Analysis: Sudan strikes by Israel a blow to Iran and Hamas.

 

 

 

Analysis: Sudan strike - A blow to Iran. Amid the latest escalation between Hamas and Israel this week, a covert strike that is far more strategically significant may have occurred. Israel has remained officially silent over Sudanese accusations that Jerusalem carried out an air strike on a weapons factory near Khartoum, but tellingly, Jerusalem has not taken the trouble to deny the allegations either.

 

Sudan has been a central transit point for Iranian arms headed to the Gaza Strip for several years. With Iran’s nuclear sites roughly the same distance from Israel, an air strike in Khartoum would demonstrate Israel’s long-range capabilities, and make the military threat on the table that much more tangible. At the same time, striking a single target in a country with minimal air defenses cannot be compared to the operational challenges inherent in striking multiple targets fortified by vigorous air defenses.

 

 Report: Israel hit Sudan twice in two months Israel Radio reported that the IDF spokesperson would not respond to its query regarding a Reuters asserting that Israeli aircraft struck targets in Sudan in September and then again Oct. 23. The September strike, according to unspecified “foreign intelligence sources” quoted Thursday by Reuters, was conducted by a drone and targeted a weapons convoy south of Khartoum. The strike destroyed 200 tons of munitions, including Gaza-bound rockets, the report said. 

 

 On Tuesday, a “huge explosion" ripped through a weapons factory near the Sudanese capital Khartoum, killing two people, Reuters reported. Sudan, the report added, swiftly accused Israel of sending four military planes to take out the complex. The speaker of the Sudanese parliament, Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Tahir, declared that the “Israeli attack on the Al-Yarmook arms factory will not deter Sudan from continuing its support to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas,” according to the Sudan Tribune, an online news site.  

 Sudan: a front for Israel's proxy war on Sinai jihadis? If Israel bombed a Sudanese munitions factory, as Khartoum alleges, the raid was part of its widening proxy war against Islamist militants in neighbouring Egypt which the Jewish state is reluctant to confront directly.

 

A huge explosion ripped through the factory near the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Tuesday, killing two people, with Sudan swiftly accusing Israel of sending four military planes to take out the complex. The poor Muslim east African state, with its ties to Iran and Sunni jihadis, has long been seen by Israel as a conduit for weapons smuggled onward to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, via the Egyptian Sinai desert.

First: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. It also forms part of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. Essentially it is a dispute between two national identities with claims over the same area of land. Many attempts have been made to broker a "two state solution," which would entail the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. At present, the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians, according to many major polls, agree that a two state solution is the best way to end the conflict.[1][2] Most Palestinians view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as constituting the area of their future state, a view also accepted by most Israelis.[3] A handful of academics advocate a one-state solution, whereby all of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank would become a bi-national state with equal rights for all.[4]5] However, there are significant areas of disagreement over the shape of any final agreement, and also regarding the level of credibility each side sees in the other in upholding basic commitments. 

 

Put an end to the whole business of tunnels in Gaza, put an end to the illicet business of rockets and weapons being produced in Sudan and supported and purchased by Iran to be smuggled to Hamas to support their fight with Israel. It is painfully obvious Israel is going to fight in order to survive as she is. It is obvious Palestine will have a country beside Israel whatever shaape it takes.

 

It is Time for Iran and Hamas to accept those facts and stop the fight. It is time for Hamas and Fatah to reunite and have serious discussions with Israel. It would put an end to the need of Sudan to manufacture illicit arms along with the interference of Iran. It is time to end this!

 

 

James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Hamas must re-unite with Fatah as Momentum builds for Gaza to secede, Israel and West Bank to become one

First: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. It also forms part of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. Essentially it is a dispute between two national identities with claims over the same area of land. Many attempts have been made to broker a "two state solution," which would entail the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. At present, the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians, according to many major polls, agree that a two state solution is the best way to end the conflict.[1][2] Most Palestinians view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as constituting the area of their future state, a view also accepted by most Israelis.[3] A handful of academics advocate a one-state solution, whereby all of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank would become a bi-national state with equal rights for all.[4]5] However, there are significant areas of disagreement over the shape of any final agreement, and also regarding the level of credibility each side sees in the other in upholding basic commitments. 

There are several domestic and international actors involved in the conflict. The direct negotiating parties are the Israeli government led by  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Mahmoud Abbas. The official negotiations are mediated by an international contingent known as the Quartet on the Middle East (the Quartet), consisting of the United States, Russia, the European Union, the United Nations, and represented by a special envoy, currently Tony Blair. The Arab League is another important actor, which has proposed an alternative peace plan. Egypt, a founding member of the Arab League, has historically been a key participant.

Since 2006, the Palestinian side has been fractured by conflict between the two major factions: Fatah, the largest party, and Hamas, an Islamist militant group. As a result, the territory controlled by the Palestinian National Authority (the Palestinian interim government) is split between Fatah in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza strip. This has proved problematic as Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and many other countries[6 which means that despite the fact it won the Palestinian elections of 2006, it has not been allowed to participate in official negotiations. The most recent round of peace negotiations began at Annapolis, USA in November, 2007. These talks aim to have a final resolution by the end of 2008.[7] The parties agree there are six core, or 'final status,' issues which need to be resolved[8]: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security, borders and water. These issues are discussed at length below.

Within Israeli and Palestinian society, the conflict generates a wide variety of views and opinions (see also Israeli and Palestinian views of the peace process). This serves to highlight the deep divisions which exist not only between Israelis and Palestinians, but also amongst themselves. A hallmark of the conflict has been the level of violence witnessed for virtually its entire duration. Fighting has been conducted by regular armies, paramilitary groups, and terror cells. Casualties have not been restricted to the military, with a large loss of civilian life on both sides.
  Please brush up on the History of the area
 

Hamas must re-unite with Fatah: The Hamas government in Gaza has been isolated from mainstream Arab politics since it seized power in Gaza in 2007 and split from Fatah which was left running the West Bank. The expected visit to Gaza by the Emir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, is an opportunity to restart the process of reconciliation with Fatah, and should not be treated by Hamas as an endorsement of its isolation.

  Emir of Qatar becomes first Arab leader to visit Gaza since Hamas takeover: The Emir's visit raised hackles in both the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority operates cut off from Hamas-run Gaza, and in Israel. But the Emir, a key western ally, greeted the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyah warmly and promised hundreds of millions of dollars in new aid. "This visit sends a direct message to anyone who wants to listen: Gaza is not alone in the field and Palestine occupies the hearts of Arabs," Mr Haniyeh said.

   Momentum builds for Gaza to secede, Israel and West Bank to become one:  Mr. Palmor of Israel’s Foreign Ministry says the problem of negotiating with the Palestinians before a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation was addressed at the 2007 Annapolis peace talks, with the Israelis accepting that implementation on the ground would happen gradually. While the outlook for the two-state solution envisioned at Annapolis appears bleak,  

Liel holds out hope that the Palestinian bid to upgrade its status to a “nonmember state” at the United Nations next month could create new momentum in that direction if a majority of European nations backed the motion, indicating substantial international support for the Palestinians' right to a state of their own. “I think it can change the atmosphere among Palestinians, maybe even in Fatah-Hamas relations. It can definitely change the mood inside Israel.”

James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com