Israel at War

Nahal Oz - Israeli tanks patrol the border with the Gaza Strip whose houses are seen in the background.  Photo: Eliyaju Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Israel Sun

“If we don’t learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.” That statement seems to sum up the latest war between Israel and the Palestinians. How can the groundwork for establishing two states living side by side in peace be put in place when the leadership of one of the participants [Hamas in Gaza] will not recognize Israel’s right to exist? In fact, Hamas has as its two major goals the destruction of Israel and its replacement with a hard-line Islamic state.

So how does Israel negotiate with Fatah and its leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank [who used to supposedly speak for all Palestinians] when Hamas, who speak for the rest of the Palestinians only wants to see Israel vanish from the face of the earth?

This has been a similar problem during the Arafat years … all talk, no action, and no peace.

After the so called “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas ended on December 19,2008 over 170 rockets and mortars were fired at Israeli citizens including 80 on December 24th alone which continued to make Israeli’s lives a living hell. There is no country in the world that would allow that to happen without immediate retaliation and/or a call for all out war.
Israel gave Gaza its chance to determine its own fate in 2005 when it unilaterally and completely withdrew all of its troops from that territory. Since then over 6300 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel. It must surely be true that no good deed goes unpunished.

Less than six months ago, President-elect Barack Obama said during a visit to Sderot, “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said, “We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there.”
The United Nations only knows how to condemn Israel. It never denounces with the same virulence and consistency those parties that perpetrate the terror attacks against Israel that led to a necessary response. These kinds of actions render that body a political cesspool not worthy of respect or attention.

Israel has no choice but to defend its citizens and make its country safe from attacks and bombings. It must fight. It must defeat any group that attempts to kill its citizens. It should enter into negotiations only with legitimate entities that deal with them in an honest and honorable manner. At the very least this means recognizing its right to exist.

What follow are photos of the war which will be updated as new events unfold.

Click on photos to enlarge

  IDF paratroopers & armour  in Gaza city. Photo: Matan Hakimi/IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun
 
IDF paratroopers & armour  in Gaza city. Photo: Matan Hakimi/IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun
IDF paratroopers & armour  in Gaza city. Photo: Matan Hakimi/IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun IDF guards Israeli  farmers who are planting potatoes in their fields facing Gaza in background. Photo: Yigal Ben Eliyahu/Jinipix/Israel Sun
IDF paratroopers in action in the Gaza strip photos from nightscope video. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun Munition and an anti aircraft gun were found in a mosque in the Gaza Strip. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun IA Wizo day care center was opened in the shelter of Barzilai Hospital in Ashqelon for the children of the hospital's staff - to enable the smooth running of the hospital as kindergartens and schools are closed because of daily rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Photo: Israel Sun
The Coordination and Communication Headquarters of the Gaza Strip coordinated the transfer of a truckload of food into the Gaza Strip that specifically for a hundred person family in the northern Gaza Strip. The truck was unloaded on Israeli territory and the transport was carried out by IDF forces who unloaded the food near the family's residence. Photo: Neil Cohen/IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun The humanitarian efforts to the Gaza Strip continues. 78 trucks loaded with various humanitarian aid supplies including medicine medical supplies basic food supplies entered the strip, plus the transfer of diesel fuel for the Gaza Strip power station and cooking fuel. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun Beersheba- Just 25 minutes after the 'humanitarian pause' declared by the IDF came to an end, Hamas fired two Grad rockets towards southern Israel. One landed inside Beersheba. The rocket was fired during the funeral of Staff Sergeant Alexander Mashvitzky, 21, a Combat Engineering fighter who was killed in Gaza. Photo: Kfir Sivan/Israel Sun
Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to show their support for the IDF and the residents of the Gaza vicinity. Photo: Kfir Sivan/Israel Sun 57 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip. The trucks contained medical supplies, food, products, flour, and more. Some of the trucks were donated by the governments of Egypt, Jordan, and Greece. The human aid trucks are a part of a greater humanitarian effort made by Israel. These efforts also include medical treatments in Israeli hospitals, infrastructure reparations in the Gaza Strip, and more. Photo: IDF Spokeman/Israel Sun Funeral of Golani Brigade fighter 32 year-old Captain Dagan Vertman, killed in the fighting in the Gaza Strip, was held in the military cemetery on Mt. Herzel in Jerusalem. Photo: Daniel Bar On / Jinipix/Israel Sun
IDF forces inside the Gaza Strip. Photo: Matan Hakimi/IDF Spokesman/israel Sun Timor Mishalov with his son Eldad in their home which was hit by a Quassam rocket in the southern town of Sderot. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Israel Sun IDF armory entering the Gaza Strip. Photo: Yigal Ben Eliyahu/Jinipix/Israel Sun
IDF forces inside the Gaza Strip - first photos. Photos: Matan Hakimi/IDF Spokesman/israel Sun IDF forces inside the Gaza Strip - first photos. Photos: Matan Hakimi/IDF Spokesman/israel Sun IDF forces inside the Gaza Strip - first photos. Photos: Matan Hakimi/IDF Spokesman/israel Sun
Nahal Oz - Israeli tanks patrol the border with the Gaza Strip whose houses are seen in the background.  Photo: Eliyaju Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Israel Sun Quassam rocket being fired from Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip at Israel. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Isreal Sun Smoke from IAF bombs and rockets rising over the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: Edi Israel/Israel Sun
Hamas buildings in the Gaza Strip that were bombed by the Israeli air force. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun photos illustrating an IAF aerial attack of an underground missile launching pad. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun
The children ward at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon was moved underground as Ashkelon was hit by Grad rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Israeli children (and their mothers) lie next to Palestinian children from the Gaza strip who were admitted before the Israeli campaign begun. Photo: Edi Israel/Israel Sun
IAF ground crews working on an Apache attack helicopter reading it for another sortie over Gaza. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun Kibbutz Dekel: Aviva and Shaul Sela light a Hanukkia in their home which received a direct hit of a Hamas Quassam rocket. Photo: Emil Salman/Jinipix/Israel sun Isareli tanks near the Sufa checkpoint on the Gaza border. In the background where applicable is the Arab town of Khan Yunis. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Isreal Sun
Quassam rocket being fired from Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip at Israel. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Isreal Sun
Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu and several other party members toured Sderot, while the Color Red alert (for approaching rockets) sounded during the visit, while Netanyahu and his convoy were inside a building. 'We visited a woman who miraculously survived a Qassam hitting her house, but the residents of Sderot cannot continue to rely on miracles,' he said. Photo: Edi Israel/Israel Sun
A  barrage at least 10 rockets were fired toward the Israeli town of Netivot. One of the rockets hit a private home, while the second landed on an apartment building in the city, resulting in the death of 58-year-old Beber Vaaknin. Three other people were evacuated to nearby hospitals with light to serious wounds. Another rocket landed near the local market. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Isreal Sun
Israeli planes bomb the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Photo: Oren Ziv/Jinipix/Israel Sun Israeli planes bomb the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Photo: Oren Ziv/Jinipix/Israel Sun Mourners at the funeral of 58 year old Beber Vaknin who was killed by shrapnel from a Grad rocket in the southern town of Netivot. Police officer is seen through the hole the Grad missile made in the late  Beber Vaknin's bedroom. Photo: Emil Salman/Jinipix/Israel Sun
Mourners at the funeral of 58 year old Beber Vaknin who was killed by shrapnel from a Grad rocket in the southern town of Netivot. Police officer is seen through the hole the Grad missile made in the late  Beber Vaknin's bedroom. Photo: Emil Salman/Jinipix/Israel Sun
Israel tanks on the Gaza border near the Sufa checkpoint. In the background is the Gazan town of Rafah. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Israel Sun Smoke from an Israeli air raid towers above the Governor's Residence in Rafah. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Israel Sun
Wounded on site: An Israeli Arab laborer was killed Monday morning from a Grad rocket which hit a construction site inside Ashkelon. An air raid siren was sounded in the seaside city just before 9:30 am, followed by an explosion which rocked many areas across Ashkelon. Sixteen people were injured in the attack, five of them sustaining moderate wounds and the rest lightly hurt. They were evacuated to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. Photo: Edi Israel/Israel Sun Humanitarian aid was transferred to the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.  The humanitarian aid transfer included 63 trucks carrying food and medical supplies, on top of which 10 ambulances were transferred. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun The Southern town of Sderot was hit by Quassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. In photo: Damage and people near the sites hit. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Israel Sun
Operation Cast Lead: IAF Strike on the Hamas Government Complex in Gaza. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun Operation Cast Lead: IAF Strike on the Hamas Government Complex in Gaza. Photo: IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun A Kibbutz close to the border with the Gaza strip was hit by a Quassam rocket no one was hurt but houses suffered damages. Photo: Itai Levi/Jinipix/Israel Sun
A Grad rocket fired from northern Gaza at struck an eight-storey apartment building in the city of Ashdod. The rocket hit the building's roof and penetrated two floors. There were no initial reports of injury. A fire broke out at the premises, but it was extinguished by firefighters who were dispatched to the scene. Some 20 people were treated for shock. Photo: Edi Israel / Israel Sun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the bombarded southern town of Sderot. In the photo with Sderot's mayor David Buskila on his right, in a house hit by a Quassan rocket. Photo: Eliyahu Ben Yigal/Jinipix/Israel Sun Going over maps, IDF forces complete final preparations before beginning a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Neil Cohen/IDF Spokesman/Israel Sun
The Press TV , still photographers and reporters kept out of the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt find themselves on hills on the Israeli side of the northern Gaza Strip watching the IAF bomb the Quassam launching areas. Photo: Kfir Sivan/Israel Sun Smoke from bombs/rockets exploding in the Quassam launching area in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: Kfir Sivan/Israel Sun IAF jets leave circles in the sky above the Quassam launching area in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: Kfir Sivan/Israel Sun

 

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