Articles of the Day 8/5/14: Giving Away Gains
Israel-Hamas Conflict 2014
Israel-Hamas talks to open in Cairo after 72-hour ceasefire. Netanyahu faces credibility gap at home
“A former National Security Adviser Gen (res) Giora Eiland, summed up the month-long Israeli military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip as a draw between the two adversaries, with neither side the winner. This judgment, shared by many military experts contradicted the way the operation’s outcome is presented by the prime minister and defense minister who directed it. They describe Hamas as reeling from the heavy damage the IDF wrought to its military machine and weakened enough to be finished off at the negotiating table in Cairo.
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Israel’s first ghost villages are clearly visible to the enemy and no doubt chalked up on the credit side of the Hamas war ledger.
Haim Yelin, head of the Eshkol District Council said Monday that 75 percent of the frontline population has moved north. He said he believes the assurances he received from Netanyahu and Ya’alon that the IDF has solved the tunnel threat and would provide the communities with protection against new tunnels. But he said, people are no longer willing to live under the threat of terrorist rocket fire, which they don’t believe has been finally curbed.This credibility gap is part of the general unease over the outcome of this long-delayed counter-terror operation. It started out with 86 percent of the population canvassed holding high hopes of curing the festering terrorist woe emanting from the Gaza Strip. But now, Israel’s leaders, no less than Hamas, face a rehabilitation challenge – not just the reconstruction of damaged businesses, farms and buildings, but also of faith in government.”
As truce holds, Israelis set to negotiate long-term solution
“Preventing Hamas from rearming, with regional support, is government’s top priority; Jerusalem willing to ease Gaza blockade.”
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“Netanyahu is ready to ease some restrictions on the Gaza Strip in return for sustained quiet, the senior official said Monday, refusing to provide more details. “These restrictions [on border crossings and imports of goods] are a function of the hostility and the violence. If the hostility and the violence were to cease it would give Israel room to move on the restrictions that are primarily there for security reasons.”
This is what scares me. Any gains Israel makes on the battlefield are often given away by politicians. Hamas wins if Israel gives into anything. This easing of the blockade is already a sign of concern.
Israeli Defense Minister: “We Pushed Hamas Back Five Years”
“In the background of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Defense Minister stated that as long as Israel continues to be fired at, the operation is not over. Ya’alon stressed that from now on Israel will operate unilaterally due to Hamas’ violations and that the process of taking care of the tunnels has been completed.”
Infrastructure may have been pushed back 5 years but Hamas leadership is still intact and I see no change in their behavior any time soon. They will recuperate for a few years but we will be right back here again in as soon as two years. Egypt can make it difficult for Hamas but not impossible. What happens if suddenly Egypt changes it mind about Hamas?
Captured Hamas Combat Manual Explains Benefits of Human Shields
“IDF forces in the Gaza Strip found a Hamas manual on “Urban Warfare,” which belonged to the Shuja’iya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The manual explains how the civilian population can be used against IDF forces and reveals that Hamas knows the IDF is committed to minimizing harm to civilians.”
A Senior Military Official: “We could have taken control of Gaza in 10 days”
“As IDF forces start to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, a senior military official said that the main task – the destruction of the tunnels – was achieved. According to the official, if the political leadership had given the order to topple Hamas’ regime – the task would have required staying in Gaza for 2 years.”
“The Gaza war of 2014 will end in a cease-fire, just as the previous rounds between Israel and Hamas and the 2006 battle with Hezbollah ended. But the war will be won or lost less in the streets and tunnels of Gaza this summer than when the fighting is over. Israel must not only damage Hamas on those battlegrounds, but seal its own gains in the terms of the cease-fire, and ensure that the aftermath of the war weakens Hamas’s hold on Gaza and its role in Palestinian politics.”
An unavoidable war, unfinished
“Both sides can claim successes in the four weeks of bloody fighting. But an endgame that leaves Gaza’s Islamist rulers capable of doing all this again, except worse, would be their biggest success of all.”
IDF kills top Islamic Jihad members
“Destruction of tunnels reaches conclusion; almost 90 rockets fired at Israel from Gaza; senior army source says 400,000 Gazans are internally displaced.”
Fear of Gaza tunnels empties kibbutz of children
“Stoic in the face of rockets, Kfar Aza evacuates its 250 kids amid concern over Hamas terror attacks from underground.”
Terror attack: Palestinian stabs guard at Ma’aleh Adumim, flees scene
“After Jerusalem was rocked by 2 terror attacks on Monday, guard stabbed and moderately injured at entrance to West Bank settlement; suspects arrested.”
Angry Palestinians Attack Hamas Official Over Gaza Destruction
“Hamas spokesman beaten by Gaza residents, who blame Hamas for the killing and destruction they suffered.”
Iranian Official: “Hamas Fires Rockets Thanks to Us”
“The secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran says he is proud of the Fajr-5 missiles created in Gaza, thanks to Iranian information. “We are not ashamed to proclaim our support of Hamas”, added the official, who called out to Hamas to kidnap soldiers: “This is the Zionists’ weak spot”.
Knesset member: Retake Gaza, put civilians in ‘tent camps’
“Moshe Feiglin says Gazans should be given ‘generous’ incentives to relocate — after all fighters and ‘their supporters’ killed.”
UN General Assembly to Discuss Gaza
“In an initiative of Arab countries, envoys from all 193 countries of the United Nations will meet and discuss Gaza on Wednesday.”
Get ready for the onslaught of UN resolutions condemning Israel….for everything.
Sunni-Shiite Civil War
Lebanese army battles Syrian rebels holding town
“Thousands of civilians flee area as militants battling Assad make first large scale incursion across border.”
Iraq Situation Report: August 4, 2014
Control of Terrain in Iraq: August 4, 2014
Sunni militants target Iraq’s two biggest dams
“BAGHDAD (AP) — The militants who have overrun large parts of Iraq are now battling ferociously to capture one of the country’s vital resources, water.”
Behind the lines: Under Gaza’s shadow, Islamic State advances
“The recent global media focus on the fighting in Gaza should not be allowed to obscure potentially far more significant developments in the broader region. The Islamic State in Iraq and in Syria is on the march.”
ISIL Targets Saudi Intelligence
“The ultra-violent al Qaeda offshoot group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) has targeted Saudi Arabian intelligence officers for a campaign of assassination as part of plans by the group to expand activities inside the oil-rich kingdom.”
Prophecy
“Q. I have some questions regarding the borders for Israel. I have looked for answers but haven’t come up with anything I feel real confident about as far as accuracy. Has Israel ever inhabited all the land that the LORD promised Abraham? Are they doing so now (minus the West Bank and Gaza of course)? If the war prophesied by Psalm 83 comes to pass in the manner we expect it to and Israel gains additional territory from what it has now would they then be in full possession of the LORD’s Promised Land? Assuming that they are not in full possession now: How would their gaining full possession affect End Times time tables?
A. When you consider the several passages contained in Scripture that define the Promised Land, the best guide for determining its borders is to use the Euphrates River in the North, the River of Egypt (Wadi al Arish) in the South, the Mediterranean in the West and the Jordan River in the East. Although King Solomon had treaties with neighboring kings that gave him access to and revenue from most of this land, Israel has never had complete control over all of it.
A victory in the Battle of Psalm 83 will likely restore all the “Palestinian” land to Israel and perhaps some other land as well. Whether they will wind up in possession of all the land that was promised to Abraham remains to be seen. This would not effect the End Times time table at all, because all these things have been prophesied.
There’s no Scripture that promises Israel full control of all the promised land prior to the 2nd Coming. However, at that time they will receive it all. Ezekiel 48 describes how the land will be allotted, and a comparison with Joshua 14-21 shows there will be some differences.”
Meanwhile….
“Monday night and Tuesday are Tisha b’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar.”
God's Hourglass 
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