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On November 14, Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari was murdered in a Israeli missile attack. In a bitter irony, barely a few hours before the attack, Hamas received the draft proposal of a permanent truce agreement with Israel.
“Hours before Hamas strongman Ahmed
Jabari was assassinated, he received the draft of a permanent truce
agreement with Israel, which included mechanisms for maintaining the
cease-fire in the case of a flare-up between Israel and the factions in
the Gaza Strip.”(Haaretz, November 15, 2012)
The targeted assassination of Ahmed Jabari was followed by an
extensive bombing campaign under Operation Pillar of Cloud. The latter
consists of a carefully planned military endeavor.
F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters and unmanned drones were
deployed. Israeli naval forces deployed along the Gaza shoreline were
involved in extensive shelling of civilian targets.
Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barack has confirmed a scenario of
military escalation, blaming Palestine for having committed acts of
aggression:
“[t]he provocations we have suffered and
the firing of rockets to the southern settlements within Israel have
forced us to take this action. I want to make clear that Israeli
citizens will not suffer such actions. The targets are to hit the
rockets and to harm the organization of Hamas.”
The Israeli attacks were followed by the firing of dozens of rockets by Hamas against Israel.
Palestine’s response was known to Israeli war planners. The resulting
Israeli civilian casualties are now being used to justify military
escalation on humanitarian grounds.
What we are dealing with is a carefully planned operation, a clear
act of provocation. The deaths of Israeli civilians (envisaged and
foreseen by IDF military planners) are being used to muster the support
of the Israeli public.
Meanwhile, the Israeli attack is casually portrayed by the Western media as part of a legitimate counter-terrorism agenda.
The Obama administration is blaming the victims of Israeli
atrocities. The victims are portrayed as “terrorists”. According to
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney:
“Hamas [is] a U.S.-designated terror
group, which governs the Gaza strip, that is instigating the violence. …
Attacking Israel on a near daily basis does nothing to help
Palestinians in Gaza or to move the Palestinian people any close to
achieving self-determination.” (ABC News, November 15, 2012)
A scenario of military escalation has already been announced. Reports
confirm that Israeli is contemplating a ground war, including an
invasion of Gaza:
There are also reports that Israel may be
preparing for a ground operation as it moves troops near the border. A
ground incursion by Israel into Gaza could signal the beginning of an
all-out war. (Ibid)
The Broader Middle East War
The attack on Gaza must be understood in relation to the broader
Middle East war. The Israeli attack was approved by president Obama. It
has a direct bearing on US-NATO-Israeli war plans pertaining to
Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
The timing is of utmost significance: one week following the US presidential elections.
Operation Pillar of Cloud is a deliberate act of provocation, intended to lead to military escalation.
The Israeli public is firmly opposed to a broader Middle East war
including the conduct of Israeli surgical strikes directed against
Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Is the attack on Gaza a trigger mechanism which could lead the World into a broader Middle East war?
We are not dealing with an isolated event. The invasion of Gaza is part of the broader US-NATO-Israel military agenda.
Back-flash to December 2008. Operation Cast Lead
It is also important to understand Israeli’s current plans to invade
Gaza in relation to the December 2008 bombing and ground invasion of
Gaza under Operation Cast Lead. (See below)
Michel Chossudovsky, November 15, 2012
______________________________________________
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, January 4, 2009
The aerial bombings and the ongoing ground invasion of Gaza by
Israeli ground forces must be analysed in a historical
context. Operation “Cast Lead” is a carefully planned undertaking, which
is part of a broader military-intelligence agenda first formulated by
the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001:
“Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.”(Barak Ravid, Operation “Cast Lead”: Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)
It was Israel which broke the truce on the day of the US presidential elections, November 4:
“Israel used this distraction to break the ceasefire between itself and Hamas by bombing the Gaza strip. Israel claimed this violation of the ceasefire was to prevent Hamas from digging tunnels into Israeli territory.
The very next day, Israel launched a terrorizing siege of Gaza, cutting off food, fuel, medical supplies and other necessities in an attempt to “subdue” the Palestinians while at the same time engaging in armed incursions.
In response, Hamas and others in Gaza again resorted to firing crude, homemade, and mainly inaccurate rockets into Israel. During the past seven years, these rockets have been responsible for the deaths of 17 Israelis. Over the same time span, Israeli Blitzkrieg assaults have killed thousands of Palestinians, drawing worldwide protest but falling on deaf ears at the UN.” (Shamus Cooke, The Massacre in Palestine and the Threat of a Wider War, Global Research, December 2008)
Planned Humanitarian Disaster
On December 8, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was in
Tel Aviv for discussions with his Israeli counterparts including the
director of Mossad, Meir Dagan.
“Operation Cast Lead” was initiated two days day after Christmas. It
was coupled with a carefully designed international Public Relations
campaign under the auspices of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Hamas’ military targets are not the main objective. Operation “Cast
Lead” is intended, quite deliberately, to trigger civilian casualities.
What we are dealing with is a “planned humanitarian disaster” in Gaza in a densly populated urban area. (See map below)
The longer term objective of this plan, as formulated by Israeli
policy makers, is the expulsion of Palestinians from Palestinian lands:
“Terrorize the civilian population, assuring maximal destruction of property and cultural resources… The daily life of the Palestinians must be rendered unbearable: They should be locked up in cities and towns, prevented from exercising normal economic life, cut off from workplaces, schools and hospitals, This will encourage emigration and weaken the resistance to future expulsions” Ur Shlonsky, quoted by Ghali Hassan, Gaza: The World’s Largest Prison, Global Research, 2005)
“Operation Justified Vengeance”
A turning point has been reached. Operation “Cast Lead” is part of
the broader military-intelligence operation initiated at the outset of
the Ariel Sharon government in 2001. It was under Sharon’s “Operation
Justified Vengeance” that F-16 fighter planes were initially used to
bomb Palestinian cities.
“Operation Justified Vengeance” was presented in July 2001 to the
Israeli government of Ariel Sharon by IDF chief of staff Shaul Mofaz,
under the title “The Destruction of the Palestinian Authority and
Disarmament of All Armed Forces”.
“A contingency plan, codenamed Operation Justified Vengeance, was drawn up last June [2001] to reoccupy all of the West Bank and possibly the Gaza Strip at a likely cost of “hundreds” of Israeli casualties.” (Washington Times, 19 March 2002).
According to Jane’s ‘Foreign Report’ (July 12, 2001) the Israeli army
under Sharon had updated its plans for an “all-out assault to smash the
Palestinian authority, force out leader Yasser Arafat and kill or
detain its army”.
“Bloodshed Justification”
The “Bloodshed Justification” was an essential component of the
military-intelligence agenda. The killing of Palestinian civilians was
justified on “humanitarian grounds.” Israeli military operations were
carefully timed to coincide with the suicide attacks:
The assault would be launched, at the government’s discretion, after a big suicide bomb attack in Israel, causing widespread deaths and injuries, citing the bloodshed as justification. (Tanya Reinhart, Evil Unleashed, Israel’s move to destroy the Palestinian Authority is a calculated plan, long in the making, Global Research, December 2001, emphasis added)
The Dagan Plan
“Operation Justified Vengeance” was also referred to as the “Dagan
Plan”, named after General (ret.) Meir Dagan, who currently heads
Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.
Reserve General Meir Dagan was Sharon’s national security adviser
during the 2000 election campaign. The plan was apparently drawn up
prior to Sharon’s election as Prime Minister in February 2001.
“According to Alex Fishman writing in Yediot Aharonot, the Dagan Plan
consisted in destroying the Palestinian authority and putting Yasser
Arafat ‘out of the game’.” (Ellis Shulman, “Operation Justified Vengeance”: a Secret Plan to Destroy the Palestinian Authority, March 2001):
“As reported in the Foreign Report [Jane] and disclosed locally by Maariv, Israel’s invasion plan — reportedly dubbed Justified Vengeance — would be launched immediately following the next high-casualty suicide bombing, would last about a month and is expected to result in the death of hundreds of Israelis and thousands of Palestinians. (Ibid, emphasis added)
The “Dagan Plan” envisaged the so-called “cantonization” of the
Palestinian territories whereby the West Bank and Gaza would be totally
cut off from one other, with separate “governments” in each of the
territories. Under this scenario, already envisaged in 2001, Israel
would:
”negotiate separately with Palestinian forces that are dominant in each territory-Palestinian forces responsible for security, intelligence, and even for the Tanzim (Fatah).” The plan thus closely resembles the idea of “cantonization” of Palestinian territories, put forth by a number of ministers.” Sylvain Cypel, The infamous ‘Dagan Plan’ Sharon’s plan for getting rid of Arafat, Le Monde, December 17, 2001)
 |
| From Left to Right: Dagan, Sharon, Halevy |
The Dagan Plan has established continuity in the
military-intelligence agenda. In the wake of the 2000 elections, Meir
Dagan was assigned a key role. “He became Sharon’s “go-between” in
security issues with President’s Bush’s special envoys Zinni and
Mitchell.”
He was subsequently appointed Director of the Mossad by
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in August 2002. In the post-Sharon period,
he remained head of Mossad. He was reconfirmed in his position as
Director of Israeli Intelligence by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in June
2008.
Meir Dagan, in coordination with his US counterparts, has been in
charge of various military-intelligence operations. It is worth noting
that Meir Dagan as a young Colonel had worked closely with defense
minister Ariel Sharon in the raids on Palestinian settlements in Beirut
in 1982. The 2009 ground invasion of Gaza, in many regards, bear a canny
resemblance to the 1982 military operation led by Sharon and Dagan.
Continuity: From Sharon to Olmert
 |
| Olmert and Sharon |
It is important to focus on a number of key events which have led up to the killings in Gaza under “Operation Cast Lead”:
1. The assassination in November 2004 of Yaser Arafat.
This assassination had been on the drawing board since 1996 under
“Operation Fields of Thorns”. According to an October 2000 document
“prepared by the security services, at the request of then Prime
Minister Ehud Barak, stated that ‘Arafat, the person, is a severe threat
to the security of the state [of Israel] and the damage which will
result from his disappearance is less than the damage caused by his
existence’”. (Tanya Reinhart, Evil Unleashed, Israel’s move to destroy the Palestinian Authority is a calculated plan, long in the making, Global Research, December 2001. Details of the document were published in Ma’ariv, July 6, 2001.).
Arafat’s assassination was ordered in 2003 by the Israeli cabinet. It
was approved by the US which vetoed a United Nations Security
Resolution condemning the 2003 Israeli Cabinet decision. Reacting to
increased Palestinian attacks, in August 2003, Israeli Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz declared “all out war” on the militants whom he vowed
“marked for death.”
“In mid September, Israel’s government passed a law to get rid of Arafat. Israel’s cabinet for political security affairs declared it “a decision to remove Arafat as an obstacle to peace.” Mofaz threatened; “we will choose the right way and the right time to kill Arafat.” Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat told CNN he thought Arafat was the next target. CNN asked Sharon spokesman Ra’anan Gissan if the vote meant expulsion of Arafat. Gissan clarified; “It doesn’t mean that. The Cabinet has today resolved to remove this obstacle. The time, the method, the ways by which this will take place will be decided separately, and the security services will monitor the situation and make the recommendation about proper action.” (See Trish Shuh, Road Map for a Decease Plan, www.mehrnews.com November 9 2005.
2. The removal, under the orders of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005, of all Jewish settlements in Gaza. A Jewish population of over 7,000 was relocated.
“It is my intention [Sharon] to carry out an evacuation – sorry, a relocation – of settlements that cause us problems and of places that we will not hold onto anyway in a final settlement, like the Gaza settlements…. I am working on the assumption that in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza,” Sharon said.” (CBC, March 2004)
The issue of the settlements in Gaza was presented as part of
Washington’s “road map to peace”. Celebrated by the Palestinians as a
“victory”, this measure was not directed against the Jewish settlers.
Quite the opposite: It was part of the overall covert operation, which
consisted in transforming Gaza into a concentration camp. As long as
Jewish settlers were living inside Gaza, the objective of sustaining a
large barricaded prison territory could not be achieved. The
Implementation of “Operation Cast Lead” required “no Jews in Gaza”.
3. The building of the infamous Apartheid Wall was decided upon at the beginning of the Sharon government. (See Map below).
4. The next phase was the Hamas election victory in January 2006. Without
Arafat, the Israeli military-intelligence architects knew that Fatah
under Mahmoud Abbas would loose the elections. This was part of the
scenario, which had been envisaged and analyzed well in advance.
With Hamas in charge of the Palestinian authority, using the pretext
that Hamas is a terrorist organization, Israel would carry out the
process of “cantonization” as formulated under the Dagan plan. Fatah
under Mahmoud Abbas would remain formally in charge of the West Bank.
The duly elected Hamas government would be confined to the Gaza strip.
Ground Attack
On January 3, Israeli tanks and infantry entered Gaza in an all out ground offensive:
“The ground operation was preceded by several hours of heavy artillery fire after dark, igniting targets in flames that burst into the night sky. Machine gun fire rattled as bright tracer rounds flashed through the darkness and the crash of hundreds of shells sent up streaks of fire. (AP, January 3, 2009)
Israeli sources have pointed to a lengthy drawn out military
operation. It “won’t be easy and it won’t be short,” said Defense
Minister Ehud Barak in a TV address.
Israel is not seeking to oblige Hamas “to cooperate”. What we are
dealing with is the implementation of the “Dagan Plan” as initially
formulated in 2001, which called for:
“an invasion of Palestinian-controlled territory by some 30,000 Israeli soldiers, with the clearly defined mission of destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian leadership and collecting weaponry currently possessed by the various Palestinian forces, and expelling or killing its military leadership. (Ellis Shulman, op cit, emphasis added)
The broader question is whether Israel in consultation with Washington is intent upon triggering a wider war.
Mass expulsion could occur at some later stage of the ground
invasion, were the Israelis to open up Gaza’s borders to allow for an
exodus of population. Expulsion was referred to by Ariel Sharon as the
“a 1948 style solution”. For Sharon “it is only necessary to find
another state for the Palestinians. -’Jordan is Palestine’ – was the
phrase that Sharon coined.” (Tanya Reinhart, op cit)
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