Gaza incursion

I posted on the Israeli incursion into Gaza today at The Blue Voice:  The US and threats to Israel.

Below are some news links on the action:

Hamas arrests planned weeks ago; G8: Move raises 'concerns' by Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel Ha'aretz 06/29/06:

The detention of Hamas parliamentarians in the early hours of Thursday morning had been planned several weeks ago and received approval from Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Wednesday. The same day, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin presented Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with the list of Hamas officials slated for detention.

The Group of Eight industrialized countries said Thursday that the Hamas arrests raised "particular concerns."

A Justice Ministry spokesperson said that the change in policy towards ministers and parliamentarians who are members of Hamas was carried out with the approval of and in coordination with the judiciary, and that Israel intends on arresting more Hamas officials.

The U.S. and Gaza / Sit quietly and do nothing by Shmuel Rosner Ha'aretz 06/29/06:

"Firing Qassam rockets at the defense minister's town, that's quite provocative," a senior American official told Haaretz with a smile a few days ago.

The message was clear: If someone provokes you, it's okay to respond. Even by force. "The Palestinians know what they have to do," he said. As long as they don't do it, they have no one to complain to. This, then, is the American modus operandi on the current season: sit quietly and do nothing. Or, as one official said more bluntly, "let the Palestinians sweat a little."

Anyway, the U.S. is preoccupied with other important matters. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the midst of a trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia and has no time for the Israeli-Palestinian arena. Israel's ambassador in Washington, Daniel Ayalon, has been briefing the two senior White House envoys Elliot Abrams and David Welch on the developments. They repeat the familiar, cautious, measured administration responses: "Israel has the right to defend itself ... avoid unnecessary harm to civilians ... maintain restraint ..."

Israel's return to Gaza: multiple motives/The Palestinian-Israeli standoff goes beyond one kidnapped soldier - for both sides by Ilene R. Prusher and Joshua Mitnick Christian Science Monitor 06/29/06:

To be sure, the escalating conflict is about more than just one kidnapped soldier. After Palestinian groups launched more than 170 homemade rockets on Israel in the course of a month, there has been increased domestic pressure on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to do something to stop the attacks.

Analysts say that unlike former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who had a history of taking an aggressive military stance, Mr. Olmert is considered relatively "untested" as a national leader, making it harder for him to display patience. Mr. Sharon and cabinet members who supported the disengagement plan - Olmert included - said that once Israel was no longer occupying Gaza, it would respond harshly.

Still, some Israeli news commentators worried in the morning papers whether Israel was about to get bogged down in Gaza again. Olmert said in a speech in Jerusalem that the operation would be limited. "We have no intention of recapturing the Gaza Strip. We have no intention of staying there."

On Nizmit Hill, however, where the crash of a Kassam rocket could be heard and felt, soldiers mused that Israel would wind up spending much longer here than it did during the week-long evacuation of settlers from Gaza.

Israel denies tactical role of arrests Aljazeera 06/29/06:

The Israeli army has denied it arrested Palestinian government ministers in an attempt to pressure the Palestinian Resistance Committees group into releasing an Israeli soldier kidnapped by them on Sunday.

Mark Regev, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said the arrests were "due to the fact that Hamas over the last few weeks has escalated terror attacks against Israel".
 
Jacob Dalal, an army spokesman, said: "They are not being used as bargaining chips. These are people with terrorist records, with allegations and charges pending against them."

Israel Detains Hamas Leaders, Settler Killed Der Spiegel Online 06/29/06:

Israeli war planes flew over Syria on Wednesday to threaten exiled Hamas leaders there. And Palestinian militants said they had killed an 18-year-old Israeli settler they kidnapped in the West Bank.

International concern is mounting, with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urging restraint and warning that the crisis risks inflaming tensions across the region.

At least seven ministers and 20 members of parliament were among Hamas officials rounded up in several West Bank towns by Israelis on Wednesday night, according to Palestinian officials, in a move seen as upping the pressure on Palestinian militants to release Shalit.

Israeli troops seized Finance Minister Omar Abdel-Razeq and eight other cabinet members, along with nearly 20 legislators of the governing Islamist group, Palestinian officials said, Reuters reported. Israel said 64 Hamas officials in all were taken into custody.

Reflections on the USS Liberty and Gilad Shalit: Disproportionate Response by Steve Clemons, Washington Note blog 06/29/06:

A group of armed Palestinians, some connected to the militant wing of Hamas, did penetrate Israel's border security and did kidnap a young soldier, Gilad Shalit. ...

Since then, Israel has been on a rampage and has permitted emotion and knee-jerk, overzealous responses prevail over measured and sober approaches that might not have only helped get the Israeli soldier freed but made some progress in establishing a climate to talk about the bigger picture of an Israeli-Palestinian solution.

Now Israel is not only blowing up bridges and power plants but has arrested dozens of Hamas ministers and lawmakers. Israel is arresting symbols of the Palestinian government - and edging this situation to potential full-out war. Condi Rice is urging restraint, but Israel seems out of control. ...

Israel would do well to go reacquaint itself with the USS Liberty, which Israelis fired on killing American servicemen. I have had a discussion with someone who was the former head of the U.S. National Security Agency who has no doubt at all that Israel's attack on the U.S. ship was purposeful and not an accident, as Israelis and Americans eager to cover up the incident have asserted.

America's response was measured and put in context - whether one agrees withthat or not. Israel got a huge pass.

(The attack on the USS Liberty is a favorite grievance nurtured by the anti-Semitic right.  From everything I've read by Steve Clemons, including this post, I do not associate him at all with such a viewpoint.  The Liberty incident really did happen.  And this seems to me to be a perfectly legitimate way of using the incident to illustrate his point.)