Via the AP: Israel kills top Hamas figure, escalating campaign
Israel dropped a one-ton bomb on the home of a Hamas strongman Thursday, killing him along with two wives and four children in the first attack on the top leadership of Gaza’s rulers. As the aerial bombardment escalated, the army said it was also poised to launch a ground invasion. Israel also appeared to be sounding out a possible diplomatic exit from the 6-day-old military offensive against Hamas by demanding international monitors as a key term of any future truce.The bombing targeted 49-year-old Nizar Rayan, ranked among Hamas’ top five decision-makers in Gaza. His four-story apartment building crashed to the ground, sending a thick plume of smoke into the air and heavily damaging neighboring buildings. It killed Rayan and 11 others, including two of his four wives and four of his 12 children, Palestinian health officials said. The Muslim faith allows men to have up to four wives.
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A professor of Islamic law, Rayan was closely tied to Hamas’ military wing and was respected in Gaza for donning combat fatigues and personally participating in clashes against Israeli forces. He sent one of his sons on an October 2001 suicide mission that killed two Israeli settlers in Gaza.
The story notes both the possibility of a truce and a ground assault. In regards to a ground assault:
Thousands of soldiers were massed along the border with Gaza, backed by tanks and artillery. Along the border, the ground troops watched warplanes and attack helicopters flying into Gaza, cheering each time they heard the explosion of an airstrike.
In regards to a truce:
Earlier this week, Olmert rebuffed a French proposal for a two-day suspension of hostilities. But at the same time, he seemed to be looking for a diplomatic way out, telling Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders that Israel wouldn’t agree to a truce unless international monitors took responsibility for enforcing it, government officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential.International intervention helped Israel to accept a truce that ended its 2006 war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, when the U.N. agreed to station peacekeepers to enforce the terms. This time, Israel isn’t seeking a peacekeeping force, but a monitoring body that would judge compliance on both sides.
At the moment, the ground assault seems more likely than a truce.
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January 1st, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Almost after six days of fighting, the end is not yet clear about what the Israelis are gaining of that unstop aerial bombardment. I remember long time ago when the Israelis fought on three different front and won the six days war, in six days. It’s looks to me that Israel is on the the way to exterminate the Palestinians, If not all of them, some of them anyhow. If in six days they haven’t achieved their goal, then I expect them to leave behind “nothing”. And the world is standing by to wait and see what the new administration of Mr. Obama going to do about it. Probably “nothing”. If any comes out good after this aggravated assault from Israel. The world should arm the Palestinians with similar weapons. Anticraft weapons probably would have diminish the casualities in Gaza. For now only God will help them out, and I hope It don’t end to be the same God that Israel worship.
January 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
Here’s the sentence that speaks ill of the chance for any lasting peace:
Not “he lost his son,” not “his son carried out;” there is none of that wimpy phrasing. No, this man sent his son on a suicide mission.
January 3rd, 2009 at 5:22 am
Those are thoughtful comments above.
Let me be the one to depart from thoughtfulness and delve into relative triviality.
A one ton bomb?
Bombs typically come in the 100, 500, 1000, and “one ton” variety. The 2,000 pound bombs are usually reserved for bunkers and very large buildings.
Israel is serious, dude.