Stories From The Gaza War You May Have Missed

(January 5, 2009)

Another Day, Another Rocket

“I am presently at home in the northern Negev spending much of the day going in and out of the bomb shelter in my home as Grads drop from the sky nearby. The small space is shared with 6 grandchildren and parents. We make the best of it. We actually welcomed in the new year in the place as another missile was landing nearby. Spending time in the shelter is actually less troubling this time since we have not yet been asked to put on our gas masks. When we exit and see foreign newscasts, the BBC and Sky for example, we wonder what reality are they describing.  It certainly is not ours.”

— Email from Professor Ilan Troen of Brandeis University, January 1, 2009

Miracles Do Happen

“A Grad rocket slammed into a residential building in Ashdod on Thursday [January 1, 2009], hitting the top floor and sending several chunks of concrete tumbling down to the street below. Thirty-two people were treated for shock, but no one was wounded in the attack, thanks to residents' adherence to Home Front Command directives to enter and remain in safe rooms after hearing a siren, officials said. 'This is nothing less than a miracle,' Magen David Adom chairman Eli Bin told the Jerusalem Post.” (January 1, 2009)

— Jerusalem Post, (January 1, 2009)

The Difference Between Hamas and Israel

“Maintaining a night vigil along the border with Israel, Hamas fighters sat Wednesday within reach of a device connected to underground wires. The wires were attached to a battery-like device that might have been a detonator for a landmine. Clutching assault rifles and hiding behind trees, masked Hamas gunmen in military clothing reported by field radio their observations of Israeli movements. 'The difference between us and them is that they wait passionately for the day they can return home safely, while we bid farewell to our families and hope to die as martyrs,' one of the men said.”

— Scotsman, (January 1, 2009)

Egypt Hunting Hamas Operatives in Sinai

“Egypt's Al-Ahram weekly quoted official sources as saying that Egyptian security forces are hunting for several Hamas operatives who have infiltrated Sinai and are aiming to target Egyptian forces. Egyptian authorities have called on locals to refrain from assisting the infiltrators in any way. Meanwhile, Mohammed Bassiouni, former Egyptian ambassador to Israel and currently chairman of the parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, criticized Hamas Thursday on Cairo's state television, saying, ‘Where are the Hamas leaders now, when Gazans are being killed? They are all in hiding.’”

— Ynet News, (January 1, 2009)

Hamas Goes to War with Gazans...

The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip. Fatah officials reported at least 75 of their supporters were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken. In addition, Hamas executed more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel.

— Jerusalem Post, (January 1, 2009)

...While Israel Tries to Protect Them

Israeli TV reported that minutes before the targeted killing of a Hamas terrorist in his apartment or home, all the neighbors get a phone call warning them to get out of the area. Some of the defiant ones go to the roof hoping to dissuade the IDF from firing at which point a small, harmless missile is fired to a corner of the roof. This convinces the defiant to get away. Then and only then is the hit performed.

There is no other army in the world that takes such extreme measures to protect noncombatants.

— Channel 10, Israel TV, (January 1, 2009)