Israel launches major Gaza raid

Israel have launched yet another raid on the Gaza Strip which has resulted in 6 dead Palestinians, one dead Israeli soldier and thirty five wounded Palestinians some of them militants.

Witnesses said Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships entered Beit Hanoun overnight, amid heavy exchanges of fire.

Sixty tanks were involved in the attack, AFP news agency said.

It reported that Israeli soldiers took positions on rooftops during exchanges of fire with militants.

Israeli bulldozers razed three houses in Beit Hanoun, and another dozen homes were hit by tank shells, the agency reported.

This kind of incursion has been taking place ever since the kidnap of Gilad Shalit in late June of this year.

I've made this point before but the reason the Israelis pulled out of Lebanon was because the price Hizbullah was extracting from them was too severe to maintain. So they ended the action.

The raids in Gaza continue for the very reason that the Palestinians are too feebly armed to do the IDF any real harm, so the action continues. If I were Hizbullah, nothing would make me less likely to give up my arms than watching what Israel does to opponents who lack the firepower to hit back.

Both the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, have described the Israeli military action as a massacre.

The director of the Beit Hanoun hospital told the Associated Press that all the hospital's blood supplies had been used up.

What's extraordinary is that this action is being taken at the very point when Israel is negotiating for the release of Gilad Shalit and the other two Israeli soldiers kidnapped over the summer.

Is this another case of Olmert attempting to play the strong man and to Hell with the consequences?

Hamas said Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces operation in northern Gaza would have a "negative influence" on negotiations being brokered by Egypt to try to arrange an exchange of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel for the release of captured IDF Corporal Shalit.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials on the deal that would see the release of Shalit, captured in June by Gaza-based Palestinian militants.

"The release of the Israeli soldier will only come after the enemy fulfils the conditions set by the captors," said Ismail Rudwan, a Hamas spokesman, referring to demands to free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Meanwhile, Israeli Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) said Wednesday that there were still substantial differences between Israel and Hamas on the terms of the deal for Shalit's release.

Speaking to Israel Radio from Cairo, where he met Wednesday morning with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Tibi said that there was a good chance of reaching an agreement soon, but some more time was needed.

Egypt has stepped up pressure on Hamas to complete the swap of Shalit for Palestinians in Israeli jails and to recognize Israel - moves Cairo believes could help resolve the deepening political crisis in the West Bank and Gaza, officials said Tuesday.

For Israel to be carrying out such an offensive whilst delicate negotiations are taking place is strange to say the least. Perhaps Olmert is obsessed with never being seen to look weak.

Or maybe the appointment to the Israeli Cabinet of the fascist Lieberman as Deputy Prime Minister is beginning to give us some indication of things to come:

Israel Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman recommended at the cabinet meeting that the IDF model its operational plans for Gaza on the Russian army's tactics in Chechnya.

Operating along the lines of the Russians in Chechnya? God help us...

If Lieberman is going to be listened to, we can forget any negotiated peace settlement for a long time.

tag: Israel, Israeli, raids, raid, Gaza, strip, Olmert, Lieberman, Gilad Shalit, kidnap, negotiations, Egypt,