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Unhappy at inheriting a quiescent Middle East where Israel and the Arab world are developing economic, security, and diplomatic ties and Iran is so cash-strapped that it is finding it difficult to fund its terrorist operations, the Biden bunch is, in a flashback from the Obama administration, attempting to bolster Iran as the regional superpower while limiting assistance and cooperation with our Arab allies and with Israel. The same sort of big-brain thinking that gave us the Arab Spring, a terrorist state in Libya, ethnic cleansing and genocide in Syria, and made Iraq into a de facto Iranian satrapy is now trying to encourage the Palestinians to engage in a new intifada. //
The success of Iron Dome and the astonishing lack of casualties on both sides should be a cause for hope and celebration among sane people but such folk are in short supply on the pages of the Washington Post. For instance, there is this from the Washington Post’s aptly named “Monkey Cage” section that purports to provide “Analysis:” Israel’s Iron Dome defense system protects Israeli lives. It also perpetuates the Israel-Gaza conflict. //
Consider this for a moment. You have a defensive system that protects Israelis from Hamas terrorism and because it is damned effective, there is no political pressure on the Israeli government to conduct a punitive expedition into the terrorist stronghold of Gaza. This saves the lives of Israeli soldiers and Gazan civilians. Yet, the system is bad because it saves lives, renders Hamas terrorism ineffective, and Israel is not bludgeoned into accepting a victory by the terrorists. This is an incredible admission that the Washington Post stands foursquare with Hamas terrorists and their methods and endorses the idea that the more people killed the better. //
In 2014, the WaPo ran another op-ed, with the same message headlined _The missiles keeping Israel safe may do more long-term harm than good-. //
First off, saving lives is a good thing. I think there is one of those “commandment” thingies about it in some religious book or the other, I’m pretty sure. Saving lives from terrorist attacks is something that civilized people celebrate. Second, as someone who knew something about armed conflict, that would be Carl von Clausewitz, observed a while back, war is just a continuation of political intercourse by other means. Negotiations and rocket attacks are just different points on the conflict continuum with the same objective. The conflict ends when both sides agree that there is nothing to gain from pursuing said conflict. Third, there is no evidence, anywhere, that negotiating with a terrorist state that preaches literal genocide produces a better or more permanent outcome than just killing them. Killing terrorists without losing your own soldiers or killing innocent civilians in large numbers is a good thing. Trust me. It really is.
The Jerusalem Post also wasn’t quite buying that whole AP statement, based on past history.
After Operation Protective Edge in 2014, former AP reporter Matti Friedman wrote in The Atlantic: “Hamas understood that reporters could be intimidated when necessary and that they would not report the intimidation… The AP staff in Gaza City would witness a rocket launch right beside their office, endangering reporters and other civilians nearby – and the AP wouldn’t report it, not even in AP articles about Israeli claims that Hamas was launching rockets from residential areas.”
So, either they’re incredibly ignorant or they knew and they’re not being truthful. Either way, not a good look there, AP.
Julie Pace
@jpaceDC
So stunned. Our @AP bureau in Gaza has been destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. //
LIVE footage of the moment an Israeli air raid bombed the offices of Al Jazeera and The Associated Press in Gaza City ⬇️
🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/RvtP1lEX1x pic.twitter.com/RBO1ZiDAl0
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 15, 2021 //
This was decision by the AP to place their bureau offices within a known Hamas safehouse; the reason they did it was for journalistic access, never imagining that something like this might happen. Hamas, of course, WANTED either defense or for it to happen for propaganda. https://t.co/8c7vH9T5zU
— Jeff B. tried to do his best, but he could not (@EsotericCD) May 15, 2021 //
Pro tip:
Make sure your landlord isn’t Hamas.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) May 15, 2021 //
Israel Defense Forces
@IDF
Here's some important context to the headlines you’re seeing about Israel Defense Forces operations in the Gaza Strip
1/ Hamas has turned residential areas in the Gaza Strip into military strongholds.
It uses tall buildings in Gaza for multiple military purposes such as intelligence gathering, planning attacks, command and control, and communications.
2/ When Hamas uses a tall building for military purposes, it becomes a lawful military target.
3/ The Israel Defense Forces struck a number of such buildings in recent days, but before we did so, we took steps to try and ensure that civilians would not be harmed.
4/ We called the building's residents and warned them to leave. We sent SMS messages. We dropped "roof knocker" bombs; they make loud noises and hit only the roof. We provided sufficient time to evacuate.
5/ We'll say it again: When Hamas places military assets inside such a building, it becomes a lawful military target. This is clear international law.
This is the thread the world needs to see. //
Ben McDonald
@Bmac0507
The irony of mainstream media being headquartered in a Hamas building is too much for one Saturday
Yesterday, the Israeli Defense Forces publicly stated, “air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel Defense Forces
@IDF
IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.
5:22 PM · May 13, 2021
Turns out, it was a military trick to make Hamas identify where their tunnels were as Hamas responded to what they thought was an attack coming in on the ground. Which then exposed them to getting hit from the air by IDF. //
Daniel Pipes دانيال بايبس
@DanielPipes
The @IDF apparently faked a ground assault on Gaza by making announcements & moving troops. This brought #Hamas troops out of their tunnels & exposed them to a heavy air attack.
- That's the IDF of old–clever & innovative
- Go Chief of Staff #AvivKochavi //
A pretty neat military trick. They then became identifiable for the fighter jets. //
Israel Defense Forces
@IDF
The target: The Hamas ‘Metro’ tunnel system in Gaza.
The operation: 160 aircraft, tanks, artillery and infantry units along the border.
We struck 150 targets and damaged many kilometers of the Hamas ‘Metro’ network. //
Soldiers and tanks with drones equipped with night vision lay in wait for survivors as they surfaced, hitting them with aerial and ground fire. Snipers and missile units were also waiting for them on the ground as the IDF said it had carried out a ‘complex’ operation to destroy Hamas tunnels underneath Gaza City, which the military refers to as ‘the Metro’. //
The Original John Doe
28 minutes ago
8 hours ago (10 AM California time and 8 PM Israeli Time on Friday 5/14) according to the "Times of Israel" live blog "Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal tells a Turkish news agency that the Gaza terror group is ready for a ceasefire but has not received a response from Israel."
This means Hamas is running out of rockets. If Hamas runs out of rockets before a ceasefire they can't claim victory like they always do. This is also why Biden was holding off on asking for a ceasefire because Hamas wasn't ready for one. Now watch as Biden the UN and all other nations bend to Hamas and pressure Israel into a ceasefire.
Now is not the time to stop. When they run out of rockets, it is the time to send in the ground troops and take them out once and for all. Political ramifications be damned. Cease fire now and in 5 years they will be right back at it.
HOT TAKES: The Left is Incensed That Andrew Yang's Standing With Israel Against Terrorism – RedState
Information about these deaths hasn’t been confirmed and it’s possible they’re being exaggerated for political reasons. It’s also quite possible that this is true, but that has nothing to do with Israel being evil and everything to do with Hamas using citizens as human shields. The death of Palestinian civilians is worth as much as the deaths of Israelis to Hamas because then Hamas can use these civilian deaths on their own side as PR fodder.
Using children as human shields, in particular, is an old tactic of Hamas’s. A 2015 UN report stated that Hamas hid mortars and rockets in at least three UN schools and fired on Israel from at least two of them. They know that if Israel fires back, they’ll be firing on the school itself and the ignorant and gullible left in the western world will gnash teeth and rend clothing in rage over it.
Case in point, Andrew Yang can’t even condemn a terrorist attack by terrorists who use children as human shields without inducing screams and tantrums from the left on Twitter.
Perhaps the left should start condemning Hamas for the children’s deaths instead of Israel who can’t just let terrorists attack innocent civilians, including children, in perpetuity. It doesn’t make the deaths of children any less tragic, but if the left really wants to help these children, they’ll stop standing by and defending terrorist groups who harm children.
Let’s listen to Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger explain that whether or not Colonial Pipeline pays ransom to these attackers is a “private sector decision” when a reporter asks what they are going to do about it and what’s the timeline for this problem being addressed. //
Now, there are a lot of things to consider in such an attack, but when it’s a pipeline that is so critical to our infrastructure you don’t just fluff it off as if it really doesn’t matter, as though we don’t really give a darn or the impact isn’t significant to the country. They didn’t give the company any input or express an opinion? This is a national security issue and a serious federal crime. If you encourage the payment of ransom, you encourage similar attacks.
This incident involves an April 29 EL AL flight from New York to Tel Aviv. Flight LY2 was operated by a Boeing 787-9 with the registration code 4X-EDH, which is a roughly two year old aircraft that was delivered to the airline in October 2018.
While flying over Spain, the EL AL pilots informed air traffic control that they suspected a bomb had been planted on the aircraft. As a result, NATO made the decision to dispatch fighter jets, which intercepted and escorted the aircraft. Fighter jets from four different countries took part in this:
Spanish fighter jets escorted the aircraft from Spain to Italy
Then Italian fighter jets escorted the aircraft from Italy to Greece
Then Greek fighter jets escorted the aircraft through Greek airspace
Then when the plane entered Cyprus airspace, Israeli fighter jets escorted the aircraft back to Israel
Fortunately the plane landed safely in Tel Aviv about four hours after the original call was made to air traffic control about a bomb, and just under 10 hours after departing New York. The plane hasn’t flown since. //
Roman says:
May 1, 2021 at 2:14 pm
Fighters allow camera coverage in case a detonation occurs during flight, helps with investigation as to location on aircraft of explosive placement. Betting there is more to the story but will not allow another aircraft to be used again as a missile into a populated area after 9-11. Would have been ready to shoot down over water if intelligence warranted.
More than any other group in Lebanon, the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah bears responsibility for the conditions that led to the blast. //
According to an extensive report by Politico, the project “amassed evidence that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East-focused military and political organization into an international crime syndicate that some investigators believed was collecting $1 billion a year from drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering and other criminal activities.”
But allowing Project Cassandra to go forward would jeopardize the Iran deal, so the Obama administration undermined it as a matter of policy. At the same time, it advanced a policy of appeasement toward Hezbollah. Before he became CIA director under Obama, John Brennan advocated for “greater assimilation of Hezbollah into Lebanon’s political system,” and later said the administration was seeking to build up “moderate elements” in Hezbollah.
Project Cassandra members say the administration blocked their efforts to go after top Hezbollah operatives, investigate its envoy to Iran, or charge the group’s military wing as an ongoing criminal enterprise under federal racketeering laws. At every turn, the Obama administration protected Hezbollah.
Lebanon today, including the smoldering ruins of Beirut, is a dispiriting portrait of what happens when groups like Hezbollah are allowed to flourish and wield political power—and a powerful reminder that the United States should never encourage it.
What else would you call mobs who show up with spray paint, tools and ropes to destroy a historical landmark? //
Dana Loesch
✔
@DLoesch
· 16h
I’m curious, have you ever objected as vociferously whenever I and other law-abiding gun owners were referred to as “terrorists” on your network? We never vandalized monuments or burned down buildings. https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1276282556946747392 …
Brian Stelter
✔
@brianstelter
There we go again with the president using the word "terrorists" https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1276282321017151491 …
@DLoesch
I mean, there is a sitting congresswoman who called me and others “domestic security threats” but by all means, everyone clutch your pearls if the Antifa people burning down buildings, beating people in the streets, are referred to as “terrorists.”