Israeli air strike kills top Hamas commander Jabari

[Fozzledick]

The IAF struck and killed Hamas's head of military operations Ahmed Jabari in central Gaza on Wednesday. The airstrike marked the beginning of a campaign to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations in Gaza, IDF spokesman Yoav Mordechai said.

"The first aim of this operation is to bring back quiet to southern Israel, and the second target is to strike at terror organizations," Mordechai said.

Mordechai described Jabari as a man with "a lot of blood on his hands." The IDF has urged civilians to pay attention to instructions from the Home Front Command in light of the developments.

Over the past 48 hours, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz has approved a series of steps following a four-day rocket barrage on southern Israel.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=291779

[hack89]

1. Good. nt

[oberliner]

2. He was the one who led the Gaza Coup

Lots of Palestinian blood was on his hands.

Of course, that was back when all the regular posters took a month off for some reason...

[Larkspur]

3. Picking off Hamas leaders 1 by 1 won't bring long-term peace nor will it stop rocket attacks

The Israelis claim to kill previous leaders and that didn't stop Palestinian militants before, so why should this attack matter?

Israel has a choice -- commit genocide against the Palestinians, take all their lands but lose its soul, and endure pariah status from most of the world for many years or commit to real peace by 1) break up the illegal settlements, 2) treat the non-violent Palestinian rights activists with respect and work the the US and the world to make the Palestinian state a successful one so that militants would be seen by their people as criminals, not heroes.

Gandhi said that Israel could not maintain the ability to be both a democracy and a Jewish state. Israels fascist tactis are proving Gandhi right so far.

[Fozzledick]

4. When has appeasement ever stopped totalitarian aggression?

Hamas and their Iranian patrons are dedicated to the genocidal destruction of Israel and gloat over any concession or restraint in retaliation as a victory toward that end. Why would you want to encourage them?

[Fozzledick]

5. Update: IAF hits 20 underground sites housing long-range launchers capable of striking Tel Aviv

Shortly afterwards, the IDF struck over 20 underground rocket launchers belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an airstrike.

The airstrikes targeted long-range rockets in the possession of terror organizations, such as the Fajr-5 and other rockets that are capable of striking Tel Aviv from Gaza. The IDF believes it has eliminated the majority of the long-range threat.

A large part of the weapons storage sites were located in civilian residential buildings, the IDF confirmed. "This is further evidence of the pattern of Hamas to use the population in Gaza as human shields," the IDF said in a statement.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=291779

Do you have a problem with targeting rockets too, or just the commanders who order their use against civilians?

[oberliner]

6. There are no illegal settlements in Gaza

There are also no non-violent Palestinian rights activists engaging with Israelis in Gaza.

All of what you describe exists in the West Bank where there are currently no rocket attacks against Israelis.

The rockets being launched against Israel are emanating from Gaza where there are no Israeli settlements of any kind.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. What is not being commented on is the high quality of IDF real time intelligence

We have seen this before. They decimated the leadership and materials and then rolled in.

This is far from the first time that Hamas security has shown itself to be non-existent. Your high value people and supplies are always closely protected, which Hamas clearly cannot do effectively