IRIS Blog

According to Diskin, since the end of the military operation in early 2009, 22 tons of explosives, 45 tons of raw materials for the production of weapons, dozens of rockets, hundreds of mortar shells and dozens of antitank and antiaircraft missiles were smuggled into the Strip...

Diskin said terror organizations in the Gaza Strip were planning to kidnap more soldiers, and pointed out a rise in attempts of smaller Palestinian organizations in Gaza to carry out attacks in Israel, through Sinai, or local organizations in the West Bank.

During his weekly briefing, Diskin said Hamas feared an escalation with Israel...

The Shin Bet chief said that Hamas was currently planning massive support rallies to take place at al-Aqsa Mosque in support of Israeli Arabs. However, Diskin said he did not expect any riots to take place among Israeli Arabs on Land Day.

The proposal put forward by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic countries, with the backing of Belarus and Venezuela, had drawn strong criticism from free-speech campaigners and liberal democracies.

A simple majority of 23 members of the 47-nation Human Rights Council voted in favor of the resolution. Eleven nations, mostly Western, opposed the resolution, and 13 countries abstained.

The resolution urges states to provide "protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions and incitement to religious hatred in general"...

Muslim nations have argued that religions, in particular Islam, must be shielded from criticism in the media and other areas of public life. They cited cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as an example of unacceptable free speech.

"Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism," the resolution said.

Opponents of the resolution included Canada, all European Union countries, Switzerland, Ukraine and Chile.

"It is individuals who have rights and not religions," Canadian diplomat Terry Cormier said.

India, which normally votes along with the council's majority of developing nations, abstained in protest at the fact that Islam was the only religion specifically named as deserving protection...

The council is dominated by Muslim and African countries. Its resolutions are not binding, but are meant to act as recommendations for U.N. member states on issues of human rights.

Earlier, a coalition of more than 100 secular and faith groups had called on governments to oppose the resolution, warning that it could lead to accusations of defamation among different faiths.

The United States did not vote on the resolution because it is not a member of the council. The Bush administration announced it was virtually giving up on the body and would participate in debates only if absolutely necessary because of the Geneva body's anti-Israel statements and its failure to act on abuses in Sudan and elsewhere.

U.S. diplomats resumed their observer role in the council after President Barack Obama took office, though it is unclear whether Washington will stand for one of the 18 council seats up for election in May.

Esther Brimmer, Obama's nominee for the job of Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizational Affairs, told a Senate hearing Tuesday that the council was a "major disappointment, diverted from its mission by states with some of the worst human rights records."

Israel does not take official responsibility for operations deep in enemy territory, yet if they are attributed to Israel by the international media it responds with silence and a wink. This was the case with the bombing of the Syrian reactor in September 2007 and with the "strange accident" at a Syrian missile factory. The same happened when Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh died and when a Syrian general named Suleiman, who was involved in the nuclear project and in coordination with Iran and Hezbollah, was mysteriously assassinated.

...Sudan has become one of the favorite smuggling routes for Iranian intelligence, with arms from Revolutionary Guard bases going through Sudan to Egypt, and then reaching Gaza via the Sinai desert and the underground tunnels at the Philadelphi Route.

...This activity has become critical for the Hamas movement, which has become Iran’s favorite protege in the wake of the assassination of Sheikh Yassin (who was quite opposed to receiving support from Tehran). This became particularly true following the outset of Operation Cast Lead and the serious harm caused to Hamas’ arms depots.

For example, Hamas leaders were surprised after the Air Force hit pits prepared in advance containing launchers armed with rockets. There rockets were supposed to be deployed via remote control or a fuse. The Air Force, thanks to accurate intelligence, managed to destroy most of these pits – and Hamas relayed urgent messages to Iran, asking it to renew the supply.

The balance of terror created by the two attacks in Argentina in the wake of the killing of former Hezbollah Chief Musawai prompted Israel to focus on operations against the Hezbollah group only, and not against its mother and father – Iran and Syria.

However, the recent operations attributed to Israel against Iranians arms in Sudan and against Syrian targets are more than a hint that this balance of terror no longer exists.

...Yadlin told... the Committee on Wednesday that Iran has "crossed the technological threshold" for making a nuclear bomb. He also said Iran has developed surface-to-surface missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Yadlin said achieving a military nuclear capacity "was mainly dependent on a political decision by Iran."

According to Yadlin, the bottleneck in Iran's nuclear weapons program was in obtaining fissionable material.

...The MI chief claimed that the "battle to prevent a nuclear Iran is not yet lost."

Yadlin also said Hamas was preparing for another round of fighting, noting that weapons that Hamas lacked during Israel's Gaza operation, such as long-range rockets, and anti-aircraft and anti-tank weaponry, are being smuggled into Gaza.

Weapons that Hamas lacked during Operation Cast Lead, such as long-range rockets, and anti-aircraft and anti-tank weaponry, are being smuggled into Gaza, Yadlin said, adding that it was "the reason Hamas will not, under any circumstances, sign an agreement to end Gaza smuggling."

Iran is making fools of everyone. Even as it lies about how close it is to acquiring nuclear missiles, it continues to menace the political order throughout the Middle East, pressing on with rocketry and rearming Hamas and Hezbollah. And that mischief is nothing to what it will do if it is allowed to become a nuclear power.

A nuclear Iran will be a threat to U.S. national security, worldwide energy security, the efficacy of multilateralism, and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Having defied the world so brazenly, it might become overconfident enough to believe that its conventional or proxy forces could operate without fear of serious reprisals from the United States, Israel, or any other power... Tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands would join radical Islamist groups in the belief that Islamism is on the march.

Fundamentally, a nuclear Iran represents a unique threat. The fear of mutually assured destruction has long restrained other nuclear powers. There is a real risk that the Iranian leadership is not rational, that driven by its mad hatreds, it will act in ways that are unreasonable, even self-destructive. Anti-Americanism is a cornerstone of the ideology of this Islamic state.... The dominant Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterates that Iran's differences with America are more fundamental than political differences.

Whatever may happen to the leadership over time, the inescapable fact is that the United States just cannot take the risk of nuclear missiles in the hands of a clerical regime that preaches genocide.

Every U.S. administration since 1979—yes, including the past one—has reached out to the Iranians. To adopt President Obama's inaugural metaphor, every open hand has met a clenched fist....

It is not that the Iranians don't want to talk—they do. That's how they play for time. Quite simply, they seek the technical know-how that will enable them to produce nuclear weapons in a short period. They are in the midst of building stockpiles of low-enriched uranium from which they can produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear device in a matter of months—a breakout capability. They are adding centrifuges faster than the U.N. Security Council can step up the pressure and are learning about the intricate art of connecting a large number of centrifuges to a vast amount of pipe work, while maintaining everything in a vacuum. Getting centrifuges to run is not the challenge; getting them to run as a single entity is, and they are mastering it. Simultaneously, they are enhancing their ability to launch long-range ballistic missiles, a potential delivery system of nuclear weapons.... The clock is ticking inexorably, a race against time that Iran is winning, getting nearer every day to presenting the world with an Iranian bomb as a fait accompli.

What can be done?

Fortunately, Iran has an economic Achilles' heel: It is dependent on imported gasoline for 40 percent of its refined fuel. Furthermore, the country requires new investments in its energy industry to maintain current production. Reduced oil prices have put a great strain on its economy. Discontent is growing among a citizenry that is suffering from high inflation, unemployment, and poverty. Clearly, it makes sense to play on this fundamental weakness. We must press harder to coordinate four measures:

• An arms embargo.


• A ban on exports to Iran of gas and other refined products to cripple transport.


• A global boycott of the entire banking system of Iran, instead of helping it as European banks are.


• A prohibition on Western countries supplying spare parts to the oil industry.
  Before President Obama engages in "aggressive personal diplomacy," as he put it, he would be well advised to allow Iran's economic crisis to take its toll, in the hopes that an economic tailspin will leave the leadership more vulnerable to economic sanctions than it has been in the past 30 years and therefore more ready to come to terms. But there is no certainty that economic sanctions will work in time, leaving us with two unacceptable options: living with a nuclear Iran or acting militarily to prevent it.
  
  The Iranian leaders' judgment is that the current administration is ready to let diplomacy run on and on and on...and will anyway be incapable of making a military move while wrestling with the fallout from our domestic financial collapse. For this reason, many in Iran believe that the United States may be reconciling itself to the idea of living with an Iranian nuclear missile—even though it would be in the hands of an expressly genocidal regime.

Mayor Barkat.... views devotion to Jerusalem not as a problem but as an opportunity. He likes to say that Jerusalem is the world’s most important city and that 3 billion people have it in their hearts, yet only 2 million visitors come yearly. His goal is to bring that number up to 10 million through biblical theme parks, more open spaces and better urban management.

He has a very clear idea of what normality here would look like, he says, a message he plans to take to the United States on an eight-day tour of half a dozen cities, starting in Florida on Monday.

FOR him, Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal and indivisible capital. It must be cleaned up and fattened up with help from abroad. All religions must be free to worship in it. But it must never be shared or divided.

“Like in business, sometimes there is one clear, simple solution to a big problem that seems obvious to everyone and is absolutely wrong,” he says when asked his view of dividing the city so that it can serve as the capital of both Israel and a future state of Palestine....

...His views are... out of step with the new American administration. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized municipal plans to raze Arab buildings in East Jerusalem when she was here this month as “not helpful.”

In several East Jerusalem neighborhoods these days, demolition orders are being issued... Mr. Barkat is bringing a sense of modern renewal and entrepreneurial spirit to City Hall...

Mr. Barkat speaks of his efforts in East Jerusalem as if they were in any normal city. He wants to expand public areas for both Jews and Palestinians, make room for schools and generally clean up what he calls the “wild East.”

The houses Mr. Barkat plans to tear down were built illegally, and that, he says, is his sole motive. He is doing the same for illegal construction in predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem and offers numbers to prove it. About a third of the tearing down is indeed in the West.

The biggest controversy involves Silwan, the area just southeast of the walled Old City where some 7,500 Palestinians live, mostly in buildings without permits. Mr. Barkat wants to turn the area into an archaeological park, the City of David and the Garden of King Solomon, where he says King David wrote poetry, and other great historical figures wandered quietly.

“For 3,000 years, that area has been green,” he asserts. “Now there are 100 buildings that are illegal there. We want to return it to being a park.”

Mr. Barkat has appointed an old friend, Yakir Segev, to be in charge of East Jerusalem. In an interview with a local newspaper, Mr. Segev said: “Jerusalem is a laboratory. If we succeed in solving the conflict with the Arabs of Jerusalem, it will also be possible to solve it everywhere in Israel.”

What Mr. Segev, like Mr. Barkat, means is both improving services for the Palestinians and ending any ambiguity about Jewish dominance. And to that end, they have expressed strong support for more Jewish building to the east of the city, which Palestinians say could end any prospect for a two-state solution.

Mr. Barkat acknowledges only that the issue is sensitive and that it must be handled in a sensitive, but definitive, way.

“The Palestinians are teaching their children how to be terrorists,” he said. “They say they want us out. We come to them with a win-win solution. They come back with a win-lose. The answer is no. I don’t see any solution that divides Jerusalem.”

Police sappers... dispatched to scan the area.... found a partially exploded bomb in the trunk of a white Subaru car which was parked outside the shopping center.

A further search of the vehicle uncovered several more unexploded bombs, which were neutralized by the sappers. No one was injured.

It was not immediately clear how the vehicle managed to get past the security checks at the mall entrance. The car was registered to a woman who lives in Jerusalem, but police would not release her identity. Northern District head Cmdr. Shimon Koren told Army Radio on Sunday morning that the vehicle had been stolen.

Police immediately moved to evacuate the mall, which was filled with shoppers, and sealed off the area.

The car in which the explosives were found was registered to a woman who lives in eastern Jerusalem, police said.

Northern District Commander Shimon Koren said that “the background of the incident is almost certainly hostile terrorism. We see no signs of anything else.”

Northern Police spokesman Moshe Weitzman told... that "dozens of kilograms of explosives" were uncovered in the car.

The 'Free Galilee' terror group has claimed responsibility for an attempted car bombing attack...

The mall and the surrounding area were reopened on Sunday morning.

Israeli Minister Haim Ramon, a member of the Ministerial Committee on Security Prisoners, told Israel Radio Thursday that Hamas did not negotiate over the release of prisoners but rather presented an ultimatum for Israeli capitulation.

Ramon emphasized that two-thirds of Hamas prisoners released in the past had returned to terror and murdered many Israelis.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah will continue to seek Israel's destruction and must not be granted any legitimacy, Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, told a conference at the Interdisciplinary Center on Monday. He said both Hamas and Hezbollah are "entities with an incredibly radical worldview, but they're flexible in terms of a timetable....They may accept a temporary agreement. However, in terms of their value system, they can always violate such a deal the moment they feel strong enough."

"This is what happened with the previous lull....The lull was unlimited and was not restricted to six months, as Hamas claimed. They violated it because they thought Israel is weak and won't enter Gaza." "They are capable of agreeing to a 30-year ceasefire and violating it after 30 days," he said.

Gilad said: "I see elements in the Western world that are considering dialogue with these groups in an attempt to convince them, but it won't make a difference. It's possible to reach agreements with them, but we should never think this will lead to peace treaties."

Replying to Ynet's question about whether Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's latest speech, where he hinted of willingness to engage in talks with the US, constituted a change in policy, Gilad replied: "Hamas and Hezbollah are open to any kind of dialogue. Legitimacy is very important to them. If the Western world is willing to recognize them, they will of course accept that, and this is what Nasrallah meant. However, they will not change their ways, and Israel will always be a target for elimination in their eyes."

The government’s highly touted Iron Dome short-range missile defense system is far from being in operation and may not even be practical.

“Even if Iron Dome works perfectly, it is never going to have the firepower in interceptors to credibly intercept most, let alone all,” of the rockets.

Hezbollah has amassed far more rockets than it possessed before the Second Lebanon War in 2006, despite Israel’s agreeing to a ceasefire on the condition that United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) would prevent arms smuggling into Lebanon.

In the south, Hamas continues to smuggle weapons into Gaza despite a similar ceasefire ageement, supposedly conditioned on a cessation of arms smuggling, that the Olmert administration announced when concluding Operation Cast Lead in mid-January.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised two years ago that the Iron Dome short-range missile defense system, along with other systems, would protect Israel from 90 percent of missile attacks, although mortar shells would continue to explode in Israel without interception.

Barak announced in October 2007 that the Iron Dome was near completion and would be in place by 2010....

Last year, officials admitted that the Iron Dome system would not be effective against Kassam rockets fired from less than two miles.

The Iron Dome very-short-range interceptors are designed to destroy missiles fired from a range of approximately 3 to 24 miles, and the David's Sling system to intercept ballistic missiles with a range of 24 to 150 miles.

The Israel Defense Forces said they have already tested the system successfully several times.

Barak has made the successful development of Iron Dome and its sister David's Sling/Magic Wand program to produce an interceptor capable of defending against missiles with a 24- to 150-mile range his top priority...

However, as of today, Hamas continues to fire its low-tech Qassams into the settlements and towns of southern Israel with impunity, and short of launching another costly major military operation such as it did at the beginning of this year, Israel has no credible defense available. Iron Dome is nowhere near being deployed.

Unlike previous attacks, the IDF has not retaliated. Previous retaliation has targeted rocket launching cells and tunnels used to smuggle weapons and ammunition.

Israel agreed in mid-January to end the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign in Gaza, stating that rocket attacks virtually had ceased and that the United States and European countries would use technology and monitors on the border between Egypt and Gaza to prevent more smuggling.

The proposals still are on the drawing boards...

Safwat Higazi: "Today, I would like to talk about the Starbucks coffee shop. Starbucks is to be found in Mecca, in Al-Madina, opposite the King Abdul Aziz Gate in Mecca, opposite the Al-Majid Gate in Al-Madina, as well as in Cairo. Starbucks is to be found everywhere, with this logo. This is the Starbucks logo.

"Has any of you ever wondered who this woman with a crown on her head is? Why do we boycott Starbucks? I will tell you, so you will know why you should boycott this company, and what this logo stands for. As I’ve already said, it is not enough to avoid entering this coffee shop. It is not enough to refrain from drinking this coffee. You must urge people never to go there, but none of you should even consider throwing a stone, breaking anything, or burning [the place] down.

[...]

"The girl in the Starbucks logo is Queen Esther. Do you know who Queen Esther was and what the crown on her head means? This is the crown of the Persian kingdom. This queen is the queen of the Jews. She is mentioned in the Torah, in the Book of Esther. The girl you see is Esther, the queen of the Jews in Persia." [...]

"The Crown You See Here [In the Starbucks Logo] is the Crown of the Kingdom of Xerxes"

"King [Xerxes] gave an order that the seven most beautiful girls in the kingdom be brought to him. So they held contests and auditions, and selected the seven most beautiful virgins, one of whom was the Jewish Esther, whose uncle, Mordechai - or actually, it was her cousin’s brother - was a villain.

"It was Mordechai who hatched this plot. Esther was one of the seven girls brought before King Xerxes in the palace. When Esther, who was very beautiful, was shown to King Xerxes, she captured his heart, and he chose her to be his queen. He placed a crown on her head, and the crown you see here [Higazi indicates the Starbucks logo] is the crown of the kingdom of Xerxes, and this is Esther, who became Queen of Persia, instead of Queen Vashti."[...]

"We Want Starbucks To Be Shut Down Throughout The Arab And Islamic World...It Is Inconceivable That In Mecca and Al-Madina, There Will Be a Picture of Queen Esther"

"Can you believe that in Mecca, Al-Madina, Cairo, Damascus, Kuwait, and all over the Islamic world there hangs the picture of beautiful Queen Esther, with a crown on her head, and we buy her products?

[...]

"We want Starbucks to be shut down throughout the Arab and Islamic world. We want it to be shut down in Mecca and in Al-Madina. I implore King Abdallah bin Abd Al-‘Aziz, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques: It is inconceivable that in Mecca and Al-Madina, there will be a picture of Queen Esther, the queen of the Jews."

It took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, attended by delegations from 71 states, plus 16 regional, international, and financial organizations. Its stated goal was to raise US$2.8 billion, of which $1.3 was for rebuilding what had been destroyed in the course of Israel's recent war on Hamas (the rest would be sent to the Palestinian Authority to help improve its standing). The actual amount raised at the conference was $4.5 billion which, when added to previously committed funds, means the grant total for Gaza and the PA comes to $5.2 billion, to be disbursed over a two-year period.

Among the larger donations included a Gulf Cooperation Council contribution of $1.65 billion over five years and a U.S. government pledge of $900 million from the American taxpayer (of which $300 million will go for Gaza rebuilding).

Why my disbelief at this spectacle: I wonder if those eminentoes and worthies really believe that warfare in Gaza is a thing of the past, and that the time for reconstruction is nigh?

They must not read dispatches from southern Israel, which report the daily warfare that continues there. Take a representative news item from Yedi'ot Aharonot, dated February 28, "Experts: Grads in Ashkelon were advanced."

"the two Grad rockets that landed in Ashkelon Saturday morning[, Feb. 28,] were new and improved models, capable of greater destruction than those usually fired from Gaza. One of the rockets hit a school in the southern city, and succeeded in penetrating the fortification used to protect it from projectiles. … The Grad rockets that hit Ashkelon were two of only five or six locally manufactured 170 mm rockets ever fired at Israel, experts say. The rarely used rockets have a range of 14 km (8.6 miles) and are capable of massive damage, evident from the destruction witnesses described on the scene of Saturday's attack."

In an official protest to the United Nations, the Israel's Ambassador Gabriela Shalev noted that "there have been nearly 100 rocket and mortar attacks from the Gaza Strip” since the ceasefire on January 18, or over two per day. These have been increasing in number, with 12 rockets fired at Sderot on March 1 alone."

Responding to these attacks, the Israeli cabinet resolved on March 1 that "should the firing from the Gaza Strip continue, it would be met by a painful, sharp, strong and uncompromising response by the security forces." Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu echoed this bellicosity, reportedly telling a European leader that he would not sacrifice Israel’s security "for a smile."

(Saudi foreign minister Saud Al-Faisal, in unexpected agreement, noted that rebuilding Gaza would be "difficult and fool-hardy, so long as peace and security do not prevail" there.)

What... are the donor countries doing, getting in the middle of an on-going war with their high-profile supposed reconstruction effort? My best guess: this permits them subtly to signal Jerusalem that it better not attack Gaza again, because doing so will confront it with a lot of very angry donor governments – including, of course, the Obama administration.

Adding to the surreal quality is a blithe disregard for Israel's security needs. Consider the attitude of Douglas Alexander, international development secretary for Britain's Labour government, who pledged £30 million of his taxpayers' funds to rebuild houses, schools, and hospitals in Gaza. "There is a desperate need for tough restrictions on the supply of goods to be relaxed," he said, demanding next that "Israel must do the right thing and allow much-needed goods to get through to those men, women and children who continue to suffer."

That's very humanitarian of Mr. Alexander, but he willfully ignored Israeli expectations that Hamas will confiscate steel, concrete, and other imported construction materials to build more tunnels, bunkers, and rockets. After all, Hamas appropriated prior deliveries intended for civilians, and so blatantly that even the usually docile United Nations Relief and Works Agency protested.

Husni Mubarak might warn Hamas not to treat the donors' pledges as a "conquest of war," but it will assuredly do precisely that. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (Republican of Illinois) got it right: "To route $900 million to this area, and let's say Hamas was only able to steal 10 percent of that, we would still become Hamas' second-largest funder after Iran."

So, under the cheery banner of building, in Clinton’s words, "a comprehensive peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors," donor states are not only defying Israel to protect itself from rocket fire but they are funneling matériel to Hamas.

Is this ignorance or mendacity? I suspect the latter; no one is that dumb.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert slammed Defense Minister Ehud Barak... over Operation Cast Lead and the continued rocket fire from Gaza.

"What the defense minister is suggesting proves that there was no value to Cast Lead, because after crushing them (Hamas) we now have to accept, according to your proposal, the conditions that were offered to us before the operation," blasted Olmert, turning to Barak. "That's the truth, nothing else,"

The confrontation began during an assessment given by OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin, who said that from Hamas's point of view, the "agreement" had been put aside. Olmert interrupted by saying, "In my view, there was no agreement with Hamas. I want to clarify, that on my part, there were no discussions about an agreement."

It follows the disagreement between Olmert and Barak over the prime minister's insistence that the opening of the Gaza crossings be conditioned on Schalit's freedom.

"We entered into a truce in June 2008. The negotiations were conducted by the security establishment and led by the defense minister," Olmert continued at the weekly cabinet meeting.

"The defense minister's stance then, as now, was unclear, not precise, not explicit, not in writing," he said. "We agreed that on the critical issue of preventing arms smuggling we would rely on one individual, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) head, that he would be our yardstick. Back then, the defense minister said that if arms smuggling continued, we would respond immediately, and that we'd also respond to any attacks, including mortar shells. However, reality unfolded differently."

"...Two things were clear to us: one, that if we hadn't accepted the truce, Cast Lead would have been carried out in June 2008, and the second thing was that the truce actually brought about Cast Lead."

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter told the cabinet that in the last few days, anti-aircraft missiles had been smuggled into Gaza.

"The transfer of arms from Egypt to Gaza is continuing," he warned. "Hamas is restocking its supplies and upgrading its caches of weapons and ammunition."

"The effect of Cast Lead has melted away in the last month," continued Dichter. "Attempts to carry out terror attacks from Gaza are continuing on a daily basis, and on average, five rockets and mortar shells are fired per day."

"Hamas is seeking to rebuild its infrastructure, and we have to continue to hit that terror infrastructure and tunnels," he stressed.

Dichter criticized Egypt, saying it was not bringing results as far as stopping arm smuggling was concerned.

"The notion that Egypt has toughened its stance is not being realized on the ground," he said. "Israel needs to examine the results, and when we look at Hamas's preparedness for a new round of fighting, the results are problematic."