UPDATES 6 pm Israel time Wednesday:
*The area around Sderot was struck again this morning by at least two Qassam missiles fired by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza (the subject of today’s blog).
*At the same time, Palestinian violence in Judea and Samaria continues and escalates–with IDF personnel being wounded in Hebron this afternoon.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Another day, another missile attack on southern Israel.
After yesterday’s absurd IDF response in which Israeli aircraft bombed “empty spaces” in northern Gaza following a rash of mortars and qassams fired by Palestinian terrorists (one of which hit a preschool in Sderot), it was not surprising at all for Sderot to be attacked again this morning.
The red warning sirens in Sderot, Sha’ar Hanagev, and other smaller border communities in the Eshkol region went off at 7:33 am–-just as school children in these locations were heading to school and older Israelis were heading to work.
After everyone had made a 15 second dash to their bomb shelters, explosions were heard in the area. The intense emotional trauma suffered by these people is incalculable.
Haim Yellin, the head of the Eshkol Regional Council, had this to say: “Four governments have changed and the Qassams are still exploding over our heads. The rule for a Qassam here must be the same as that for Tel Aviv. The new Government must eradicate the rocket fire.”
Another Eshkol resident angrily pointed out: “There’s rocket-fire once every few weeks, every time for a different reason – whether Obama’s visit or something else. In the end, we’re constantly reminded that we live near Gaza and that we have no calm. Our children can’t really recover from last year’s events.”
In a meaningless statement eerily reminiscent of so many such statements of his predecessor Ehud Barak, new Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon blustered: “Israel holds Hamas responsible for everything that is fired from Gaza. We will not in any way allow a routine of rocket fire steadily dripping on our civilians and soldiers.”
And therein lies the problem–the perception on the part of the Israeli government and the IDF that the rockets and missiles are “dripping” on southern Israel.
The rocket fire is not dripping on anyone–it is exploding on southern Israel, sometimes killing and always traumatizing men, women, and especially children. Explosions, by the way, that the IDF has been allowing ever since the latest so-called “ceasefire”. Note in the right hand column of this blog that 55 missiles and mortars have now struck southern Israel since November 21st of last year.
Perhaps Suzy Abormed, a citizen of Sderot, should be on the IDF General Staff. Here’s what she said this morning: “This period [since the “ceasefire”] only gave the terrorists time to replenish their weapons stockpiles. I am afraid the blow they were dealt during Operation Pillar of Defense was not strong enough. Maybe we should enter Gaza and rid it of terrorists so we will have real calm for a few years.”
Will Moshe Ya’alon find the courage to act? If the events of the last 72 hours are any indication, the prospect is not promising.
*Your humble servant thanks YNET news online for some of the quotations used in today’s blog.
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