This post was just going to be a standard “here’s what’s going on” post about the last 24 hours of Israeli-Palestinian. Except it took me 25 minutes to untangle the MSM’s early awkward attempts to squeeze the day into a “cycle of violence” frame – the AP’s true but misleading description about how the rocket barrage “came after an Israeli air strike” being to the point. So now it’s also a “wow the media is shamelessly biased” post. Go figure.
Here’s what I think happened, roughly in order. There were two sets of mortar attacks on Israel – a small one after an anti-terrorism incursion and then the massive barrage against a range of Israeli towns.
(1) Hamas has been using the ceasefire to dig tunnels into Israel so they can kidnap more Israeli soldiers. They’re not supposed to – but they’re also not supposed to be building a massive army, and that’s not holding them back. It’s an international agreement and it’s with Israel so it’s all just nudge-wink anyway. Regardless, the IDF received intelligence about a tunnel with an entrance 250m from the security fence that was about to be used for an imminent attack. The entrance was inside a house in the middle of a residential neighborhood – because where else would it be? On Tuesday night they went in to get it.
(2) Then the IDF attempted to destroy the tunnel but they were engaged by Hamas soldiers inside the house and mortar crews outside the house. Eventually one of the Hamas soldiers managed to blow up the whole building – which was packed with explosives. One Hamas soldier was killed and six Israeli troops were injured.
(3) Then the Palestinian launched six mortars at Israeli civilians. Because that’s the kind of frustrated lashing out you’d expect after the IDF foils one of their massive, long-planned attacks.
(4) Then Israel called in air strikes against the mortar crews who were firing at Israeli civilians. This is when the rest of the Hamas casualties happened.
(5) Then this:
More than 35 Qassam rockets and mortar shells were fired at the western Negev communities early Wednesday, following an Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip aimed at thwarting a terror attack… At least one rocket landed in central Ashkelon, and two others landed near the city. The Color Red alert system was activated moments before the fall. Two women and a 13-year-old girl suffered from shock and were evacuated to the Barzilai Medical Center in the city. There were no reports of damage… The resumption of the rocket fire caused great panic among parents in Ashkelon, who rushed to take out their children from the unfortified schools.
At least that’s what I think happened. There were definitely two waves of fighting – one was the anti-terror operation in central Gaza and one was the air strike against mortar teams in southern Gaza. But the timeline is a little messy. Hamas’s statements – helpfully passed on by international media outlets – are expansive about the fight around the tunnel but leave out any description of what preceded the air strike. Which makes me think that “they were firing at Israeli civilians” is pretty close.
Regardless – whoever sends me the first AP or Reuters story about Israel “exploiting” the press’s Nov. 4 distraction gets a free one-year subscription to MR (no credit if I stumble into it first). In the meantime, Rice is going to submit – and I quote – “her own parameters for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” to the Obama administration. Because her diplomacy has been working out so well.
References:
* Israel reports rocket barrage in Gaza [AP]
* Israel: We are committed to cease-fire [JPost]
* Gaza’s Booming Economy – Underground Mall System, Hundreds Of Supermarkets, Latest Fashions (Plus: New Gaza Tunnel Wasn’t For Smuggling) [MR]
* Hamas Exploiting Ceasefire To Train Waves Of New Soldiers In Former Jewish Settlements, Synagogues (Plus: Fatah’s Al Qaeda Intifada?) [MR]
* Hamas Decides to Be Helpful, Illustrates Many Ways International Law is Structured Against Israel [MR]
* IDF uncovers Gaza Strip tunnel intended for terror attack [Israel MFA]
* More than 35 Qassams, mortars fired at Israel [YNet]
* Hamas: killing six people aims at disabling the dialogue [Xinhua]
* Rice may submit paper for Middle East peace [JPost]
Previously:
* Carter "Understands" Why Hamas Has To Bomb Israeli Schools And Hospitals
* Return of the Cycle of Violence
* Egregiously Stupid “Cycle of Violence” Headline of the Day
