October 31, 2005
Beloved in Messiah:
The following is a monthly news update from Israel, written by columnist David Dolan who lives and writes in Jerusalem. This month’s commentary is written from the western United States where Mr. Dolan is currently touring and lecturing. We find Mr. Dolan’s useful background and analysis a help to explain the complicated political and military developments now taking place in war torn Israel.
STRANGELY MISSING FROM Mr. Dolan’s account, is the report perhaps a week old that Al Queida has now entered the Sinai Desert. There is a small force that has driven out settlers in a small undefined region and is fortifying it against recovery. This appears to be the first indication of the expected entry of Al Queida into the region, close to the western Mediterranean seacoast. While not actually located along the seacoast as expected, this heavily guarded terrorist enclave can be exploited as a jumping-off point into the Mediterranean Basin area.
This writer has insufficient information available to us as yet to determine the level of credibility of this report. And of course, Mr. Dolan writes this report from the Western United States, removed from his sources. Nevertheless, following the creation of the power vacuum in the Gaza Strip bordering Israel along the seacoast, this development has serious implications when taken along with the interactions of hostile forces currently underway (Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian Authority battle for power; Syrian forces remaining in Lebanon, and Syrian Ba’athist terrorist forces acting through Lebanon and directly into Israel). What is at stake is a possible resulting swing of the balance of Middle East power, should Israel be effectively driven out of the area.
ON THIS LAST POINT, as we have previously written, though such an occurrence as a Second Exodus is not specifically predicted in the Word of G-d Most High, namely the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Old Testament, the Bible DOES speak of two returns: one in disbelief and a second in belief. It is logical to suspect that between those two returns may well be a Second Exodus - one which is clearly threatened now with the recent forcible removal of Jewish presence from the Gaza Strip and the apparent resolution of power now going on among Israel’s most serious enemies.
Please continue to pray for Israel during this period of increasing death and destruction, following the turnover of Israel’s land into the hand of its enemies.
Regards,
Charles E. Quigley +++++++++++++++++++++
NEWS FROM ISRAEL - October 31, 2005
by Charles E. Quigley
A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DAVID DOLAN -
Below is October’s Israel news review and analysis report, compiled as I’ve been traveling and speaking in Colorado, Texas, Mexico and California. Sadly, it details a sharp resurgence during the month of Palestinian terror and rocket attacks aimed at Jewish civilians, along with Israeli countermeasures that may include a major ground operation into the Gaza Strip in the coming days. All this follows fierce inter-Arab clashes that probably portend more trouble ahead as the Palestinians prepare for legislative elections early next year. New Iranian threats to destroy Israel are also examined. David Dolan +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JERUSALEM UPDATE
by David Dolan
TERROR ESCALATES AS MIDEAST TENSIONS RISE
The always volatile Middle East erupted in fresh turmoil during October as several grave developments signaled that a new round of conflict could be brewing in the region. Palestinian terrorists opened fire south of Jerusalem in mid-October, killing three young Israeli civilians and wounding several others. This led to renewed travel restrictions on Arabs residing in the area and the temporary suspension of security talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials. Twelve days later, an Islamic Jihad suicide terrorist slaughtered five customers at a falafel stand in the Israeli coastal town of Hadera. The attack prompted the Sharon government to halt all contacts with Palestinian officials while launching a new military offensive against the radical group and its allies. Just hours before the Hadera atrocity, Iran’s new hard-line president called for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth. Israeli officials replied that the nuclear-bomb-seeking Islamic regime should be expelled from the United Nations. They also warned Damascus that it must close down Islamic Jihad offices in the Syrian capital or risk possible Israeli reprisals. Meanwhile fresh Palestinian missile strikes were launched into sovereign Israeli territory from the Israeli-evacuated Gaza Strip. Israeli artillery and air strikes replied to the rocket firings while army forces prepared for a possible ground offensive into the small coastal zone. Just before the new terrorist onslaught began, Israeli government leaders expressed serious concern over escalating Palestinian unrest in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the unilateral Israeli civilian and military withdrawals from the area. October began with the worst internal Palestinian clashes in the area in nearly a decade. This came as the ruling Fatah party won a majority of contested council seats in West Bank municipal elections, but lost control in some places to the rival Hamas movement. As the Palestinian ferment boiled over, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon worked like a bulldozer to repair his fractured Likud party political base after narrowly defeating his opponents in a technical vote held in late September.
PALESTINIANS STEP UP ATTACKS
Palestinian militants fired dozens of Kassam rockets and mortar shells into Israeli towns and farming communities around the Gaza Strip during October, with one landing on Sharon’s Negev farm. The barrage came on the heels of a full week of such firings that began soon after Israeli military forces completed their final withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on September 13th. Israeli helicopter gunships were subsequently ordered into quick action, targeting missile firing positions along with several prominent Hamas leaders. On the ground, around 200 known Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists were arrested in Judea and Samaria in an apparent attempt to put additional pressure on their fellow Gaza Strip jihadists to quell the rocket barrage. The Israeli military action came after PM Sharon vowed to use "all means" to halt the continuing rocket attacks. He issued the same warning when a new wave of rockets hit the besieged Israeli town of Sderot in late October. Defense officials then stepped up preparations to unleash a full-scale army operation in the northern Gaza Strip if the rocket and mortar firings do not cease. After the first round of attacks in early October, Major General Yisrael Ziv warned that Israeli artillery could be directed at civilian Palestinian homes in northern Gaza firing zones, effectively turning the area into a decimated "demilitarized zone." Adding significant weight to the stern verbal warnings, Israeli helicopters were sent into action several times during October. The senior Islamic Jihad commander in the southern Gaza Strip, Muhammad Khalil, was targeted and killed by Israeli missiles, along with his personal bodyguard. Islamic Jihad leaders said it was the fifth time Khalil had been caught in the crosshairs of IDF fire; having survived four other attempts to eliminate him.
The top Islamic Jihad commander in the contested territories, Muhammad al Hindi, reacted to the slayings by vowing to step up deadly homicide bombings: "There is no longer any talk of a truce with the Zionist enemy. There is only room for war." The army later issued a statement confirming that it had carried out the air operation, detailing the attacks that Khalil’s Muslim terror cells had perpetrated in recent years which left 17 Israelis dead and many other wounded, most of them civilians.
WARNINGS INTENSIFY
Palestinian Authority officials finally got the message that they faced a humiliating military defeat, if not the collapse of their overall rule, if they did not immediately reign in the radical Muslim forces operating like rogue armies in their midst. They worked overtime to secure a commitment from Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders to halt rocket firings upon Israeli civilian centers. This came after the United States and several other nations called upon the elected Palestinian leadership to stop the illegal firings forthwith or risk massive Israeli retaliation, which they indicated they would at least sympathize with, if not actively support.
PA officials had earlier received a severe wake up call when radical militiamen brazenly murdered General Musa Arafat, a senior PA Gaza Strip security official and a well known nephew of the late PLO chairman. He was physically dragged out of his home and shot at point blank range as outnumbered PA forces watched in horror. Musa Arafat’s son was then captured and reportedly murdered after being taken to another location. The execution-style killings prompted livid PA leader Mahmoud Abbas to cancel plans to attend an international summit meeting at UN headquarters in New York. Instead of rubbing shoulders with world leaders in America, Abbas met with top Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders and ordered them to halt banned missile firings or face a massive clamp-down from armed PA forces. PA leaders earlier thought they had secured such a pledge from their Hamas counterparts, but the published vow proved meaningless as additional rockets rained down on Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip throughout October. Still, in the wake of internal Palestinian clashes that rocked the Gaza Strip in late September, Abbas took no further action to suppress the terrorist groups. Two weeks after the unprecedented intra-Palestinian fighting, which left dozens of PA security forces and Hamas followers dead or wounded, PA officials admitted that - just like the first violent Palestinian uprising of 1988-93 - more Palestinians were slain by fellow
Arabs during the first nine months of 2005 than had perished at the hands of Israelis.
Internal Palestinian tensions reached a fever pitch soon after Hamas released a horrific video taken just before a kidnapped Israeli worker from Jerusalem was murdered in cold blood by the group. In the footage, the bound and blindfolded victim was seen being questioned in front of a large Hamas flag about his alleged "spying" activities on Israel’s behalf. The Al Queida style video deeply angered Israeli authorities and the general public. The ugly action added to Israeli security warnings that Hamas was planning a new terrorist offensive in the run-up to Palestinian legislative elections, currently scheduled for January 25th. American officials later warned that the ballot could be ruined if Hamas terrorists continue to carry out violent attacks against Israeli civilians.
HOLIDAY SHOOTING SPREE
Just as Israelis were making final preparations for the annual Feast of Tabernacles festival in mid-October, Palestinian gunmen carried out a drive-by shooting on a bus stop located at the Gush Etzion junction eight miles south of Jerusalem. Two female cousins waiting there were instantly killed, along with a 15 year old boy. Several civilians standing next to the bus stop were wounded. The cousins - 21 year old Matat Adler, who had been married only two months earlier, and 23 year old Kinneret Mandel - were on their way to visit friends in Jerusalem when the terrorist bullets struck them. Oz Ben Meir, the slain male teenager, was also hitchhiking into the Israeli capital city along with most of the wounded victims. Authorities suspected that the terrorists fled in their Subaru to the nearby PA-controlled town of Bethlehem, which was later sealed off by Israeli soldiers. Subsequent reports indicated that the murderers found sanctuary in the Judean hills around Hebron.
Just 45 minutes after the Gush Etzion atrocity, Palestinian gunmen in another car fired on two young Israelis walking near the Jewish community of Eli north of Jerusalem. The bullets stuck one of the pedestrians in the liver and chest, leaving him critically wounded. Israeli soldiers conducted searches in the area, but no trace was found of the perpetrators.The Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed "credit" for both of the cowardly assaults, which Israeli officials said were probably coordinated in advance. However, security analysts said Hamas terrorists were most likely the culprits in the Gush Etzion attack even though Hamas leaders had promised Mahmoud Abbas early this year that their followers would desist from such violence. They noted that the attack closely resembled earlier ones carried out by the extremist Muslim group. Still, the fact that the Al Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility was seen as another grave indication of just how little control Abbas actually wields over the various terrorist outfits openly operating in his PA-ruled zones.
Within hours of the late afternoon shootings, Ariel Sharon convened an emergency cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz then issued a severe warning to Abbas: Either you take serious steps to nip such attacks in the bud or Israel will do so. To add weight to his words, Mofaz announced the temporary suspension of high level security talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials. "We want the dialogue with the Palestinians to continue, but we can’t talk if the PA does not begin taking significant and active steps against the terrorist organizations," Mofaz declared.
Government ministers backed his proposal to clamp an immediate closure on Judea and Samaria, re-imposing blockades lifted earlier this year on most Palestinian towns. That action was later criticized by U.S. officials as too harsh a response to the drive by attacks. But Sharon - still feeling intense Likud party heat over his unilateral evacuation of 25 Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and parts of northern Samaria - replied that he would not countenance a return to the widespread violence that rocked the disputed territories prior to the 2004 unveiling of the unilateral withdrawal plan, reinforced by stepped up construction of a controversial security barrier running along or near Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
CAMEL’S BACK BROKEN
When an Islamic Jihad terrorist from northern Samaria slaughtered five Israelis - including two Arab citizens - on October 26th in Hadera, Sharon halted all contacts with Abbas, saying he would not deal with the PA leader until he finally took decisive steps to disarm and dismantle the terror groups running riot in his zones of control. The livid Israeli leader also announced an "all out offensive" against the terror groups, which was quickly followed by additional Israeli helicopter strikes on Palestinian targets and the stationing of additional troops and equipment near the tense Gaza border.
Deputy Premier and Labour party leader Shimon Peres denounced the decision to cut off contact with Abbas, maintaining it left no one to deal with but the terrorists and their sponsors. Some political analysts said the apparent Israeli cabinet rift signaled the imminent end of the alliance Peres made with Sharon to push through the Gaza withdrawals. They said national elections scheduled for November 2006 would be moved forward if the Likud-Labour unity government collapses.
Israeli analysts said the apparent PA inability to fully curb the rebel rocket firings and terrorist assaults stemmed from the basic fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders were too busy crowing about their ostensible victory over Israel to pay serious attention to weak PA leaders. Both radical Muslim groups staged huge rallies to celebrate what they termed "the Zionist defeat" in the Gaza Strip. Indeed, so did the ruling Fatah movement, but its parades were not nearly as well attended.
Hamas continued gloating well into October, staging another large rally mid-month designed to show off weapons it said had been smuggled by its henchmen into Gaza from the Egyptian-ruled Sinai desert. Hamas commander Fathi Hamad gave a stirring speech in which he adamantly rejected PA calls for the Islamic fundamentalist group to disarm - instead pledging to build up illegal weapons arsenals for eagerly anticipated future clashes with the detested "Zionist enemy." Another Hamas leader warned Abbas that he would not come out on top in any armed contest with the militant group, adding mockingly that even Israel could not dismantle Hamas terrorist units when it controlled the Gaza Strip.
Just before Abbas departed for an October 21st meeting with George Bush at the White House - where the President portrayed the PA leader as "devoted to peace" - PA security chief Jibril Rajoub revealed that Abbas "has not called for disarming anyone," adding that "There is no decision to collect so-called illegal weapons, and we have taken no steps in that direction." The candid announcement caused dismay at the State Department, which has long championed Abbas as a ‘moderate’ politician who would finally put paid to Palestinian terrorist attacks upon Israeli civilians. Following the Hadera homicide attack, Hamas leaders brazenly declared that they would now join their Islamic Jihad comrades in launching a new round of terror assaults against Israeli civilians.
NEW MIDEAST CONFLICT?
Syria’s ruling Ba’athist regime was pounded by international
condemnations during October after the release of a United Nations
preliminary report linking top Syrian officials to the Valentine’s
Day
car bomb slaying of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri. The report
concluded that the assassination was carried out under direct orders
from Damascus, naming the Syrian intelligence chief - who is a brother
in law of the dictator Bashar Assad - as a leading suspect in the plot.
The United States and France were among several countries that called
for possible UN sanctions against Syria as a result of the vicious
political murder.
Meanwhile tensions intensified between Israel and Syria following the
Hadera terror attack. Israeli officials repeated earlier demands that
Assad shut down Islamic Jihad offices in Damascus or risk Israeli
military action to do so. This came as U.S. officials once again
demanded that Assad’s regime immediately halt the infiltration of
insurgent Sunni fighters into blood-soaked Iraq. Assad earlier appeared
on CNN to contend that he could not stop the flow of jihad fighters into
neighboring Iraq despite the known fact that many Mideast insurgents
enter Syria via the international airport in Damascus.
Syria’s close ally, Iran, raised the temperature in the region by
several degrees when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly declared
that "the Zionist State must be wiped off of the map." Despite
a torrent
of rebukes from many nations, the Shi’ite Muslim leader later defended
his call while marching with anti-Israel demonstrators in Teheran.
Israeli officials said they were concerned that the horrific statement,
coming just hours before Iran’s puppet Palestinian terror group launched
its deadly attack in Hadera, may signal a new wave or Iranian-sponsored
violence against Israeli civilians, if not an major offensive by its
proxy Hezbollah force in southern Lebanon. They warned that any
significant Hezbollah action could spark a new Mideast conflict pitting
Israel against the outlaw Lebanese militia, and with Syria and the
Palestinians, which could easily draw in other countries.
October’s disturbing Mideast developments should serve to remind us
that
the Lord’s return to Jerusalem is drawing closer every day. May His
people all around this troubled planet look upwards and declare with the
saints of all time: "Come Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20)
DAVID DOLAN,
Jerusalem
(DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem based author and journalist who has lived in
Israel since 1980.)
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