750+ Missiles Launched At Southern Israel: Another Shameful “Ceasefire”

Tweet

1 Iyar 5779

6 May 2019

TODAY’S BLOG:

750+ Missiles Launched At Southern Israel:

Another Shameful “Ceasefire”

And just like that . . . it was over, again. Forty hours that saw some of the worst bombardment in the history of Israel finished with a click of PM Netanyahu’s pusillanimous fingers. 

Today it is like nothing happened. If you can believe it, the IDF proudly declared at 7 am this morning that the situation has “returned to normal” and all restrictions have been lifted on residents of southern Israel. In other words, the poor citizens of southern Israel are now free to crawl out of their bomb shelters, tend to their dead and wounded, and inspect the damage all around.

There’s scarcely a mention of what has transpired in any of the mainstream Israeli newspapers or websites. Walla!, one of the most popular sites, ran some 100 stories on its main page this morning–stories ranging from the new royal baby in England to what to barbecue on Yom Atzmaut (Independence Day). Out of the 100 stories, 1 was about the disastrous weekend in the South.

And so it goes.

There is no accurate count of how many missiles were actually fired at southern Israel. The last official number (which as we know is always undercounted) was “more than 750”–though the number being bandied about today is “around 700.” If previous mini-wars are any indication, we can expect that the final total is somewhere around 900–after all, there are numerous reports this morning of unreported, unexploded missiles being discovered in agricultural fields and even in people’s garages. 

In retrospect, we all knew how this would end.

It ended in the same way that the major wars with Gaza in 2009, 2012, and 2014 ended. It ended in the same way that all the “mini-wars”  (the most recent in mid-November last year) ended. It ended with the IDF and Netanyahu claiming that Hamas and Islamic Jihad were begging for a ceasefire, Hamas and Islamic Jihad still firing barrages of missiles at us, and we caving into to Hamas and Islamic Jihad demands.

It ended in Israeli shame and impotence.

What were the newest ceasefire terms we agreed to? The Qatari money will continue flowing to Hamas and even be increased. Israel has promised not to shoot at “demonstrators” who attack the Gaza border fence. Israel has promised not to carry out any more targeted assassinations. Israel has promised to let “humanitarian” organizations come into Gaza to repair the few buildings that the IDF destroyed. Israel has promised to extend the fishing boundaries. And on and on.

And what have Hamas and Islamic Jihad promised?

Absolutely nothing.

Not even to stop sending explosive balloons into southern Israel–which they began again this morning. In other ways, there is no “ceasefire” on the part of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

All of this has occasioned comments like these from political leaders today:

From Gideon Sa’ar of Netanyahu’s own Likud Party:

“The cease-fire, in the circumstances in which it was received, has no achievements in Israel, and the period of time between the rounds of violent attacks on Israel and its citizens is getting shorter and the terrorist organizations in Gaza are growing stronger.”

From Yair Lapid of the opposition Blue and White Party:

“Netanyahu used the residents of the south as a flak jacket on the way to total surrender to Hamas. Netanyahu will not solve the problem in Gaza. He does not have the operational and political courage to do so. The minimum he has to do is to explain to the citizens of southern Israel the situation, but he does not have courage to even do that.”

From a leader of the Labor Party:

“700 rockets are fired at the heads of Israeli citizens, and all the government ministers can do is to explain to us on the radio that ‘we reserve the option to respond in the future’.”

Sa’ar’s statement above is particularly important. Think for a moment about how ragtag the missiles were that were fired out of Gaza over a decade ago and how they were fired by ragtag terrorists scurrying about. And then think about this picture from Gaza yesterday:

These are what are being shot at us now. By never finishing off Hamas and Islamic Jihad, we have allowed their missile technology to expand exponentially. Each mini-war is a testing ground for new terrorist missiles.

Or how about this picture taken by an AP photographer taken early last night in Gaza of a barrage of missiles being fired at southern Israel:

Count the number of missiles in this barrage. If you look very closely, the number is 12.

No longer does Israel see one missile launched at a time. The missiles launchers in Gaza now fire up to 24 at a time, and are thus able to easily overcome Israel’s Iron Dome Defenses. In any group of 24, eight or ten might get intercepted, but the rest get through. By the way, as we have pointed out ad nauseum on this blog, the launchers are powered by the “humanitarian” fuel that we send in to Gaza. Click here for a video of the missile that got through in Ashdod yesterday that killed a rabbi in his car.

How can we end this depressing blog today?

Let’s begin with what Tomer Glam, the mayor of Ashkelon, had to say after the “ceasefire”:

“The city of Ashkelon suffered a severe blow . . . three people were killed, dozens were wounded . . . many homes and buildings were struck. We live from round to round, and this is a reality that we cannot agree to and live with. Today, we will demand that the prime minister act with all the military means at the disposal of the IDF.”

Glam’s demand will go unanswered and this is why:

Years ago, Israel thought that the PLO were the bad guys. Then Israel rehabilitated the PLO, and Hamas became the bad guys. Then Islamic Jihad came along and the IDF judged it to be the bad guys, and that Hamas was bad–but not so bad.

Built into Netanyahu and the IDF’s mindset is that if Israel annihilates Hamas, this will not improve our security situation but will make it worse. And so, the Netanyahu/IDF doctrine is no longer “victory” but “status quo.” 

If missiles fall, and the border fence is attacked, and fires scorch southern Israel, it is all right because that is the status quo. 

It is a sad commentary on where we have gotten to in Israel.

Drink viagra online the tea twice everyday to do away with this condition. 12. When you free viagra on line from us, you get the option to choose from the variant of viagra such as generic viagra and deeprootsmag.org which can help him. These elements low cost levitra are largely accountable for sexual dysfunction. Misuse or overdose of this medication may lead to an unsatisfied sexual cheap levitra life.
Your humble servant wrote the following very early this morning:

UPDATE 2:00 AM Monday

So where do we stand at this hour?

As you can see, more than 750 missiles have been launched into southern Israel, pummeling cities, towns, kibbutzes, and moshavs (the actual total is probably around 900). A million citizens have spent the better part of two days hunkered down in bomb shelters. Five Israelis have now been killed.

As of two hours ago, there was supposedly a ceasefire. If there is a ceasefire, it is unilateral–only Israel has stopped shooting. 

Since midnight:

At 12:04 am, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched missiles into Zone 237.

A 12:45 am, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched missiles into Zone 238.

At 1:01 am, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched missiles into Zone 217.

At 1:16 am, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched missiles into Zones 232 and 233.

At 1:23 am, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched missiles into Zone 255.

There are two things to say at this point (more later):

1. If our government has agreed to a ceasefire after the pounding that our citizens have taken, it does not deserve to call itself a government.

2. As we have already stated in the two days, the IDF has absolutely no way of stopping missile fire from Gaza.