Jerusalem – Israeli army commanders of the two-day operation in the northern Gaza Strip take pride in the fact that during the operation in the Sajaiya neighborhood, not a single rocket was fired from there at Israel.

In that context, senior Israeli army sources admit that in order to put a complete stop to the rocket fire, it is necessary to stay in the Gaza Strip for a prolonged period of time or stage a sufficient number of operations to wear out the Palestinians.

After the troops pulled out, the rocket fire resumed, as has been the case many times following IDF operations. According to high-ranking commanders, the fire can be stopped completely only by means of a large number of continuous operations, which would wear down Palestinian capability and motivation.

Israeli Port City Of Ashdod Prepares For Hamas Attacks

Ashdod municipality officials are already preparing for the possibility that Ashdod, located north of Ashkelon, will be the next target for Hamas’ attacks. In the past few days, city officials have been preparing a defense plan, with the aid of the Home Front Command and other rescue organizations.

The Israeli security establishment is taking into account the possibility that Hamas has, or might have in the future, rockets with a range of dozens of miles.

This range would be more than double that of the Grad rockets, which were fired last week at Ashkelon. Ashdod is about 28 kilometers north of the Gaza Strip, within the range of such a rocket.

In the past few days, Hamas speakers have threatened to fire rockets “beyond Ashkelon” and in several cases even explicitly named Ashdod as a target.

Whether these threats are real or not, Ashdod municipality officials have sped up preparations for possible attacks on the city.

In talks held with the Home Front Command and other rescue organizations, plans are being made to deal with the population, rescue victims and install a warning system in the city.

All officials involved in the preparations claim that “these are only plans,” but Ashdod Mayor Zvi Ziliker is not taking any chances. In the past few days, he visited Ashkelon Mayor Roni Mahatzri several times to study the methods for dealing with the rocket threat.

Israeli security officials believe that since Hamas exploited the border breaches between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to acquire rockets with a range of dozens of kilometers, it may use them against targets such as Ashdod or other communities within the expanded range (including Kiryat Gat and Ofakim).

Israel’s Fifth Column

On Monday, Israeli Arabs held a solidarity event with Gaza and protested the Israeli operations in the city.

The demonstration was organized by the Israeli Arab Supreme Monitoring Committee, which decided on Sunday on a series of measures in protest of the death of Palestinian civilians in Israeli activity against the rocket terrorism from the Gaza Strip.

All the Arab political parties represented in the Israeli Knesset Parliament showed up on the podium.

Over 5,000 Arab citizens filled the alleyways of the Israeli Arab village of Umm el-Fahm, in solidarity with the situation of the Palestinians in Gaza Strip, alleging that Israel is causing a “Holocaust” in Gaza.

“The children of Hitler want to perpetrate a Holocaust against the children of Gaza,” read one widely distributed sign, whereas other printed signs read: “Stop the ZioNazi massacre.”

The demonstrators called for unity between the Palestinians and the Israeli Arabs. PLO flags were everywhere.

The figures who addressed the rally were Shawki Khatib, chairman of the Supreme Monitoring Committee, and Umm el-Fahm Mayor Hashem Abdul Rahman.

In Mr. Khatib’s speech, he said that “there are those who are planning a new Holocaust. … The Jewish people must study history and understand it – a people cannot be destroyed. The Palestinian people and its rights will not be destroyed.”

David Bedein can be reached at Media@actcom.co.il. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

Jerusalem – Israeli army commanders of the two-day operation in the northern Gaza Strip take pride in the fact that during the operation in the Sajaiya neighborhood, not a single rocket was fired from there at Israel.

In that context, senior Israeli army sources admit that in order to put a complete stop to the rocket fire, it is necessary to stay in the Gaza Strip for a prolonged period of time or stage a sufficient number of operations to wear out the Palestinians.

After the troops pulled out, the rocket fire resumed, as has been the case many times following IDF operations. According to high-ranking commanders, the fire can be stopped completely only by means of a large number of continuous operations, which would wear down Palestinian capability and motivation.

Israeli Port City Of Ashdod Prepares For Hamas Attacks

Ashdod municipality officials are already preparing for the possibility that Ashdod, located north of Ashkelon, will be the next target for Hamas’ attacks. In the past few days, city officials have been preparing a defense plan, with the aid of the Home Front Command and other rescue organizations.

The Israeli security establishment is taking into account the possibility that Hamas has, or might have in the future, rockets with a range of dozens of miles.

This range would be more than double that of the Grad rockets, which were fired last week at Ashkelon. Ashdod is about 28 kilometers north of the Gaza Strip, within the range of such a rocket.

In the past few days, Hamas speakers have threatened to fire rockets “beyond Ashkelon” and in several cases even explicitly named Ashdod as a target.

Whether these threats are real or not, Ashdod municipality officials have sped up preparations for possible attacks on the city.

In talks held with the Home Front Command and other rescue organizations, plans are being made to deal with the population, rescue victims and install a warning system in the city.

All officials involved in the preparations claim that “these are only plans,” but Ashdod Mayor Zvi Ziliker is not taking any chances. In the past few days, he visited Ashkelon Mayor Roni Mahatzri several times to study the methods for dealing with the rocket threat.

Israeli security officials believe that since Hamas exploited the border breaches between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to acquire rockets with a range of dozens of kilometers, it may use them against targets such as Ashdod or other communities within the expanded range (including Kiryat Gat and Ofakim).

Israel’s Fifth Column

On Monday, Israeli Arabs held a solidarity event with Gaza and protested the Israeli operations in the city.

The demonstration was organized by the Israeli Arab Supreme Monitoring Committee, which decided on Sunday on a series of measures in protest of the death of Palestinian civilians in Israeli activity against the rocket terrorism from the Gaza Strip.

All the Arab political parties represented in the Israeli Knesset Parliament showed up on the podium.

Over 5,000 Arab citizens filled the alleyways of the Israeli Arab village of Umm el-Fahm, in solidarity with the situation of the Palestinians in Gaza Strip, alleging that Israel is causing a “Holocaust” in Gaza.

“The children of Hitler want to perpetrate a Holocaust against the children of Gaza,” read one widely distributed sign, whereas other printed signs read: “Stop the ZioNazi massacre.”

The demonstrators called for unity between the Palestinians and the Israeli Arabs. PLO flags were everywhere.

The figures who addressed the rally were Shawki Khatib, chairman of the Supreme Monitoring Committee, and Umm el-Fahm Mayor Hashem Abdul Rahman.

In Mr. Khatib’s speech, he said that “there are those who are planning a new Holocaust. … The Jewish people must study history and understand it – a people cannot be destroyed. The Palestinian people and its rights will not be destroyed.”

David Bedein can be reached at Media@actcom.co.il. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

©The Bulletin 2008

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David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.