning to do.

[iSong6:3]

Wow... I had no idea that they were Israeli cities. That is indeed sad..

It would still be sad if they were Gaza cities because there are many people that live in Gaza cities that are "good" people.

The Judgement of God is indeed His strange work.

This is reason # 873,245 that I do not want to be here when any of this happens. He will indeed be busy wiping away our tears.

Ekron was a Philistine city, there was a Canaanite monument found to Baal there. So interesting in terms of what God said "The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines:..."

Not sure why Ashdod and Ashkelon will be destroyed, but we know that when Damascus is hit, Israel will be very hurt also.

From now on and increasing through the Time of Jacob's Trouble, Israel will suffer many terrible wounds, 2/3 of her people will be cut off, until they repent and turn to Jesus, at the end of the Trib.

[RandallB]

Ekron was a Philistine city, there was a Canaanite monument found to Baal there. So interesting in terms of what God said "The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines:..."

Not sure why Ashdod and Ashkelon will be destroyed, but we know that when Damascus is hit, Israel will be very hurt also.

From now on and increasing through the Time of Jacob's Trouble, Israel will suffer many terrible wounds, 2/3 of her people will be cut off, until they repent and turn to Jesus, at the end of the Trib.

Things are so much easier when they are abstract and thousands of miles away.

We once hosted a Christian refugee family from Sudan who had lived in Beirut for a few years before they got entrance into the USA. They had muslim friends in Beirut but muslims were killing their friends and families in Sudan.

Things get really really complicated when real people are involved.
Even the worst jihadist have innocent babies born into their families.

ing for a great harvest for the Lord.
ing for protection for Christians in troubled areas.

[iSong6:3]

Things are so much easier when they are abstract and thousands of miles away.

We once hosted a Christian refugee family from Sudan who had lived in Beirut for a few years before they got entrance into the USA. They had muslim friends in Beirut but muslims were killing their friends and families in Sudan.

Things get really really complicated when real people are involved.
Even the worst jihadist have innocent babies born into their families.

ing for a great harvest for the Lord.
ing for protection for Christians in troubled areas.

Bless you and your wife for opening your home to those who need it.

(I was very close with a Christian family when I was a child. They would often have missionary families stay with them on furlough and I learned so much from them, including a lasting love of missions.)

[RandallB]

Bless you and your wife for opening your home to those who need it.

(I was very close with a Christian family when I was a child. They would often have missionary families stay with them on furlough and I learned so much from them, including a lasting love of missions.)