The issues regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict are burgeoning and, thus, it is vital to focus on key-facets;

that is why a Blast e-mail devoid of foreign-policy was emitted. As Breitbart [mostly] was being mined
for a more definitive presentation of whats happening in the Middle East, a few other domestic policy
hyperlinks were unearthed; also IDed was some levity [54 Colorized Photos From Last Century; Russia
in color, a century ago; Sophia vs Jayne: The OTHER Photos behind that Sideways Glare; and 20 Photos
Will Leave You Speechless]. The domestic-policy concerns are provided with minimal commentary, for
the key-concern is to emphasize what may have been missed [including todays talking-head shows].

Independent Hopefuls May Widen PA-Gubernatorial Field [the deadline is Friday]
Pope Francis to Make First Visit to the United States next year, per Archbishop Charles
Chaput of Philadelphia; he will attend the World Meeting of Families that will take place
in Philadelphia.

Obama: US Must 'Embrace an Economic Patriotism That Says We Rise or Fall Together'
Obama Job Approval at Dismal 39%
Obama: Republicans in Congress 'Harming Million Of Americans'
Obama Blamed His Supporters for His Failures
Obama Again Attacked His Media Friends
CNBC Reporter Challenged Obama's Economic Numbers During Interview
When a Commander-in-Chief Stops Caring

[Who is to blame? Government? Where is that nanny-state when we really need it???]
Pregnant Florida Woman Killed While Admiring Gun Collection
Nineteen-Year-Old Shoots Home Invaders to Save Girlfriend
Police: Armed Burglar Cried When Homeowner Pointed Gun at Him
Federal Judge: DC Ban On Carrying Handguns In Public Is Unconstitutional
MSBNC: NRA Voters Spell 'Trouble For Democrats' In November 2014

CELL-PHONE BAN WHILE DRIVING HAD NO EFFECT IN CALIFORNIA

Dem-led governance:
Health Law Analyst: ObamaDontCare 'Setting People up for Large and Avoidable Premium Increases'
The Shocking Cost of Free Water in Detroit
[Recall the NY-Times Mag cover-story of a fortnight ago (Detroit Through rose-colored gasses) and it
must be concluded that the revival is yet to arrive (p. 38, near end of article).]
Obama Proposes Lower Safety Standards to Haul Oil by Trains Than by Ships [inconsistent and political]
MARK LEVIN TAKES OBAMA'S EPA TO TASK IN COURT [inconsistent and political]

Steny Hoyer: Dems Will Win Back House in 2014 [yeah, right]
DEMOCRAT AL FRANKEN ACCUSED OF MASSIVE PLAGIARISM [18 examples]

Hillary Clinton: Let Hondurans, Guatemalans, El Salvadorans Apply for Asylum from Home
El Salvador's Ambassador Suggests Migrant Surge Sign of 'Upward Mobility'
Honduras President: U.S. Wants to Deport Illegals 'on a Massive Scale'
Central Americans Migrating to US Instead of Closer, Safe Countries
Obama to Central American Presidents: Illegal Immigrants Will Get 'Fair Deal'
Obama Promises No Asylum for Migrants Fleeing Poverty or Bad Neighborhoods
Los Angeles Times Suggests Illegal Immigrants Have Civil 'Right' to Work Permits
FEMA Looking to House Illegals in Empty Big Box Stores, Aircraft Hangars
TN Gov Found Out About Illegals Dumped in State on HHS Website
More Than 30,000 Unaccompanied Minors Already Released to Families in US
Dem Rep. Joe Garcia: Border Is Safer Than Ever, Obama Should 'Parole' All Illegals
Jeff Sessions: Amnesty for DREAMers' Parents Will Lure More Adults, Create Bigger Crisis
Zuckerberg Pushes Amnesty Letter-Writing Campaign After Becoming Richer than Google Founders
White House Fears Impeachment If Obama Unilaterally Grants Amnesty
Palin: More Americans Will Support Impeachment if Obama Lawlessly Enacts Another Executive
Amnesty
Rep. Steve King Predicts Impeachment if Obama Grants Executive Amnesty
[UK Government Spends 80,000 Deporting 200 Migrants... Who then Return Weeks Later]
Hillary explained that Darth Vader leads her in presidential poll because their "deeper
meaning" is that people "love fantasies."

The GOPs Civil-War Rages:
Joe Carr to Lamar Alexander: Support Ted Cruz Border Bill to Prevent Expansion of Obama's Amnesty
Program
Salon: How the Chamber of Commerce Became Toxic
Chamber of Commerce Hired Top Marco Rubio Aide to Push Amnesty
GOP Congressman Returns Award to U.S. Chamber of Commerce Because of Group's Amnesty Support

Washington and Lee Capitulated: Took Down Confederate Flags & Locked-out Sons Of
Confederate Vets {Perhaps NOW we can declare the War Between the States is OVER?}

FOX NEWS COVERAGE OF MH17 CRUSHED CNN, MSNBC RATINGS
BuzzFeed Fired Editor Over 41 Instances of Plagiarism
Wikipedia Bans Anonymous Edits by House Members and Their Staff
Wikipedia Bans Congressional IP Address from Editing Entries

[faux-newsbuff leftie-comedians demonstrate ignorance and prejudice]
BILL MAHER CLUELESS THAT TEA PARTY BASHES CRONY CAPITALISM
Maher to DeGrasse Tyson: Republicans Dont Like You Because You're Black
Levin Blasts Putrid Stewart: Read up, Ivy League Boy

CNN TOUTED NON-EXISTENT 'CEASE-FIRE DEAL'
CNN Put False News Of Israel Rejecting 'Cease-Fire Deal' Over Faces of Injured Children
Journalist Jeremy Scahill: Israel Guilty of 'War Crimes,' Murder of Children
[These latter cites can segue into the Middle-East.]

Foreign Affairs in Latin America are captured in Fausta's Blog [they get short-shrift, here, sorry]
VENEZUELAN GENERAL ARRESTED ON US WARRANT FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
ALBRIGHT: 'THE WORLD IS A MESS' [her CBS-Interview was milquetoast; Shieffer never pressed]
Iceland Could Become Russia and China's 'Secret Weapon' Against U.S. [another hot-spot?]

Embargo Wouldn't Hurt Russia
MAYOR KILLED IN CENTRAL UKRAINE
Gen Hayden: 'Putin Will Lose Control Over The Surrogates He Continues To Arm' [yeah, sure]
Police visit to MH17 disaster site canceled
When Burying a Terrorist, You Might Want to Remove the Suicide Vest First [video]

Islamism:
Boko Haram Militants Seize Cameroon Vice-PM's Wife [this is why they must be stopped in Africa, too]
Taliban fighters scoring new wins in Afghanistan

On the Lisa Benson Show [with M. Zuhdi Jasser] Dr. Sherkoh Abbas spoke [today] with
Jerome Gordon regarding Kurdistan and the Middle East conflicts, in general.

Muslims Cut Off Heads of Fifty Innocent People, And Place Them On Poles Throughout The Area
San Diego Iraqis Furious at ISIS Takeover
ISIS Leaders Could Be Added to U.N. War Crimes List [tangential]
ISLAMIC STATE SEIZES SYRIAN ARMY BASE IN RAQQA [bold]
Shock Video: Children Swear Allegiance to Islamic State's Caliphate [unnerving]
Too Many Mujahideen, Not Enough Engineers Crippling ISIS's 'Socialist' Project in Syria [they dont care]

Iranian elite forces re-took gas field from ISIL in Syria {Theorizing} Turkey has been
working closely with the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq; Ankara has been
importing crude oil and fuel from the Kurdish Regional Government, angering Baghdad.
Turkey collaborates with Barazanis Iraqi Kurds to weaken the PKK in Syrian Kurdistan.
Barzanis group is weak in Syrian Kurdistan but he hopes to improve with Turkeys help.
Turkey sends reinforcements to Syrian border in fight with Kurdish fighters.

Bradford Schools Facing Claims of Islamist Takeover
MORE UK SCHOOLS IMPLICATED IN ISLAMIST TAKEOVER PLOTS
EXCLUSIVE: UK City Council Enables Pro-Hamas Group in Propaganda Effort and Fundraiser
We Are All Hamas!': Thousands Attend London's Gaza Protest Glorifying Terrorism [MSNBC used this
line last week c/o Melissa Harris-Perry; she never challenged her guest]

More Than 50 killed in Libya's Benghazi, Tripoli After Heavy Clashes [filling vacuum, post Qaddafi]
US Evacuates Embassy in Libya Amid Clashes [Rhodes (vide infra) wont admit this is failure.]
Iran's Supreme Leader Claims to Seek Annihilation of Israel, Not Jews [false distinction noted]

Shiite Militia Displays Jihadist Bodies in Iraq City [now, these are the good-guys?]

Anglican Vicar: End of Christianity in Iraq Is 'Very Near'
Call from Iraqi Christians: Obama, Obama, Where are You?
Krauthammer: Obama Talked About How Disrespectful We Were To Muslims; When will he Stand-Up
For The Christian Minorities
Christians Describe Inhumane Treatment by ISIS in Mosul, Iraq
LONDONERS RALLY IN SOLIDARITY WITH IRAQI CHRISTIANS

ALEX PIERSON, Canadas Megyn Kelly, came to Israels defense when she interviewed
Douglas Murray [author of Islamophilia]: There's not much award-winning journalist
Alex Pierson hasn't seen or taken on over her 15-year career as a reporter and anchor.
She's gone toe-to-toe with pit-bull-hating politicians, faced-off against Black Block
protesters during the G20, and her reports on the Ontario trucking industry not only saw
her drive a big rig - but garnered her two national awards and changed licensing laws in
the province. After spending several years at Citytv and CP24 in Toronto, she moved to
Global News where she continued her anchor-role while covering the court beat.

The Gaza-War Sparked Worldwide Demonstrations [plus in Philly]:
Thousands take to NYC streets to protest Israel
Bank attacked, smeared with fake blood
Hundreds ignore ban in Paris to protest Gaza offensive
Nazi salutes
Online anti-Semitism runs rampant
10,000 march in London
Thousands in NYC
Paris's Kristallnacht
Israeli Peace Rally Cut Short by Rockets
POPE: 'PLEASE STOP'
Jewish students shown 'photos of ovens and told to get in'

Rhodes: Kerry Searching for 'Common Place' Between Israel and Hamas [a more deceptive
interview would be difficult to ID; he avoided specificity throughout]

Risk of War-Expansion:
SHOWDOWN: TURKEY TO SEND GAZA FLOTILLA
Anti-Semitic Turkish academic tweets in support of Treblinka death camp
turkey-sent-reinforcements on syrian-border as battles withkurdish-fighters-intensified
Hamas Seeks North Korea Support Against Israel as Munitions Run Low
Hamas and NKorea in secret arms deal

McConnell Submitted Bill to Keep Harry Reid from Exploiting Israel's Iron Dome in
Border Crisis Package [BHO is so devious, such prophylaxis is needed.]
In phone call with Netanyahu, Obama stressed need for immediate Gaza cease-fire
IRON DOME

Goal of Hamas Is Global Caliphate
Hamas chief: We cannot coexist with occupiers
Israel: Hamas Continues to Utilize Human Shields as Israeli Cabinet Rejects Kerry Proposals
Palestinian Mosques: Arsenals or Houses of God?

UN Human Rights Council Accused Israel of 'Acting in Gaza Like the Nazis' [they seem
conveniently to have forgotten already that the UNRWA school had missileswhich they
returned to Hamas]

IDF Spokesperson Announcement
Findings of IDF Inquiry of the UNRWA School Incident in Beit Hanoun
July 27, 2014
Location: Tel Aviv

Since Thursday, July 24, 2014, the IDF has conducted a comprehensive
inquiry regarding the incident in which the UNRWA school was fired
upon. The inquiry concluded that during the intense fighting between
IDF forces and Hamas militants, the militants operated adjacent to the
UNRWA school. The militants fired anti-tank missiles at IDF soldiers,
who then responded by firing several mortars in their direction.

The inquiry and the documented footage presented here concluded
that a single errant mortar landed in the courtyard of the UNRWA
school, when it was completely empty.

The IDF stresses it does not operate or target international
organizations in the Gaza Strip, and the ongoing coordination conducted
via the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)
is continuous without change, even during times of combat.

In light of the inquiry's findings, the IDF rejects the claims that were
made by various officials immediately following the incident, that
people were killed in the school premises as a result of IDF operational
activity.

Graham: U.N. move 'anti-Semitic'

'This is an Offensive War': An Inside Look at the Campaign to Take Down Hamas
Why Gaza must go [by MARTIN SHERMAN, JPOST] - The only durable solution requires dismantling Gaza,
humanitarian relocation of the non-belligerent Arab population, and extension of Israeli sovereignty
over the region.
Netanyahu: Future funds to rebuild Gaza must be linked to its demilitarization
Israel must destroy Hamas now because Israels technological advantage may soon disappear, as per
input from a member of the military; Iran is currently transferring to Hamas more capable missile
guidance; future Hamas rockets will be guided by GPS and have the ability for evasive trajectories. Thus,
the hypothetical Israeli casualties that were avoided by Israels employment of Iron Dome will become
actual Israeli casualties in the future engagement; this is why Hamas looks forward to an eventual truce
during which they will reorganize.

Regarding PR, great resources include the israel video network, Israpundit [Palestinian people
are an invention], and Breitbart [Wonder Woman Gal Gadot Slams Hamas 'Cowards' Who Hide
Behind Women and Children and No, Supporting Hamas is Not 'Feminist'].

Hamas Tunnel Threat at Center of War with Israel
What You Need To Know About The Tunnels That Bring Life And Death Into Gaza
Hamas Admits to Killing More than 100 Children to Build Tunnels
IDF Develops Tunnel Detection Technology; Expert: Retaking Philadelphi Corridor Now an Option -
Canadian expert Paul Bauman, whose team discovered Atlantis off the coast of Spain, has worked with
the IDF in the past
IDF didnt follow up on MRI-style, below-surface technology to find tunnels

Egypt army destroyed 13 more Gaza tunnels

Forty-Third IDF Soldier Killed in Gaza Overnight [by Ted Belman]; since the "humanitarian
ceasefire" started on Friday evening 8 soldiers were killed.
Bolton: International Opinion Can go Take a Flying Leap!

The best way to appreciate what has animated the cease-fire badminton-game is first to appreciate the
flurry of reports that accompanied recognition that 86.5% of Israelis oppose cease-fire:

Israel extended Gaza truce until Sunday despite Hamas rocket fire - Security Cabinet
voted in favor of UN humanitarian ceasefire after Hamas answers Israels extended four-
hour lull with rocket fire; Hamas: No deal if Israel does not remove forces, source: Calm
in fighting means we can focus on dismantling Gaza tunnels.
Hamas Rejects 4-Hour Gaza War Truce Extension
Israel Rejects 7-Day Ceasefire, Agrees to 12-Hour Ceasefire
Israel, Hamas to observe 12-hour cease-fire
Netanyahu: Hamas violating own ceasefire
Israel extends Gaza truce until Sunday despite Hamas rocket fire
Israel, Hamas to observe 12-hour cease-fire
Netanyahu: Hamas violating own ceasefire
ROCKETS FIRED AT ISRAEL AS EXTENDED TRUCE REJECTED

As Israel methodically degraded the Hamas tunnels [although there may be as many as 5000 of them,
including branches], Obama and Kerry galloped to the rescue of Hamas; the destruction of the tunnels
continued unabated during cease-fires, and the IDF is now set for electronic and signals control of
Hamas, Islamic Jihad command centers, after rocket fire [according to DEBKA]:

Before it ended with Hamas rocket fire Saturday night, July 26, the 12-hour ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas was used by both parties for regrouping, re-arming,
strengthening fortifications and digging in current lines and positions while the sights
and sounds of devastation in the Gaza Strip came fully to light. The pause in hostilities
also offered Israeli forces a valuable opportunity for collecting intelligence. In the heat
of the fighting, the IDF and its clandestine arms were unable despite strenuous efforts
to obtain electronic and SIGINT access to the hidden Hamas and Islamic Jihad command
and control centers.

Nevertheless, Israeli Officials were 'Horrified' at Kerry Ceasefire Proposal, for it constituted a 'Complete
Cave-In' to Hamas. Reprinted in their entirety are three versions [DAVID HOROVITZ, ARLENE KUSHNER,
and J.J.GOLDBERG] of what occurred [annotated]; note that #3 has been composed by a leftie:

John Kerry: The betrayal
Astoundingly, the secretarys intervention in the Hamas war empowers the Gaza
terrorist government bent on destroying Israel

BY DAVID HOROVITZ July 27, 2014, 2:55 pm


When The Times of Israels Avi Issacharoff first reported the content of John Kerrys
ceasefire proposal on Friday afternoon, I wondered if something had gotten lost in
translation. It seemed inconceivable that the American secretary of state would have
drafted an initiative that, as a priority, did not require the dismantling of Hamass
rocket arsenal and network of tunnels dug under the Israeli border. Yet the reported
text did not address these issues at all, nor call for the demilitarization of Gaza.

It seemed inconceivable that the secretarys initiative would specify the need to address
Hamass demands for a lifting of the siege of Gaza, as though Hamas were a legitimate
injured party acting in the interests of the people of Gaza rather than the terror
group that violently seized control of the Strip in 2007, diverted Gazas resources to its
war effort against Israel, and could be relied upon to exploit any lifting of the siege in
order to import yet more devastating weaponry with which to kill Israelis.
Israel and the US are meant to be allies; the US is meant to be committed to the
protection of Israel in this most ruthless of neighborhoods; together, the US and Israel
are meant to be trying to marginalize the murderous Islamic extremism that threatens
the free world. Yet here was the top US diplomat appearing to accommodate a vicious
terrorist organization bent on Israels destruction, with a formula that would leave
Hamas better equipped to achieve that goal.
The appalled response to the Kerry proposal by the members of the security cabinet on
Friday night, however, made plain nothing had gotten lost in translation at all. The
secretarys proposal managed to unite Israels disparate group of key political leaders
from Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman on the right, through Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, to Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni on the center-left in a unanimous
response of horrified rejection and leaked castigation.
The Netanyahu government has had no shortage of run-ins with Kerry in the mere 18
months he has held office. The prime minister publicly pleaded with him in November
not to sign the interim deal with Iran on its rogue nuclear program, and there has been
constant friction between the two governments over thwarting Irans bid for the bomb.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in January ridiculed Kerrys security proposals for a
West Bank withdrawal, calling the secretary messianic and obsessive in his quest for
an accord with the Palestinians that simply wasnt there. The collapse of the talks in
March-April was accompanied by allegations from Jerusalem that Kerry had botched the
process, telling Israel one thing and the Palestinian Authority another, including
misrepresenting Israels position on Palestinian prisoner releases.
But none of those episodes, though deeply troubling and relating to issues central to
Israels well-being, provoked the kind of outraged disbelief at Kerrys performance that
has been emanating from the Israeli leadership in the past 48 hours. Leaked comments
from unnamed senior government sources to Army Radio, Channel 2 and other
Hebrew outlets have described the secretary as amateurish, incompetent, incapable of
understanding the material he is dealing with in short, a blithering fool.
But actually, its worse than that. What emerges from Kerrys self-initiated ceasefire
mission Israel had already accepted the Egyptian ceasefire proposal; and nobody
asked him to come out on a trip he prefaced with sneering remarks about Israels
attempted pinpoint strikes on Hamas terror targets is that Jerusalem now regards
him as duplicitous and dangerous.
Contrary to his public claim at his press conference in Cairo that his ceasefire proposal
was built on the Egyptian initiative, it manifestly is nothing of the kind. As indicated by
the unconfirmed text reported by Issacharoff, by other subsequent reports of its
content, and by the cabinets outraged rejection, it is a proposal that, to quote an
unnamed official cited by Channel 2, tunneled under the Egyptian initiative, a
document, to quote from another of those leaked comments, that reads like it was
drawn up for or even by Hamass Khaled Mashaal.
And Kerry didnt let up after unleashing his dreadful proposal. Following Fridays fiasco,
he jetted off to Paris and, quite extraordinarily, convened further consultations
dominated by countries that overtly wish to do Israel harm. He met with his
counterparts from Turkey, whose Hamas-backing leadership has lately accused Israel of
attempting genocide in Gaza and compared Netanyahu to Hitler, and with Qatar,
Hamass funder in chief, directly accused by president Shimon Peres last week of
financing Hamass rockets and tunnels. Staggeringly, he did not bring Israel, Egypt, or
the PA to his Paris sessions.
There were further leaks from the cabinet at the weekend to the effect that Netanyahu
and his colleagues did not formally announce their unanimous rejection of Kerrys
ceasefire proposal to avoid provoking a public diplomatic confrontation with Israels
most important ally. Instead, word of the rejection was allowed to find its way out. That
seems rather quaint given what is clearly a major crisis in Israel-US ties at a time when
Israel finds itself in the midst of a complex and costly war.
When Kerrys predecessor, Hillary Clinton, got involved in the effort to broker terms for
ending Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, it was self-evident, first, that a
ceasefire was at hand, and, second, that the diplomatic work was being coordinated
effectively with Jerusalem to ensure that Israels vital interests were being served. It is a
testament to Kerrys incompetence (or worse), and to the collapse of faith between him
and Israel, that, when he headed ignominiously home on Saturday, neither of those
assumptions held sway.
Whether through ineptitude, malice, or both, Kerrys intervention was not a case of
Americas top diplomat coming to our region to help ensure, through astute
negotiation, the protection of a key ally. This was a betrayal.

Time to Finish the Threat

By Arlene Kushner - July 27, 2014 at 04:30PM

I only intend to review the essential outline of what has been transpiring and then look
at the bottom line basics that matter most.
~~~~~~~~~~
In the period leading up to Shabbat, on Friday, Israel was said to be considering a
proposal for a week long ceasefire that had been put on the table by Kerry. In the end,
that proposal was unanimously rejected by the Israel Security Cabinet; its members
were, to a person, furious: Kerry had come out solidly on the side of Hamas.
Communicating with representatives of Qatar and Turkey in putting together his
proposal, Kerry had, in the words of unnamed Israeli sources cited by Times of Israel,
dug a tunnel under the Egyptian ceasefire proposal which Israel accepted and
Hamas rejected last week and presented the Israeli government with a text that
accepted most of the demands raised by Hamas...
To the horror of the Israeli ministers, the Kerry proposal accepted Hamass demands
for the opening of border crossings into Gaza where Israel and Egypt fear the
import of weaponry; the construction of a seaport; and the creation of a post-conflict
funding channel for Hamas from Qatar and other countries, according to the sources.
The proposal, meanwhile, did not even provide for Israel to continue demolishing the
Hamas network of terror tunnels dug under the Israeli border. (All emphasis added)
Channel 2s diplomatic reporter Udi Segal said voices from the cabinet had described
Kerry as negligent, lacking the ability to understand the issues, and incapable of
handling the most basic matters.
I myself think describing Kerry thus is cutting him too much slack. He is not the rocket
scientist of the diplomatic world, true. But hes not so foolish that he cannot perceive
the implications of failing to call for demolishing the terror tunnels into Israel. What we
are seeing is not an attempt to stop the fighting that is simply lacking in conceptual
clarity. Were seeing an ally of Hamas express his distain and malice toward the people
of Israel. Make no mistake about this, or about the fact that Kerry speaks for the man in
the White House.
Times of Israel editor David Horovitz calls what Kerry did a betrayal, and says the
result is that Jerusalem now regards him as duplicitous and dangerous.
This is an awakening that I see as all to the good.

~~~~~~~~~~

Subsequent to this, Kerry went to Paris where he met with representatives of Qatar and
Turkey to continue working on the ceasefire. I believe he met there as well with Ban
Ki Moon, whom my readers know well as another duplicitous anti-Israel diplomat.
Should you feel inclined (you may not), you can see here a recent video of a press
conference with Netanyahu and Ban. Our prime minister very vividly lays out the picture
of what we are contending with regarding Hamas, after which Ban professes sympathy
and then advises us that we cannot solve the problem until there is no more
occupation and a two state solution. We should start talking to each other.
Today, Ban made a comment about how the people of Gaza have suffered enough. As if
we were causing that suffering on purpose and calling a halt to it is all that matters.
~~~~~~~~~~
After Israel rejected the week-long ceasefire that had been proposed by Kerry, Ban Ki
Moon, in Paris, working with other diplomats, called for a short humanitarian
ceasefire to allow supplies to be brought in and the dead to be brought out to be
honored from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM yesterday. That was accomplished.
The UN then asked that the ceasefire be extended for another day. We agreed to four
more hours. But at 8:01 PM Hamas started firing again, declaring that We didnt agree
to an extension. In spite of this, we held our fire.
Yet another extension another day of ceasefire was then requested and at about
midnight last night the Security Cabinet met again (they are in very frequent session)
and voted to agree to that further extension I believe 20 hours - even though it was a
one-sided ceasefire. It was about at that point that I went into my WHAT ARE THEY
DOING? mode.
Today we started shelling in Gaza again, because Hamas did not honor the ceasefire and
enough was enough.
~~~~~~~~~~
AFTER we started shooting again, Hamas suddenly decided a ceasefire was a good idea
after all, and called for it to be mutually instituted. This time Netanyahu said, Nothing
doing. Hamas had violated five ceasefires, two in the last 24 hours. Just since midnight
last night, Hamas has launched over 40 rockets.
~~~~~~~~~~
One can readily see, reading this description of what has been transpiring, how the head
might spin. But the precise details are not important its the bigger picture that
matters.
There have been many questions raised about how much work was being done on
dismantling the tunnels during times when we were holding fire. Ive gotten different
reports on this from various sources, but my sense is that very little was done. Thus do
these humanitarian ceasefires unsettle me because they have the potential to shut us
down a little at a time. Before everything we have set out to do has been done.
~~~~~~~~~~
However, in the end, its not just about dismantling the tunnels we have uncovered: The
stark truth is that we are not going to get all of the tunnels.
Several times I have a great sense of unease as our prime minister has said, We are
moving ahead with our goals, but there is no guarantee we will get 100% of the
tunnels. And slowly, the picture has become clear.
Reports say we have identified about 35 tunnels. I cited a report from Steve Emerson
the other day that said the Americans, utilizing infrared censors in a satellite, had
identified 60 tunnels. Just today I picked up reliable information that, from the
terrorists we have arrested in Gaza, we have learned that there are somewhere
between 70 and 100 tunnels.
What is more, we are not fully dismantling all of those tunnels we have identified a
difficult job because of that reinforced concrete.
We are, at least in some cases, apparently doing such things as detonating charges at
the mouths of tunnels and pouring sand into them. Is it far-fetched to wonder whether
some of them would be able to be reinstated as working tunnels with some effort by
Hamas?
~~~~~~~~~~
Preventing Hamas from using these tunnels is the top priority now. A major story has
been making the news about what Hamas had planned. Ive heard alternately that
written plans for this were picked up inside of some of the tunnels, or that the
information came from some of the terrorists who have been captured. I cannot verify
the story and thus normally would not even mention it. But it sounds like something
Hamas might have been planning. They didnt build the tunnels for recreation. If it
wasnt this, it would be something similar:
Hamas had apparently been preparing a murderous assault on Israeli civilian targets for
the coming Jewish New Year Holiday, Rosh Hashanah, which begins on September 24,
according anonymous sources in the Israeli security services, as reported today by the
Israeli daily Maariv.
The Hamas plan consisted of what was to be a surprise attack in which 200 fighters
would be dispatched through each of dozens of tunnels dug by Hamas under the
border from Gaza to Israel, and seize kibbutzim and other communities while killing
and kidnapping Israeli civilians. (Emphasis added)
~~~~~~~~~~
So, if we take out 45 tunnels and 15 or 20 remain each with several exit points in
Israel? It does not bear thinking about. But we have to think about it.
Other means must be devised for preventing this. The threat must be finished. And it
remains the responsibility of the government to do so.

~~~~~~~~~~

It is very much to the good that Netanyahu is saying that the only ceasefire proposal on
the table is Egypts, and that the rehabilitation of Gaza will depend on its
demilitarization:
There is, as well, the need for the development of techniques at the Gaza border on our
side that will reveal any underground activity, or interfere with it. There are many
cutting-edge engineers we can draw upon. We think out of the box: We need the
attention and the dedication to see this through.
~~~~~~~~~~
What I ask, then, is that you please write to PM Netanyahu. Let him know that you are
with him as he stands strong that standing strong against all demands that weaken
Israel is imperative. Tell him that the job must be done right. Hamas must be
sufficiently weakened or eliminated, so that it is no longer a threat to Israel. In
particular, Hamas must be totally blocked from its ability to attack Jews in Israel via
tunnels. The nation of Israel is depending upon him; and the Western world requires his
model of strength and determination.
E-mail: Memshala@pmo.gov.il also pm_eng2@it.pmo.gov.il (underscore after pm) use
both addresses.
~~~~~~~~~~
The rockets also must be contended with. Some tens of thousands remain (in truth, we
cannot be certain precisely how many). They present less of an immediate threat than
the prospect of large scale attacks via tunnels because of Iron Dome and our use of
shelters. But this threat, too, must be eliminated.
You will note that a constant refrain of Hamas is that their borders must be opened.
This would facilitate the transfer of more rockets into Gaza. And I mention here that
Hamas reportedly expects to acquire new rockets from North Korea:
Hamas [has] signed an arms deal with North Korea in order to replenish its depleted
rocket arsenal...according to The Telegraph.
In an exclusive report the British paper sited senior security sources who claimed that
the deal, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, had already been signed, having been
made via Lebanese intermediaries. Hamas has reportedly made an initial down
payment in cash to Pyongyang, and is hoping for an imminent delivery to Gaza.
These plans signal the attitude of Hamas leaders they are not feeling defeated, but
want to pick and go on. Our methods of dealing with them must be informed by their
attitude.
~~~~~~~~~~
As of today, 43 of our soldiers have died.
~~~~~~~~~~
A new poll indicates that 86.5% of Israelis do not want a ceasefire now.
The spirit of the nation is incredible, as people gather to pray for the soldiers, and pack
gift packages to bring to them. Almost everyone is involved somehow.

Gaza Tunnels: How They Work, What Israel Knew
By J.J. Goldberg - July 26, 2014, 4:45pm


In my last post I promised to translate Alex Fishmans Friday column in Yediot Ahronot
discussing Hamass tunnels. Here it is.
He briefly traces Israels growing awareness of the problem over more than a decade.
He reaches much the same conclusion as Nahum Barnea: the fact is that everyone
saw, everyone knew, everyone understood, and yet the test of results ended in
failure
Theres a lively debate right now in the Hebrew press over whether or not Israel
realized the full extent of the threat. That is, given that the threats existence was long
known, is there any truth to the claim that Israel was surprised? Ive got some links
below to follow the debate if your Hebrew is up to it. It cant be understated how
misleading the English-language reporting on the topic has been; more on that below,
after the translation.
Both Barnea and Fishman conclude, as my translations show, that the IDF and
government knew enough to grasp the full dimensions of the threat, if not the details
of every tunnel, long before this operation. Whether or not theyre right will be
determined soon enough, as Harel writes. I generally read Barnea and Fishman first
because theyre commonly described as the best informed, best connected and
smartest in the field in Israel Barnea in political analysis, Fishman in reporting from
inside the mind of the military. Unfortunately, Yediot doesnt publish on line its Ynet
site is a fully separate publication and doesnt translate its print material into English.
My translations are as literal as I can make them.
Ive often heard friends and readers in the last few weeks expressing bewilderment that
the IDF had such a hard time finding technology to locate tunnels or detect excavation
in real time. Fishman wrote about that a few weeks ago. His basic thrust was that
normal sensor equipment is only effective down to about 10 meters, and Hamas
attack tunnels are around 25 meters down. And the sophisticated equipment used for
oil and gas exploration is too sensitive for concrete structures just 25 meters down
theyre looking for tiny signals from miles down, and closer to the surface they tend to
go off whenever a truck goes by.
Anyway, heres Fishman:
Damaging the National Project
On Wednesday this week the defense minister returned to the Gaza
Strip to examine the destruction of the tunnels. When he was at the
headquarters of the division in charge of cleaning out Sejaiyeh, fire
opened up from the windows of Wafa Hospital, whose patients had
been evacuated at the beginning of the week after Israels Coordinator
of Government Activities in the Territories directly approached the
hospital director and asked him to leave. Since then the place had been
officially converted into a forward position of the Izz a-Din al-Qassem
Brigades.
The defense minister immediately authorized the destruction of the
building, and an air force plane eliminated it. The secondary explosions
that were heard long after the bombing made clear that the hospital
had been serving not only as a firing position but as a storehouse for
rockets. The patients were lying directly above huge quantities of
explosives.
By the middle of this week the army had destroyed most of the tunnel
exits on the Israeli side and near it. The problem is destroying the
tunnels along their full length. It turns out that Hamas built the tunnels
in a cluster pattern. Each one of the terrorist organizations six brigades
was given responsibility for tunneling in its sector and dug tunnels, one
alongside the other, in pairs or threes. Channels were dug between the
tunnels to connect them. Each tunnel had a number of exits, to permit
the scattering of the forces that emerged from them. Hamass tunnel
planner took account of the fact that there are communities and
military camps scattered around the Israeli side of the Gaza border, and
tried to concentrate the tunnel cluster in the direction of strategic
locations. Thus when an order was given, the men would be able to
break out simultaneously through numerous shafts and scatter across a
broad sector of Israeli territory. If one tunnel collapsed or was exposed
they could simply cross over to the next. From their point of view it was
a project of genuinely national scale. For the purpose of breakout
Hamas trained select forces, since it required descending to a depth of
up to 25 meters [80 feet or about 7 or 8 stories jjg] and movement
along hundreds of meters, up to a kilometer [0.6 of a mile], carrying a
full load of equipment thats reminiscent of IDF equipment, and with
very little oxygen. At each opening a storeroom was prepared with
combat equipment for a combat unit consisting of 15 to 17 men at
every invasion point.
In the 2007 annual report of the State Comptroller [Israels national
government inspector general jjg], the army itself is quoted speaking
about the danger of the attack tunnels. Between 2001 and 2004, 14
soldiers were killed as a result of activity that emerged from the tunnels,
whether the blowing up a military installation, encounters with
terrorists emerging from tunnel shafts or in the course of activity to
locate them. The military personnel who say that everyone knew about
the danger are correct. The defense minister, too, relates that just in the
last year we have attacked four tunnels, and that during the current
activity intelligence personnel are leading the forces directly to the
tunnel mouths. The infiltrations into Israeli territory carried out during
Operation Protective Edge have been interdicted, some at the cost of
soldiers lives, and have not ultimately reached any communities or
military installations.
And still, the fact is that everyone saw, everyone knew, everyone
understood, and yet the test of results ended in failure. Miraculously,
Hamass combat doctrine did not speak of fighters emerging
simultaneously from all the tunnels in the first stage of a campaign, but
preferred the use of medium- and long-range rockets as the opening
strike. Its true that the line in the IDF Southern Command was on the
alert in the last few months for a scenario of breaking out of tunnels,
but its doubtful whether it would have been possible to prevent all the
incidents of bloodshed or kidnapping.
The preparations that Hamas undertook in the area of tunneling, rocket
production, smuggling military equipment, training forces and
strengthening their endurance all point to one clear conclusion: this is
not an army of barefoot hooligans. There is planning, command,
technology and doctrine. Its possible to tip ones hat to their
professionalism for a moment, before going in and demolishing their
national projects.
Shai Gal at Mako-Channel 2 runs through a 20-year history of failed efforts to find a
technological solution and debates over whether it really mattered. Yoav Zeitun at Ynet
details some proposed solutions developed and scrapped over the years. This piece by
Doron Nahum at Nana-Channel 10, from November 2013, describes the mounting alarm
inside the IDF over the scope of the problem, culminating in a decision to send soldiers
out on foot patrols to look for whatever they could find.
This piece by Pazit Ravina in Maariv puts the blame on former (2005-07) IDF chief of
staff Dan Halutz, who she says bulked up the air force budget at the expense of tunnel
research. Its one of several claiming solutions could have been found given enough
effort and money; blame is variously placed on the IDF or Treasury. Haaretzs Amos
Harel, writing (in English!) last Monday, says regardless of whether the IDF was fully
aware of the problems scope, it knew enough and the failure to resolve earlier is about
to become a major national scandal.
As for English-language reporting on the issue, nothing captures the insipid quality
more vividly than an exchange yesterday on the revered PBS News Hour. Anchor Gwen
Ifill started it off with a question to a Washington pundit, opening with the observation
that Israel regards the tunnels as a strategic threat while Hamas considers them an
economic lifeline. Shes talking about two entirely distinct and dissimilar sets of tunnels.
The ones leading south into the Sinai city of Rafah were the economic lifeline. Theyve
been demolished by Egypt, which was able to locate them on its side of the border
because the openings were cargo loading and unloading zones. The ones leading east
into Israel are entirely useless as economic channels, leading only to empty fields near
Israeli villages and IDF installations. Theyre entirely military in nature. Israel cant easily
find them on its side of the fence because theyre not opened until an attack is
mounted. Hence the technology dilemma.

pamela gellers input:
o Huffington Post, Ahmadi Muslim leader Qasim Rashid whitewash Qurans teaching about
subjugating Infidels
o IDF Calls Out UN for Lying About Gaza Civilian Casualties
o Nigeria: Devout Muslims of Boko Haram Kill 75 with Two Bomb Blasts
o Saturday Night Cinema: The Awful Truth
o Colorado convert to Islam charged with conspiracy to aid Islamic State
o Israel: Muslim Drives into Crowd of Jews
o Pro-Hamas Muslims and Leftists Defy Ban in Paris in Support of terror Against Israel
o Massive Hamas Mega-Attack Planned for Jewish New Year Through Gaza Terror Tunnels
o Hamas Violates Ceasefire Again
o Obamas Epic Failure: U.S. Evacuates Embassy Compound In Libya Amid Jihad Fighting
o Hamas murders 25 Palestinians
o Israel uncovers Hamas tunnel filled with maps, weapons, and IDF uniforms
o Iranian FM: Iran will not allow Israel to continue assault, Huge al-Quds Day rallies call
for Death to Israel
o France jails pro-Hamas terror rioters
o Jihad in Thailand: Huge Thailand truck bomb kills, maims
o VIDEO: Hamas members brutally beating civilians of Gaza who leave their homes
following IDF warning
o Bennett to Sky News anchor: Do you want to fight instead of us in Gaza?
o IDF Sets Up Hospital for Gazans
o Police Storm Diverted Flight After Muslim Makes Bomb Threat on Sunwing Flight 772
o Sharia in Lebanon: Australian Woman Charged with Adultery; I would put a bullet
between her eyes, says her brother, I hope she rots in hell
o Two years ago Australian homicide bomber Adam Dahman was your typical northern
suburbs teen..
o Paris: Jew beaten after Facebook page publishes pics of French Jews



Great quote from Hamas