A very, very dangerous situation Israel on the brink of war as Clinton urges truce and 16K troops assemble near Gaza border

Israeli forces were massing on the Gaza border and on the brink of yet another brutal war with the Palestinians as the U.S. urged both sides Friday to step back from a “very, very dangerous situation.”

But the White House made it clear it had no intention of standing in Israel’s way — asserting the American ally’s “right to defend itself.”

Some 16,000 Israeli Army Reservists in hundreds of armored vehicles were already close enough to strike at the heart of the Hamas-controlled territory. And Defense Minister Ehud Barak got the green light to draft 75,000 more soldiers — the largest Israeli military mobilization in more than a decade.

The BBC reported Israeli air strikes targeted the headquarters of Hamas leaders in Gaza. Witnesses said the structure suffered severe damage. Strikes were made on Gaza City just before and after dawn Saturday, according to the BBC.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman made it crystal clear they were gunning for Hamas’ prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, and other top leaders.

“Every time that Hamas fires there will be a more and more severe response,” he vowed. “I really recommend all the Hamas leadership in Gaza not to try us again. . . . Nobody is immune there, not Haniyeh and not anybody else.”
Underscoring Lieberman’s point, an Israeli air strike flattened a building near Haniyeh’s home earlier Friday.

Secretary of State Clinton called Lieberman and his Palestinian counterpart and urged them to pull back their forces and try to work out a truce in the face of the “very, very dangerous situation.”

But as Clinton worked the phones, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. announced they had gotten the approval from Washington to invade if necessary.

“The United States has given us the full backing to take whatever measures are necessary to defend our citizens from Hamas terror,” Ambassador Michael Oren said. “Israel has received unequivocal and outstanding support from the United States and all branches of government. From the White House, from Congress, in both parties, completely bipartisan support.”
Oren spoke after both houses of Congress overwhelmingly voted for resolutions in support of Israel’s “inherent right to act in self-defense.”

President Obama also “reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself, and expressed regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives” in a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the White House.

The Palestinian delegation in Washington condemned the U.S. response as “biased and weak” and called on the White House to bar Israel from unleashing American-made weapons on civilians.

They also accused Netanyahu of manufacturing a crisis to improve his reelection chances
Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, was one of the only U.S. lawmakers speaking up for the Palestinians.

“It’s a devastated area already,” he said. “It’s only going to be made worse by this. Innocent people are dying. We need a ceasefire.”

The war drums in Israel were also heard in New York City as police stepped up security at synagogues and other Jewish institutions.

The NYPD has received no intelligence that the Israeli showdown with militant Hamas in Gaza could result in a local attack, sources said.

But as a precaution, extra patrol cars were dispatched to the city’s biggest Jewish congregations and extra officers were deployed in Jewish neighborhoods, sources said.
The Israelis occupied Gaza for 38 years before pulling out in 2005 and removing the Jewish settlements to make way for a possible Palestinian state. The majority of the 1.6 millions Palestinians packed into the coastal strip chose Hamas — an Islamic group backed by Iran and an enemy to the Jewish state — to lead them

Four years ago, after enduring a barrage of deadly attacks from the Palestinian side, the Israelis launched a brief but brutal invasion to stamp out the militants. Since then, Israel and Hamas have maintained an undeclared truce that now appears to be fraying fast.

The sudden rush to war began after the Israelis assassinated Hamas’ military chief on Wednesday and launched a punishing air assault aimed at crippling the militants’ rocket-launching ability, which have improved markedly with the influx of new weapons from largely lawless countries like Libya.

The Palestinians fired back — this time in the direction of Jerusalem, a city holy to both Arabs and Jews. The rocket landed harmlessly near Bethlehem.

As air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem for the first time since the crisis began, a spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing said the missile was meant to send the Israelis a “short and simple message.”

“There is no security for any Zionist on any single inch of Palestine and we plan more surprises,” said Abu Obeida.

Hamas militants also fired several rockets at the coastal city of Tel Aviv, where Netanyahu was holed up with his advisers in the heavily fortified Kirya government compound.

“We are ready to expand the operation as necessary in a significant manner,” Netanyahu said.

A short time later, Israelis resumed their own aerial attacks on Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces also engaged in a little bit of psychological warfare by distributing photos of armored vehicles already parked on the border.