Israel Sends Troops Into Gaza

Not content with bombing the Gaza Strip from the air, the Israelis have sent ground troops into the enclave to root out Hamas militants. Quite how the Israelis expect to succeed is hard to say. Gaza is an urban guerrilla's Disneyland and an occupier's Hell. This appears to be a case of “do something even if it's wrong.”

The Israelis insist that they are acting to degrade the Hamas network of militants, trying to ensure that the rockets stop flying into Israel. They do not intend to occupy Gaza or any part of it. They are hoping for a cease-fire after they have weakened the opposition sufficiently to make southern Israel safe.

Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni said, “Before the military operation, Hamas targets Israelis whenever it likes and Israel shows restraint. This is no longer going to be the equation. When Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate.” The difficulty lies in the fact that the retaliation is ineffective. Rockets are still flying north, and Hamas shows every sign of continuing.

Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar said Israel's military “shelled everyone in Gaza ... they shelled children and hospitals and mosques and in doing so, they gave us legitimacy to strike them in the same way. Our demands are clear: the problem is not in the Qassam rockets. The problem is in the aggression and the troops and the siege imposed on us.”

This will go on for several weeks. Hamas will get some pressure from Arab governments and the Israelis will get tired of making the rubble in Gaza bounce. Hundreds more will suffer wounds and death. In the end, everything will go back to the way it was a few weeks ago as the cease-fire was ending. Everyone is going to be tense, and it will take just one idiot to start up the violence all over again.

© Copyright 2009 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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