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.

Operation Amud Anan: So Now We Know...

14:30 EST 21 November 2012: IDF Armor and ground forces will hold their pre-invasion positions... for now. It's just a matter of time until Islamic treachery causes a renewal of hostilities.

19:30 EST: Cease fire, what cease fire!?!? 20 additional Gaza terror missiles have hit at least 6 civilian communities in Israel since the alleged cease fire went into effect; an 11-year old Israeli child is the first victim of the continuing terror assault. 

Earlier this evening the English-language IDF website announced "IDF completes objectives for Operation Pillar of Defense."   HAMAS remains alive and continues to attack Israel. Operation Amud Anan is mission incomplete! And the IDF spokesperson says that HAMAS is in distress? No, the civilian population of Israel is in distress because it remains a target for the terrorists. Politicians know nothing about warfighting, only combatant commanders know how to achieve victory.

 HAMAS celebrates its victory over Israel

UPDATE AND ANALYSIS 0600 22 November 2012:  In post-election and post-hurricane America we're waking up on our traditional Thanksgiving Day holiday where Americans will soon attend local high school football games while a feast is prepared in our homes. This feast is the cornerstone of our giving thanks to the many blessings bestowed by the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob upon us in the past year and the year yet to come. I don't know about other American households, but in mine we will give these thanks in the name of HaMashiach Yeshua.

In Israel and in Islamist-controlled Gaza, Judea and Samaria they have awoken to a different paradigm. The promise of a decisive Amud Anan IDF victory over Islamist terrorists in Gaza has evaporated overnight much in the same way that a decisive IDF victory over Hezbollah in Lebanon evaporated during a summer now 6 years removed. A fearful Israeli government has capitulated the sovereign Israeli necessities of life, liberty and the pursuit of security to the whims of a Leftist American regime, its Islamist al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun allies in Cairo and the terrorists in Gaza and Tehran whom they coddle. 

From the jaws of victory defeat has been achieved, and the celebrating terrorists in the rubble-strewn streets of Gaza know it as well the disheartened Israeli citizens in Ashdod, Askelon, Be'er Sheva, Sderot and dozens of other towns across the breadth of southern Israel know it. The people of Gaza read the IDFs leaflets, and they know this morning that the IDF did not cross the border. Among the people of southern Israel their current Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and his Cabinet Officers have lost all pretenses of credibility. They follow not the will of YHWH, but the will of worldly men who despise Him. Their political futures aren't worth a single Israeli Sheqel Hadash for they have guaranteed the citizens of all Israel an immensely more destructive war which many will not survive according to the prophet Isaiah. Iron Dome was good, but it wasn't that good. Iron Dome can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers and it will be in the next war.

Also gone is any chance for a political settlement between the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen and Israel. HAMAS has proven itself vastly superior to the PLO/Fatah. HAMAS has won the hearts and minds of the Palestinian street. In his final act of abject desperation Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen will present his dead-on-arrival PA statehood bid to the UN General Assembly in a few days time (next week). What he remains blissfully unaware of is that the so called two-state solution is dead on arrival because HAMAS has now thoroughly convinced the Palestinian street that their version of a one-state solution is achievable through direct action and conflict, through kinetic jihad against Israel. Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen will now be rejected and suffer the same fate as Ibn Ali of Tunisia, Mubarak of Egypt, Qadhaffi of Libya, Saleh of Yemen and (soon) al-Assad of Syria and Abdullah of Jordan. The Palestinians have been won over to total jihad and their battle cry will be "Give Us Palestine or Give Us Paradise (Death)."  The stage has now been reset for the final act of Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 24 through 28.

In the image above, which has gone viral today via social media and was web published by The Israel Times, IDF infantry soldiers use their bodies to spell out the words "Bibi Loser" in Hebrew. Two words that summarize thousands more spoken in the aftermath of Operation Amud Anan.

0800 23 November 2012: A Few End Notes

I can only pray to the LORD that the constant retreat and capitulation of just the past 20 years (1992-2012) by every Israeli government since PM Yitzhak Shamir (Likud - 2nd Term '86-'92) decided to talk to Israel's "inner ring" enemies will finally come to a conclusion in the near future. Such retreat and capitulation has been been a consistent theme in the 7 successive Israeli governments of Yitzhak Rabin (Labor), Shimon Peres (Labor), Netanyahu (Likud 1st Term '96-'99,), Ehud Barak (Labor), Ariel Sharon (Likud-Kadima) and Ehud Olmert (Likud-Kadima) to the present 2nd Term of  Bibi Netanyahu. In the face of resurgent Islamofascism such retreat and capitulation is as inherently deadly for Israel as it is for every non-Islamic nation on earth. But there's a reason for this and it has nothing to do with the God of Israel's fathers. Quite the opposite, and, in fact, it gets worse.

This brings me to my second note. Following the ceasefire and in his official address to the citizens of Israel on November 21st, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not once invoke the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob(Israel). That's right, not even lip service was paid to the God of Israel's fathers. As if this Divine omission requires some additional evidence, I submit to you dear reader that Bibi Netanyahu made it abundantly clear in his address that Israel and Israel alone embarked upon Operation Amud Anan, and it did so with the support of utterly godless international allies. Who did Bibi Netanyahu thank for the Operation Amud Anan defeat before all Israel and the nations of the earth? He thanked the American president Barack Hussein Obama, the American secretary of state Hillary Clinton and "the Egyptians." 

And now my final note. The above describes the crux of the exigent condition of the modern state of Israel. Can it possibly be any more unambiguous? On 21 November 2012 the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob(Israel), the Almighty YHWH, was (and remains) absent and completely unacknowledged by the leader of Israel's government. This is an Israel which remains in disbelief; an Israel without a Temple of God. This is an Israel far removed from the Israel we know will come to exist in the future as foretold by the Lord's prophets, when the fulness of the Gentiles will have been brought in.

I am reminded by the Lord of His prophetic word to us at this time.

Romans 11:25-27

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 

 For this is My covenant with them,When I take away their sins.”

Acts 15:13-17

"And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me:  Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

 ‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,Says the Lord who does all these things.’^"

^Maranatha!