Israel response to Arab enclave: warplanes attack

Israel responded to Islamic jihad Arabs in the Gaza enclave, Israel, by sending warplanes on several attack sorties.

Just imagine this going on in the U.S., could some convoluted International diplomacy dream up a version of this for America? A terrorist enclave on or within our borders?

Ibrahim Barzak with the Associated Press reported Friday, Jan. 18, of Israel’s ongoing drama – all seemingly far fetched, yet there it is.

Israel sent its air force Friday against a symbol of Hamas power in the heart of Gaza City and simultaneously choked off shipments of fuel and food across its border with the strip.

An Israeli warplane attacked the downtown offices of the Palestinian Interior Ministry, flattening one wing of the empty building..

"It was more like an earthquake ... smoke covered the area for a few minutes, we didn't know what was hit at first," said resident Yehia Rabbah.

The attack was the first on a ministry building since Hamas seized control of Gaza last June. An Israeli military commentator said it was meant to send a message to the violent Islamic group that further rocket attacks could cause the conflict to spiral…

In a parallel move, Israel sealed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Friday, cutting the flow of vital supplies in an attempt to pressure Hamas to halt the rocket fire.

But the attacks continued, with 16 rockets falling in southern Israel, including one that damaged a day care center in the town of Sderot. Children were inside the building at the time, but no one was hurt, the prime minister's office said.

Violence has grown since Tuesday, when an Israeli ground and air offensive against rocket squads claimed the lives of 19 Palestinians, including the militant son of a prominent Hamas leader.

By Friday night, the Gaza death toll stood at 34, including at least 10 civilians.

In northern Gaza, an Israel airstrike on Friday killed one member of a rocket launch squad and a civilian bystander, Hamas said.

The air force also attacked a base of Hamas security forces in central Gaza, but it was not in use and there were no casualties…

Underscoring the convoluted political situation is the fabricated claim to statehood by renegade Arabs who exist as a political pawn in the hands of Islamic leaders intent on destroying Israel.

Mahmoud Abbas is regarded as the Palestinian president over a “West Bank” government. Abbas denounced Israel while blaming Hamas for trying to destroy the Palestinian dream of statehood.

"We can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," Abbas said…

Since Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Abbas loyalists, Israel has isolated the territory, although it generally allowed food, fuel and humanitarian shipments to pass.

In recent months, however, Israel has reduced fuel supplies in the hope that Gaza's population would pressure the militants to stop the rocket fire.

Since cutting off Gaza, power has been cut. Nearly 200 rockets have launched from Gaza in recent weeks – the inaccurate, militarily ineffective devices have not killed any Israelis recently, but property damages are severe.

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