“Israeli Occupation Has Opened the Doors of Hell”: Hamas Representative in Gaza, Palestine   roy tov
On December 27, 2011, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz gave his first major interview since he took office as Chief of Staff of the IDF ten months before. The interview took place as part of the Shirutrom, the IDF’s annual telethon. It was given to Ilana Dayan, a senior Israeli journalist, at Galei Tzahal (“IDF Waves” in Hebrew; it is also labeled by its acronym Galatz), the Army Radio.He rejoiced on the third anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, the brutal Israeli attack on Gaza in 2009, praising it: “an excellent operation that achieved deterrence for Israel vis-a-vis Hamas.”After this shocking statement, he declared his intentions. He warned that cracks have emerged in that deterrence over time and that a second round of fighting in the Gaza Strip is not a matter of choice for Israel. “Such a round must be initiated by Israel and must be “swift and painful” (see Cast Lead II Announced by Gen. Gantz)State terrorism is a term that has been used to refer to terrorist acts committed by governmental agents or forces. This involves the use of state resources—like its military—to directly perform acts of terrorism.Professor of Political Science Michael Stohl cites Germany’s bombing of London and the US atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. He argues “the use of terror tactics is common in international relations and the state has been and remains a more likely employer of terrorism within the international system than insurgents.”The concept is also used to describe political repressions by governments against their own civilian population with the purpose of inciting fear.For example, taking and executing civilian hostages and extrajudicial killings during the Communist Red Terror are commonly considered terrorism. The Israeli extrajudicial killings are clearly within this category.Another wrong claim is that the victim was about to commit a crime. Such a claim is void of value in Criminal Law, the law system used by Israel. No civil servant can claim to know the future, and deny liberty—or even kill—on this account.