Post 4: 8:00 pm. So much for the ‘ceasefire’. 4 Grads just hit along the beach in Ashkelon–about 8 km from here. No other details at the moment.
Post 3: 5:00 pm. Apparently we now have a ‘ceasefire’. All of the so-called ‘radical’ Islamic groups– that the Israeli media and the IDF idiotically repeat that Hamas has no control over– have agreed to a ‘temporary’ ceasefire at Hamas’ ‘encouragement.’ Let’s see how many missiles Hamas permits to be fired in the next 48 hours.
Post 2: 12:00 pm. This is what a ‘ceasefire’ means in southern Israel: 16 missiles were fired into Israel between midnight last night and 6 am this morning. Throughout the morning we have heard explosions to the south of us here in Ashdod. There have been no official reports as to what these were.
Absurdities abound. Now there is some doubt as to whether Israel has agreed to a ceasefire (as was blogged this morning, it makes little difference since Israel wasn’t firing anyway). The security cabinet is claiming that Hamas unilaterally has declared a ceasefire (which is absurd as was pointed out in the previous paragraph).
The most remarkable comment of the day has come from an unnamed Israeli Defense official: “Lack of international support is one reason Israel cannot open a larger offensive against the Gaza Strip.” So now we have the unbelievable situation that the safety of Israeli men, women, and children is at the mercy of international approval.
Post 1: 8:00 am.
Something has gone horribly wrong here in Israel.
How did we ever get to a point in this country where Beersheva, Sderot, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi, Beer Tuvia, Ofakim, Azriqam, Gan Yavne, Gedera, and Ashdod were hit by more than 100 Grad rockets over the weekend? How did we ever get to a point as a country that we tolerate our fellow citizens being under constant and vicious bombardment?
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And what in the world has happened to the IDF? How has Israel’s once vaunted fighting machine become a shadow of itself?
After desperately seeking a ceasefire yesterday in a meeting between the IDF, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad in Cairo, the Israeli government acceded to Hamas demands last night and called off its attack on Gaza. Except that there never was an attack on Gaza. What we have is a ceasefire in a situation where only one side (Hamas) was firing. And the other side (Israel) was making excuses for not doing anything to stop the firing up until the very moment the ‘ceasefire’ went into effect.
Let me tell you how absurd this was last night. On the 8:00 pm television evening news, the announcement was made that both sides had agreed that a ceasefire would go into effect at 9 pm. Imagine our surprise at around 9:30 pm when the incoming rocket siren blared out over Ashdod. Once again we ran to the bomb shelter, and once again we heard the impact of a nearby explosion.
But . . . we were later informed that this missile attack was actually ‘ok’ because since there is no daylight savings time in Gaza, the ‘ceasefire’ was not technically in effect yet. And again, there was no Israeli response.
And guess what happened shortly after midnight last night–hours after the ‘ceasefire’? Another Grad rocket was fired at Ashkelon. And guess what the IDF did? Absolutely nothing.
During the next couple of days, your humble servant will give you his opinion of how we have reached such a sorry state here in Israel.
In the meantime, Hamas is loudly proclaiming ‘victory’ this morning, and they are correct.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.