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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Update on Battle of Beit Lahiya
2006-07-07
Big EFL to just the battle news.
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian militants armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades battled Israeli helicopters and tanks Thursday in the bloodiest day since Israel invaded Gaza over a soldier's capture. At least 21 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier died.
Larger version of map available here.
Israeli troops retook three empty Jewish settlements nearly a year after abandoning them, seeking to carve out a temporary buffer zone in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent militants from firing more rockets into Israel.

Throughout the day, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at militants while Israeli tanks took up positions among tightly packed Palestinian homes. Apache helicopters hovered overhead, firing flares and machine guns to support ground troops fighting masked Palestinian gunmen. "We are doing the utmost effort ... to avoid civilian casualties," said Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan. "Really, there is no other way of operating against terrorists who are operating inside their own civilian populations."

Israeli helicopter gunships circled over the outskirts of Beit Lahiya, providing support fire as Israeli tanks maneuvered among tightly packed Palestinian homes. Infantrymen took over one family's house, locking the inhabitants on the bottom floor of the home and posting snipers on the upper floors. Outside, armored bulldozers pushed up sand embankments to shelter tanks.

Palestinian militants, many wearing black masks, crept down narrow alleys to get close to Israeli forces and open fire with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. Several militants were seen carrying bombs with electric cables to be buried in alleys or near roads and set off as tanks passed by. During lulls in the fighting, some Palestinian women and children fled their homes and left the area on foot.

Twenty-one Palestinians were reported killed during the day, including nine Palestinians who died from airstrikes in the Beit Lahiya area. A spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry, Khaled Radi, said he didn't know how many civilians were among the dead. He said 67 people had been wounded, including 20 children. Hamas said six of the dead were its members.

An Israeli soldier died in one skirmish - the first Israeli casualty of the offensive. Israel Radio and Army Radio said the army was checking the possibility that the Israeli soldier was killed by errant Israeli gunfire. The army spokesman's office denied that, saying he was killed by a Palestinian gunman.

Lt. Col. Yaniv, a battalion commander, said there had been stiff resistance. "The Palestinians have been firing rocket-propelled grenades, automatic weapons, and setting off explosive devices," said Yaniv, who only gave his first name under military regulations.
Posted by:Steve White

#10  What grb sed.
Posted by: 6   2006-07-07 16:57  

#9  Don't forget the important role played by the Innocent Civilian in Stategic Bunny and Duckling Production.
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-07-07 16:42  

#8  I thought you already knew:

Innocent Civilian (n): Jihadist who forgot to change from civilian clothes to his black jammies in his haste to grab his RPG, AK-47, suicide belt, Kassam rocket or remote IED detonator and run off to fight the infidels while seething due to ignorance and societally ingrained hatred. Innocent Civilians are required by Sharia to stand behind human shields while firing off entire magazines from their weapon at random. Sharia law dictates that all Innocent Civilians, when martyred, must have all weapons removed from their cold, dead hands, and be dragged/moshed to the nearest Innocent Hospital where they will be declared dead and counted as 10 dead women and children by the Innocent Hospital Staff. The Innocent Civilian will then be carried aloft by a swarm to an unmarked grave, and the location is to be immediately forgotten so that any investigations as to their actual role in the combat cannot be investigated.
Posted by: grb   2006-07-07 16:37  

#7  Steve, thanks for the editing. I'm sure all here are aware of this, but most reports on this most recent conflict at least hint that the killed paleos are 'innocent'. It seems the way to filter it while reading is to assume if the media doesn't trumpet the innocent factor, the killed were probably holding at least an RPG. Even if the media do play the 'innocent' card, I have a hard time believing it anymore.
Posted by: Unique Battle   2006-07-07 13:08  

#6  Like your thinking, moose.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-07-07 12:22  

#5  Palestinian militants armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades battled Israeli helicopters and tanks Thursday in the bloodiest day since Israel invaded Gaza over a soldier's capture.

Damn, but they pack a lot of BS into just one sentence.

You've got the "militants," the AK-47s vs. choppers and tanks meme, Israel "invaded" and finally the "capture" of the soldier.

Reading this crap is too mentally draining sometimes.
Posted by: Xbalanke   2006-07-07 12:07  

#4  Now the Israelis should quit screwing around and pretending it's an episode of 'COPS'. *They* should start issuing ultimatums that are totally under their control.

For example, announce that starting in the next few days, they will raze one Paleo town a day until their soldier is returned. Just drive the people out and bulldoze it flat.

If after a week, no response, then cover the site of each razed town with massive chunks of broken concrete, so it would be prohibitively expensive to both haul the concrete away and rebuild, thus destroying each town for good.

More than anything else, they should re-enact capital punishment. However, they should stay execution unless Israelis are killed. Then, in the order in which they were convicted, start executing prisoners. So say 10 Israelis are killed by a suicide bomber, then execute 10 Paleos from the top of the list. First come, first served.

Thus the Paleo convicts would rely on their Paleo brothers to keep them alive, begging and pleading from their prison cells for them not to kill Israelis.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-07-07 10:24  

#3  It's not a battle---it's vermin thinning.
Posted by: gromgoru   2006-07-07 04:29  

#2  Exactly, 2b. Seems to me that the Israelis should publicly challenge the Pals to guarantee the safety of southern Israel from attack, and when they of course balk/gag/fail to do so, Iz'rl declares it is establishing a security buffer in northern Gaza. Evacuate all the Pals there; no return of settlers; wire and mine the area and patrol it; vaporize infiltrators without hesitation. Make a weekly announcement of the current situation, the rationale for the buffer zone, and call on the Pals to guarantee no more acts of international aggression. Better than a cycle of withdrawals/interventions, and far more manageable than southern Lebanon (no populace).

Just an idea.
Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq   2006-07-07 02:36  

#1  Thanks for the map!

The Palestinians got what they voted for: war with Israel.

Posted by: 2b   2006-07-07 01:49  

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