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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel may start cutting power to Gaza |
| 2007-10-24 |
| Israel is considering cutting off electricity to parts of Gaza if rocket attacks by Palestinian militants into southern Israel continue, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Wednesday. "The recommendation is to begin gradually cutting the electricity supply without harming humanitarian sources like hospitals," he told Israel Army Radio. Any such move would have to be approved by Israeli Defense Minster Ehud Barak. This recommendation is part of a plan put together by security officials in response to the ongoing rocket attacks into southern Israel and comes only a few weeks after the Israeli cabinet declared Gaza a "hostile territory." On Tuesday, eight Qassam rockets launched from Gaza landed in southern Israel, hitting a house, but inflicting no casualties, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said. Also on Tuesday, a Palestinian militant died in an Israeli airstrike on his vehicle in central Gaza. An Israeli army spokesman said the target of the attack had been Mubarak Hassanat, a senior member of the Popular Resistance Committees -- an umbrella group for Palestinian militant groups. One bystander was injured in the attack, the spokesman said. According to Israel, a total of 15 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza on Monday and Tuesday. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #18 IIUC - they are directly |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-24 21:32 |
| #17 Quite probably I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the Palestinians are not connected to Israel's power grid, as I thought they were not connected to Israel's water. But rather, that they get fuel for their power generators, which also pump the water from their own wells (which they use so wastefully the groundwater is falling and seawater is seeping in). How far from correct am I? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-24 21:20 |
| #16 I expect they will cut off power to the specific towns where the rocket attacks are coming from. Let each town decide how much its worth to cooperate with the hard boyz. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-10-24 16:46 |
| #15 I may not agree with your Litani nuke solution™ OP, but I agree with your Walking Artillery Solution™ for Gaza. There is absolutely no reason for the IDF to do ground ops there, subjecting troops to unnecessary risk. I still say, turn their water off. That will get their attention more than anything. Give em some advance warning so they can get Egypt to save their sorry a$$es, then 32 turns clockwise on the Big Valve™. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-10-24 16:43 |
| #14 AP: 1. Its not the govts job to only be concerned for one community, but to worry about the security of the state. 2. Its absolutely not true they have done nothing - they have done counter battery fire, air attacks (including one the other day that killed a Hamas honcho who was involved in the rocket attacks) and raids. What they have not YET done is cut the power. 3. What liberal europe cares about in its heart of hearts is irrelevant. What matters is trade and other real world interactions. Israel does not want to be isolated. Israel is a small country and cannot afford to be isolated, and that is a fact. 4. Far from dying, Israel is growing, in population, economics, society. 5. Im not going to addressthe Abbas=Arafat argument in this thread. Suffice it to say the current govt of Israel does not believe it, and they will make policy on that basis. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-10-24 16:38 |
| #13 Lining up 2000 artillery pieces and marching the shells north to south would do a lot more, quicker, and more effectively. Once Gaza is a desert, turn to the West Bank. The flood of "refugees" to Egypt and Jordan will put them where they belong. If Hezbollah attacks from the north, give UNIFIL 30 days to leave, then nuke the Litani River from Syria to the Med. Doing it once, right, will solve the problem for a long time to come. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-10-24 16:05 |
| #12 When you allow rocket attacks into Israel and do nothing about them, you are in effect legitimizing the actions of terrorists, which allows them more degrees of freedom. Too right, AP. Silence is consent and Israel has consented to playing the victim so many times that this sort of suicidal behavior is now expected of them. It's long past tea for them to respond quickly and lethally to even small incursions by Hamas or even Fatah, for that matter. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-24 14:54 |
| #11 If the Qassam rockets landed in my community, I would be outraged and would demand that my government do what it takes to eliminate the threat to my family and my neighbors. I and my fellow citizens would raise holy hell. Just because the rockets do not hit anything that day is no excuse to let them go. Living under the threat of these erratic rockets means that one of them may have YOUR or YOUR FAMILY'S name on it. When you allow rocket attacks into Israel and do nothing about them, you are in effect legitimizing the actions of terrorists, which allows them more degrees of freedom. Liberal Europe does not give a sh*t about whether Israel lives or dies. Isreal is in the position that they are in because they have let this thing go too long without serious consequences. If Israel watches the polls to see which way they will move their policies, then they are just dying on the installment plan. Abbas is Hamas-lite. Just like the Arafish was. He is another weasel, talking out both sides of his mouth. Israel is in the position that they are in because they kept backing down on fundamental issues, worried about public opinion, instead of doing what is right and necessary for her survival. You do not negotiate with enemies that are sworn to destroy you. That is a game for fools. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-10-24 13:51 |
| #10 If you have a child and don't discipline it in a timely manner then the discipline, when it takes place, is not correlated with the instigating act and becomes viewed as parental abuse. Discipline should be swifted applied. The swat on the bottom - NOW! The grounding - NOW! If you wait its less than useful to apply. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-10-24 13:32 |
| #9 "That is why they have "considered" for so long, and that is why when they do it, they will do it in careful steps." ...and that is why they will continue to get the same results they've been getting: Qassams. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-10-24 10:51 |
| #8 Israel is weighing the actual damage from the Qassams, the symbolic damage to its deterrent image from not responding even to ineffective attacks, its relations, diplomatic and economic with the "liberal world" including Europe, and the fence sitters in the USA, their desire not to undermine Abbas by hitting so hard in Gaza that West Bank Pals see Abbas as collaborating in the humanitarian harm to Gaza Pals, their desire to strengthen Abbas by hitting hard enough in Gaza to weaken Hamas' own reputation for strength, and their desire not to undermine the US WOT. That is why they have "considered" for so long, and that is why when they do it, they will do it in careful steps. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-10-24 09:43 |
| #7 Lab rats can be taught through operant conditioning; I assume Gazans can, too. Feeling rather optimistic today, are we? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-24 09:30 |
| #6 Israel may start cutting power to Gaza I could swear I've seen nearly that exact same headline at least twice already in the last year. For cryin' out loud, stop "considering" it and just DO IT. And don't do it "gradually" or to just "parts" of Gaza, and quit the liberal hand-wringing about "not harming humanitarian sources like hospitals". Shut the damned savages down COMPLETELY. No electricity, no water, no passage in or out. Announce a policy and act on it: EVERY time a rocket is fired from Gaza, ALL services to Gaza will be terminated for a week. Do it consistently. Lab rats can be taught through operant conditioning; I assume Gazans can, too. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-10-24 09:20 |
| #5 Just keep sawing away at that branch you're sitting on, guys. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-24 08:55 |
| #4 If I've been reading correctly the last few days, recent articles suggest the Gazans haven't waited for Israeli action, but are already cutting themselves off from Israeli medical supplies, food, water, and power. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-24 08:46 |
| #3 Outrage from concerned progressives and Christians in 5... 4... 3... |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-10-24 08:33 |
| #2 A key phrase here is "parts of Gaza". By this, I think they mean the electrical lines which enter Gaza nearest Sderot. |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-10-24 08:16 |
| #1 Believe it when I see it. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-10-24 07:50 |