This is a quick-hit regarding whats happening in Israel/Gaza, along with a [rare] prediction; it is based on

having monitored the predictable a.m.-cable stations [MSNBC/CNN lamenting civilian deaths and FNC
noting how Kerry hadperhaps purposefullylamented Israels pinpoint targeting]. In reaction to one
overnight-response [Excellent piece! Is there a way to get money to Israel directly?], it may be wise to
consider supporting Magen David Adom urgently. It is also desirable to dispel another Hamas-composed
misdirection ["Kidnapped" Israeli Soldier Among 13 Dead Earlier and No Israeli soldier kidnapped], as
events in America are placed into an Israeli context [Five IDF task forces begin driving into Gaza City].
Some feel the U.S. [trying both to stop the fighting and to help the Palestinians trapped in Hamass
deadly game] should signal to the Islamists and their foreign allies that it is prepared to support an
Israeli campaign that will oust them from Gaza and replace them with Fatah; others note that Egypt
[where a cease-fire is to be discussed] is antagonistic to Hamas, allied with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Rather than causing despondency, the high IDF casualty toll Sunday the highest in a
single engagement since the 2006 Lebanon War has invigorated the fighting forces in
the field, making them more determined than ever to get the better of Hamas with all
possible speed. Therefore, Israelis will continue to Destroy Hamas Terror Tunnels.

The clincher, here, is internal Israeli politics; as discussed earlier, BB is being pressured [noting that the
next elections could occur next year] to uproot Hamas, lest he be saddled with the claim that Israel will
need to maintain wariness regarding Gaza while it simultaneously monitors Iran; the fact that the border
with Syria is generally quiet [with those who would target Israel clearly being otherwise engaged] yields
an opportunity to neutralize one front entirely during this window-of-opportunity. Thus, I feel Israel will
resist American pressure [particularly having noted that the success-rate of the Iron Dome is lower than
had been touted], mobilizing domestic supporters who will simultaneously be pressuring BHO to impose
sanctions on Iran; such support [per a brief discussion with Cliff May this past December] is bipartisan,
albeit [until now] compromised when [for example] BHO pressures Sen. Menendez to become mute.

Perhaps someone will remind BHO that American Adversaries Work Together Despite
Differences, recognizing that its scary we have two more years of Obama foreign policy;
perhaps during his next $-raising foray into NYC, BHO can visit the 9/11 Museum.

Palestinian Arabs feel other Arabs Betrayed Us - Again, but what is heard in the media is mirrored in
what is cleverly conveyed via Al Monitor e-mail releases [allegedly reflecting Syrian/Iranian views],
which admix fact/opinion in an extremely-cleverly woven presentation to the American audience:

Congress weighs new Iran sanctions
Julian Pecquet reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested to Jewish
lawmakers that he might be willing to consider more sanctions on Iran if the talks
fail. Although the State Department denied the report, other sources confirmed
Pecquets account.
Several leading members of Congress, including House Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., have called for more sanctions to keep the pressure on
Iran.
The P5+1 countries and Iran agreed to extend the nuclear talks until Nov. 24, adds Laura
Rozen from Vienna.
Irans role in Gaza
Ali Hashem writes that since 2006, Iran has helped Hamas develop an indigenous rocket
capability.
According to information acquired by Al-Monitor from sources in Tehran, Gaza and
Beirut, a new strategy was adopted after the July/August 2006 war in Lebanon with
respect to military support. The main goal was protecting the fighting groups from the
danger of a military siege by making them capable of producing as many rockets as they
need on the spot, Hashem reports.
A senior Hamas official told Palestine Pulses Adnan Abu Amer, Another motive that led
[the Izz ad-Din] al-Qassam [Brigades] to start local production of rockets is the closure of
tunnels by Egypt. This restricted the entry of raw materials needed for the
manufacturing of rockets. However, despite the cut-off of the main source of supply of
al-Qassam with rockets of multiple ranges from different origins, this did not prevent it
from producing local rockets reaching targets deeper inside Israel.
The Iranians essentially smuggled in rockets via the brains of Palestinians, keeping
rocket-making knowledge intact despite wars and attacks. Its the same strategy the
Iranians adopted in their nuclear program, under the philosophy that knowledge
cant be bombed, Hashem adds.
On July 14, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised his countrys
appropriate stands against the Zionist regime during the Gaza conflict. A
confidential June report by the UN Security Council's Panel of Experts on Iran noted that
an Iranian ship detained by the Israel Defense Forces on March 4 contained M-302
rockets and fuses, along with other arms.
The Palestinian unity government
As mentioned in this column last week, the war in Gaza could jeopardize the Palestinian
unity government. Palestine Pulses Daoud Kuttab describes the helplessness of
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the current conflict and, in a Washington Post
op-ed, writes that Abbas legacy of peace building is a potential casualty of the Gaza
war.
Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas political bureau, told Al-Monitors Adnan Abu
Amer that Hamas is committed to the unity agreement.
Now is not the time to assess positions. We are facing fierce aggression by the Israeli
occupation, and this requires uniting the efforts and the ranks to defend our people and
to counter the aggression. Regardless of any differences within the Palestinian arena,
the reconciliation will continue to be our choice and our position before, during and
after the war. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has sought and is seeking to
undermine the reconciliation, but our response will always be to stick to it more and
more, Meshaal said in the interview.
The Egypt-Hamas fault line
An anonymous Al-Monitor correspondent in the Sinai Peninsula reports that Israeli
strikes on the smuggling tunnels in Gaza have caused damage to homes on the Egyptian
side of the border, but have drawn little condemnation from Egyptian officials.
Meanwhile, Egyptian forces have stepped up security cooperation with Israel on the
Sinai border at a time when Egypt Pulses Ayah Aman writes that the country has not
ruled out importing natural gas from Israel.
An Egyptian security source told Al-Monitors anonymous correspondent that increased
Egyptian security at the Gaza border is to prevent terrorists from using smuggling
tunnels or infiltrating to and from Gaza across the land border or in military boats in the
Mediterranean Sea. Everyone knows the extent of the damage that was inflicted
on Egypt through the tunnels and entry of terrorists from Gaza to tamper with the
stability in the Sinai Peninsula.
Egyptian hatred for Hamas, a group that was close to former President Mohammed
Morsi, has provided some popular backing for these security measures and lessened
sympathy for the plight of Gazans, according to Mohannad Sabry.
The reaction of Egypt's current regime led by former defense minister and now-
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the ongoing war in Gaza with the Egyptian news
media and even a great portion of the Egyptian populace trailing along has shown a
new policy that is at the least apathetic and is at many times supporting Israel's military
action, despite its continuing to take innocent Palestinian lives with impunity, writes
Sabry.
Walaa Hussein describes in depth how Egypts proposed cease-fire initially bypassed
Hama leadership:
A high ranking government source revealed to Al-Monitor that Cairo was quick to make
its initiative public to head off other parties striving to replace Egypt in embracing the
Palestinian cause. However, it exposed the decline of Egypts role in the region." Her
source added, The initiative was proposed after informing the Palestinian Authority
and Israeli government of its content. However, it was not presented to Hamas for
review.
Following visits by Abbas and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the envoy of the
International Quartet, Egypt made another bid to play a mediating role.
Cairo, after refusing to directly negotiate with the leadership of Hamas, announced via
its foreign minister in a press conference with Blair that it had initiated dialogue with
Hamas to convince them of the need to accept the cease-fire proposal, Hussein
reports.
In his interview with Abu Amer, Meshaal did not rule out a role for Egypt if Cairo would
acknowledge Palestinian demands.
Egypts negative position toward Hamas is unwarranted. We didnt interfere in
Egyptian affairs, because they are internal affairs. And we respect the privacy [of those
affairs] as [we respect the privacy] of other countries affairs. The responsibility of all
Arabs, and the big sister Egypt first and foremost, is to stand by the Palestinian people,
work to stop the savage Israeli aggression, end the siege on Gaza in a real way and help
the people get rid of the occupation and the settlements," he said.
Islamic State headquarters in Mosul
Amberin Zaman reveals that the Turkish Consulate building in Mosul, Iraq, where 49
Turkish citizens, including the consul general, are still captive, is now the headquarters
of the Islamic State group (IS).
Mosuls governor Atheel al-Nujaifi told Zaman that he did not expect the hostages to be
released anytime soon. It is more likely that IS will hold on to them for a while because
IS wants to keep Turkey out of Iraq, Nujaifi explained. Senior Western officials who are
closely monitoring the situation agree that IS has no incentive to release the Turks, as
this is their best way of ensuring that Turkey does not carry out any kind of military
action against the jihadists. Turkey apparently believed that it had some kind of
entente cordiale with them, said one. Whether it did or not, after Mosul it has been
forced into one, the official concluded.
Mahmoud Salem writes that even countries as far away as Egypt have much to fear
from IS.
Beyond IS' alternative model to the failed modern Arab state, its raison
detre alone should have Sisi shuddering. When employed by an Arab
state, nationalism can win against local Islamist ideologies, but when it
is positioned against the idea of being part of an existing Islamic empire
where borders do not exist and all Muslims are united the rules
suddenly change.
All this may be grist for psychologists, but the key-points therein are [amazingly] corroborative of the
view that BB will feel compelled to continue his war [not operation any longer, per DebkaFile] and
to maintain control of [at least a mile-long buffer of] some previously-Gazan territory. It is unclear if
transferring control to the PA would relocate power from the fire to the skillet [metaphorically], so it is
possible that it would be held in abeyance until UNRWA-reforms [educational, etc.] were implemented.
What is clear is that BB is on auto-pilot, focused on attaining an unambiguous achievement [before
Kerry is able to snatch a type of cease-fire defeat (as portrayed by Hamas) from the jaws of victory].

*
Other overnight observations:

AFTER 2,000 YEARS, THE LAST CHRISTIAN IS FORCED TO LEAVE MOSUL
Iraqis Jihadists Burn Down Cathedral

Feinstein to Putin: 'Man up' about the circumstances surrounding the downing of the Malaysian airliner
in Ukraine.

Graham called Kerry 'delusional' on foreign policy

Parallel paths: McCarthy and Scalise - A collaborative leadership team with the new leaders would be a
boon to the GOP.

Silicon Valley's Libertarian revolution - Pauls push into the Bay Areas Dem stronghold has clear
motives: drawing money, tapping talent.
Political shakeup looms in California - Californias leadership looks much the same as it did decades ago.

Cruz: Reid and Obama are holding migrant children for 'ransom' with promises of amnesty.
Perry Prepares to Deploy National Guard to Portion of Border
...TROOPS TO HEAD TO RIO GRANDE VALLEY, RANCHES IN NORTH TEXAS

Paul hits Obamas on minimum wage, which limits innovative companies.
Study: Forced Unionization Harms Economy

POLITICO poll: Stay out of Ukraine and the Mideast - Americans are profoundly wary of getting
entangled overseas.
POLITICO Poll: Dim views of Clinton's time at State - Just 14 percent describe the former secretary of
state's tenure as excellent."
POLITICO poll: Warren, Cruz sway limited - Their endorsements aren't as significant as those from Barack
Obama and Mitt Romney.
The poll was conducted after POLITICO partnered with SocialSphere Inc. to survey likely voters in states
with competitive races.

Conservative Consumer Group Blasts Google for Netroots Sponsorship

SARAH PALIN ON BORDER CRISIS: 'WHAT DID THE PRESIDENT KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?'
Sarah Palin to GOP: Fight for the 'Forgotten Man' to 'Win Big in 2016'
Palin Slams Eric Holder's 'Disgusting' False Racism Charges
Palin: Obama Purrin' with Fat Cats Instead of Dealing with Border Crisis, National Security