January 19, 2008:
An increasing number
of Israeli security officials are calling for a new approach to the Hamas
rocket attacks. Just killing the terrorists is not stopping the rockets, so why
not establish a buffer zone, so the Kassam rockets could not reach Israeli
civilians? The problem with that is longer range rockets. Hamas is getting more
of these weapons. Another problem is patrolling the buffer zone, which would be
done from the air, and would not stop the Palestinian terrorists from trying to
launch rockets, and succeeding in a few cases.
The Palestinians, and many of their
allies in the Middle East and the West, depict Israeli military operations
against the rocket launching crews, as a war crime. The rocket, and other
attacks on Israelis, are depicted as justifiable resistance to Israel's very
existence.
In the last week, Palestinians have
fired over 150 rockets into Israel, causing ten casualties and some property
damage. Israel operations against the terrorists launching the rockets has
created about a hundred casualties (and at least 33 dead.)
January 18, 2008: Israeli aircraft used
two missiles to kill seven Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. The crossing points
into Gaza were closed, in an attempt to force Hamas to stop the rocket attacks.
The UN condemned this, invoking the doctrine (popular in the UN) of
"disproportionate force." This means that it is wrong for Israel to hurt more
Palestinians, in comparison to Israelis hurt by Palestinian attacks. Some
Israelis agree with this, but most don't.
January 17, 2008: Israel conducted
another test of its long range ballistic missile, the Jericho 3. With a range
of nearly 5,000 kilometers, the Jericho 3 can drop a nuke anywhere in the
Middle East. This missile is also used to launch Israeli space satellites.
January 15, 2008: Israeli troops made
another raid into Gaza, seeking Palestinians involved in launching rockets into
Israel. Nineteen people were killed, all but one of them Palestinians. One of
the dead was the son of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar. The one non-Palestinian
killed was a South American man, working on an Israeli farm just across the
border from Gaza. A Palestinian sniper had gotten close enough to the fence to
get off a shot.
January 13, 2008: In Gaza, a car
driving along the coast at night was hit by an Israeli missile, killing three
men involved in rocket attacks on Israel.
January 12, 2008: In Gaza, gunmen
claiming to be from al Qaeda, attacked the American International School (a
private school, one of many in the Middle East, that teaches English and
standard academic subjects.) The building and equipment were damaged. All the
staff and students are Palestinian, but the school is supported by
contributions from the U.S. With a name like that, the school has been a target
of radical attacks. Two years ago, all foreign teachers were withdrawn, and
Palestinians are discouraged from sending their children there. This attack was apparently in response to the
recent visit to Israel by the U.S. president. This was part of
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Hamas wants no part of this. Fatah is
willing to negotiate. So Hamas is trying to cause as much mayhem as possible,
in order to disrupt the peace talks. Most Middle Eastern nations want the
Palestinians to make a deal, and put an end to 60 years of violence. Iran
disagrees, and openly calls for the destruction of Israel. Hamas is now backed
by Iran.