Israel Plunges Gaza Into Darkness

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

To secure the release of 1 captured soldier, Israel cuts power and water to 1.3 million people

Israel invades Gaza (27 June 2006)

Following a series of bloody June attacks on Gaza by Israeli forces, including the weekend shelling of a beach that killed 8 Palestinian civilians, including 7 members of the same family and injured a further 32 civilians, including 13 children (9 June); a missile attack on a Gazan highway that killed eleven and injured 30 (13 June); and another missile attack that killed 3 children and wounded 15 others (20 June), Palestinian militants carried out a raid on Israeli military positions near Gaza on June 25th

The raid resulted in the killing of two soldiers and the capture of one, Cpl Gilad Shalit. Israel had threatened an assault and the assassination of top Hamas leaders if the soldier was not freed, and has been deploying tanks along the border for several days. At 11:51PM* (Palestine time) on June 27th, Israel launched a large scale military assault on Gaza, as Israeli fighter planes carried out three airstrikes on Gazan bridges. Further strikes against Gazan power plants took place at 1:42AM, sending most of Gaza into darkness. At 2:24AM, Israeli forces began moving into Gaza to take control of the open areas east of Rafah.

At 5:08AM Israeli fighter planes began flying low over Gaza, causing intentional sonic booms. According to Israeli PM Ehud Olmert the aim of the invasion was "not to mete out punishment but rather to apply pressure so that the abducted soldier will be freed. We want to create a new equation — freeing the abducted soldier in return for lessening the pressure on the Palestinians."

http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Good.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Maybe the militants will think twice before kidnapping an Israeli soldier. What are they thinking??

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Maybe the militants will think twice before kidnapping an Israeli soldier. What are they thinking??

Clearly not everyone is on the same page. Ruins the efforts of others who are trying to secure a peaceful resolution to the problem.

That said, Israel threatening everyone in Gaza isn't going to endear anyone to their cause. Business as usual...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5124172.stm

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

Maybe the militants will think twice before kidnapping an Israeli soldier. What are they thinking??

dang liberals are taking over israel too. what happened to the days when they'd bomb someone to make a point? now they just cut power off? pft

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Maybe the militants will think twice before kidnapping an Israeli soldier. What are they thinking??

dang liberals are taking over israel too. what happened to the days when they'd bomb someone to make a point? now they just cut power off? pft

They bombed the power plant. Does that make you feel better?

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

Maybe the militants will think twice before kidnapping an Israeli soldier. What are they thinking??

dang liberals are taking over israel too. what happened to the days when they'd bomb someone to make a point? now they just cut power off? pft

They bombed the power plant. Does that make you feel better?

does that count as bombing them into the dark ages?

[usarandyo 0]

So we save Israels ### from Saddam Hussein's terrorism to allow Israel to terrorize someone else. Hmmm... and can anyone tell me why Americans ask "Why does the world hate us so much?"???

[rclouse 0]

So we save Israels ### from Saddam Hussein's terrorism to allow Israel to terrorize someone else. Hmmm... and can anyone tell me why Americans ask "Why does the world hate us so much?"???

How did this become the USA's fault?

I hate W too but that's really stretching it.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

So we save Israels ### from Saddam Hussein's terrorism to allow Israel to terrorize someone else. Hmmm... and can anyone tell me why Americans ask "Why does the world hate us so much?"???

I'm just glad that Palestine doesn't have blood on their hands. Always Israel's or America's fault. When will I learn?

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

So we save Israels ### from Saddam Hussein's terrorism to allow Israel to terrorize someone else. Hmmm... and can anyone tell me why Americans ask "Why does the world hate us so much?"???

good point. we should also save israel from the rest too.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The US is not to blame for this - although the fact that they are one of Israel's biggest backers, this sort of behaviour is clearly at odds with the 'anti-terrorist' rhetoric the administration has been promoting. Put it this way, it doesn't encourage a positive perception - so much as 'one law for them, another for everyone else'.

The mistake I think is thinking of Palestine as a united country - in reality their political set is rather more chaotic. The government clearly isn't in control of every extremist group, political group and 'man with a grudge', this wasn't helped by (for example) the Israeli army cutting off it's head by besieging Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.

Israel clearly is in full charge of its military - that's the difference here, and I don't think that scaring the entire population of Gaza city with the threat of military force is going to help them get what they want - not in the short term, and is definitely not in the long term interests of either side.

Edited June 28, 2006 by Fishdude

[tmma 467]

The US is not to blame for this - although the fact that they are one of Israel's biggest backers, this sort of behaviour is clearly at odds with the 'anti-terrorist' rhetoric the administration has been promoting. Put it this way, it doesn't encourage a positive perception - so much as 'one law for them, another for everyone else'.

The mistake I think is thinking of Palestine as a united country - in reality their political set is rather more chaotic. The government clearly isn't in control of every extremist group, political group and 'man with a grudge', this wasn't helped by (for example) the Israeli army cutting off it's head by besieging Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.

Israel clearly is in full charge of its military - that's the difference here, and I don't think that scaring the entire population of Gaza city with the threat of military force is going to help them get what they want - not in the short term, and is definitely not in the long term interests of either side.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The mistake I think is thinking of Palestine as a united country - in reality their political set is rather more chaotic. The government clearly isn't in control of every extremist group, political group and 'man with a grudge', this wasn't helped by (for example) the Israeli army cutting off it's head by besieging Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.

If a militant group acts up in the US our government goes after them. They don't really do that in Palestine. So they indirectly support the militants through their inaction.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The mistake I think is thinking of Palestine as a united country - in reality their political set is rather more chaotic. The government clearly isn't in control of every extremist group, political group and 'man with a grudge', this wasn't helped by (for example) the Israeli army cutting off it's head by besieging Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.

If a militant group acts up in the US our government goes after them. They don't really do that in Palestine. So they indirectly support the militants through their inaction.

The US has a rather better (and better organised) military and intelligence service I think...