Israel Pulls Out Of Gaza

Israeli government sources are saying Israel pulled its troops out of Gaza yesterday to avoid upstaging President Barack Obama’s inauguration.


However, 1,200 rockets remain in Hamas’ arsenal in Gaza, according to intelligence assessments, despite Israel’s three-week incursion into Gaza.

A few dozen of the terror group’s remaining rockets have a range of up to 33 miles, reaching just south of Tel Aviv. 


Israel estimates Hamas had approximately 3,000 rockets before the operation began. Approximately 600 were fired at Israel in the course of the incursion, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed another 1,200 before they were fired. 


The current assessment suggests more than 500 members of Hamas’ military wing were killed in the course of the operation. The precise number remains unknown; it was hard to distinguish between Hamas fighters and innocent civilians in the midst of the fighting because the guerrillas wore civilian clothes.

Since nearly every building also included a bunker where ammunition was stored, the guerrillas did not need to move from place to place while bearing arms. 
 


The assessment indicates 80 percent of the tunnels that had been used to smuggle arms and other equipment destroyed by Israeli Air Force (IAF) air strikes. Intelligence sources believe Hamas will be able to rebuild the tunnels because numerous Rafah residents have gained tunnel-digging expertise. 
 


IDF officials said unintentional civilian casualties were inevitable because Hamas chose to operate from within densely populated neighborhoods. 


Kidnapping Attempts Confirmed

After 22 days of fighting in the Gaza Strip, the IDF has revealed that repeated attempts my militants to kidnap its soldiers in order to create the semblance of a Hamas victory was one of the greatest threats during the incursion.


The kidnapping efforts all failed, yet the IDF confirmed that at least three attempts were recorded involving guerrilla attempts to kidnap its soldiers.

In one instance, two Hamas terrorists charged at an IDF soldier and tried to grab him. A gunfight erupted on the scene between IDF troops and the terrorists and, as a result of that battle, the soldier the terrorists had been trying to kidnap was killed. The IDF is investigating the incident. 


According to information that has come into the IDF’s possession, Hamas had planned in advance to kidnap soldiers. A number of tunnels were found whose openings were either concealed or were booby-trapped to cause IDF soldiers to fall inside, from where they could be kidnapped by Hamas.

Shaldag And SWAT Combatants Fought In Gaza

A few days after the Gaza incursion ended, it has been learned that elite units of the Israeli security establishment took part in the fighting. Among the first to go into Palestinian territory were “Shaldag” fighters, who from the 
beginning of the ground operation helped in locating sniper fire, in ambushes and incursions into Palestinian territory. 


In addition, in the course of the operation, police SWAT teams were on a high state of alert had IDF troops discovered where kidnapped Israeli prisoner of war Cpl. Gilad Shalit was being held during the fighting.

The SWAT fighters have been considered in recent years the most trained combatants of all of Israel’s security ranches for hostage rescue operations and anti-terror warfare.

High-ranking police officials said yesterday that SWAT teams had been “lent” to the IDF in the course of the war, and SWAT fighters took part in the combat in the Gaza Strip. 
 
 


David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com