Global SITREP C21-14: IDF Enters Gaza (Again)

18 July 2014 - OPE Day 11: As Israel's armored and mechanized forces entered Gaza above and below ground level the paradigm of this war began to change in ways that we may not be able to determine just yet. Another truth in war is that truth is usually the first casualty even though it was well protected by a bodyguard of lies. That's just the nature of warfare. On the surface, Israel's leadership preconditions this as a war not to beat up HAMAS but to break all of their "toys." 

I'd prefer they just shoot all of the terrorists with their fingers on the triggers and missile firing buttons because their weapons cannot fire themselves and they can be gathered up for destruction after all the enemy has been dispatched to the hereafter. Is this not what we learn from the prophecy of Ezekiel 38/39? Somebody please suggest to Bibi and his cabinet to read those prophetic chapters for a hint on how to prosecute this war.

 Stay aloof, stay alive IDF soldiers!

Now that the IDFs armor and boots have gone in there is word of the IDF being ordered by Israel's political leadership of "significantly widening the operation." This is a good thing, a necessary if not essential thing. Let the generals and on-the-ground commanders run the war, not the politicians. Limited objectives always yield limited results. At home in Israel all traitors need to be arrested, stipped of any official duties or office and tried for giving aid and comfort to the terrorist enemy. And let the generals leading this war realize that it is not "good luck to all of us" they they need to invoke and rely upon, but the God of their fathers. Aside from this, it is good to see that Rabbi Dov and many Israelis "get it" on how this war needs to be prosectued.

First Update - OPE Day 11: With OPE Day 11 about three-quarters complete, the IDF ground operation in Gaza continues progressing. So far - so good in other words. The only cautionary note I will sound is that the IDF troops have not met with any large-scale HAMAS or PIJ resistance. The enemy has thus far suffered only about 20 KIA in actual ground combat. This means there are hundreds of the Syrian and Iranian/Hezbollah-trained Izz Ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade and PIJ soldiers in hiding, plus the untrained reserve force of perhaps 10,000 who have yet to make any appearance on the battlefield. So, where are they? With nightfall's rapid approach and a moon rise over a mainly cloudy sky not for another 6 hours (midnight Israel time) the conditions might be right for an appearance.

Final Update - OPE Day 11: With just a couple of hours left in the first full 24-hour day of the IDF ground operation comes the second indication that the reality of what the war in Gaza truly encompasses is finally beginning to register upon the political leadership of both Likud and Kadima - that is realization of the necessity to completely destroy HAMAS and their fellow jihadists in order to achieve the minimalist goals that were announced by the PM prior to the commencement of the ground op in Gaza. In short, the return has to outweigh or exceed the investment. As noted above, the first indication was the necessity to expand the scope of the ground operation after just 12 hours since IDF boots initially crossed the border. May the Lord's prophetic word be made manifest in the coming hours, days and or weeks.

Global SITREP C19-14: The Operationally Invalid Cease Fire That Failed; the War Continues and includes Iran

IDF armor in a 'hurry up and wait' formation near Gaza border.

15 July 2014 Operation Protective Edge - Day 8:  Now we know what has been holding a massive IDF armored invasion force up on the Gaza border. It is a Netanyahu government that is all too eager to placate, if not outright capitulate, to a leftist American presidential administration which clearly does not have Israel's best interests as its foreign policy's cutting edge.  There is no doubt that the failure to execute a Gaza ground operation as the only and truly effective means of neutering, and possibly even giving a coup d'grace to HAMAS, PIJ and other Islamic terrorists bombardment of Israeli cites and towns from Gaza, came at the hands of an inept Netanyahu government; a government which by all accounts on the evening of 14 July has acquiesced to an unenforceable cease fire agreement and agreed to a unilateral cease fire to take effect in about 5 hours from now (0900 IST) based upon terms which the Islamic aggressor has not even agreed to. 

OPE Day 8 - First Update: The security cabinet accepted the Egyptian mediation offer and agreed to the ceasefire imposed only upon Israel that went into effect at 0900 this morning in Israel.  HAMAS and PIJ are enemies of the government of Egypt; they rejected the ceasefire straightaway. Not only have the terrorists rejected the ceasefire, but it never discussed directly with them by anyone in the Egyptian government. So, combat missions continued in Gaza right up to the 0900 hour and then Israel honored the ceasefire agreement with Egypt. HAMAS and the PIJ have rejected the ceasefire and continue to fire heavy barrages of their artillery rockets into Israel, as have the terrorists in Lebanon and the Syrians who lobbed rockets into Israel from the north. HAMAS also fired rockets against Eilat in southern Israel for the first time. As noted in the title of this SITREP, this is an operationally invalid ceasefire to which only Egypt and Israel have agreed, yet Egypt is not involved in the hostilities and has been, more or less, an ally to Israel since the start of the war. This ceasefire had zero chance of success.

So, at this point (0600 in the US/1300 in Israel) it appears as if OPE combat operations against the Gaza terrorists have resumed after a very brief hiatus. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu spoke about 20 minutes ago on the current situation saying (emphasis added):

“We accepted the Egyptian proposal in order to present an opportunity for Gaza to be disarmed of its missiles, rockets, and tunnels through political means, but if Hamas does not accept this proposed ceasefire, and this is how it appears at present, Israel will have full international legitimacy for an expanded military operation to return the necessary quiet.”

Operation Protective Edge continues on Day 8, hopefully without further unwarranted interruption.
 
Second and CRITICAL UPDATE OPE- Day 8: The Islamic Republic of Iran, specifically the Islamic Republic Guards Corps - Qods Force (IRGC-QF)  is the driving force of the continuing rocket fire from HAMAS and PIJ in Gaza as well as the rocket fire coming out of Lebanon and Syria by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC). The PFLP-GC and the PIJ are operational commands within the overall structure of the IRGC - Qods Force. This means that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and IRGC-QF commander Brigadier General Qasem Suleimani have issued an order to maintain rocket fire against Israel irregardless of any other external considerations (such as a ceasefire). Technically speaking, it is not only HAMAS that is openly at war with Israel, but so is the Islamic Republic of Iran waging an undeclared war against Israel through their proxy forces in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

The links between IRGC-QF, PIJ and the PFLP-GC are very well known to both the United States, Israel and probably Egypt as well. An official Fact Sheet published by the US Department of the Treasury on October 25, 2007 makes these interconnections abundantly clear and has included updates which cite US President Barack Obama's Executive Order 13227 of April 13, 2013 in the enforcement of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

 Proof positive that IDF troops will have to enter Gaza City itself during a ground invasion. Here are three rockets being launched at Israel from the crowded urban city center today, 15 July 2014. Hard and dirty fighting lay ahead for IDF troops.

Third Update - OPE Day 8: Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu addressed the nation this evening and pretty much repeated the same things he has said all along. Nothing new here, except that he is operating in lock-step with the leftist Obama Administration.  Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman is calling for a full-scale invasion resulting in total IDF control of Gaza. While the Israeli security cabinet as a whole democratically accepted the Egyptian ceasefire proposal, both Liberman and Naftali Bennett cast their votes against accepting it. They were the only members of the cabinet to do so. OPE Day 9 could turn out to be a turning point in this war.

 Former Israel Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon

A very short time ago Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu fired Danny Danon, the Deputy Defense Minister and a member of Netanyahu's own Likud Party. The reason for the firing is a public statement Danon made that, on the surface at least, appears to  betray the PM's public comments. Stated DDM Danny Danon, "Once again, Hamas is dictating the terms. We must not be humiliated. We must correct the mistake of accepting the ceasefire proposal made this morning and let the military do its job."  I cannot help but think that Danny Danon will become the political leader of Israel that many thought Bibi Netanyahu would become. In fact, Danny Danon strongly reminds me of the young Bibi Netanyahu of a couple of decades ago. Watch Danon, his rise in Israeli politics could become meteoric in a very short span of time. He could become Israel's "Ronald Reagan."

Empty IDF HETs (Heavy Equipment Transports) seen in the vicinity of the Gaza border on 15JUL14. Empty HETs usually means the armor they transported to this point will be advancing into combat under their own power.

Final Update - OPE Day 8: Looks like the final blitz prior to the expected IDF ground operation will commence just after 0800 tomorrow Israel time - about 5 hours from now which is 8 PM EDT/5PM PDT in the US. The IDF delivered yet another warning order to approximately 100,000 Gaza residents to evacuate their residences prior to 8 AM.

Global SITREP C17-14: Exposing a False god on the Altar of Gaza

12 July 2014 Operation Protective Edge - Day Five (OPE-5): Before we begin this next SITREP, It has been impressed upon yours truly that just as Elijah forcefully exposed the ancient false good Ba'al to his adherents (1 Kings 18), so too a process of finality has begun to expose Baal's modern counterpart Allah as the false god that he is.  With respect to Israel's modern Islamist enemies encircling all around her, the prophets of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Israel's fathers who told Moses to say "I AM THAT I AM has sent me" (Exodus 3), the one true God is now about the business of exposing yet another false god. 

These enemies of the God of Israel (Psalm 83:2) are very fond of saying "if Allah wills" and who cry out how great he is every time they send a rocket to bring fire upon the children of Israel. How is it that this false god truly wills upon them good tidings when even Egypt has shut them out and closed its door to them? What beneficent act has this Allah bestowed upon the jihadists of Gaza when they have been so thoroughly boxed in against the Mediterranean Sea on one side, and by razor wire on all other sides, and beyond which, and above which, lies the existential threat posed to them all by army of Israel? From this altar that is Gaza, the false god of total submission will now save those who wage jihad against the children of Israel; who dare rage against the God who has gathered them once again into Eretz Israel from the four corners of the Earth?

Psalm 83:13-18; Isaiah 11:11-16, Ezekiel 28:24-26 and the whole of Ezekiel 35 are just three of the prophetically instructive passages for us to be mindful of as these days progress in to the weeks and months ahead; they foretell the plight and fate of those who wage war against the God of Israel and His people! How much clearer can our Lord say it than, "they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God,"  and "Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, therefore, as I live, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you." It doesn't get any clearer than this. On the altar that is Gaza will these prophetic words now begin to be made manifest before our own witnessing eyes. "Then you shall know that I am the Lord." Amen.

Pour water on Gaza. Let it Rain!

12 July 2014 OPE Day Five - Recapping Today's Events: After a brief lull, which is only relative to the pace of hostilities of previous days, OPE-5 brought the heaviest rocket fire and IAF air strike yet.  For the first time the IAF engaged in carpet bombing, with even heavier combat operations poised to commence in just hours. A final warning to evacuate urban areas was issued by the IDF to Gaza civilians. With Israeli Special Forces already surgically operating inside Gaza and then withdrawing (make no mistake, these are SpecOps - not a ground invasion) the handwriting is on the wall that the IDFs heavy armored and mechanized invasion force will not be far behind. This is a massive armored force to be sure. Additionally, with more three rockets coming into Israel from Lebanon, the entire dynamic of this war could change rather dramatically without out much additional forewarning. First indication of unease within the Arab League surfaces with the Kuwait delegation (the current Arab League chair is held by Kuwait) calling for an urgent meeting to be convened. This is another dynamic which could change very dramatically.

13 July OPE Day Six - IDF Warning Order: Indeed, the IDFs warning order for northern Gaza residents to hastily move to southern areas had a suspense of 12 Noon, local time, for completion. That suspense is now a full  +2 hours passed into history.  Based upon the IDF ultimatum (image below) to Gaza's population, I would speculate that in reality all of northern Gaza has been partitioned off on the IDF military planners maps on a line roughly from the Karni Crossing to the Mediterranean Sea and from there to northern Gaza border just south of Netiv Haasara and the Erez Crossing (the area boxed in red in the image above). If I am not mistaken, the sheer volume of rocket fire from this area has led to a determination by Israel's political leaders to seize it whole, quarantine it with IDF armor and then systematically raze it and sterilize it by brute force. This region of the Gaza Strip may more likely resemble the surface of the moon when this operation has become mission complete.

 

Final Update OPE Day 6: After the sun had set this evening in Israel mortar fire from inside Syria impacted near a Druse village called Mas'ade on the Golan Heights. The IDF returned fire with artillery directed at a total of nine Syrian army positions scoring several direct hits. That would tend to indicate that the first Syrian military casualties are likely to have occurred during Operation Protective Edge as Day 6 came to a close. There is no question the Syrian army deliberately attacked the Israeli side of the Golan and Israel responded with overwhelming force - as expected. 

14 July 2014 OPE Day 7 Roundup: The war continued apace today; it arrived and departed without an execute order for the ground forces to move on northern Gaza. The Gaza rocket fire and IAF counter-sorties continued without much change from the previous six days; it's as if this type of warfare has become routine fare... the air war goes on. This is so true that most media took to tallying up the number of rockets versus the number of IAF strikes that have occurred over the past seven days. In Judea and Samaria the situation remains as violent as ever; one Arab was shot and killed by IDF troops after he attacked their security patrol, and dozens of others were arrested. IDF units continue to train up for urban warfare. Another Syrian attack against the Golan occurred late today, but this time it was not mortar fire but a pair of missiles that were fired and impacted in the Golan.

Global SITREP C16-14: The Islamist War Against Israel Now Includes The Lebanese Front

11 July 2014 Operation Protective Edge - Day Four (OPE-4): Day four of the continuing Islamist war against Israel has been marked by the direct hit impact of a rocket fired from Gaza on a gas tanker at an Ashdod gas station (image above) critically injuring one Israeli man, and sustained Gaza rocket fire now targeting the 30-mile long coastal stretch that extends from Hadera to Zikhron Ya'akov to Haifa. 

OPE-4 also marks the expansion of hostilities to include rocket fire against Israel coming from Lebanon. At 0200 this Friday morning a salvo of rockets were fired at Metula, Israel by Hezbollah** terrorists in Lebanon. Israeli artillery immediately returned fire with at least 24 rounds directed at the source of the rocket fire located in the southern Beqaa Valley. Another volley of rockets were fired at Israel by Hezbollah** four and one-half hours later from the same general vicinity in Lebanon. Operation Protective Edge now includes two active front lines.

**NOTE: No military activity against Israel occurs within the Beqaa Valley or southern Lebanon for which Hezbollah is not directly in the know. Therefore, whether these rockets were fired by Hezbollah soldiers or their proxy soldiers is irrelevant, especially in light of the Iranian government's call to assist HAMAS and the other Gaza terrorists against Israel, and calls heard from Lebanon yesterday by Hezbollah's leadership that war with Israel is "the only way of getting back the occupied lands and holy places."

First Update OPE-4: According to IDF CoS Benny Gantz who was speaking to Israeli media a short time ago, the only thing that stands between massed Israeli armor, engineering and mechanized troops and the territory of Gaza at this point is a political decision from PM Bibi Netanyahu and his cabinet. Otherwise Israel is fully prepared to execute an order to invade and accomplish unambiguous objectives in the war against Islamic terrorists in Gaza.

Speaking through official government media (Fars News Agency, among others), Iranian President Rouhani has essentially called on all Muslim countries to assist the Gaza terrorists by declaring war against Israel. With this as a backdrop, and not that Iran does not now have its hands full in both Syria and Iraq, but the Ayatollah in Iran could order Hezbollah in Lebanon to open up cross-border hostilities in the north. He might even call on Bashar al-Assad to add his missiles into the fray. The potential is present for this war to very quickly spin out of any semblance of control. The JPost has the only link to this information that I trust.

Second Update OPE-4: The government of Egypt today prevented the smuggling of at least 20 improved GRAD artillery rockets (possibly the Iranian-made Burak-70 type) into Gaza from the Sinai Peninsula. Improved GRAD rockets have a range of approximately 50 miles which is three times the standard for this type of unguided rocket. The improved GRAD (9M22U) rocket is believed to be manufactured under IRGC control by the Defense Industries Organization of Iran. This connection would support the assessment that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which takes its orders from Iran, was the smuggler. Most of the missiles and rockets coming out of Gaza originated in Iran, or were modified by Iranian IRGC technicians working in Gaza.

Final Update OPE-4: A Merkava tank lays a smoke screen to hide other maneuvering forces behind him from direct enemy observation.  The intel evidence at this point suggests that over then next 48 hours additional ramping up stages will be executed by all service branches of the IDF. The IDF and Home Front Command will also be prepared to engage with extreme prejudice any hostile forces in Judea and Samaria, or from any location over the borders along the entire Northern Front.

 As the image above clearly evidences, massed IDF troops like these up against the Gaza border simply cannot remain in this type of a static situation for too long. Their combat overall effectiveness is usually the first casualty. For this primary reason I believe Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu may well give the "Let's Roll" order just after the Sabbath this weekend.

So, before the boots go in, a brief look at Gaza.

The Gaza enclave is approximately 139 square miles in area (360km2),  and is basically a rectangular shape measuring 24 miles in length and from 4 to 8 miles wide. With a population of more than 1.6 million in several urban zones, the population density of Gaza works out to roughly 11,500 individuals  per square mile.  We will soon see how the human shield tactic works out for the terrorists hiding behind their mothers skirts once the smooth bore 120mm gun of the 65 ton Merkava Mk IV main battle tank begins taking dead aim at terrorist targets in the urban centers of Gaza. With Egypt having closed its Sinai border with Gaza, and security fences all around the enclave, there really is no where else for the terrorist rats to scatter once Israel's hammer falls. Tunnels will be their graves, basements their mausoleums. It will be bloody, house to house combat in an urban environment. It will take weeks to complete. It will be ugly, but it is absolutely necessary.

Global SITREP C15-14: IDF Launches 'Operation Protective Edge' Against HAMAS in Gaza

8 July 2014:  DAY ONE OPE - Four pillars of smoke rise over Gaza as the IDF's Operation 'Protective Edge' commences against HAMAS and assorted jihadist groups in Gaza via Air Force and Naval gunfire support.  In a decidedly minimalist sense the Israeli media, led by the IDF spokesperson, have taken to referring to this operation as a "security situation."  Ignore that politically correct PR rubbish when you see it. This is war, pure and simple. 

Overnight the IAF struck at least 40 terrorist Command and Control (C2) sites in Gaza. HAMAS and Jihad Islami terrorists returned fire in the form of high volume mortar and missile fire barrages. Obviously the terrorists were unphased by the loss of the C2 sites and have a redundant system with which to launch coordinated counterfires against Israeli civilian targets all over southern Israel. Realizing this tactical fact PM Netanyahu's cabinet has authorized IDF armor and mechanized troops to execute their assigned orders and objectives. 

Precisely what those objectives are remains to be seen as this operation currently has all of the earmarks of a potential "Operation Pillar of Cloud Part II." What I mean by that is that this does not appear to be a planned existential war against HAMAS and the assorted terrorist groups in Gaza, but a limited action designed to quiet them down. If this turns out to be the case, then Iran has Israel precisely where they want them - a never ending war of attrition consuming Israeli treasure, combat power and escalating civilian casualties. Israel must demonstrate that never again literally means never again, and they must do it against HAMAS so that the rest of Islam understands the concept of military annihilation of the enemy in order to secure peace and quiet.

First Update: Indications are that the Netanyahu cabinet has made a determination to "go all the way" against the terrorist infestation of Gaza. In my experience "go all the way" means total war, and total war in Gaza means unrestrained war above, on the ground and below ground level. The IDF has received authorization from the political echelon to use any and all means at their disposal. Therein lies the IDF call-up of an additional 40,000 troops. Such a call up of reserves all but guarantees an all-out IDF invasion and conquest of Gaza. In this rapidly escalating war it seems to me that Abu Mazen (PA President Mahmoud Abbas) had better keep a very, very low profile lest a HAMAS or other Islamist assassin terminate his opposition to this Islamic jihad against Israel.

Second Update: Quoting Uzi Landau (of the Israel Beytenu party" statement to the Israeli paper Yedioth Aharonoth today: "If we enter Gaza it won't be a matter of a day or two, but rather with the goal of completing the job, so that there won't be a terror infrastructure."

Third Update: HAMAS is now firing longer range rockets at Tel Aviv. The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted and destroyed the first rocket shortly after a Code Red siren began wailing in Tel Aviv. The puff of smoke high in the center of the image above is the actual intercept and destruction of the HAMAS rocket over Tel Aviv.

Above is a map published today by Israel's Home Front Command. It is an instruction to Israel's population throughout the county on the amount of time they have to seek the safety of shelter once warnings are issued about incoming missiles.

Fourth Update: HAMAS is not content to lob missiles and mortars at Israel. A little over two hours ago a five-man squad of very heavily armed HAMAS terrorists apparently skimmed along the Mediterranean Sea coastline to come ashore with a plan to attack kibbutz Zikim located just north of the border. What the terrorists did not plan on was having their movement by sea detected by Israeli naval forces. The INS promptly alerted their ground pounding IDF counter-parts ashore. The terrorists then ran smack dab into a well-prepared unit of the IDFs Givati Brigade which ambushed them in a firefight on a well-prepared battlefield, quickly dispatching all three terrorists to their eternity. Naval and heliborne troops also rained fire upon the infiltrators. There are reports of other infiltrating terrorists in southern Israel. The IDF is hunting them down.

Central and even northern Israel, between Jerusalem, Holon and Tel Aviv and north to Binyamina has now come under a massive barrage of HAMAS rocket fire; Code Red sirens can be heard in several community's across this region, with several explosions being heard in Jerusalem. Iron Dome shot down one rocket over the city of Holon; a second rocket was also shot down over Tel Aviv this evening. Day two dead ahead. Remember Israel is +7 hours ahead of US EDT/+10 hours PDT.

Day Two OPE: HAMAS has continued to fire what may well be their longest-range but highly inaccurate rockets into the region just south of Haifa in northern Israel. These rockets have impacted into the Carmel and Zikhron Ya'akov areas. The IDF reports that just under 80 rockets were fired into Israel today prior to sunset.

As expected PA President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has begun to accuse Israel of "genocide" against "entire families of Palestinians in Gaza." So-called Arab-Israeli's in the Knesset (Israel's Parliament), not to be outdone by their boss, have taken to the floor of that assembly to denounce IDF troops as "murderers."  This kind of rhetoric is intended create a second front of unrestrained Islamic warfare against Israel in Judea and Samaria. It won't be long before street protests in Nazareth and other locales morph into firefights.

Final Update OPE Day Two: This may be a very unpopular final update for me to write. However, these words without question and most accurately will sum up the current situation. The State of Israel has brought this increasingly violent war upon itself because it has allowed HAMAS to not only survive, but to thrive and grow in the formerly conquered Gaza enclave unilaterally and unconditionally provided to it by the State of Israel in 2005. What nation in their right mind provides energy, fuel and sustenance to their existential enemies who then use those expensive resources to murder its citizens and attack its infrastructure?  What kind people allow their government to behave in such a suicidal manner during a war? I find myself utterly disgusted by the current government of the State of Israel, but I pray earnestly for its people being held hostage in their own homes by an incompetent foreign policy. Come to think of it, I feel the same way about the current American government and what it is doing in my homeland.

Perhaps if HAMAS, specifically their Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigade, succeeds in striking Israel's nuclear complex at Dimona the government of Israel will receive its long overdue wake up call. HAMAS has now made at least seven attempts to strike the Dimona nuclear complex with unguided rockets, and has failed every time.  Only three of the now seven M-75 (a/k/a the Iranian-made Fajr-5) rockets fired at dimona actually had a trajectory which the Iron Dome system deemed to be a genuine threat and that missile was promptly intercepted and destroyed.

 
OPE Day Three:  There is no way Israel can end the rain of missiles that HAMAS is firing upon virtually all of Israel without the introduction of some very heavy IDF mechanized boots on the ground. Israel's navy and air force are just as incapable of completely stopping this type of warfare as the US was against Saddam Hussein's missiles at the start of OIF eleven years ago. I firmly believe that IDF infantry will have to become experts in tunnel rat warfare, and they will have to employ state-of-the-art ground penetrating radar in order to locate all of the hidden stores of war materiel within the maze that exists throughout Gaza. This will be a very dirty and bloody affair to be sure, especially seeing how HAMAS and the other terrorist groups have taken to the widespread use of human shields to ward of Israel air strikes on high value targets. The IDF's use of ground penetrating "bunker busters" will also likely become a key feature in this war.

First Update OPE Day Three: The government of Israel has issued a warning order to all 100,000 residents of Gaza city suburbs Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and the Khan Younis suburbs of Abasan al-Kabera and Abasan al-Saghira to relocate to areas along the coastline as the minimum effort necessary to avoid the impending ground combat phase of OPE. This warning order indicates that the IDF intends to invade and gain control of all parts of Gaza with the exception of Rafah on the Egyptian border.

The military element of Fatah has become a combatant in the Islamist rocket assault upon Israel, which includes HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Al-Quds Mujaedeen Shura Council (AQMSC) and the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS). The AQMSC and Islamic State are now virtually the same organization since the AQMSC pledged allegiance to ISIS this past spring. With this grouping are several more AQ-aligned salafist terror groups who are active in the Sinai.