WarSclerotic

The Associated Press: Israel moves to counter Gaza militants’ new weapon.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel will deploy tanks equipped with a new defense system along the Gaza border after Palestinian militants for the first time used a sophisticated, tank-piercing missile believed to be the most advanced weapon in their arsenal.

Israeli defense officials said the laser-guided Kornet came from Iran, the top backer of Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas, also backed by Iran, used the Russian-made Kornets in their 2006 war against Israel, destroying or damaging several dozen Israeli tanks.

The Palestinian use of Kornet missiles, confirmed by Israel’s military chief on Tuesday, marks a new milestone for Gaza militants, who have steadily built up their arsenal from a collection of crude, homemade rockets to include more menacing imported weapons.

Israel’s answer is called Trophy, a first-of-its-kind Israeli-made system carried by tanks that is designed to shoot down missiles like the Kornet. The system, mounted on the side of a tank, detects an incoming missile and fires a projectile at it, destroying it, according to video of a test provided by the developer.

Violence has been escalating along the Gaza border in recent weeks. In his parliamentary testimony Tuesday, Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, confirmed militants fired a Kornet missile for the first time earlier this month, and it penetrated an Israeli tank.

He called the missile “one of the most dangerous in the battlefield.” Ashkenazi said. He said the missile did not explode inside the tank, and no one was hurt.

The Israeli defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss such matters publicly, provided no proof to support their claim that the laser-guided missile came from Iran. Also, it was not clear how it was delivered. Hamas controls a network of smuggling tunnels along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, though Egypt has pledged to crack down on smuggling.

Hamas has not confirmed or denied possessing the missiles.

In the wake of the recent attack, the military decided to move to the Gaza border dozens of tanks equipped with the Israel-developed Trophy system, which detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach armored vehicles. Production of the Trophy was stepped after the 2006 war against Hezbollah.

The Trophy has not yet been tried on the battlefield, though the Defense Ministry says it has been tested successfully against a variety of weapons, including Kornets.

Israel’s volatile front with Gaza has been relatively quiet since an overwhelming military offensive against Palestinian militants two years ago. But there has been a surge in violence in recent weeks, with militants firing rockets and mortars into Israel and Israel responding with airstrikes.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Meron Reuben, filed a complaint to the Security Council and to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday, calling the rocket attacks a violation of international law and warning that Israel “will continue to exercise its right to self-defense.”

He urged the international community to send a “clear and resolute message” against the militant attacks and to give “appropriate attention to the smuggling of arms into Gaza.”

Ban’s U.N. representative, Robert Serry, condemned indiscriminate rocket and mortar attacks and acknowledged Israel’s right to self defense. He also urged Israel to “exercise maximum restraint” to prevent civilian casualties.

The Kornet — made in Russia and sold widely overseas — is the most advanced weapon believed to be in the hands of Gaza militants.

In use since the mid-1990s, the Kornet is capable of penetrating armor up to four feet (1,200 mm) thick and has a range of about almost four miles (5.5 kilometers). It carries a warhead of 22 pounds (10 kilograms).

Armed groups also possess rockets capable of traveling up to 70 kilometers (40 miles), putting the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in their range.

The U.S. and Russia are developing similar systems, but the Israeli one is believed to be the first to be deployed on the battlefield.

via Gloria Center: The Poisoned Fruits of Appeasement Come Home to Roost [Article].

The U.S. weakness in countering Iran and other radical forces in the Middle East is beginning to bear poisoned fruits. Jordan is already moving toward getting on Iran’s good side; Lebanon has been captured by the Iran-Syria camp; Turkey has moved into its orbit, becoming an ally of Iran and Syria, while the Obama Administration only emphasizing how important the relationship is with that country despite differences (that is, the Turkish regime sabotaging U.S. interests repeatedly.)

Now Qatar–which hedges its bets between cooperating with the United States on basing rights, sponsors the radical anti-American al-Jazira network, and works with Iran on regional issues-has also moved closer to Tehran. Qatar participated in joint war games with Iran and has now invited Iranian Revolutionary Guards troops for a visit including five warships to inspect Qatar’s defenses. Deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy, Alireza Tangsiri, said, “Such programs will definitely pave the way for mutual cooperation.”

You bet.

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip all the influx of Western aid and the reduction of sanctions hasn’t helped matters one bit when it comes to the terrorism of its Hamas rulers. On the contrary, 14 rockets were fired at Israel on December 19 and 20 (one narrowly missing a kindergarten class), by far the highest number since the war caused by massive Hamas attacks a year ago.

But guess what? Aid groups are now campaigning for reducing sanctions even more! And after the restrictions have been narrowed to cover only military-related material, Reuters describes this as a “blockade.”

Could it be that Western support for Hamas, or at least for stabilizing its rule in the Gaza Strip, is making Hamas bolder?

Might it be that Western criticism of Israel for its military campaign a year ago–without seriously condemning Hamas’s aggression and use of civilians as human shields–has convinced Hamas that it can attack Israel regularly but Israel will hesitate to retaliate lest it incur international condemnation again?

Is it possible that Hamas is confident that if Israel does attack it can use this as leverage to gain even more Western concessions and apparent sympathy by cynically sacrificing its own people? [Sarcasm alert] No doubt, when there are no sanctions at all, Hamas will become moderate.

In fact, Israel has already learned the lesson that the more land it withdrew from and the more concessions offered, the more militant, confident, and intransigent the other side became. That’s why nowadays those demanding even more concessions–if there is some real cost or risk involved–are going to be ignored if at all possible.

Can there be any correlation between Western eagerness to engage Syria while ignoring its continued aggression in Iraq and Lebanon with that dictatorship’s growing boldness and arrogance? (Indeed, at this very moment, Lebanese moderates are complaining that France is making a deal with Hizballah to sell out the investigation of Syrian (and possibly Hizballah) involvement in assassinations and terrorism against Lebanese moderates.)

And might it further be credible that by making the Palestinian Authority feel that it can get international recognition by refusing to negotiate with Israel or compromise is sabotaging the peace process that Western governments so passionately advocate?

Here’s UPI’s strange fable about the situation:

“Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas]…has sought to negotiate a peace agreement with Israel rather than wage war against it to liberate Palestinian land from 43 years of occupation. As such, he has been central to U.S. efforts to move the foundering peace process forward….His popularity, such as it was, has ebbed, particularly among Arafat’s Old Guard, as the prospect of a Palestinian state faded in the face of Israel’s intransigence.”

Yes, we live in a bizarre world in which Israel has offered to negotiate for two solid years and froze construction for ten months at U.S. request while the Palestinian Authority has refused to negotiate and yet it is Israel that is allegedly showing “intransigence.” And in which explanations of the conflict always mention Palestinian demands but never the fact that Israel wants to be secure from 62 years of war waged against it to wipe it off the map.

All of these points are obvious; none of these points seem to shape Western policy or mass media coverage. Probably a year or two from now when the relationship of appeasing or ignoring radical forces is apparent these links will be discovered with astonishment by those who should be coping with them now.

An unwitting slide toward Cast Lead II?.

Almost two years ago to the day, Operation Cast Lead began, and here, Israel and Hamas are back to fighting again.

A large-scale conflict has yet to evolve, but in the eyes of both sides, there is no question that the current escalation could easily lead to Cast Lead II – which neither side wants at the moment.

In Israel, residents of the South do not want a return to life in bomb shelters, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is currently focused on trying to work with the Obama administration to get the peace process back on track. A large-scale operation inside Gaza would most likely end that possibility.

The understanding within Military Intelligence is that the Gaza leadership also has reasons for not wanting a deterioration into another Cast Lead. For one, Hamas has yet to complete its rehabilitation process since the first conflict; it still needs to acquire more advanced weaponry and complete the construction of additional underground bunkers and passageways before it can pose a real challenge to the IDF.

If this is true, why is Hamas attacking the IDF along the border and allowing the Popular Resistance Committees and Islamic Jihad to fire rockets and mortars into Israel? These two organizations are institutionally independent of Hamas, but they are subordinate to the latter’s directives.

The answer is likely the result of several factors. First, the political leadership in Gaza is under pressure from the military wing, led by Ahmed Jabari, to renew rocket attacks against Israel.

After two years of quiet, Hamas fighters and the group’s proxies want some action.

The second reason is that while the rehabilitation process continues, Hamas has obtained sophisticated weaponry over the past two years. These weapons include long-range rockets like the Iranian Fajr-5, which can hit Tel Aviv, and the Russian Kornet anti-tank missile, which penetrated a Merkava tank two weeks ago. If they have the equipment, why not use it?

A more powerful incentive, however, is probably Hamas’s feeling that it has been forgotten. By slightly escalating the Gaza front, it will remind the regional players of its existence and its rule over Gaza.

Hamas officials are genuinely frustrated at seeing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas traversing the globe, leading the efforts to obtain international recognition for a Palestinian state without even mentioning Hamas or the Gaza Strip.

Egypt has also cracked down on Hamas over the past year, and an escalation that includes the use of missiles like the Kornet, which were smuggled into Gaza via tunnels under the Egyptian border, will likely cause some embarrassment back in Cairo.

Lastly, the talks for the release of Gilad Schalit are deadlocked, denying Hamas a political victory. The organization needs to flex its muscles and show that it not only exists, but can cause Israel damage.

Israel’s policy appears to be quite simple for the time being – to respond to fire with fire, but exercise caution at the same time. Israel’s hope is that the retaliatory air strikes will restore some of its eroding deterrence.

However, this policy could also have the exact opposite effect – and unwittingly lead the country straight toward Cast Lead II.

PA fears new Israeli offensive on Gaza, Erekat says.

Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Wednesday expressed concern over Israel’s latest attacks on the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.

Erekat stated that the Palestinian Authority fears Israel will launch a new large scale attack on Gaza, following escalated tensions in the area.

The PA negotiator added that military measures will not solve anything and will only make things worse.

On Tuesday, Israel  pounded Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip in the most extensive aerial bombardment since Operation Cast Lead two years ago.

At least three Hamas operatives were killed during the bombing of arms storehouses and smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt, and in the pummeling of tunnels being dug toward Israel.

The IAF strikes came in response to multiple attacks on southern Israel from Gaza.

A Kassam rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into the Ashkelon area on Tuesday morning, landing in Kibbutz Zikim. The rocket exploded near a kindergarten, as dozens of parents were dropping off their children at school, injuring a 14-year old girl.

The incident followed a spate of attacks emanating from Gaza in the previous days, encompassing the launch of some three rockets and 18 mortars into the regions of Eshkol and Ashkelon. These attacks included the launch of six mortars on Sunday at IDF forces operating near the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor on Wednesday said that Israel cannot accept continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and that he hoped another large scale offensive in the territory like Operation Cast Lead wouldn’t be necessary. Meridor’s comments came in an interview with Israel Radio.

Meridor stated that Hamas has not done enough lately to prevent other organizations from firing rockets into residential areas of the Negev.

He added that Israel will continue to respond decisively to rocket fire until the attacks from Gaza stop completely.

On Tuesday, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Meron Reuben filed a complaint with the Security Council about the rocket and mortar fire from Gaza.

Yaakov Katz contributed to this report