Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren said during a conference call this morning that the long-range missile fired by Hamas into Jerusalem today was an “escalation” of the conflict and that Israel was prepared for a possible ground invasion.
“We are prepared to take any and all measures to defend our citizens, including measures in the air and on the ground,” Oren said. “Israeli ground forces have been moved to the border. There has been no crossing of the border to date, but those forces are deployed and ready to act, be there a need.”
Israel’s response will depend on whether Hamas continues to escalate the conflict, Oren added. In addition to the Qassam rocket that hit near Jerusalem today, one missile was fired into Tel Aviv yesterday, and another killed three Israelis in Kiryat Malachi.
“We are not seeking to prolong this war, or this conflict. We are not seeking to escalate. But the ball is truly in Hamas’s court here,” said Oren. “If they stand down, we stand down. If they do not stand down, again, we will take any and all measures to defend our citizens.”
When asked by a reporter whether his use of the word “war” was a slip of the tongue, Oren said: “It is a conflict…We hope it doesn’t become [a war]. Right now it is an armed conflict.”
The ambassador said Israel has destroyed many of Hamas’s long-range missiles in its first-stage air strikes, but that they couldn’t be completely successful “because of considerations of collateral damage.” In one case, an Israeli pilot refrained from striking a long-range missile because the pilot noticed children in the vicinity, Oren said. That missile was later launched into Tel Aviv.
“We know that Hamas has not only a military strategy, it has a media strategy,” the ambassador said, adding that Hamas wants to push Israel “into a situation where we’re causing civilian damage, which will in turn impair or limit our maneuverability on the diplomatic front.”
Unfortunately, most of the media only focuses on body count, not missile count.
Which is the media — often understaffed and on deadline — able to get pictures of?
It would be nice if Israel could follow up Oren's statement by posting the pilot's gun camera footage, first as raw video and then with both the missile and the children circled because untrained civilians aren't likely to recognize either at first glance. n nMy question though is if Israel sends in ground troops, will it be like the last time they went into Gaza and domestic support for doing so collapsed, or will the country support this until it is done? Without being absolutely sure of the latter, there really is no sense of going in….
Idiotic statement by Oren and the Israeli gov. n nSO if Hams stands down now, Israel stops? n nThen Hamas won. They struck Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and will have that in their back pocket going forward. n nSome airlines cancelled flights into Lod yesterday. n nIs freezing the conflict at this point in Israel's interest? n nHardly. n nAgain, idiotic. Too much talking when actions are required.
And then when Israel stops, the US and the EU fall all over themselves to give money to the Gazans to rebuild, rather than letting them bear the consequences of the war they started.
OR, and this depends on how well you know what Hamas is going to do, you are giving them "enough rope to hang themselves with." n nHow good is Hamas' command & control over its own fighters? If Hamas gave the order to stand down, would it be observed or would someone say "we gotta touch off just one more rocket" and break any ceasefire by sending another downrange into Israel? n nMy guess is that they aren't going to be able to stop the occasional rogue launch — that Hamas *can't* freeze this at this point, and that Israel knows this. If Israel said "cease fire", it would happen because they have a disciplined regular army. Hamas on the other hand, well….
"Pillar of Cloud" appears in Exodus 13:21-22 but a couple verses earlier appears the one below and I am wondering if someone was remembering what happened with Operation Cast Lead. n n17 ¶ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
Absolutely right! We also know that Oren's statement to take "any and all actions necessary to defend our citizens" is just more of the same kind of bombast and bluster that we have heard from Bibi and Barak for years while they allowed their citizens in southern Israel to be regularly terrorized by Hamas' missiles. Certainly, no one in Hamas believes it. Why should we? At least Hamas has a clear strategic goal – the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. And what is Israel's strategic goal versus Hamas and their huge Gazan popular base? Hard to say. Anyway, it can already be discounted that the Israeli government has already decided that it will not be taking the necessary actions to defend its citizens. Let us get ready for the next and bloodier act of this tragic play.
The longer this conflict exists the better it is for Israel to get rid of a vast majority of these missiles. When (and if) Israel destroys the Iranian enrichment facilities it will not need to worry much about Gaza. Khartoum was the first volley in this fight and the present conflict is the second.
Bull***t. n nYou do realize that the days of guys sticking their heads out the window and looking are long gone, don't you? These planes have really sophisticated imaging systems that can see quite a ways ahead, and assuming that Israel trains its pilots somewhat, the pilot can tell what he is seeing is consistent with. Children have an activity level that adults don't have, they are running and jumping and all kinds of stuff. n nBut at worst, the pilot mistook adults for children, and held his fire out of that mistake. That's an abundance of caution, not a war crime. n nOh, and one other thing, I have sat in the co-pilot's seat of a plane going 140 knots (161 MPH) as we circled to land and been able to recognize family members waiting for me in the parking lot. If you know what you are looking for and know where to look for it, you can actually see quite a bit notwithstanding the speed.