Operation Cast Lead Redux or Bibi’s Election Gambit 2012-13

On Thursday, 15 November, RT reported that ‘Israel’s military operation started on Wednesday [, 14 November] with a strike killing Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari. Since then, reports say, the IDF has struck around 200 targets in Gaza. Furthermore, Israel is threatening to go as far as initiating a ground operation, sparking fears of a repetition of the Cast Lead scenario. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF), which has engaged in a Twitter showdown since the very beginning of the strikes, said it targets only “terror sites”. However, this has been questioned by witnesses on social media who point out that only four people of the 13 so far killed by Israeli airstrikes were Hamas militants, while the rest were civilians, including women and children’.[1]

With Palestinian rockets now targeting Tel Aviv, the firefight between Israeli forces and Hamas appears to be spreading beyond the Gaza Strip where it began some days ago. It is a deadly circumstance for both the Palestinians and Israel notes Fellow Natan Sachs, and there are fears that it could escalate into a ground war (16 November 2012).

Why did Israel attack the Gaza strip???  The above-quoted RT report correctly points out that ‘attack’s timing is under question with a looming Israeli election’.[2]  As reported by AFP and AP, even the Turkish PM remaked upon this coincidence: the “Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of aggressively attacking . . . the Gaza Strip. According to Erdogan, Israel’s strikes were motivated by the Knesset elections scheduled to take place in about two months. Erdogan said he would speak by phone with US President Barack Obama later on Friday [, 16 November] and that Ankara was also seeking talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the prospect of a full Israeli ground invasion”.[3]  Here is Tariq Ali weighing in on the issue on RT.

And here is Abby Martin explaining the back-story to the present conflict.

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[1] “Decision bombing? Israel’s ‘election attack’ triggers Gaza war spiral” RT (15 Nov 2012). http://rt.com/news/israel-gaza-strike-election-758/.

[2] “Decision bombing? Israel’s ‘election attack’ triggers Gaza war spiral”.

[3] “Erdogan: Israel striking in Gaza because of elections” AFP/AP (November 2012). http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4306825,00.html.