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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that the US is going to put forward specific proposals for resolving the Middle East conflict, in an effort to jumpstart negotiations. This would seem to include a hard line on “settlement” construction, including a call to freeze building for “natural growth.”
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
6:03PM: A few hours ago, terrorists in Gaza fired a couple of mortar shells into Israel.
6:02PM: My friend Yaakov Kirschen once again nails it.
2:35PM: IDF special forces have killed a wanted Hamashole responsible for the deaths of many innocent Israelis.
A special police unit on Thursday killed Abdel Majid Dudin, head of Hamas’ military wing in South Mount Hebron, who was responsible for a series of deadly terror attacks in Israel, including bus bombings in Jerusalem and Ramat Gan. He has been wanted by the Israeli defense establishment for 14 years.
The special force, operating in cooperation with the Judea and Samaria Division’s Judea Brigade, arrived to arrest the man near the village of Dura. Dudin was killed in a gunfight which erupted in the area. No casualties were reported among the Israeli forces.
Just before his death, our “hero” showed the kind of courage so prevalent amongst his fellow terrorists.
According to the sources, the forces tried to get the man to come out of the house he was hiding in by using bulldozers.
Meanwhile, this operation may not have been necessary had the PA done what it was supposed to.
Dudin, 45, is a senior Hamas member who was even jailed and released by the Palestinian Authority in the past. He has been wanted by Israel since the 1990s for his alleged direct involvement in terror attacks. He has also been wanted by the PA.
9:12AM: Amnesty International has placed sole blame on Israel for the breakdown in the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that led to Operation Cast Lead, in its 2009 report:
A ceasefire agreed in June between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza held for four and a half months, but broke down after Israeli forces killed six Palestinian militants in air strikes and other attacks on 4 November.
This is simply not true – Hamas had been firing rockets and mortars into Israel during the time period in which Amnesty claims the ceasefire held. And if you look into the circumstances that prompted the killing of the 6 terrorists, you will see that Israel was operating to collapse a tunnel terror groups planned to use for kidnapping soldiers. It is not like the terrorists gave up their terror activities during this time.
In fact, anyone with even a rudimentary understanding what a hudna is would know that its exact purpose is to give the terror groups time to regroup and replenish their arms, personnel and supplies for the next wave of attacks. This so-called “ceasefire” was never indicative of any willingness on Hamas’ part to accept Israel’s existence or renounce terrorism, and Hamas to this day remains committed to Israel’s destruction.
These are facts of which Amnesty is either ignorant, or has wilfully omitted. Either way, they have little credibility.
6:10AM: Another palestinian moment in self-defeatism:
Newly-appointed Palestinian Minister of Social Affairs Majida Al-Masri has ordered a ministry-wide boycott of Israeli products as her first decision in her new role.
The decision says Palestinian products must have the priority, but if a certain product is unavailable, priority goes to Arab countries, then foreign equivalent. Israeli products are to be boycotted altogether.
I think this ranks up there with threatening to set themselves on fire.
5:55AM: With US President Barack Obama set to meet with PA president Mahmoud Abbas today, the US media is questioning Abbas’ relevance to the peace process.
