Fw: GAZA WAR UPDATE FROM AAT for Monday

If the reports we are receiving tell the whole story. a ceasefire in the Gaza War in the next few days seems unlikely. This means that Israel will probably launch a ground offensive sometime this week. They have 16,000 troops in position and the government has authorized the mobilization of up to 30,000 reservists. Israel would not go to this effort and expense just to scare Hamas. Israel is probably waiting to allow IDF air power to soften targets on the ground, and also to show a degree of restraint to the world. They want to say “See: we tried to stop the rockets without invading Gaza, but it was not enough and we cannot let our citizens in Israel live like this”. When Israel does invade it will be a major escalation of the conflict. The IDF ground forces will be unstoppable. Then Israel’s real opponents will identify themselves by their cry for restraint and a ceasefire. Now is the time to write The Denver Post and other newspapers to say that America should let Israel do the job. Talk shows are even better venues. Stay active. We will be sending these updates daily while the war builds and continues. Here is a short news update. Dr. Neil G. Dobro Chair, Americans Against Terrorism 303-513-3521 After quiet night, rockets begin anew in southern Israel By YAAKOV LAPPIN, BEN HARTMAN, , JPOST.COM STAFF LAST UPDATED: 11/19/2012 06:35 Terrorists in Gaza renew rocket fire after desisting from launches overnight; Israeli strikes in Gaza kill nine through the night, target police station in Gaza City. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside Terrorists in the Gaza strip renewed their fire Monday morning after a relatively quiet night on the Israeli front, setting off the red alerts in southern towns. Israeli strikes in Gaza killed nine people overnight Sunday, Palestinian sources reported. One of the strikes hit a police station in Gaza City. The IDF also hit over 80 rocket launchers in the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday, in addition to tunnels, training camps, weapons caches and terror cells that fired on Israel in recent days, bringing the grand total of targets to 1,350 since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday. Hamas fired its most intense rocket salvos yet on southern Israel on Sunday, as it and other terrorist factions launched 120 rockets into Israel during the day, including two Fajr-5 missiles at Tel Aviv on Sunday evening. Both were intercepted over the Dan region. The IAF struck over 120 targets in Gaza, and targeted senior operational Hamas terrorists orchestrating attacks on Israeli communities. Seventy-six rockets exploded during the course of the day in southern Israel, with Ashdod coming under its heaviest barrage yet by seven Grad rockets. Six were intercepted and one smashed into a residential building, wounding two residents lightly. The Iron Dome intercepted 38 rockets heading for built-up areas on Sunday. Soon after the Ashdod grad salvo on Sunday afternoon, the IDF targeted the home of the head of Hamas’s rocket program, Yahiya Abiya. Army sources said Abiya was directly responsible for the majority of the rockets that have been fired at Israel. It was unclear whether Abiya was hurt. Palestinian medical sources said 11 people died in the bombing of the three-story building. The Ma’an News Agency reported that the number of Palestinian dead since the current round of violence began last Wednesday afternoon rose to at least 72 on Sunday, with hundreds wounded. Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report Reply to:Reply to Dr. Neil Dobro