Hamas Executes Suspected Collaborators
Hamas killed at least 25 Palestinian civilians it suspected of collaborating with Israel, according to sources close to Gazan jihadist organizations.
The sources, close to both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, told this column that most of the extra-judicial killings of suspected collaborators took place during a brief “humanitarian” cease-fire four days ago.
The so-called collaborators were accused of leading Israeli troops to smuggling tunnels and providing intelligence on Hamas’s infrastructure inside Gazan cities.
The sources said Hamas publicly blamed the killings of the Palestinian suspects on Israel, claiming the civilians were murdered Sunday during an Israel Defense Forces “massacre” in the Shujaiyeh neighborhood of the Gaza Strip.
The sources further said the civilian suspects murdered by Hamas were publicly celebrated by Hamas as martyrs killed by the Jewish state.
After last Sunday’s operation in Shujaiyeh, in which the IDF says it targeted Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure, Israel agreed to a two-hour humanitarian cease-fire facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The stated purposed of the lull in fighting was to evacuate Palestinian casualties.
During the cease-fire, the IDF said Hamas violated the agreement by shooting at IDF soldiers. Nonetheless, Israel extended the cease-fire another hour. Israel lost 13 soldiers during the Shujaiyeh operation. Hamas claimed Israel killed at least 66 Palestinians, mostly civilians, in that operation. Israel says most Palestinian casualties were gunmen.
Hizbullah Advising Hamas On Hiding Missiles
The Iranian-backed Hizbullah is currently consulting with Hamas on how to hide missiles and munitions in the Gaza Strip from the discovery of international inspectors, informed Middle Eastern security officials said.
The newfound Hizbullah aid, coordinated directly with Iran, is being offered as a precaution amid truce talks that may bring inspectors to the Gaza Strip to ensure Hamas’s rocket infrastructure is dismantled, the officials said.
Asked about the report, an Egyptian official directly involved in the cease-fire negotiations told this reporter that Israel is indeed currently demanding the demilitarization of Hamas as a precondition for any future truce.
Specifically, in the truce talks, Israel is floating the possibility of United Nations or other international inspectors overseeing the dismantlement of Hamas’s missile infrastructure after a cease-fire is eventually imposed.
Sources in Jerusalem confirmed that the concept of international inspectors ensuring the disarmament of Hamas’s rocket and missile caches was discussed last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Is Obama Sympathetic To Hamas?
Amid the Obama administration’s repeated attempts to broker a ceasefire that will end Israel’s military operations against Hamas, it may be instructive to recall that prior to his presidency Barack Obama made several remarks some have interpreted as expressing sympathy for terror groups like Hamas and Al Qaeda.
In largely unnoticed remarks to New York Times columnist David Brooks in May 2008, then-Senator Obama argued that Hamas and Hizbullah have “legitimate claims” that are being “weakened” by the violence the terror groups carry out. He said the U.S. needs a foreign policy that “looks at the root causes of problems and dangers.”
Brooks had contacted Obama for clarification on an earlier statement the Illinois senator had made implying Lebanese militias should be tempered with enticements. Brooks took issue with that statement, writing it has the “whiff” of “appeasement.”
“Is Obama naïve enough to think that an extremist ideological organization like Hizbullah can be mollified with a less corrupt patronage system and some electoral reform?” asked Brooks, who wrote in his May 16, 2008 column that he called Obama to clarify his remarks.
Obama immediately affirmed Hizbullah is “not a legitimate political party.” Instead, “It’s a destabilizing organization by any common-sense standard. This wouldn’t happen without the support of Iran and Syria.”