After being hit by over 100 rockets in 24 hours, Israel has launched what it calls Operation Protective Edge in an attempt to quell the attacks.
1,500 reserve soldiers had been called up to prepare for a possible operation earlier.
It started with a series of air attacks,which among other things hit sites known to be Hamas training facilities and other strategic sites. In return Hamas has threatened to target Tel Aviv.
There were earlier reports of an attempted Egyptian mediated cease fire, what the Israeli referred to as 'quiet for quiet'. The Hamas response was a continuing barrage of rockets and mortar shells. Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said “This is not the time for quiet. We have a bank of various targets. An Iron Dome [missile battery] will be needed in every Israeli home.”
And of course, Israel's 'peace partner' Mahmoud Abbas is demanding that Israel not attack Gaza and just let the rockets continue to fall..on which more later.
At the UN Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor called on the Security Council to condemn Hamas for firing rockets into southern Israel, denounce terrorism and call on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve his national unity government with the Islamist group.
In a letter sent to the Security Council and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Prosor says Israel will “no longer tolerate this situation” and that “those who target Israelis with terrorism will pay a very heavy price.”
What can I say but good luck with that? The UN isn't going to condemn attacks on Israeli civilians.
As for our State Department, Secretary of State John Kerry finally got around to issuing a pro forma condemnation of the attacks on Israel tonight, but as always, it urged Israeli 'restraint.'
Now why is that? Would the United States act with restraint if missiles were being fired at American civilians in Austin, El Paso, Phoenix, Albuquerque and San Diego from Mexico? Or would the American people demand that the U.S. military be sent in to end the attacks once and for all? Why is Israel held to a different standard?
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett are apparently both calling for a response that would eliminate Hamas as a fighting force and bring Gaza under Israeli control again, but apparently the Israeli government is planning a more limited response. The very name 'Protective edge' seems to hint at half measures. Which, of course, means that the same war will have to be fought again at some point.
Stay tuned...
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