Less than two weeks have passed since Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza strip and the Islamic terrorist faction known as Hamas has launched rocket attacks against Israel. Although I can’t say I never expected there would be attacks from the Palestinian controlled Gaza – there always have been, it just surprises me how quickly the terrorists are back at it again.
In a retaliatory response Israel launched air strikes early Sunday morning and gathered troops outside of Gaza.
I have a strong suspicion that this is exactly why the Sharon Government wanted to leave Gaza. Now that Gaza is somewhat autonomous Israel can make good on its promise to take a more serious stance.
(From the New York Times):
“Hamas and other Palestinian factions have fired hundreds of rockets from northern Gaza in recent years, prompting periodic Israeli military incursions. The Israeli troops usually pulled back after a few days, and the rocket fire would subsequently resume.
But Israel has warned for months that if the rocket fire continued after its withdrawal from Gaza, it was prepared to hit back much harder than it had in the past.”
Hamas’s claim for launching its attack came after a truck carrying rockets exploded killing 15 Palestinians and wounding more than 80. The say the blast was caused by an Israeli attack.
[Both t]he Palestinian Authority and Israel said the blast was caused by Hamas explosives that went off accidentally, and they dismissed Hamas’s allegation that an Israeli airstrike caused the explosion.
The Palestinian Interior Ministry said Hamas should take responsibility for the blast “instead of making accusations against others.”
I think it’s important to note that it’s the terrorist causing the trouble, not the Palestinian Authority.
I also wanted to note that the Times article makes me even more hopeful for the Palestinian people because of the comment by Mahmoud Abbas, a Palestinian leader, who said, “We must stop parading our weapons and stop using guns among the people.”
Clearly he see what is wrong with parading Ak-47’s in the street and wants to try and make them a more civilized people.
I hope this so called “war on terror” sorts itself out. I wish people could just get along.
