December 9, 2010:
So far this year, about 200 rockets and mortar shells have been fired from Gaza into Israel. For Hamas, this is good enough to be in compliance with the ceasefire. Israel does not agree, and further negotiations are stalemated over the issue. Peace talks with Fatah (which controls the West Bank) are also stalled, but here the reason isn't Islamic terrorism so much as continued anti-Israeli propaganda on the Fatah controlled media in the West Bank. Every day, news stories appear depicting Israel as the implacable foe of Arabs, and insisting that Israel does not even exist. Fatah maps of the region, which are the only maps allowed in the West Bank, don't show Israel at all, but merely depict all of present day Israel, the West Bank and Gaza as "Palestine." This depiction of Israel has been going on in the Palestinian media for decades, along with stories glorifying terror attacks on Israeli civilians. Palestinian diplomats may negotiate, but those they are negotiating for have already made up their minds.
Over the last few days, Fatah police arrested 28 Hamas members on the West Bank. For the last five years, Hamas has been persecuting Fatah supporters in Gaza, while Fatah goes after Hamas supporters in the West Bank. Hamas admits arrests like these have hurt, and blame Fatah for disrupting Hamas efforts to organize terror attacks on Israel from the West Bank.
Israeli aircraft bombed targets in Gaza, in retaliation for recent rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza. The attacks from Gaza are becoming more numerous and sophisticated. Last month, for example, truck mounted 122mm rockets were fired into Israel. These rockets have a range to 20 kilometers, and firing them from launchers in a truck makes them more difficult to spot and stop.
December 8, 2010: Five mortar shells were fired into Israel from Gaza, wounding one Israeli.
December 2, 2010: Two Palestinian terrorists, caught planting explosives along the Gaza security fence, were killed by Israeli troops. The terrorists try to emplace large enough bombs so that Israeli patrols on the road next to the fence, can be attacked.
November 30, 2010: Police and emergency services held drills in Jerusalem, practicing how they would react if the city, and surrounding area were subject to rocket attacks. Israel has been training its emergency services to deal with a major rocket offensive from Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The U.S. apparently agrees with this assessment, and has contributed over $200 million to build anti-missile systems to stop many of the terrorist rockets.
November 28, 2010: Fatah has declared that it refuses to ever recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Fatah has suspended peace negotiations until Israeli stop all construction in the West Bank.
November 25, 2010: Four mortar shells were fired into Israel from Gaza. Israel shot back.
