Leaving Gaza mean moving the terror closer to the heart of Israel. Bombs have been falling steadily on Israel from the former homelands of Gush Katif residents. The normal response of Israel was to bomb the area where the rockets had been fired; ie empty fields.
Then, over the weekend, as all know, Israel took aim at the bombers themselves. At the end, 15 were killed, including a child.
I guess PA thought it would be the routine reaction; CHILD KILLED BY ISRAELI GUNFIRE, but at least from my reading the reaction has been somewhat muted. Oh, Annan is asking Israel to restrain themselves (why does he always respond only after Arab deaths? Not after assaults on Israel?) to not endanger civilian population, hard to do when the PA's think take your children to work week includes actions of war.(a sentiment that has come up in more than a few responses to various articles I have read) And the article I linked to talks about Israel taking "revenge" and not what it was, a self defense action. But buried in the article is this paragraph.
The first inkling that Israel's iron-fist response to the Gaza rocket attacks was having any impact emerged yesterday when a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad Party (IJP) - one of the principal militant groups responsible for firing Qassam rockets into Israel - said a week-long ceasefire would hold only if Israel stopped launching its attacks.
and this section:
Checkpoints, walls and barriers have reduced the number of suicide attacks committed by Palestinian militants, so the Qassam has become their favoured weapon.Made from a piece of metal tubing, with four fins welded crudely on the end, it can be knocked up in a matter of minutes by smiths in Gaza.
It has a range of just five miles and has no means of steering but the amount of explosive it carries makes it a potentially deadly weapon. The rate of Qassams being fired from Gaza has increased markedly since the withdrawal.
In the face of these attacks, Israel has ramped up its response.
First attack helicopters would fire missiles at the Palestinians as they left a launch site. When this proved ineffective, army artillery was deployed to fire at the Qassam launch areas, before Israeli warships joined in with naval barrages.
Shifting strategy, the authorities created a buffer zone along the Gaza-Israeli frontier so wide that Qassams could not hit Israel.
which subtle shifts the blame back where it belongs, on the shoulders of those who started the war in the first place.
Of course Hamas blames Fatah for the attacks but who's suppose to be running the show over there anyway? And that sentiment is echoed by plenty as well.
There isn't a sesimic change, but a small change in attitude that I'm noticing. I've talked with others who notice the same thing; but I'm not everywhere hearing everything...so I wonder if anyone else has noticed this as well.
Is the world waking up?
Posted by Rachel Ann at April 10, 2006 07:58 AM | TrackBack