The Other McCain

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CEASE FIRE IN GAZA

Posted on | November 21, 2012 | 8 Comments

Israel has agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza.

UPDATE: NBC News reports:

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire, the Egyptian foreign minister said Wednesday, ending eight days of fighting that killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis.
The cease-fire is set to start at 9 p.m. Cairo time (2 p.m. ET), Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr announced in a news conference alongside visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“The United States welcomes the agreement today for the cease-fire in Gaza,” Clinton said, adding that Egypt’s new government was exerting responsibility and leadership in the region.

“This is a critical moment for the region,” she said.

UPDATE II: Elder of Ziyon posts the text of the cease-fire agreement.

UPDATE III: Netanyahu press conference:

He says “we started this operation because of rocket fire.” The strikes destroyed thousands of Hamas installations, he said, with international support.
He says Iran was responsible for arming Hamas and that Obama had agreed that more must be done to stop the arms movement.
Netanyahu singled out Obama for his support. “Special thanks to president Obama for his unwavering support for Israel, and for supporting Iron Dome.”
Netanyahu also thanks Egypt.
He said the Israeli assault was necessary:
“That is what a responsible government does, and that is what we did in this case too.
“I know there are those who expected a more intense military response, and that may be needed, but at this time the best thing for Israel” is to take this opportunity to achieve a long-term ceasefire.
Netanyahu salutes the citizens of Israel. “I am proud to be your prime minister.”

UPDATE IV: New York Times:

Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire on Wednesday, the eighth day of lethal fighting over the Gaza Strip, the United States and Egypt said after intensive negotiations in Cairo.
The cease-fire, which took effect at 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. E.S.T.), was formally announced by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr of Egypt at a news conference here. The agreement was aimed at quieting an escalating aerial battle between Palestinians and Israelis that had threatened to turn into an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
Whether the cease-fire could hold was uncertain at best, and even in the minutes leading up to the effective start time, both sides were firing at each other. . . .
The negotiators reached an agreement after days of nearly nonstop Israeli aerial assaults on Gaza, the Mediterranean enclave run by Hamas, the militant Islamist group, and the firing of hundreds of rockets into Israel from an arsenal Hamas had been amassing in the aftermath of the three-week Israeli invasion four years ago.

UPDATE V: John Tabin at The American Spectator:

Israel’s tactical victory in Operation Pillar of Defense is fairly straightforward: Hamas’s military infrastructure is significantly degraded, several important leaders of Hamas (as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad) have been killed, and the Iron Dome missile defense system has proven extremely effective.

UPDATE VI: Reuters reports:

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and commended him for agreeing to the Egyptian government’s ceasefire plan in the Middle East, the White House said. . . .
“The president expressed his appreciation for the Prime Minister’s efforts to work with the new Egyptian government to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and a more durable solution to this problem,” a White House statement said.

UPDATE VII: Breaking news! Allahpundit is cynical:

Alternate headline: “Fat envelopes from Uncle Sam to Muslim Brotherhood to proceed as scheduled.”

Of course, I’m cynical, too. Been watching “The Mideast Peace Show” since 1967, and this is just like a commercial break in the program.

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Category: Israel

Comments

8 Responses to “CEASE FIRE IN GAZA”

  1. smitty
    November 21st, 2012 @ 2:03 pm

    “EXPECT FURTHER UPDATES . . .” and rockets.

    This is arguably the biggest run-on sentence in contemporary history.

  2. Zilla of the Resistance
    November 21st, 2012 @ 2:30 pm

    Not 15 minutes after the announcement of a “cease fire”, Fox News (moments ago) reports MORE rockets from Gaza into Israel and cities put on “red alert”. Time for another update, Stacy!

  3. Adobe_Walls
    November 21st, 2012 @ 3:35 pm

    It’s a trap.

  4. Adobe_Walls
    November 21st, 2012 @ 3:40 pm

    According to John Tabin, as of 3:00 PM EST the firing has not in fact ceased. Perhaps Hillary is no more effective at negotiating ceasefires than UN envoys.

  5. richard mcenroe
    November 21st, 2012 @ 4:30 pm

    That was either the shortest ceasefire in ME history or we just learned the reloading cycle time of Iranian rockets.

  6. Finrod Felagund
    November 21st, 2012 @ 5:34 pm

    Obviously when Hamas says cease-fire, what they really mean is that they’re just going to drop their rocket-firing frequency back to ordinary levels. Why would they ever stop?

  7. Rich Vail
    November 21st, 2012 @ 5:41 pm

    So…is this a real “cease fire”? Or is it one in which the Pelishtim merely reduce their rocket launches to their “normal” 10 or so a day?

  8. Dandapani
    November 22nd, 2012 @ 8:42 pm

    It’s only a cease fire for Israel. The world was silent when Hamas was lobbing rockets into Israel. Only when they started shooting back…