“This Is A Declaration Of War”
Israel Votes Gaza An “Enemy Entity”
The security cabinet voted on Wednesday to declare the Gaza Strip an “enemy entity”. The ministers also discussed the continuous rocket attacks against Israel.
The unanimous vote also authorized the imposing of economic sanctions against Gaza. The measures to be taken against Gaza include cutting back on the supply of electricity and fuel.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that Israel’s decision constituted a “declaration of war.”
“This is a dangerous escalation of the attempt to legitimize destroying Palestinian land, criminal behavior and bringing a humanitarian disaster on the Palestinian people. This is Israel attempting a knock-out blow against Hamas following its successes in taking control of Gaza.
“I find the silence and cooperation of the man in Ramallah (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) with the enemy to be very curious indeed,” said Barhoum.
Following the decision, a UN official called the move problematic, telling Army Radio that since Gaza was still under Israeli occupation and Israel controlled all crossings in and out of the area, collective punishment of all Gaza residents would constitute a violation of international law.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak presented the plan to the cabinet on Wednesday morning. Barak reportedly told the cabinet that, at present, he favored cutting off electricity but not water to Gaza’s 1.4 million residents.
Barak went on to say that he was not in favor of a large-scale military incursion into Gaza.
Meanwhile, however, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzahi Hanegbi told Army Radio on Wednesday that a ground incursion into Gaza was unavoidable.
In the meantime, Hanegbi said, there was no need to pamper them with fuel and electricity.
Cutting off electricity would be the most severe of the retaliatory measures Israel has taken recently against near-daily Kassam rocket fire from Gaza into the South. Israel hopes to force Hamas to stop the attacks because Israeli air strikes and land incursions against the rocket launchers have not been effective.
The crude rockets have killed 12 people in southern Israel in the past seven years, injured dozens more and badly disrupted daily life in the region.
Gaza’s population, largely impoverished, is almost entirely dependent on Israel for the supply of electricity, water and fuel, and a cutoff would deepen their hardship. Since the Hamas takeover, Israel has closed crossings with Gaza almost entirely, allowing in only humanitarian aid.
Several ministers have expressed support for cutting off the supply of resources to the territory, but such action would draw international condemnation, and Olmert and the IDF are said to oppose it.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
They keep bombing Isreal, I guess they don’t think that is a declaration of war!! Drop the bomb. I am about sick of all arabs. They will never change their way of thinking, they can bomb us etc…but expect us to do nothing or else our actions will be thought of as an act of war or discrimination!! Fucking wackos, I say drop the bomb.
September 19th, 2007 at 5:37 amOf course the “international community” will decry cutting of electricity and/or water to Gaza, though they care little about the perpetual rain of kassams from Gaza into Israel. As for Barhoum’s claim that this constitutes a declaration of war by Israel, Hamas’s charter is in itself a declaration of war. The kassams, mortar barrages, and cross-border raids are ACTS of war. Duh.
September 19th, 2007 at 5:43 am“Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that Israel’s decision constituted a “declaration of war.”
No really? And who’s fault is that oh apostate of allah?
Kimosabbe: me thinks irhabi speaks with forked tongue.
September 19th, 2007 at 5:45 amIs anyone surprised that the UN pops out of the woodwork to announce that “international law” is being trifled with?
Buehler? Buehler?
Surely this is because the UN is so dilligent in keeping tabs on such things, especially in the Middle East.
September 19th, 2007 at 6:18 amA declaration of war?
Cool, wack them savages
September 19th, 2007 at 7:27 amI think Israel is prepping the field to move hard on Hamas and probably smash them hard then allow Fatah to backfill in afterwards.
-The recent probing deep into Gaza with raids.
-The fly overs of Lebanon
-The DEEP raid into Syria, basically reminding Baby Assad who his daddy is.
-Now this deceleration separating Hamizstan off from the W Bank Fatah zone.
Rockets coming in daily from Gaza amazes me that the Israelis have gone this far tolerating such. It is by sheer luck that more people have not been hurt by the rickets randomly fired into Israeli SW cities.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:32 amLet’s see what a military blockade of Gaza (along with stoppages of water, electricity, and fuel) does to the population there. Maybe they’ll get kinda tired of Hamas bullshit. While I’m thinking of it, some Israeli propaganda by flyover wouldn’t be bad either: demoralize them.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:01 amLet me see if I understand this…Israel is responsible for providing water and electricity to Gaza? What’s the problem if they decide to cut that off in response to the continual attacks from the dutiful followers of that Religion of Peace? The Pali’s made their bed (by choosing Hamas), let them sleep in it.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:15 amSpeaking of irhabi propaganda here’s a good laugh:
Iran draws up plans to bomb Israel
=====================================
And they’re talking about their air force, not suicide bombers, though the Revolutionary Guards wouldn’t let that be neglected. An update on this story, by Ali Akbar Dareini for the Associated Press:
TEHRAN, Iran - The deputy commander of Iran’s air force said Wednesday that plans have been drawn up to bomb Israel if the Jewish state attacks Iran, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
The announcement comes amid rising tensions in the region with the United States calling for a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program and Israeli planes having recently overflown, and perhaps even attacked, Iranian ally Syria’s territory.
“We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime (Israel) makes a silly mistake,” deputy air force chief, Gen. Mohammad Alavi was quoted as telling Fars in an interview.
The Fars news agency confirmed the quotes when contacted by the Associated Press, but would not provide a tape of the interview. The Iranian Air Force, for its part, had no immediate comment on the interview.
Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar, however, did tell the official IRNA news agency Wednesday that “we keep various options open to respond to threats … we will make use of them if required.”
Iran has threatened in the past that Israel would be Iran’s first retaliatory target if attacked by the United States. But Alavi’s comments were the first word of specific contingency plans for striking back on Israel.
What’s that Clint Eastwood line?
Israel says to Iran: “Feeling lucky punk? Go ahead make my day”
September 19th, 2007 at 9:20 amThis reminds me of handling any child: you keep saying you’re going to punish them and you don’t–they become emboldened and act worse. Just like Iran, just like Hamas. They should cut off all utilities and blockade Gaza. That’s more merciful then just going in there with guns blazing. Make them beg. Israel is stupid–they hold all the cards. Who cares what the “international community” thinks? They hate Israel anyway. This is an easy problem compared with our problem with Iran. Olmert is a weakling.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:08 am