Why the attack on Gaza

The massive
attack on Gaza.

It has been a long time coming - some would say long =
overdue. There will undoubtedly be criticism of Israel for this attack =
and the hundreds killed in it - unfortunately it may turn out to be that =
some are civilians.That is almost impossible to avoid considering the =
way things are intertwined in Gaza. But we should all remember that for =
years Hamas in Gaza has deliberately - not accidently - targeted Israeli =
civilians. Israel with Oslo and afterwards openned negotiations with =
Palestinians who were willing to accept a two state solution and said =
they would not use violence. Hamas has consistently said it rejects the =
very existence of Israel, is not interested in a two state solution and =
does not want peace - only violence or sometimes a lessening of violence =
when it is good for them. They complain that Israel does not open =
boarders to them but then refuses to stop shelling Israel when we offer =
to open boarders if there will be quiet. I cannot imagine any other =
country that would have permitted this shelling to go on as long as it =
has and not respond. So - let us hope quiet can be restored but let's =
not give in to those who do not see the whole picture - or do not want =
to see it.

From the news

Israel's strike on Gaza had been expected for days, but it was still a surprise when it finally came. Taking advantage of good weather, which is forecast to last at least three days, Israeli planes bombed some 40 Palestinian police stations, posts and other targets early Saturday morning, killing more than 150 people including a number of senior Hamas military leaders. The first strikes came in a coordinated three-minute blitz.
Israeli officials say the strikes were necessary to force an end to the rocket attacks from Gaza, which is ruled by the radical Islamist group Hamas after it split from the Palestinian Authority run by President Mahmoud Abbas out of the West Bank. Palestinian militants in Gaza have long launched Kassam and other rockets at Israeli towns across the border, and in the past six weeks the number of attacks has increased dramatically. After the attack, Israeli officials said the number of Palestinian rocket attacks could now spike to 200 a day. Hamas announced that it had sent a rocket toward Askelon; one man in the Israeli town of Netivot, east of the Gaza strip, was killed. Israel also expects Hamas to launch suicide attacks against Israel. A Hamas leader promised as much Saturday.
But Israel is prepared to ratchet up the pressure still further in the hope that it will force a workable ceasefire. Saturday's attack was authorized two days previously, and though no Israeli ground troops have crossed into Gaza so far, that remains an option according to Israeli officials. Dozens of Israeli air force planes remain in the skies above Gaza. "If they retaliate they will feel it stronger and the number [of casualties] on the Gaza side will rise", a senior Israeli military source told TIME.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in June. Israel wants the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and is extremely wary of becoming embroiled in a military operation in Gaza with no clear exit strategy. Hamas needed the truce to relieve the catastrophic economic strain imposed by the Israeli siege and to consolidate its control over Gaza. And so, for very different reasons, the two sides found themselves negotiating - not directly, because neither side recognizes the other - but through an Egyptian mediator. But in the past few weeks the ceasefire has all but broken down.
Indeed, even as the Israelis said the operation was continuing, Egypt was among the diplomatic casualties. Cairo had played host to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Dec. 25. She took the opportunity to criticize Hamas for its rocket attacks. The silence of her Egyptian hosts is now being seen by Palestinians as indirect collusion with Israel, damaging Cairo's ability to play mediator. Furthermore, in the contest for primacy between Hamas and Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas, as the "victim" of this episode, emerges as the victor in the eyes of Arabs and Palestinians. Already, elements of Abbas' own Fatah Party, the bulwark of the PA, are campaigning against the security cooperation with Israel and talking about boycotting meetings with the Jewish state.



Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
www.jonathanginsburg.net & www.ehnt.org
www.jewu.info Our online programs
847-331-3584