Gaza War ‘Cease-Fire’ Mistakenly Reported

Throughout the day and evening on Thursday, Israeli government TV and Israel government radio newsreels glorified Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit for achieving a “cease-fire” on Wednesday that Hamas has accepted. The agreement calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. 


However, Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv told The Bulletin Egypt has only elicited a Hamas offer of yet another tahdia, the Arabic term for a temporary halt in hostile activity which can be violated at any time – not a sulch, the Arabic term for a total cessation of hostile activity.

Examples of a tahdia include the six-month lull in fighting that occurred between June 19 and Dec. 19, 2008, during which time Hamas facilitated 415 attacks against Israel, with little Israeli response. A previous lull that occurred between Nov. 26 2006 and May 15, 2007, and Hamas facilitated 355 attacks against Israel, with little Israeli response

Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni indicated that she believed that Egypt had pushed Hamas into a real cease-fire, and the Israel Foreign Ministry informed the media plans to fly to Washington today to ask the United States government to guarantee the clauses of a new cease-fire.

Israel Kills Senior Hamas Officials

On Thursday evening, the Israel Air Force (IAF) conducted its most strategic accomplishment in the Gaza war so far, killing two senior Hamas terror leaders. Among them included Hamas Interior Minister Sayeed Siam, who had been in charge of all Hamas armed leaders and Siah Abu Shrakh, who headed all of Hamas’ “security services.”

These were the highest-level killings conducted by Israel since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, the Hamas spokesman, during the spring of 2004.

The IDF killings of the senior Hamas officials occurred only 30 minutes after a Hamas Grad rocket scored a direct hit on a car in the center of the Beersheba, striking a car driven by a mother taking her seven year old boy home from school. Both the mother and her son were badly injured..

IDF forces operating in Gaza hit approximately 35 armed gunmen on Wednesday and Thursday, mostly in aerial attacks directed by ground forces.

At least 30 rockets and mortars fired from Gaza hit Israel during Thursday.

The IAF attacked approximately 70 terrorist sites, including:

• A mosque in Rafah used to stockpile rockets that served as an assembly area 
for senior operatives involved in launching rockets;

• 14 cells of armed gunmen;
• 14 sites used to launch rockets and mortars at Israeli communities and 
cities;
• Five weapon storage facilities located in houses of Hamas operatives;
• And one tunnel located under the house of a Hamas operative.

Military Assessment Thus Far

After Israeli reservists joined in active combat in Gaza this week, Israeli troops

reached close to entering the heart of Gaza City for the first time. Israeli infantry and armored divisions continued “aggressive patrols” around all Palestinian towns, supported with fire from the air and land.

The IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, hosted the Israeli Knesset’s foreign
affairs and defense committee at his command post, explaining “the warfare in the past few days has been conducted in a built-up area, crowded and populated with civilians. Hamas has been hit very hard, in terms of casualties among its forces, including some of its senior commanders, as well as severe damage to assets, infrastructure, weapons systems and firing systems.”

In one incident on Thursday morning, in an incursion carried out by Israeli paratroopers, a force tried to enter a house in the Atatra area in the northern Gaza Strip. As soon as one of the combatants opened the door, the house blew up. An officer was critically injured, and three soldiers sustained light injuries.

Another incident took place in the afternoon, in which a bulldozer moving near Kibbutz Nahal Oz went over an explosive charge and three soldiers were lightly injured. Shortly afterwards, in another incident, an anti-tank rocket was fired at a bulldozer. One soldier sustained serious injuries and another soldier was lightly injured.

Meanwhile, the IDF continued to advance deep into Palestinian areas, with Israeli troops encountering terrorist cells.

“The pressure on Hamas is mounting, and the IDF is advancing” said a high-ranking officer, “in the past 24 hours we have killed over 45 terrorists.”

The officer added IDF activity in the area close to the Gaza perimeter fence also exposed yesterday a tunnel leading toward Israel, which was supposed have been used for a terror attack.

“It even had an exit opening on the Israeli side,” said an officer from the IDF’s Southern Command.

David Bedein can be reached at Bedein@thebulletin.us