Gaza Hamas

Gaza by the Numbers…….

For all of you journalists out there who are looking for alternative source material, here’s something for you that puts into perspective the situation that has existed, ever since Gaza was turned over to the Palestinians. KGS

Gaza by the Numbers

On Dec. 27, Israel began “Operation Cast Lead” to stop Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza from continuing its years-long campaign of attacking Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets, missiles and mortars. Following are facts and figures to help journalists cover Israel’s defensive efforts in Gaza:

Iran-backed Hamas Rocket, Mortar Attacks and Nuclear Developments 9,400+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2003. [1]

3,200+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [2]

6,500+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [3]

543+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [4]

28 deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire ended, Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars that killed an Israeli-Arab construction worker and a mother of four who was seeking shelter in a bus station as a rocket warning siren sounded. [5]

1,000+ people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire, 44 Israelis have been injured and 200 have been treated for shock. [6]

20,000 Hamas troops Israel is targeting as part of “Operation Cast Lead.” [7]

750,000 number of Israeli civilians Hamas is targeting and can reach. [8]

15 seconds Israelis have to get to a bomb shelter once a warning siren has sounded. [9]

8 years that Israel has been hit by rockets and mortars from Gaza [10]

3 mosques in Gaza used as weapons, ammunitions and explosives depots that were struck by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the operation in Gaza. [11]

4 UN Security Council resolutions passed since 2006 to try to stop Iran from enriching uranium. [12]

5,000+ number of centrifuges operating in Iran to enrich uranium, the material used to produce a nuclear weapon. [13]

Israel’s Humanitarian Aid to Gaza 179 truckloads of humanitarian aid that have been delivered through Israeli crossings into Gaza since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, including basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies, donations of governments and blood units. 106 additional truckloads of humanitarian expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31 [14]

6,500 tons of aid transported into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. The World Food Program informed Israel that it will cease shipment of food to Gaza because warehouses are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks. [15]

What Israel Gave Up in Hopes of Peace – Gaza Withdrawal Aug. 2005 100% proportion of the Gaza Strip evacuated and handed over to the Palestinians. [16]

300 square miles of the West Bank evacuated. [17]

21 Israeli settlements uprooted in the Gaza Strip. [18]

4 Israeli settlements uprooted in the West Bank. [19]

48 graves uprooted in Gaza’s former Gush Katif Cemetery, including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists. [20]

9,000 approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 families, who lived in Gaza and the northern West Bank. All of them were moved out as part of the withdrawal. [21]

38 synagogues dismantled in the Gaza Strip. [22]

5,000 school-age children who had to find new schools. [23]

42 daycare centers that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [24]

36 kindergartens that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [25]

7 elementary schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [26]

3 high schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [27]

320 mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to serve as temporary housing for settlers. [28]

45,000 Israeli soldiers and policemen who participated in the Gaza withdrawal. [29]

$1.7 billion the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative. [30]

166 Israeli farmers who were moved out of Gaza. [31]

800 cows, which comprised the second largest dairy farm in Israel, moved out of Gaza’s Gush Katif community. [32]

$120 million value of flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif and lost following the evacuation. [33]

1 zoo, the “Katifari,” that housed hundreds of animals and was moved. [34]

10,000 people who were employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians. [35]

60% proportion of Israel’s cherry tomato exports that came from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza extinguished this economic resource. [36]

3.5 million square meters (almost 1,000 acres) of greenhouses abandoned in Gaza. [37]

70 percentage of Israel’s organic produce grown in Gaza – another economic resource lost in the evacuation. [38]

60 percentage of herbs exported from Israel that came from Gush Katif. [39]

15 percentage of Israel agricultural exports that originated in Gaza – exports lost following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. [40]

$360,000 expected average compensation amount Israel expected to pay to relocate each family. [41]

$870 million approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former West Bank and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country. [42]

$500 million amount of money Israel’s security establishment spent to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities. [43]

After Israel’s evacuation from Gaza… 430,000 West Bank Palestinians able to move freely within and between Palestinian-controlled areas. [44]

1 Israeli remaining in Gaza. Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was abducted from Israel on June 25, 2006 by Hamas in a bloody cross-border raid in which the terrorists also killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. [45]

1.2 million Arabs who remained full and legal citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – have freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote. [46]

1.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip many of them in Palestinian Authority-controlled refugee camps, who live under their own leaders. [47]

820,000 Jewish refugees forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, and who have never been compensated by Arab governments for their losses. [48]

650,000 Arab refugees who left Israel from 1947-1949 and still need Palestinian leaders who will end terrorism and the culture of hate. [49] Israel’s withdrawal from four northern West Bank settlements created an area more than twice the size of Gaza’s 140 square miles under Palestinian control and devoid of any Israeli presence. [50]

————————————————————————- Footnotes:

[1] IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Dec. 19, 2008; “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=3587015&content_id={4F0CF025-98BF-4875-A59B-B1F5E4B079F7}&notoc=1; Barzak, Ibrahim and Friedman, Matti, “Israel rejects truce call, pursues bombing Gaza,” Associated Press, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95DQIEO0

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Israel Ministry of Defense, Dec. 2008

[5] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.3906189/k.EDAC/Rocket_and_Mortar_Fatalities_in_Israel.htm; Kershner, Isabel, “Despite Strikes, Israelis Vow to Soldier On,” The New York Times, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/world/middleeast/31israel.html?em; “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=6476363#contactinfo

[6] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.3906189/k.EDAC/Rocket_and_Mortar_Fatalities_in_Israel.htm; Israeli Police Spokesman in a conversation with The Israel Project, Dec. 31, 2008

[7] Fletcher, Martin, “Analysis: What is Israel’s end game in Gaza?” MSNBC.com, Dec. 29, 2008, http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/12/29/1726211.aspx

[8] Meridor, Sallai, The Israel Project press conference with Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=3587015&content_id={F205EF2D-24F9-4EF2-B1E6-5CBAAFF0B26E}&notoc=1

[9] “IDF Operation in the Gaza Strip,” The Military-Strategic Information Section Daily Update – Day 4, Dec. 30, 2008

[10] “Israeli Injuries and Fatalities Due to Rocket and Mortar Fire,” The Israel Project, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.4277777/k.3E99/Injuries_and_Fatalities_Graph.htm

[11] Information relayed by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Dec. 28, 2008; Harel, Amos, Issacharoff, Avi, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press, “IAF bombs Gaza mosque being used as weapons storehouse,” Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051305.html

[12] “Security Council Tightens Restrictions on Iran’s Proliferation-Sensitive Nuclear Activities, Increases Vigilance Over Iranian Banks, Has States Inspect Cargo,” United Nations Security Council, 5848th Meeting, Department of Public Relations, March 3, 2008, http://un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9268.doc.htm

[13] Dareini, Ali Akbar, “Iran says it now runs more than 5,000 centrifuges,” AP, Nov. 26, 2008, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jG7bnyWWJfgaYD-JwcqmImlpRujwD94MND800

[14] Martin, Patrick, “Israel shoots down ceasefire proposal,” Globeandmail.com, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081230.wgaza_main31/BNStory/International/home; “FACTBOX-Countries pledge aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” Reuters, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLV538165; “Israel increases humanitarian effort to the Gaza Strip,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2008/Israel_increases_humanitarian_effort_Gaza_Strip_30-Dec-2008.htm

[15] “12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008

[16] Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israels+Disengagement+Plan-+Renewing+the+Peace+Process+Apr+2005.htm

[17] “Israel’s Disengagement Plan,” American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Feb. 9, 2005, http://aipac.org/result.cfm?id=1749

[18] Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israels+Disengagement+Plan-+Renewing+the+Peace+Process+Apr+2005.htm

[19] Ibid.

[20] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005; Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005

[21] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005

[22] “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005, http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/#did

[23] Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005

[24] “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005, http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/#did

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005

[28] Ibid.

[29] Klein, Zeev, “Haber: HCJ ruling will raise disengagement cost to NIS 500m,” Globes: Israel’s Business Arena, June 5, 2005

[30] Arrow, Minda Lee, “Gaza settler relocation: new progress, ongoing complications,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 15, 2005, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2326

[31] Lazaroff, Tovah, “Gush Katif dairy farmer has sleepless nights over cow remo(o)val” The Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2005

[32] Stahl, Julie, “Gaza farmers say government has no plan for them,” Cybercast News Service, April 11, 2005

[33] Ettinger, Yair, “Even the animals won’t leave Gaza early,” Haaretz newspaper, June 21, 2005, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=590195

[34] “Israel,” Freedom House, July 6, 2005

[35] Ibid.

[36] Ibid.

[37] Ibid.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid.

[40] Ibid.

[41] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/5469.htm

[42] Ibid.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Ibid.

[45] Harel, Amos; Issacharoff, Avi; Haaretz Service and Reuters, “Two soldiers killed, one missing in raid on IDF post,” Haaretz, June 25, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/730994.html

[46] Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005, http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/Refugees/index.html

[47] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/5469.htm

[48] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005

[49] Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005, http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/Refugees/index.html

[50] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/5469.htm

H/T Harri S.

One Response

  1. The WHY? of Terrorism in Islam… (and Hamas)

    When it comes to dealing with Hamas (other than with bullets and bombs) Israel has no other choices. Let me explain.

    I am an American living in Asia. I am not Moslem, but I am a writer and historian. I would like to share some information with you: information concerning Moslem violence and terrorism, and why the United States and its military allies must both continue to be vigilant, and when appropriate, respond to individual acts of violent Islamic terrorism with relentless, overwhelming, and deadly force, while at the same time, practicing moderation, restraint, and understanding when dealing with moderate Moslems.

    This information may help you understand what is going on not only in Israel and the entire Middle East as well as India, Pakistan, and China, along with other parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and (soon) even the United States. In the not too distant future, Moslem extremists hope to involve you and your loved ones, as well as a vast number of other innocent victims in a man-made catastrophe: an organized and violent calamity of biblical proportions that is based on teachings that were deliberately added to the Koran, decades after the faith was founded.

    Disregarding the social, economic, and political factors that serve as underpinnings for Islamic terrorism, I will address the more fundamental issue: the religious teachings that sanction violence against non-Moslems and AGAINST ALL WOMEN. Here are seven verses from the Koran. These scriptures have been translated into modern English.

    …murder, crucify, or cut off the hands and feet of non-Moslems…Chapter 5 Verse 33 – The Koran
    …create terror in the hearts of non-Moslems …cut off their heads…Chapter 8 Verse 12 – The Koran
    …and fight non-Moslems until Allah’s religion is the only one…Chapter 8 Verse 39 – The Koran
    …of all the loot you plunder from non-Moslems, 20% belongs to Allah and to Mohammed. Chapter 8 Verse 41- The Koran (Author’s note: Loot included kidnapped female sex-slaves.)
    …Take as many as four wives from the women you are sexually attracted to … Chapter 4 Verse 3 – The Koran
    …God has made men superior to women… Virtuous women are obedient. If a woman becomes disobedient, beat her. Chapter 4 Verse 34 – The Koran
    …When it comes to marriage, Allah makes it legal for you to take as wives, women whom your right hand possesses. Chapter 33 Verse 50 – The Koran (Author’s note: This verse talks about the “loot” non-Moslems call… kidnapped female sex-slaves.)

    Most people in the western world have never heard of these astonishing scriptures, but they are in the Koran … along with a relatively short list of others, just like them. This is important because not all Moslems are the same; there are two very different types. Militant Moslems view these verses as commandments from their god – a primitive desert god, from an ancient land of heat, sand and scorpions. Militant Moslems think these teachings apply to life in the Twenty-first Century and they try to use them, regardless of the suffering and mayhem they create, whereas moderate Moslems ignore such verses because they were uttered a long time ago, when the Arabian peninsula, from whence Islam came, was a wild and savage place.

    Historians tell us these terrorist teachings are part of a cluster of ferocious beliefs that were deliberately added to one specific part of the formerly peaceful and tolerant Koran. These startling changes were made, decades after Islam was first founded in the Arabian city of Mecca. By the time of these changes the original (and real) prophet of Islam was dead. Thereafter the religious headquarters was uprooted and moved to the city of Medina. In its new environment, with new leadership at the helm, Islam mutated; it turned cruel and predatory.

    The historical record reveals that Islam didn’t simply fall from the sky as a full-blown religion, but rather evolved from a persecuted sect of Jewish-Christians. The first Moslems lived in the city of Mecca; they were actually part of a larger group of Jesus’ followers called the Ebionites.

    Ebionites were peace-loving disciples of Christ, who shared their wealth with fellow believers, and taught that a man should marry only one wife.

    In fact, women were much more independent in the Ebionite Jewish-Christian days of Islam. They were more influential too. I say this because my research has determined that the first prophet of Islam may have been someone other than Mohammed: I believe the first prophet was a very special Arabian princess named Khadija the Pure. Khadija was Mohammed’s first and only wife for twenty-four years. Khadija was fifteen years older than Mohammed. She was considered to be fabulously wealthy, and she was Mohammed’s employer, before she became his wife.

    Mohammed on the other hand, before he became Khadija’s employee, was an impoverished youth who had been raised as an orphan. Ultimately Mohammed worked his way up to a position as Khadija’s business manager. With time, Khadija grew fond of Mohammed. She even married him. However, Khadija was a liberated woman. In fact, Khadija was the one who initiated the marriage proposal to Mohammed! And after their wedding, she never allowed Mohammed to take other wives, or have other women in her house.

    Throughout her lifetime, even though Khadija had already converted to Christianity, Mohammed’s first and only wife for twenty-four years remained an important Arabian princess in the ruling family that controlled worship in the Kabba Temple, with it’s pantheon of more than three hundred pagan gods and goddesses. Clearly, in the early days of Islam, Khadija was a person of great influence in Arabian society: and clearly Mohammed, her husband… was not. http://www.TheMoslemInstitute.com

    After Khadija’s untimely death from a terrible illness, Islam was hijacked by a cartel of corrupt men, headed by Mohammed himself. The faith was abruptly relocated to the city of Medina and new beliefs were added to the Koran; at the same time, old beliefs were deleted or relegated to unimportance, and the religion was changed beyond recognition. In the end, Islam abandoned many of its Ebionite Jewish-Christian teachings. Women suffered the most: they became the focus of repression, scorn, and violence.

    Today, although moderate Moslems are loath to admit these ideas, and many of them are terrified to voice criticism of their militant Islamic brothers, because of fear that violence will come to them and their families, the fact remains that these added teachings are not the original beliefs of Islam; they are amendments: They are the terrorist teachings of Islam.

    In the near future, militant Moslems hope to unleash a Jihad: a Moslem holy war upon the non-Moslem world; not only upon Israel, the United States and Western Europe, but also throughout parts of Asia, including India and maybe even China, and Japan. Because the terrorist teachings of Islam sanction treaty breaking, deception, and war, as well as looting, murder, kidnapping, terrorism, and human slavery (including sexual slavery), so long as these crimes are directed against non-Moslems, there is no limit to the things these fanatics can do. But the scariest part: Militant Moslems will do everything… in the name of their primitive desert god.

    Once victory is attained in this violent holy war, these fanatics believe Allah will bless them with harems of kidnapped sex slaves taken from destroyed cities and nations, as well as enormous fortunes of loot plundered from the non-Moslem world. They believe this because of the terrorist teachings that were added to the Koran. These terrorist teachings even say ransoms paid to Moslem terrorists, to redeem stolen property (like hijacked oil tankers and cargo ships) as well as kidnapped men, women, and children, are part of the Islamic loot these vicious criminals are entitled to receive.

    These same terrorist teachings even allow Moslem men to force their kidnapped female sex slaves to marry them in Moslem wedding ceremonies, and bear children for them: whether the women want to or not. Terrorist Moslem teachings mandate only two requirements: The women must come from Christian or Jewish backgrounds, and secondly, if the unfortunate women resist, these same terrorist teachings say the Moslem husbands must beat them, and imprison them in their own homes.

    If the Moslem fanatics die while committing these crimes against humanity, as an eternal reward for their cruel deeds Islamic extremists believe their fierce desert god will admit them to paradise and bless them with luxurious palaces filled with riches and populated by seventy-two virgin brides, who are exquisitely beautiful, yet modest enough to struggle to control their unbridled lust to have sexual intercourse with a dead Moslem terrorist.

    With these stinging indictments against terrorist Islamic doctrines entered into the record, it is important to remember that the majority of Moslems are moderate, decent people who love God and practice acts of charity and kindness to their neighbors, both Moslem and non-Moslem. Such moderate Moslems recognize these violent teachings as obsolete and out of place in the Twenty-first Century. In the author’s opinion, in spite of enormous cultural and ideological differences that exist between the non-Moslem world and the followers of Islam, it is with this moderate Moslem majority that any long-term resolution to the Islamic terrorism issue will ultimately be negotiated.

    However, given the massive population increases taking place in the Moslem world, at a time when poverty, chaos, criminality, and religious fanaticism are burgeoning, the numbers of Moslems worldwide who declare themselves militant is increasing; the influence their growing networks of terror cells exert on Islamic governments throughout the world has reached crisis levels. Because of the terrorist teachings of Islam, modern civilization faces a nightmarish future; the attacks on Mumbai, India, the World Trade Center in New York, and the subway bombings in Spain and London are simply previews of things to come. In this ferocious Jihad, nuclear and biological weapons are almost certain to come into play.

    To paraphrase Winston Churchill: The road before us will be long and dangerous and terrifying; the United States and Europe and Asia must be resolute… and take courage. We must work together to neutralize militant Islamic movements… and if necessary… wage war against the governments that sustain them. At the same time, the non-Moslem world must also nurture moderate Islamic states and establish strong alliances with them. The very survival of our civilization depends on it.

    Are you are interested in learning more about an array of Islamic topics including:
    1. Who are The Seventy-two Virgins of Islam and how did they become part of militant Moslem dogma?
    2. What role did the Ebionites and Khadija the Pure play, in founding the original (peaceful) religion of Islam?
    3. What role does militant Islam play in modern human slavery?

    Visit The Moslem Institute website: http://www.TheMoslemInstitute.com

    Regards,
    Dane Dahl
    Author and Historian

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