Israel Update for December 2008

David Dolan

The ceasefire between Israel and the radical Palestinian Hamas group came to an official end on December 19 as more Kassam rockets were launched at Jewish civilian targets near the Gaza Strip. By the time the clock ran out, it had already become abundantly clear that Hamas leaders had been lying when they stated in late November that they wanted the truce to continue into next year. As the low level conflict further intensified, Israeli officials seemed to confirm media speculation that a large-scale Israeli military operation may be pending, designed to finally crush oppressive Hamas rule in the crowded coastal zone.

Meanwhile Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas indicated that he had changed his mind and is now ready to hold fresh PA presidential elections in early 2009. The vote could potentially bring a Hamas candidate to power-which would probably deal a final blow to faltering peace talks with Israel. Hamas insists that the PA leader's term in office expires in early January, but Abbas had resisted their demands that he hold new elections early in the new year. At the same time, outgoing American President George Bush claimed that significant progress is being made in the US-backed negotiations between Israel and the PA.

Israel continued to gear up during December for its own leadership contest, scheduled for February 10. Opinion surveys in all Israeli media outlets showed Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud party widening its lead over the currently ruling Kadima party, and also over Ehud Barak's Labor party. With it now widely accepted that Netanyahu will most likely return to power next year, questions were increasingly raised as to what policy changes he might make in office, and especially whether or not he will pursue current peace negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria.

Diplomats from leading Western nations met with several of their Arab counterparts mid month to discuss growing Arab world fears that Iran will soon possess nuclear weapons. This came as the Israeli government sent a special envoy to Moscow to try and talk Russia out of selling Iran a new anti-aircraft missile system that could be used to destroy Israeli jets on a possible future mission to wipe out Tehran's threatening nuclear program. Air Force commanders also said they are considering purchasing a joint American-Australian system that could turn ordinary air launched bombs into "smart bombs," modified to strike enemy targets from a much safer distance.

Rockets Mark Ceasefire End

Dozens of Palestinian rockets were fired at Israeli civilian centers in the days before Hamas officially announced on December 19 that it was ending its ceasefire with Israel. In a statement posted on the Hamas website, the militant Muslim group claimed that Israel had breached all of the agreements that were part of the Egyptian-mediated truce, maintaining that Israel had "imposed a painful blockade" on the Gaza Strip, and staged illicit military strikes into the densely populated Palestinian coastal zone, while also continuing to target Hamas terrorists and rocket squads operating in Jordan's former West Bank north and south of Jerusalem.

The hostile Hamas statement added that "Since the enemy did not abide with the conditions, we hold the enemy fully responsible for ending the truce, and we confirm that the Palestinian resistance factions headed by Hamas will act."

Israeli analysts noted that the terrorist group had already been "acting" for well over one month, lobbing rockets on a daily basis since early November onto Israeli civilian centers and military bases located around the Gaza Strip, while also attempting to kidnap more Israeli soldiers. It was the latter abduction plot-featuring the digging of a new tunnel under the border fence designed to facilitate military kidnappings-which set off an Israeli military reaction in early November, giving Hamas and its allies an excuse to resume their shelling.

In the 24 hours after the Hamas statement was posted on the group's official website, a total of 13 rockets were fired into Israeli territory, including two that struck near the city of Ashkelon. No one was injured in the post ceasefire barrage, but some damage was reported. The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group said it had carried out the attacks, claiming that Hamas members were not involved. Israeli officials replied that even if this was the case, they still hold Hamas responsible for the rocket firings since the radical group controls the entire Gaza Strip and could easily halt the ongoing attacks if it actually wanted to.

World Response To The Truce Collapse

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reacted to the ceasefire suspension by voicing concern that it would negatively affect American-led attempts to secure a final Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty in the coming months.

"I sincerely hope that there will not be a resumption of the violence, because that is not going to help the people of Gaza," she told reporters in Washington DC, adding that "It is not going to help the Palestinians; and it is not going to help the Palestinian cause."

Marie Okabe, a spokesman for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, echoed the American diplomat's comments, saying that "a major escalation of violence would have grave consequences for the protection of civilians in Israel and Gaza, the welfare of the Gazan civilian population, and the sustainability of political efforts to secure a peace treaty."

The first Israeli government reaction to the Hamas website announcement-which was immediately followed by the firing of four Kassam rockets into Israel and sniper attacks upon Israeli troops stationed in the vicinity-came from National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer. The well respected former Israeli defense minister and armed forces chief of staff made his comments during a public conference in Tel Aviv.