Palestinian Sniper Attack on Israeli Patrol at Gaza Border Sets Off Clash

[oberliner]

JERUSALEM — A clash on Wednesday set off by a Palestinian sniper attack on an Israeli military patrol along the border with Gaza left one Palestinian militant dead and an Israeli soldier wounded, according to initial reports, further straining a tenuous cease-fire that ended a 50-day war over the summer.

After a routine patrol on the Israeli side of the border came under fire, the Israeli military responded with air and ground forces, in what appeared to be the most serious direct confrontation between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic group that dominates the Palestinian enclave, since fighting ended in late August.

A spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry identified the Palestinian who was killed as Tayseer al-Samari, 47. The military wing of Hamas immediately claimed Mr. Samari as one of its own, and it said he was the head of the group’s reconnaissance unit in southern Gaza.

Israel and Hamas each issued stern warnings, pointing to a possible escalation. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said in a statement, “The Hamas sniper attack is an outrageous act of aggression.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-gaza.html?_r=0

[bemildred]

1. Israeli forces shoot dead Hamas militant after Gaza border firefight

Israeli forces shot dead a member of Hamas’s armed wing after a firefight erupted along the border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and an Israeli soldier was wounded, Gaza hospital officials and the Israeli army said.

The military said in a statement that a routine patrol on the Israeli side of the border came under attack from snipers in the southern Gaza Strip and that forces responded with fire from the ground and the air.

Hamas sources named the dead man as Tayseer Asmairi, a member of its armed wing’s monitoring unit in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli soldier sustained a severe chest injury and was flown to hospital where he was listed in serious condition, the army said.

There have been sporadic clashes since a 50-day war ended in Gaza in August. On Friday, Israeli planes bombed a Hamas militant base in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket that militants launched earlier that day.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/24/israeli-forces-shoot-dead-hamas-militant-gaza-border-firefight

Two comments:
1.) Snipers seem to be very popular in military affairs these days, everybody is using them a lot.
2.) Don't be surprised when the Gaza War starts up again.

[oberliner]

2. Something has got to give

It is just ridiculous. Same thing over and over.

[bemildred]

3. Yeah, hang on, I've got some other stuff to post. nt

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, you're right.

But nobody is really in control, so it's hard to predict who will crack first, or what they will try next.

[oberliner]

5. Do you think it's moving to a tipping point?

Or just more of the same for 2015 and beyond?

Personally, I think there has to be a breakthrough at some point. Maybe via the next Israeli elections.

[bemildred]

6. I think the Saudi oil move will guarantee something happening in 2015.

It's just hard to go into details.

And the Ukraine thing is going to have formative effects too, but again it is hard to go into details.

And ISIS, but that's even more murky, there you are dealing with enraged loons.

Alliances are shifting, too. I am pretty good at knowing what I don't know, Rumsfeld's "known unknowns" (all that math and logic and rhetoric), and I think we playing craps with ourselves.

[oberliner]

7. Would love to learn more about that

If you can PM me your thoughts on the Saudi oil move or point me to a recommended article on the subject, I'd appreciate it.

[bemildred]

8. Opinions are all over the place, and I don't believe any particular one.

We will have to wait and see, however, I think this is very informative, if you allow for the biases and interests of the parties mentioned:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113490850

It is long.

I think the Saudis intend to sell as much as they can, at whatever price they can get, hopefully demolishing one or more of their enemies in the process (which would probably be good for Israel, sort of) and go solar, they have a lot of sunshine there too, and in the long run it will serve them better than oil.

[oberliner]

13. Thanks for the info

Lots to read on the subject.

[bemildred]

10. It may be worth remembering that Saudi Arabia is not well-placed

with respect to the effects of global warming too. They may well decide to leave it in the ground at some point. And I do think this Saudi change is a marker that the endgame is coming for the oil economy.

[bemildred]

21. Lawmakers promise to help strapped oil-patch towns Source: AP-Excite

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014973858

It's very disruptive economically, and eventually politically, and we are already in a highly unstable state and patching things up with money-printing.

[bemildred]

9. And deflation, I'm worried about deflation and global economic contraction.

Between trying to crash the Russian economy and the Saudis oil move and "slowing" in various places, there is an excellent chance of another financial collapse, etc. and it will be contagious, they are all wired up to each other on the Internet now. And that could happen soon, like January, or March.

[Scootaloo]

11. "Same thing over and over"

Well, that's what happens when you pursue a failed policy that has never worked anywhere, in hopes that it will magically start working.

[oberliner]

12. Agreed

There needs to be a serious change in attitude at the top.

[shaayecanaan]

14. i presume the bullet must have entered near the arm

Very few Israeli soldiers died at the hands of rifle fire in the 2006 war or either Gaza war, except for the ones taken by surprise by tunnel attacks. The body armour is pretty good. Anything less than getting hit in the face is probably survivable.

Hezbollah always train to lay down mortars or man portables in the first instance. Its a waste of time engaging american or Israeli soldiers with rifles given the advantages that they have.

[oberliner]

15. "Hezbollah always train to lay down mortars..."

How do you know how Hezbollah trains?

[shaayecanaan]

16. not really a secret...

they have said so publicly themselves, and the US Army reports have usually opined that their efficacy with anti tank rifles and mortars was good but their rifle fire was quite indifferent in quality:-

http://indianstrategicknowledgeonline.com/web/THE%202006%20LEBANON%20CAMPAIGN.pdf

[oberliner]

18. Interesting

I confess to not knowing much about how exactly Hezbollah operates - but clearly there is a lot of info out there on the subject.

[bemildred]

17. Hezbollah has a rather good PR operation, when you consider their handicaps.

They have learned a lot from their westernized foes, and Beirut has been very cosmopolitan for a long time. I now check al Akhbar regularly, though I don't post a lot, there are usually less "questionable" sources for any real news. But if you want insight into why people do things, they can be very helpful, and not just in Lebanon. And I know without knowing that the Israeli security forces read them minutely.

[oberliner]

19. Yeah - there is a lot more out there than I realized

One can literally spend one's life researching all of this and not even make a dent.

[bemildred]

20. Yep. nt