Striking Deep Into Israel, Hamas Employs an Upgraded Rocket Arsenal

[Neil D]

Is there a way to address this problem and stop the influence of hamas? Do we need to have the Isreali army go in on a house by house search?

By MARK MAZZETTI

Published: December 31, 2008

WASHINGTON — By firing rockets deep into Israeli territory, the militant Palestinian group Hamas has in recent days displayed an arsenal that has been upgraded with weapons parts smuggled into Gaza since it seized control of the territory 18 months ago, according to American and Israeli officials.

For Hamas, a group largely confined to a sliver of land along the Mediterranean Sea, attacking Israeli cities with a rocket barrage has proved an effective strategy to reduce the advantage of Israel’s expensive arsenal of fighter jets and warships.

That strategy was used successfully by Hezbollah militants against Israel in Lebanon in 2006, although Hezbollah had access to missiles and rockets far more sophisticated than those being used by Hamas. Israeli officials said that Hamas was still relying on unguided rockets, rather than guided weapons like the Iranian-made C-802 cruise missile that Hezbollah used against an Israeli ship during the summer of 2006.

Still, the rockets fired by Hamas in the current fighting have flown farther and been more accurate than weapons used by the group in the past, the officials said. Some have flown nearly two dozen miles, destroying buildings in the southern Israeli cities of Ashdod and Beersheba.

Hamas and other militant groups have lobbed thousands of rockets into Israel since 2001. The difference now, officials said, is that Hamas is using more of the imported Katyusha rockets, which have a longer range than the crude, homemade Qassam rockets it relied on in the past. Officials say the group has been emboldened to improve its arsenal since it routed its rival, Fatah, in 2007 and assumed control of Gaza.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss intelligence matters, said that Hamas appeared to have relied on a combination of black-market entrepreneurs and help from its longtime patrons Iran and Syria to procure rocket parts.

A senior Israeli military official said Israeli intelligence also believed that Hamas took advantage of a six-month truce with Israel to bolster its stockpiles.

The officials said the extent to which Iran and Syria directly supplied Hamas was murky because arms shipments were difficult to track. Yet they generally agree about the smuggling route: by land across the Sinai Peninsula, often aided by Bedouin tribes, and through the warren of tunnels under Egypt’s border into Gaza.

An American counterterrorism official said it was rare for Hamas to try to smuggle complete weapons systems into Gaza. More frequently, he said, rocket parts were taken through the tunnels and assembled inside Gaza by Hamas munitions experts.

Israeli officials have said their objective in carrying out airstrikes on Gaza is to end Hamas’s ability to carry out further rocket attacks. But analysts said that goal could require Israeli ground troops to strike into Gaza, in operations that could run the risk of fighting an entrenched guerrilla war in a densely populated area.

“The problem you have to consider from an Israeli perspective is that you score most of your victories from the air in the first 48 hours. Afterward, you get into punitive damage,” said Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

American officials said Hamas’s tactics in recent years had evolved from suicide bombings to more sophisticated attacks like roadside bombings and bombs set off by cellphones, all of which would be a particular risk to Israeli troops and tanks.

David Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and a former Pentagon official specializing in Middle East issues, said the increasing sophistication of Hamas’s tactics was evidence that the group might have received training from Hezbollah.

American and Israeli officials said there was evidence that at least some Hamas fighters might also have been schooled in urban assault tactics at Iranian camps run by the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

In April, the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center released a report saying Hamas had been engaged in a military buildup since the group took control of Gaza in June 2007. The report cited data by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, asserting that Hamas had smuggled at least 80 tons of explosives into Gaza since then, and that the group had obtained advanced antitank weapons.

A senior Hamas leader called the report an “exaggeration” intended to scare Israelis.

The report concluded that if Israel were to carry out ground raids, Hamas would initially put up little resistance. But when Israeli troops reached densely populated areas, Hamas would use booby traps and roadside bombs.

[Woody]

Okay ... here is where I admit my ignorance. I am not really very intelligent on this particular issue. But what if they just moved all of them there Palestinians well into the middle of Egypt where they couldn't reach Israel by rockets. Then Egypt could give given all of Gaza as compensation.

This thought of mine seems so simple that surely someone would have thought of it. Surely it is not original to me.

I realize that such a move would be very difficult. But honestly ... I don't see any other answer. Couldn't be any more difficult than what is going on year after year.

[phkrause]

Redwood one of the problems is that all the other Arab countries want nothing to do with the palestinians. I believe that if those wonderful other Arab countries would not sent all those terrorist's to gaza and the other countries, that the palestinians would do just fine. There are many of them living in many Israeli cities together with Jews and they get along just fine. Its Hamas and Hezballah and other terrorist groups that want all Jews exterminated that are the problem.

pk

[Woody]

Okay then ... why is it that they keep electing Hamas as their leaders?

[fccool]

Terrorists are vengeance driven. Most likely someone killed in the family by IDF... it's easy to recruit such people who already have much hatred. People use these kinds for their own political agendas... but I think it would be unfair to say that an Arab country as a whole endorses terrorism, and that it sends out these with purpose of killing Jews.

This conflict plays well in light of the oil price drop. Since the beginning of this queued conflict the oil jumped 20%. Of course it would not have anything to do with oil....

[Bravus]

We don't recognise this situation well at all - a situation where people have enemies with 3000 years of grievances and scores to be settled when they are born. It's a never-ending cycle of vengeance and there are no easy answers.

But Redwood, the reason for the situation in the first place is that the Palestinians got shoved off the land they'd been living on for generations with the creation of the state of Israel just last century. This is yet another post-colonial mess... and more colonialist meddling is not going to fix it.

Saw a good editorial cartoon the other day - wish I could find it. A Hamas fighter is sending a tiny firework rocket off, labelled 'tit', and a massive 5000 lb bomb with a Star of David on it is coming toward him, labelled 'tat'.

There is no pure side in this conflict, but Israel has all the power and all the weaponry and tends to retaliate massively disproportionately. Any long term solution needs to include a Palestinian state on land they really own, and Israel being reigned in.

[Woody]

What is wrong with the land they have? What good does it do to disproportionately send hundreds more missles into Israel than Israel sends in return. A simple solution from my limited view would be to have Hamas just stop sending the missles into Israel. Then Israel would not have to retaliate. Am I wrong?

[Neil D]

I also heard that Hamas is like a charity organization where they give money and economic help to the Palestine people. The people there shelter those who help them...

Need a change of plans here, folks. Cut off the economic help that Hamas gets from the Arab countrys, give the Palestine people help froom the Isrealis, and persue democratic negotiations, and things might change dramatically....

Now, also add to that that the Isrealis show bias to various villages and communitys that are Isreali vs Palestinian, ie water and sewers and electricity built in various communities and you can see a festering of prejudice...

change these things, and you will change the world of the middle east....

[Bravus]

(to Redwood - Neil jumped in between)

Do you have any idea what the living conditions are like in the land they already have? And of the fact that Israeli settlers are massively encroaching on even that small amount of land? And Israel is walling off more of it?

I agree, the rocket attacks on the part of Hamas are wrong and stupid and self-destructive, and should be stopped. No question.

But if the Palestinians stopped fighting back they'd just be rolled over by Israeli aggression.

Roll back all the borders in the region to 1966, and create an autonomus Palestinian state, and there's a *far* greater likelihood that the Palestinians could start to build a real and sustainable form of life for themselves.

(And as someone noted above, Hamas is supported and to some extent led by external agitators from other Arab countries. Finding a way to deal with that is also important, I certainly don't place all the blame on Israel.)

[Woody]

Quote:

But if the Palestinians stopped fighting back they'd just be rolled over by Israeli aggression.

This is what I question. Not that I know anything. I certainly don't know of their living conditions. But I don't believe they would be attacked it they didn't first and more heavily attack Israel. Israel didn't attack until days of 200 to 300 missle attacks per day. I call that tolerance not aggression.

[fccool]

I agree. But I think the misconception is that Arab nations are not willing to recognize Israel as a state, and therefore will not cave in to that agreement... unless nation of Israel is completely "wiped off the map".

The way you treat your neighbors as a country speaks volume about the mentality of people living in that country. When you marginalize people... nothing good come out of it as a result.

Currently even the highways between the settlements are walled off. Imagine if you are living in Florida and you are trying to see relatives in Georgia, but you can't because you'll hit a settlement wall.

Even Olmert acknowledged that the land should be given back for any hope for reconciliation.

[Woody]

Why would you want the walls torn down ? That would allow the terrorists to kill you.

[fccool]

Terrorist exist because of these walls... that wall people off their families, medical help, and education or any kind of future.

Please... watch the following documentary. I think you'd understand the issue at hand a bit better.

http://www.archive.org/details/IsraeliCommittee2007

[phkrause]

Exactly Redwood, Israel sits and allows this to go on and on. Than when they finally say that's enough and they do something about it the world condemns them. But while, as you said, Hamas was firing rockets at them, there was not one word of condemnation. And they (Israel) took that for at least 2-3 months.

And as far as who lived in Israel or who kicked who out of Palestine, why just fo back to 1948? Why not go back thousands of years?? ever since God gave this land to Israel they have been invaded by outside sources all these years. So lets really look at who owns this land. And back after WW2 when the british and than the UN had a plan for the Palestilians and the Jews to divided the land between them, it was the other Arab countries around that convinced the Palestilians to not accept this agreement. But the Jews were willing to divide there land with the palestillians. Who by the way have lived side by side with each other for many years before this. As I mentioned above there are many jewish cities where they are living together now!!!!!! I'm not saying that everything that the Israelis are doing his right, but Israel has never ever said that they want all arabs extermenated like most of the terrorist groups have said of Israel.

pk

[phkrause]

The reason that there are walls is just that Redwood, because of all the bombs that the extremists walk around with. It was the only way to control that situation. And as we have seen it did work, so now the are shooting rockets at Israel because they can't just walk into street and kill Israelis. So they had to find a new way. And if people can't see this, that's pretty sad. But like I have said many times, the only time anybody says anything is when Israel does anything to protect itself.

pk

[Dr. Shane]

Prior to colonialism the entire area was made of of Arab tribes. These were all the same race or ethnic group. The Palestinians are not genetically different than the Syrians, Lebanese or Jordanians. It is like Central America which was also divided by colonialism. The people living in El Salvador, Guatemala, Hondurans, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama are all the same race or ethnic group.

If the other Arab nations in the area allowed the Palestinians to immigrate and nationalize in their respective nations the conflict would be over tomorrow. But that is too easy. The other Arab nations don't want the conflict to be over. They want Israel to leave. They are anti-semantic. They hate the Jews. They want to finish what Hitler started.

It all comes down to this. Israel wants peace but doesn't have the power to make peace. The Arabs don't want peace and will never allow for peace until all the Jews have left the Middle East.

[fccool]

Pkrause,

In order to establish spiritual claim to this land you have to

1) Establish that the people who occupy it are Descendants of Abraham. Many of them are not. Some has been introduced to the Judaism like in case of Kazars.

2) Establish that they still have the claim to that promise based on their current obedience to God's requirements. It was not an unconditional promise.

I doubt you will be able to establish the above two, even if you do keep a thorough genealogy of a nation. To be a Jew you have to be of the tribe of Judah, BTW... not just descendants of Israelites.

Look at the original UN 1947 partitioned map of the Palestine and Israel, and you will see that Israel has been consequently infringing and occupying the land via illegal settlements. It has nothing to do with God's promise, because obviously they did not keep their end of the bargain... therefore they experienced dissemination. Israel today is a secular state, make no mistake about it.

[fccool]

They are anti-semantic. They hate the Jews. They want to finish what Hitler started.

I beg to differ, Shane. Again, the word is not semantic... but Semitic. Semitic means descendent's of SHEM, thus SHEMITIC. One of the ways to identify the SEMITIC countries is by the SEMITIC language group. What are those countries?

Algeria

Jordan

Mauritania

Saudi Arabia

W. Sahara

Bahrain

Kuwait

Morocco

Sudan

Yemen

Egypt

Lebanon

Oman

Syria

Iraq

Libya

PNA

Tunisia

Israel

Malta

Qatar

UAE

Northwest Semitic

(Aramaic and Hebrew)

Iraq

Israel

Syria

South Semitic

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Oman

Yemen

Oops... How can these countries be anti-semitic, when they are in fact semites themselves??? Guess what, these countries don't want to destroy Jews worldwide (like you say they want to), but they have bones with Israel because of harsh treatment of their fellow men.

I concur that there has been Palestinian suicide bombers and terrorists. But, let's not justify doing wrong because someone else did it to you. As we say, two wrongs does not make it right? So, please explain to me how is it that killing 350 civilians would justify the death of 1 Israeli citizen?

PS... can you at least give some references for these statements that you are making... i.e. Arabs (as a whole) want to destroy Jews because they are "anti-semitic" and etc.

[Dr. Shane]

Pkrause,

Look at the original UN 1947 partitioned map of the Palestine and Israel, and you will see that Israel has been consequently infringing and occupying the land via illegal settlements.

Illegal??? How is that established? The Arabs attacked Israel on the day Israel was declared a nation by the UN. Israel fought back and won those lands that had been assigned to Palestine. They won the war. Kind of like America won the war against England. Has the United States of America been illegally occupying North America for the last 238 years? Should we give some of it back to England? Wars mean something. That is why people should avoid them. If the Palestinians were so worried about their land, maybe they shouldn't have attacked Israel to begin with.

[Dr. Shane]

the word is not semantic... but Semitic...

[fccool]

I see, we are living in a feudal times when winner keeps the spoils... right? By your reasoning, Russia should have kept Georgia just so recently... and Taiwan should not have been returned to China... and would mean that it would be justifiable for me to take your car if we ever got into a fight and I happen to win (or the other way around)

It's amazing what people would bring out to justify present atrocities. If your neighborhood kids throw rocks in your windows... would you pull out a gun and begin shooting their parents? It's very comparable to what Israel is doing today.

[fccool]

Quote:

There are so many I wouldn't know where to start and where to end.

Please, be my guest, where it would indicate that as a nation and a culture of people ... Arabs have called for a complete extermination of Jews around the world, as you have made reference to Hitler's job? Give me one such documented reference.

The language does matter BTW, because people twist and use language without even understanding what it means... like you call Arabs anti-semitic without understanding that Arabs themselves are Semites.

[Dr. Shane]

By your reasoning, Russia should have kept Georgia just so recently.

Absolutely!!! I believe Georgia attacked Russia first. Now if Russia attacked Georgia first than Russia wouldn't have the right to a conquest. However in the case that Georgia attacked Russia first than Russia is justified in taking some land to act as a buffer. If Georgia is so worried about their land, may be they shouldn't attack their neighbors that have the power to take it away from them.

[Dr. Shane]

where it would indicate that as a nation and a culture of people ... Arabs have called for a complete extermination of Jews around the world, as you have made reference to Hitler's job?

I am not going to play encyclopedia boy today. This information is so abundant and available from so many sources that those that want to read it can find it rather easily. I am not going to spoon feed people even the most basic and readily available information.

[fccool]

Perhaps because you can't... I'm not talking about the sentiments of a few of the rogue leaders. I'm talking about the majority body of Arabs calling for extermination of Jews ... Hitler style. This is your point if I'm not mistaken.

Let me give you another example that you can relate to. You government sells the land that your house is standing on without your consent. Your parents owned that house prior to yours, including a couple of acres of olive trees that you were living off.

What do you do? What do you do to people who come and try to bulldoze your house off the ground. If that happened in your community, don't you think there would be some resistance to such measures?

Let's not make Israel a victim in this situation. Israel gets 3 billion per year in foreign aid and much more from its benefactors off-books. Take Madoff scandal for example. It is by far not a victim in this situation, but an occupying force.

While I definetly would not justify the actions of Arabic extremists, the unilateral response of Israel utilizing it's enormous army against a tiny state of people who are living practically in a stone age... I can't find a way to mentally justify it.

Justifying that kind of human treatment... as a state collateral, would be making dogs of people. I won't support that.