Israel Update for January 2010

David Dolan

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip marked the one year anniversary of Israel's "Cast Lead" military operation by renewing rocket attacks against nearby Jewish civilian centres. Israeli Air Force jets went into action to halt the assaults. This came after Egypt began a fresh crackdown designed to curb Palestinian weapons smuggling into the small coastal zone.

Meanwhile Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas indicated that he might soon be ready to return to the peace table, but again declared that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu must halt all Jewish home building in the eastern half of Jerusalem before he will do so. American special envoy George Mitchell returned to the region in late January in yet another attempt to prod the stalled peace process into motion.

In the north, tensions escalated after Syrian and Hizbullah leaders alleged that Israel is preparing to attack the rogue Lebanese Shiite militia force. Syria also began mobilizing some reserve soldiers. At the same time, reports surfaced that the Assad regime is training Hizbullah fighters to use a sophisticated anti-aircraft missile system capable of shooting down Israeli fighter aircraft.

Israel's strained diplomatic relations with Turkey suffered another serious blow after the Turkish ambassador was recalled by his government following an embarrassing diplomatic incident in Jerusalem. President Shimon Peres then stepped in to try to rectify the situation.

Israel received rare praise by the international media for its swift and strong response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, sending a mobile field hospital said to be the best equipped of several rushed to the Caribbean country by various countries in response to the disaster. At home, extremely heavy rains fell all over the country during the month as flooding left several dead in nearby Egypt. Despite some damage to Israeli homes and roadways in the north and along the coast, the abundant precipitation from heaven was welcomed by government officials trying to cope with increasing fresh water shortages in the Promised Land.

More Rockets From Gaza

After several months of relative calm, violence flared in the Gaza Strip the first week of January as Palestinians marked the one year anniversary of last winter's three week conflict with Israeli defense forces. The new unrest began when a Katyusha rocket was fired into Israeli territory, landing just outside the coastal city of Ashkelon which came under sustained attack during the war. This was quickly followed by the shooting of ten mortar shells at Israeli targets, while Hamas rifle fire was directed at an IDF border patrol unit.

The Israeli Air Force was then sent into action, striking four Hamas targets inside the Gaza Strip. One Palestinian was killed and two others wounded by the return Israeli fire. Three of the targets were smuggling tunnels, two under the southern border with Egypt and a third dug under the Israeli border fence. The fourth target was said to be a Hamas weapons factory located in heavily populated Gaza City.

The Israeli army also closed the Kerem Shalom border gate, preventing food and other supplies from entering the small Palestinian coastal zone. At the same time, thousands of Arabic leaflets were dispersed all over the Gaza Strip, warning residents to keep clear of the border crossing while also urging them not to cooperate with Hamas terror squads.

Despite the Air Force action, Hamas continued to fire rockets into Israeli territory for almost one week. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that 20 rockets had struck over that period, prompting additional military retaliation. "The government's policy is clear: Any rocket attacks will be harshly responded to, "he said." A village in central Gaza was bombed from the air, reportedly killing three Palestinians, including a Hamas militia field commander. Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Hamas leaders that another massive Israeli military campaign could be quickly launched if they failed to halt the escalating rocket and mortar fire.

Military analysts said the renewed rocket attacks were closely linked to growing tensions between Hamas rulers and Egypt. The Mubarak government began constructing a new border barrier in January comprised of thick steel plates, while stepping up arrests of Palestinians caught smuggling goods and weapons via tunnels into the Gaza Strip. At the same time, digging began for a moat along the Egyptian Sinai border with Gaza, to be filled with salt water from the nearby Mediterranean Sea.

Iron Dome Successfully Tested

The Gaza unrest came as Israel successfully conducted a series of tests on a Negev Air Force base of its newly developed anti-rocket system. Called Iron Dome, it features kinetic energy beams that can be quickly directed at incoming rockets, along with a sophisticated radar system that instantly plots the trajectories of the launched rockets and only strikes at those projected to land in built up areas.

Defense Minister Barak hailed the new system, but also warned that "We cannot create the illusion that tomorrow morning there will be full protection for the Gaza periphery or the north, or elsewhere." He bluntly added that "It will take years before we are fully equipped." The comments came just days before the largest ever chemical and biological weapons drill was held in the Tel Aviv area, testing the capabilities of government and municipal institutions, medical corps and security forces to respond to such an Iranian, Syrian and/or Hizbullah attack, or to a major industrial accident. This came as American army commander Gen. David Petraeus said that a plan is in hand for a US military strike against Iran's nuclear production sites if President Barrack Obama ever orders such action.