Monday, January 10, 2011

Strike first!

Fresnozionism.org
09 January '11





News item:

Hamas said on Sunday that it was in contact with other groups in the Gaza Strip to calm the situation and avoid another war with Israel.

Representatives of the Islamist movement said that they have urged the groups to abide by an unofficial cease-fire with Israel and stop firing rockets and mortars at Israeli communities. Hamas has even threatened any Palestinian who launches attacks on Israel.

Ayman Taha, a Hamas official, said that his movement did not want to give Israel an excuse to “wage a new war against the Gaza Strip.” He warned, however, that Hamas maintained the right to “respond to Israeli crimes, but only within the frame of national consensus.”

What to make of this?

It seems to me that the situation is not that different from the period preceding operation Cast Lead. As you may recall, Israel decided to launch the operation after Hamas ended a ‘cease fire’ that had been in effect for about six months with a heavy rocket barrage that continued for about a month. Hamas’ pretext was a November, 2008, incident which began when IDF forces entered Gaza to destroy a tunnel being dug under the border fence, and ended with the death of six Hamas fighters.

Israel was aware that Hamas had been building up its forces over a long period, but most likely did not act earlier for political reasons, not wishing to be seen as an aggressor. The Hamas rocket attack (which they called “operation oil stain”) was intolerable — 87 rockets were fired in the first 24 hours — and triggered the Israeli response. Unfortunately, Israel was prevented from bringing the operation to a conclusion by pressure from the incoming Obama Administration and the weakness of the Olmert government.

(Read full "Strike first!)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

No comments:

Post a Comment