the importance of doing the math

Irony challenged is a mental tag I often put on terror groups. This Jerusalem Post article illustrates this perfectly and runs with it with this heading: Hamas source: Extremist poured into Gaza

Thousands of Arab men have flocked into the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the past two weeks, offering to join in the fight against Israel, sources close to Hamas said Wednesday. The men, who came from Egypt and several other Arab countries, entered the Gaza Strip after the border with Egypt was torn down, the sources said, adding that they had offered to join Hamas and other armed groups. Egyptian sources said the men had toured a number of training bases and security installations belonging to Hamas and other groups and expressed their desire to remain in the Gaza Strip and launch attacks against Israel. The sources said some of the men had recently fled from Iraq, where they had been carrying out attacks against US troops.

The Bethlehem-based Maan news agency quoted Hamas sources as estimating the number of Arab men who had entered the Gaza Strip at 2,000. According to the sources, the Palestinian groups expressed their gratitude for the show of solidarity, but said they already had enough men to fight against Israel. Palestinian Authority security officials told The Jerusalem Post that many of the men were Muslim fundamentalists who were eager to launch terror attacks on Israel."Hamas has turned the Gaza Strip into an international center for global jihad," said one official. "Most of the men who entered the Gaza Strip through the breached border are now being trained in Hamas's camps and schools."

Another PA security official said that according to his information, dozens of al-Qaida operatives have managed to enter the Gaza Strip in the past two weeks. He said some of them had already been recruited to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. "They brought with them tons of explosives and various types of weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles," the official said. "What's happening in the Gaza Strip is very dangerous not only for Israel, but for many Palestinians as well." He added that a number of Iranian security experts had also entered the Gaza Strip to help train members of Hamas and other armed groups.

But this is the line I want everyone to pay attention to:

Earlier this week, PA officials told the Post that Iran and Syria were behind Monday's suicide bombing in Dimona. Hamas's representative in Teheran, Abu Osama Abdel Mu'ti, announced Wednesday that his movement was planning more suicide attacks against Israel. "The armed wing of Hamas has decided to resume martyrdom [suicide] operations against Israel after a one-year lull," he said. "The enemy should expect more attacks."

Why? Because it’s a Hamas representative telling you there has only been a one year so-called lull in the use of suicide bombers against the Israelis conducted by Hamas. In the aftermath of the Dimona bombing it is easy to over look that the Israeli internal security force (Shin Bet) reported the successful arrest of 29 actual suicide bombers in 2007, and 117 potential suicide bombers were apprehended before they could carry out the logistics of such an attack. I have lost count of the number of news organizations which reported a much longer moratorium on the use of suicide bombers by organizations like Hamas. For example, this NY Times piece from just this week:

JERUSALEM — Israel appeared to face a heightened threat from Palestinian suicide bombings on Tuesday after the military wing of Hamas officially claimed responsibility for a lethal blast the day before at a shopping center in the southern town of Dimona. The claim by the Qassam Brigades wing of Hamas, the militant Islamic group, signaled a possible end to its self-imposed moratorium on such attacks that had lasted more than three years.

Funny how the NY Times so easily forgets Hamas’s infamous Granny Bomber who self-imploded in November 2006; although, she did only managed to slightly injure two Israeli soldiers before she sent herself to kingdom come. Furthermore, according to this Israeli government report for 2006, 30 Hamas suicide bombers were apprehended before they could do serious harm by self-implosion. No Hamas self-imposed three year moratorium, and remember to do the math - because no one else in the press will.