Terror Tunnels The Case for Israel's Just War Against Hamas (22 page)

Here, in contrast, is the two-step program for reducing the likelihood that Hamas will again fire rockets and employ terrorist tunnels against Israeli civilians from Palestinian civilian areas:

1. Condemn Hamas for starting the war, for firing at civilians from civilian areas, and for deliberately trying to increase the number of civilian deaths by reserving their shelters for terrorists and not for civilians.
   
2. Disarm Hamas and don’t allow it to rearm.
   ⁶³
   

The problem is that the international community seems to be following the twelve-step rather than the two-step program. So, unless things change, stay tuned for a replay of the current tragedy.

N
OTES

1
Recently, Israel announced that it was testing a new technology that could help locate the tunnel routes and exit points—see for example Inna Lazareva, “Israel Tests Hi-Tech Tunnel Detection System to Fight Threat from Underground,”
The Telegraph
[Jaffa], 23 July 2014:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10985663/Israel-tests-hi-tech-tunnel-detection-system-to-fight-threat-from-underground.html
.

2
“Iron Dome: How Israel’s Missile Defence System Works,”
The Week
, 1 August 2014:
http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/middle-east/59368/iron-dome-how-israels-missile-defence-system-works
.

3
“Report: Hamas Planned Rosh Hashanah Attack through Gaza Tunnels,”
JTA
, 28 July 2014, citing Maariv and “security sources”:
http://www.jta.org/2014/07/28/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/report-hamas-planned-rosh-hashanah-attack-through-gaza-tunnels
.

4
Melanie Lidman, “They Thought it Was Rockets They Had to be Scared Of,”
The Times of Israel
, 6 August 2014:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/they-thought-it-was-rockets-they-had-to-be-scared-of/
.

5
Different acronyms have been used to refer to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and simply the Islamic State (IS).

6
This was neither the first nor last such offer. The Peel Commission in 1937, the UN in 1947, and Israel in 1967 made similar proposals, all of which were rejected by three noes: “no peace, no negotiation, no recognition.” And in 2008, then–Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered the Palestinians the most generous proposal, which they did not accept.

7
“Rocket Threat from the Gaza Strip, 2000–2007,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, citing the Hamas website following the first rocket fired at Sderot at the end of October 2001: 33–34,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/data/pdf/PDF_07_177_2.pdf
.

8
“Quartet Statement - 30 January 2006,” Middle East Quartet, London,
http://www.quartetrep.org/news/dh/infocus/middle_east/quartet-30jan2006.htm
.

9
See for example: Steven Erlanger, “A Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery,” the
New York Times
, 10 January 2009:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/world/middleeast/11hamas.html?pagewanted=all
; Yaakov Katz, “Hamas Used Almost 100 Mosques for Military Purposes,”
The Jerusalem Post
, 15 March 2010:
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Hamas-used-almost-100-mosques-for-military-purposes
; and “Evidence of the Use of the Civilian Population as Human Shields,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC), 4 February 2009:
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/data/pdf/PDF_09_052_2.pdf
.

10
Alan Dershowitz, “The Case Against the Goldstone Report: A Study in Evidentiary Bias,” Harvard Law School, 27 January 2010:
http://www.alandershowitz.com/goldstone.pdf
.

11
“IDF Phones Gaza Residents to Warn Them of Imminent Strikes,”
Haaretz
, 2 January 2009:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/idf-phones-gaza-residents-to-warn-them-of-imminent-strikes-1.267350
. See also: Adam Taylor, “‘Roof Knocking’: The Israeli Military’s Tactic of Phoning Palestinians it is about to Bomb,”
The Washington Post,
9 July 2014:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/09/roof-knocking-the-israeli-mjilitarys-tactic-of-phoning-palestinians-it-is-about-to-bomb/
.

12
Yaakov Lappin, “IDF Releases Cast Lead Casualty Numbers,”
The Jerusalem Post
, 1 January 2010:
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/IDF-releases-Cast-Lead-casualty-numbers
.

13
The original text of the interview in Arabic, as reprinted in the Hamas newspaper
Felesteen
, can be found on the website of the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. It was also reported by Agence France Presse.

14
Letty C. Pogrebin, “The Un-Jewish Assault on Richard Goldstone,”
The Jewish Daily Forward
, 29 December 2010:
http://forward.com/articles/134322/the-un-jewish-assault-on-richard-goldstone/
.

15
Alan Dershowitz, “The Case Against the Goldstone Report: A Study in Evidentiary Bias,” Harvard Law School, 27 January 2010:
http://www.alandershowitz.com/goldstone.pdf
.

16
Alan Dershowitz, “Finally, a Hamas Leader Admits that Israel Killed Mostly Combatants in Gaza,”
The World Post,
17 December 2010:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/finally-a-hamas-leader-ad_b_798429.html
.

17
Richard Goldstone, “Reconsidering the Goldstone Report on Israel and War Crimes,”
The Washington Post
, 1 April 2011:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/reconsidering-the-goldstone-report-on-israel-and-war-crimes/2011/04/01/AFg111JC_story.html
.

18
Ian Black and Ian Cobain, “Israeli Minister Ehud Barak faces War Crimes Arrest Threat During UK Visit,”
The Guardian
, 29 September 2009:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/29/ehud-barak-war-crimes-israel
.

19
Amos Harel, “Pinpoint Attacks on Gaza More Precise,”
Haaretz
, 30 December 2007:
http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/pinpoint-attacks-on-gaza-more-precise-1.236163
. These figures are for targeted killings, not for wartime attacks against rockets and tunnels in densely populated areas.

20
IHH in particular has long-standing ties to Hamas and is part of the Union for Good, which explicitly supports suicide bombings.

21
“Gaza Aid Fleet Undeterred as Israel Steps Up Warnings,”
AFP
, 27 May 2010.

22
The figure is now closer to 200,000; see Laura Smith-Spark, “With More Than 191,000 Dead in Syria, U.N. Rights Chief Slams Global ‘Paralysis’,”
CNN
, 22 August 2014:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/22/world/meast/syria-conflict/index.html?hpt=imi_c2
.

23
See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJNdDzweqbY
.

24
“Live Blog: Day 2 of Israel-Gaza Conflict 2012,”
Haaretz
, 15 November 2012:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/live-blog-day-2-of-israel-gaza-conflict-2012-1.477960
.

25
“Reaction to Escalation of Violence in Israel and Gaza,”
J Street
, 15 November 2012:
http://jstreet.org/blog/post/reaction-to-escalation-of-violence-in-israel-and-gaza
.

26
Barak Ravid, “Obama Works to Avert Israel-Egypt Break as Gaza Violence Persists,”
Haaretz
, 15 November 2012:
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/diplomania/obama-works-to-avert-israel-egypt-break-as-gaza-violence-persists.premium-1.478076
.

27
Jodi Rudoren, “Palestinian Leader Assails Hamas, Calling Unity Pact into Question,” the
New York Times
, 8 September 2014, p. A8.

28
“Palestinian Leader Says Hamas Caused Prolonged War,”
USA Today
, 29 August 2014:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/29/palestinian-leader-says-hamas-caused-prolonged-war/14808007/
.

29
Jodi Rudoren, “Palestinian Leader Assails Hamas, Calling Unity Pact into Question,” the
New York Times
, 8 September 2014, p. A8.

30
Most of these articles appeared in
Haaretz
, the
Jerusalem Post
, and various online publications.

31
See for example: Yaakov Lappin, “Syrian-made M302 Rocket Fired by Hamas at Hadera,”
The Jerusalem Post
, 7 September 2014:
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Syrian-made-M302-rocket-fired-by-Hamas-at-Hadera-362008
, and Dan Williams, “Israel Seizes Arms Shipment,”
Reuters,
5 March 2014:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-israel-gaza-ship-idUSBREA240X720140305
.

32
Geoffrey Palmer et al., “Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident,” September 2011: 4,
http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/middle_east/Gaza_Flotilla_Panel_Report.pdf

33
Since that time, several Israeli civilians, including a four-year-old child, were killed by rockets from Gaza.

34
“Iron Dome: How Israel’s Missile Defence System Works,”
The Week
, 1 August 2014:
http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/middle-east/59368/iron-dome-how-israels-missile-defence-system-works
.

35
Doron Peskin, “Hamas got Rich as Gaza was Plunged into Poverty,”
ynetnews.com
, 15 July 2014:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4543634,00.html
.

36
Zohar Blumenkrantz, “Airlines Suspend Israel Flights over Missile Fears,”
Haaretz
, 22 July 2014:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014/1.606655
.

37
See
http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/4441.htm
.

38
Yitzhak Benhorin, “Head of UN Gaza Inquiry Commission Called to Try Netanyahu at ICC,”
Israel News
, 12 August 2014:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4557779,00.html
.

39
“Looters Strip Gaza Greenhouses,”
The Associated Press
, 13 September 2005:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9331863/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/looters-strip-gaza-greenhouses/#.VA4fiGRdXIo
.

40
Eric Lipton, Brooke Williams, and Nicholas Confessore, “Foreign Powers Buy Influence at Think Tanks,” the
New York Times
, 6 September 2014:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/us/politics/foreign-powers-buy-influence-at-think-tanks.html
. It quoted the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs as boasting that Brookings “will assume its role in reflecting the bright image of Qatar in the international media, especially the American ones.”

41
The IDF has since determined that the soldier was killed. His body, or parts of it, may have been taken by Hamas terrorists.

42
See
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_israel_palestinians/maps/html/population_settlements.stm
.

43
Jodi Rudoren, “Civilian or Not? New Fight in Tallying the Dead from Gaza Conflict,” the
New York Times
, 5 August 2014:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/world/middleeast/civilian-or-not-new-fight-in-tallying-the-dead-from-the-gaza-conflict.html
.

44
Ibid.

45
Isabel Kershner, “Israel Says Hamas is Hurt Significantly,” the
New York Times,
2 September 2014:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/world/middleeast/israel-says-hamas-is-hurt-significantly.html?_r=0
.

46
For somewhat different numbers, see: “Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza Emergency Situation Report (as of 4 September 2014, 0800 hrs),” United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 4 September 2014:
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_04_09_2014.pdf
.

47
Lahav Harkov, “Former British Commander in Afghanistan: No Army Acts with as Much Discretion as IDF Does,”
The Jerusalem Post
, 4 September 2014:
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Former-British-commander-in-Afghanistan-No-army-acts-with-as-much-discretion-as-IDF-does-374382
.

48
Jed Babbin, “Hamas’s Cheerleaders,”
The American Spectator
, 4 August 2014:
http://spectator.org/articles/60155/hamas%E2%80%99s-cheerleaders
.

49
See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oILBF7iBw_A
.

50
See Martin Kramer, “Gaza = Auschwitz”,
Mosaic
, 26 August 2014:
http://mosaicmagazine.com/tesserae/2014/08/gaza-equals-auschwitz/
.

51
Richard Falk, “Joint Declaration by International Law Experts on Israel’s Gaza Offensive,”
Global Justice in the 21st Century
(blog), 28 July 2014:
http://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/joint-declaration-by-international-law-experts-on-israels-gaza-offensive/
.

52
Barack Obama, “Statement by the President,” (speech, Martha’s Vineyard, MA, August 20, 2014):
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/20/statement-president
. Since that time another American, Steven Sotloff, was also beheaded by ISIS. He was an American Jew, who also held Israeli citizenship.

53
Helen Cooper, “Obama Enlists 9 Allies to Help in the Battle Against ISIS,” the
New York Times
, 5 September 2014:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/world/middleeast/us-and-allies-form-coalition-against-isis.html
.

54
Dan Williams, “Israel Provides anti-Islamic State Coalition with Intelligence, Says Western Diplomat,”
Haaretz
, 8 September 2014:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.614777, quoting Reuters
.