Day 10 Update on Operation Cast Lead; Hamas War Criminals Conduct Operations From Hospital

First, I must remind you of the caliber of cowards leading Hamas:

The Jerusalem Post is reporting this morning that the Hamas 'leadership' is hiding in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City:
The defense officials said it was likely that a number of senior Hamas operatives and terror chiefs were hiding and conducting their operations from within Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

"Hamas operatives are in the hospital and have disguised themselves as nurses and doctors," one official said.

OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private homes as ammunition stores.

Source: |Israel Matzav|, in Hamas 'leadership' hiding in Shifa Hospital
Here is another report, with commentary by Yid with LID

Here is visual proof of the terrorists using ambulances as troop carriers, and these are very clearly marked UN for United Nations:





This is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, articles 18 and 19, which are reproduced in full below (emphasis mine):

Article 18

Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.

States which are Parties to a conflict shall provide all civilian hospitals with certificates showing that they are civilian hospitals and that the buildings which they occupy are not used for any purpose which would deprive these hospitals of protection in accordance with Article 19.

Civilian hospitals shall be marked by means of the emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949, but only if so authorized by the State.

The Parties to the conflict shall, in so far as military considerations permit, take the necessary steps to make the distinctive emblems indicating civilian hospitals clearly visible to the enemy land, air and naval forces in order to obviate the possibility of any hostile action.

In view of the dangers to which hospitals may be exposed by being close to military objectives, it is recommended that such hospitals be situated as far as possible from such objectives.

Article 19

The protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit, and after such warning has remained unheeded.

The fact that sick or wounded members of the armed forces are nursed in these hospitals, or the presence of small arms and ammunition taken from such combatants which have not yet been handed to the proper service, shall not be considered to be acts harmful to the enemy.

Where is the outrage of all the anti-war types? It is not legitimate outrage these people express, but manufactured and selected outrage of people who have willfully chosen to side with terrorists.

Alright, now that I have gotten that little bit out of the way, here are the websites that will provide you with a more frequent and extensive coverage than I can:

The Muqata, with today's live-blogging


Israelly Cool, with today's live-blogging


The Elder of Ziyon


Israel Matzav, with this story of an IDF Soldier who escaped being taken hostage by Hamas terrorists


IsraPundit, who reports that 4 Brigades are deployed in Northern Gaza and on the Hamas ideology of the extermination of the Jews. These are the people that lefties and Ron Paul lend their support to when they deny the need for war to exterminate this type of evil.




Here is a summary of overnight activity from the IDF Spokesperson:

Summary of Overnight Activity


The IDF operation continued overnight with many infantry, tank, engineering, artillery and intelligence forces operating throughout the Gaza Strip in conjunction with the Israel Air Force and the Israel Navy.


IAF aircraft struck over 30 targets including:

A mosque used to store mass amounts of weaponry
An underground bunker in the area of Gaza city. The attack caused secondary explosions indicating there were explosives inside. Tunnels in the area collapsed.
A number of smuggling tunnels, near Rafah, used by the Hamas terror organization as passages for terrorists in and out of the Gaza Strip and that formed part of the purchasing and supply system of the organization
4 houses of Hamas operatives used to store weaponry
A rocket launcher
A suspected anti-aircraft missile launcher

Israel Navy boats assisted the ground forces and attacked a number of targets including rocket launching sites, a bunker and Hamas naval outposts.


An IDF officer and five IDF soldiers were lightly to moderately wounded in two separate incidents of gunfire exchanges in the northern Gaza Strip.


The IDF will continue to operate against Hamas terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip according to plans in order to reduce the rocket fire on the south of Israel.

Source: |IDF Spokesperson|, in 5 January 2009 Summary

Last week, Bahrain called for the use of oil as a weapon against Israel, and now the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is doing the same:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander is calling on Islamic countries to use oil as a weapon to end the fighting in Gaza.
The Iranian suggestion this week echoed a similar call made last week by lawmakers in Bahrain.

Source: |YAHOO! News|, in Iran and Bahrain officials call for oil as weapon
I guess the mantra of "Drill Here, Drill Now!" makes a lot more sense does it not? Or would you rather we be beholden to these terrorists?


The IDF is preparing to enter the urban areas of Gaza, and (as I write this) the Jerusalem Post website is down. I hope that it has not been hacked. Here is an alternate source for the story:

ISRAEL/GAZA (BBC): Israel's move to ground operations in the Gaza Strip gives Palestinian militants their first chance to trade blows on a more or less equal footing with the Israeli army in the current conflict.

Until now the militants have been impotent to counter Israel's air, sea and ground bombardment - spheres where it enjoys total military superiority.

Hamas and other militant groups have launched dozens of rockets at Israel but - while these are occasionally lethal and cause considerable disruption and sap civilian morale - they are ineffective militarily.

But if the conflict transfers to the narrow alleyways of Jabaliya camp, or any of Gaza's teeming urban areas, it will be a different story.

"Hamas has few tools compared with the Israeli army," says Nicolas Pelham, Senior Analyst with the Middle East Program of the International Crisis Group.

"But the Israeli operations in built-up urban areas will eliminate some of that huge difference," he added.

Israel possesses formidable tank forces, armored bulldozers, uncontested use of air power and all the paraphernalia of a modern army, such as night vision and thermal imaging equipment.

But Hamas has had months to prepare for bitter urban warfare which will give its fighters a chance to inflict casualties on the Israeli military.

Israeli troops spent 38 years occupying Gaza, but withdrew in 2005

However, analysts believe it has considerably enhanced its military capability since taking control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.

The takeover handed Hamas the limited arsenal of the routed Palestinian Authority. But more importantly it gave Hamas freedom to operate throughout Gaza without interference from the PA, which was committed to disarming militant groups.

Hamas has had to smuggle all its other weaponry into Gaza - which is under a complete blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt in the south.

Source: |Paul Anderson|, in Emergency Blog

And this brief from DEBKAfile:

High-placed Israeli officers have told DEBKAfile's sources that the Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip Saturday night, Jan. 3, gained less ground in its first 24 hours than officially indicated - in much the same way as civilian casualties are overstated by the Palestinian side. While essentially bisecting the Gaza Strip, the tanks and armored infantry had not entered urban areas by early Monday, Jan 5.

Source: |DEBKAfile|, in Israeli troops still outside Hamas rocket strongholds in urban centers

This is all I have time for right now, as I must get showered and dressed for going out today...my riders are returning to work today, as must I.