Iranian Mullahs Wringing Their Hands As IDF Dismantles Hamas's Army (Plus: NPR Wonders About "Real Connection" Between Iran And Hamas)
Israel Ch. 10 says that 2,200 targets have been hit since the beginning of the operation. With their lifeline to Iranian arms and money cut off, Hamas is starting to fall apart:
Is Hamas falling apart? A senior IDF officer estimated Saturday that roughly 300 Hamas men have been killed since the army launched its ground incursion in the Gaza Strip. The military official said IDF troops were able to wipe out entire battalions belonging to the Gaza terror group. "Hundreds of people were killed in the various combat sectors," the officer said. "Some Hamas companies and battalions were simply wiped out. We also see cases of desertions and unauthorized leaves, while some terror activists are scared to undertake moves that would jeopardize them vis-à-vis IDF troops."
Since the rest of this war is a historical replay of 1950s and 1960s Israeli-Arab warfighting, Hamas is of course insisting that they're wiping out Israeli forces faster than the IDF can replace them. Even Arab media outlets aren't willing to toe that line, and operational Hamas leaders are getting increasingly desperate:
Earlier Saturday, the IDF killed Hamas' rocket chief in the Gaza City area, Amir Mansi. The senior officer said that shortly before his death Mansi clashed with his subordinates, who refused to come out of their hideouts. The rocket chief was left with no choice but to launch mortar shells himself, and was killed after being identified by the army.
Iran, on the other hand, is willing to fight to the last drop of Palestinian blood. Not particularly brave of them but about what you'd expect given their massive investment in Hamas's terror infrastructure. A massive investment that, of course, NPR radio isn't sure exists:
The story, on this weekend's NPR Weekend Edition, featured me highlighting Iranian financial and material support for Hamas and Hillary Mann Leverett, a former Foreign Service officer who is CEO of Stratega, a political risk consulting firm, arguing that while Iran would surely like to support Hamas it does not. That's right. According to Mann Leverett in all her time in government she came across no hard evidence of Iran financial or material support for Hamas. Since U.S. officials regularly cite evidence to the contrary, one wonders how Mann Leverett missed the memo. She proceeds to suggest that the idea that Iran could get arms to Hamas is "implausible," suggesting she is unaware of such well documented examples as the Iranian-funded Karine-A weapons smuggling ship, the traditional weapons smuggling routes that cut across Yemen into East Africa and up through Sudan and Egypt, and alternative means of moving funds through trade-based and other money laundering schemes... In short, as I stated in the interview, Iranian support for Hamas is extremely significant - to the point that Hamas could not function as it does today were it not for Iranian financial and material support. I expected Mann Leverett to argue that while Iran does support Hamas it could be convinced to terminate such support if the right incentives were offered. I think that unlikely, but at least that would have been grounded in reality.
Eh. No worse than the Guardian's Lebanon II musings about whether Iran actually supports Hezbollah. Making things up - the prerogative of vaguely anti-Israel foreign policy sophisticates.
References:
* IDF: Entire Hamas battalions wiped out [YNet]
* Anti-Israel Partisans Set New Record For Decades-Old Trick Of Brazenly Rewriting History, Blaming Israel [MR]
* Hamas leader defiant [CNN]
* Arab world not happy with Hamas [Elder]
* Iran warns Hamas not to accept truce [JPost]
* The Real Connection between Iran and Hamas [CT Blog]
* Mere Rhetoric: Guardian: We're Not Sure that Hezbollah and Iran are Working Together [MR]
Previously:
* Media Outlets Can't Get Over The Tactical Brilliance Of Hamas's Use Of Human Shields
* Guardian Report About Obama's Hamas Talks Has An At-Best Coincidental Relationship To Reality
* MSM Headlines Blame Israel For Scuttling UN Ceasefire That Hamas Unequivocally Rejects
