Gaza City after Israeli Air assault kills Hamas Military Commander Ahmed al-Jabari.
Photo by Mohammad Abed/AFP
Acting with impunity, Israel sent an air assault into Gaza city yesterday killing Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jabari. Other areas of the city were also bombed. As this is written the air assault continues with Israel making threats of a possible ground attack.
Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Avital Leibervitz said the assault was a campaign "defending the people of Israel who have been under rocket attack and crippling terrorist organizations' capabilities".
Last night Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi recalled his country's ambassador to Israel in protest against the Israeli assault.
This morning in a radio address to the Egyptian people Morsi stood by the Palestinians against what he described as Israeli aggression stating, "The Egyptian people, the Egyptian leadership, the Egyptian government and all of Egypt is standing with all its resources to stop this assault, to prevent the killing and bloodshed of the Palestinians". Further he made it clear, "Israel must realize that we don't accept this aggression and it could only lead to instability in the region and has a major impact on stability and security in the region."
Also this morning, Morsi spoke with President Obama to discuss strategies to "stop these acts and doings and the bloodshed and aggression". Obama agreed to speak with Israeli leaders. The White House issued a statement saying, "The president spoke with Egyptian President Morsi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging the importance of working to de-escalate the situation as the situation as quickly as possible", while adding Israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks (the standard U.S. government boiler plate response always defending Israeli aggression and its disproportionate military response).
But let's get past all the "diplomatic posturing" statements regarding the Israeli assault and look at some of the problems and issues this attack by Israel raises:
First and foremost it is ludicrous that Hamas, the legitimately elected government in Gaza is a threat to Israel. Yes Hamas has made statements Israel has no right to exist and Hamas has sent rockets into Israel proper in retaliation against Israeli aggression. Yet Hamas has made it known it wants peace negotiations with Israel but Israel brands it as a terrorist organization and refuses to negotiate.
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