Gaza: Hamas relishing chance to take on Israeli forces

[FarCenter]

Daily Telegraph, London

Within an hour of Israel's ground operations starting, a Hamas spokesman claimed that the militant group had killed "a number" of Israeli soldiers entering the territory.

By Dina Kraft in Tel Aviv and Angus McDowall

Last Updated: 8:37PM GMT 03 Jan 2009

While it was impossible to immediately verify the claims, they were indicative of the results expected by Hamas - and greatly feared by Israel's political leadership.

For all the Jewish state's military might, a ground offensive could prove very costly - as its 2006 war against the Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas proved.

In that conflict, the Lebanese militia used state-of-the-art technology combined with an incisive tactical nous to embarrass the supposedly superior Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

Over the subsequent two years, both Hamas and the IDF have trained for a similar confrontation - substituting the dense urban environment of Gaza for the forested hills of southern Lebanon.

<snip> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/4093390/Gaza-Hamas-relishing-chance-to-take-on-Israeli-forces.html

[bemildred]

1. "Anyone who hides a terrorist or weapons in his house is considered a terrorist,"

Maybe one does not have a choice about these things. Can one be a terrorist against ones own will, out of fear?

And then there is the headline of the OP. I'm sure they are quivering with joy at the prospect of getting their ass blown to shreds.

Drivel from all sides.

[Igel]

2. I know what my response would be, if such came to pass here.

They come in the back door to use my place as a base of operations, I grab the valuables and go out the front door, dragging my wife and kid. Better to live in a doorway a block away than argue with them. And, by and large, I'm not into haranguing people with large weapons that might well decide that I'm a collaborator if I say nasty things to them or about them.

As for weapons, it rather depends. A pistol, they probably wouldn't care. An AK-47, they probably would care. A few dozen RPGs and a launcher, a dozen Qassams ... they'd certainly care.

[The Magistrate]

3. Drivel All Around Indeed, Sir