Saturday, January 17, 2009

Israel Approves Unilateral Ceasefire; Gilad Shalit Still Held, Rockets Still Fall

The Israeli National Security Cabinet has approved a unilateral 10-day ceasefire, beginning at 7:00pm EST on Sunday. The 10-member cabinet voted 7-2 in favor of the ceasefire, with one abstaining.

However, Hamas continues to fire rockets into southern Israel, and Israeli POW Gilad Shalit is still being held by Hamas after over 934 days in captivity. Within minutes of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement of the ceasefire, Hamas launched six rockets that hit Be'er Sheva; Ashdod and Askelon were fired at shortly before Olmert's speech. No one was injured, although several people were treated for shock, and a house was damaged.

News also in Israel...

From Arutz Sheva:
Two captured terrorists interviewed by Maariv/NRG say that Hamas was not expecting Israel's response to the escalation in missile attacks on Israeli targets that preceded Operation Cast Lead. One of them, a 52-year-old victim of a premature detonation who had already done time in an Israeli jail, said, "Hamas took a gamble. We thought, at worst Israel will come and do something from the air - something superficial. They'll come in and go out. We never thought that we would reach the point where fear will swallow the heart and the feet will want to flee. You [Israel] are fighting like you fought in '48. What got into you all of a sudden?"
When the IDF gets going, terrorists begin to melt. It has been reported that many Hamas terrorists deserted during Israel's Operation Cast Lead.

The organization and preparation of the IDF is much more evident in this operation, as opposed to the Lebanan action a few years back. The results show through.

1 comment:

  1. Israel unilaterally declared a ceasefire yesterday. Of course it quickly vanished when Hamas fired five rockets into Israel. Hamas does not want to cease fire unless it is on their therms. They are concerned about looking defeated in the eyes of the Arab world. In truth, they have been defeated from a military standpoint. The vanishing Israeli cease fire

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