Meanwhile on the International front....

155's and .50 cals.

 

Corrected version: Abrams, supported by AH-64s, 155s, and .50 cals.

 

Move a million people in 24 hours? Throw in Gaza's lack of infrastructure and local government (and Hamas) telling them to stay put. Poor bastards caught in the middle are going to suffer, as usual.

 

Of course, that is what is going to happen. Giving any warning gives Hamas a chance to run and/or hide. I'm just not sure there is a right way to handle this, but clearly, Israel is going in. They aren't going to back off after what Hamas just did, so the only other realistic option is turning the entire area into a parking lot.

 

Israel Is Walking Into a Trap

It’s a trap. Hamas’s ruthless and spectacular attack on southern Israel last Saturday was many things: an atrocity, a display of militant ingenuity, and a demonstration of the weakness of Israeli intelligence and defenses. Israel and the Palestinians have a long history of brutality against each other, but the Hamas killing spree outdoes anything since Israeli-controlled Christian militias massacred unarmed Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside of Beirut in 1982. It may even have been the single most brutal act by either side in the 100-year-old conflict. But above all, it was intended as a trap—one that Israel appears about to fall into.

 

No Warthogs?

 

I think they are going to have to bury it in 100* feet deep of concrete to prevent future tunnels too.

* = guesstimate

 

The Progressives Who Flunked the Hamas Test

 

That is true, but I don't see how they can back off. Netanyahu certainly can't, and I think he is selfish enough to do what is right for him even if it might not be what is best for Israel in the long run.

 

Holy crap, Israel’s president says there is no such thing as innocent civilians in Gaza.

Israeli President Says There Are No Innocent Civilians In Gaza

 

They have no other option, nor do I think they care at this point.
Politicians often try to sell their foreign policy decisions on fear. Group X is coming to your country, your town, your neighborhood, to hunt you down and kill you. Well, Hamas just made that often ludicrous idea into a gruesome reality for every Israeli. So what else can the Israelis do? It's now a literal fight for survival. They can deal with the fallout if and when they survive the fight.