Waiting for the Grads
Sitting here in my apartment in Netanya I feel secure and safe. But, in reality a rocket could shoot thru the window and kill us dead in an instant.
Yesterday three people were killed in a bombardment of 70 rockets from Gaza, one in Ashkelon (20 km from Gaza), one in Nahal Oz nearby and one in Ashdod (37 km). The woman killed in Ashdod was driving, but when the alarm sounded she got out of her car and sheltered at a bus stop, but a rocket hit nearby and she was killed by shrapnel, and several others were wounded. In Nahal Oz a Druse IDF officer was killed while he was on duty.
Tonight (Tuesday) for the first time rockets hit Beersheva, one landing in a kindergarten playground at night, so no one was hurt. Beersheva is 46 km from Gaza and that is where my daughter, son-in-law and our three grandchildren live. They must now shelter or be ready to run for cover if the siren sounds. A rocket also hit the Beduin town of Rahat neaby. With this extension of the rocket range that means that now ca. 1 million Israelis are within the range of random rocket attacks. Isn't this what the Operation in Gaza was intended to stop. we know it can't be done by aerial attacks alone, so now there must be a ground operation to stop teh rockets.
Since Netanya is 100 km from Gaza we are currently beyond the range of their rockets, but we know that they have longer range ones but so far they haven't used them, either because they have been destroyed in the Israeli bombing raids or because it takes too long to set them up and they fear detection by the Israeli satellites or drones. But, in principle it could happen.
We in the center of the country are far from Lebanon too, but the rockets fired from Lebanon in the 2006 Second Lebanon War managed to hit Hadera, only a few kms north of here. So we have been saved so far by the limited range of their rockets, not by their mercy. The fact is that Hizbollah have again amassed a supposed 40,000 rockets, some long range, and Hamas ca. 10,000, and what are they for? When the media reports that the people in Gaza are suffering from lack of supplies, etc. and Israel should supply them it makes me sick. If they spent their money on supplies for the people of Gaza rather than for rockets we wouldn't be in this whole terrible mess. But, that's the reality. We have to subsidize their purchases of rockets and other arms to use against us by supplying them with essential food and medical supplies (usually paid for by the UN or EU).
It is quite likely that unless Operation Cast Lead going on now in Gaza is successful, that in time they would have rockets to blanket the whole country. Then everyone would be terrorized, and the Zionist enterprise would be in jeopardy, i.e. Israelis would be terrorized and people would leave. This is of course without rockets from the West Bank and possible long range rockets from Iran until now. So far the PA under Pres. Abbas has managed to maintain control of the West Bank, with Israeli help, and Hamas is on the defensive there. Fortunately Abbas has come out against the use of rockets as indiscriminate weapons against civilian populations, which is in fact a war crime, although good leftists and liberals prefer to forget this (it's justified because of the "occupation").
It's clear that the constant barrage of rockets and mortars from Hamas in Gaza was intended to get the Israeli Government and public used to it, with occasional casualties and structural damage, then in time they would gradually increase the range. They figured that Israel would not now (with a caretaker Govt. and elections soon) take the risk of a counter-attack. After 8 years and the end of the period of "calm" they were finally wrong. Just as with Hizbollah in the north they discovered that Israel can react devastatingly once it's limit is reached. So for the moment Hamas also has to worry about a missile coming through the window.
Yesterday three people were killed in a bombardment of 70 rockets from Gaza, one in Ashkelon (20 km from Gaza), one in Nahal Oz nearby and one in Ashdod (37 km). The woman killed in Ashdod was driving, but when the alarm sounded she got out of her car and sheltered at a bus stop, but a rocket hit nearby and she was killed by shrapnel, and several others were wounded. In Nahal Oz a Druse IDF officer was killed while he was on duty.
Tonight (Tuesday) for the first time rockets hit Beersheva, one landing in a kindergarten playground at night, so no one was hurt. Beersheva is 46 km from Gaza and that is where my daughter, son-in-law and our three grandchildren live. They must now shelter or be ready to run for cover if the siren sounds. A rocket also hit the Beduin town of Rahat neaby. With this extension of the rocket range that means that now ca. 1 million Israelis are within the range of random rocket attacks. Isn't this what the Operation in Gaza was intended to stop. we know it can't be done by aerial attacks alone, so now there must be a ground operation to stop teh rockets.
Since Netanya is 100 km from Gaza we are currently beyond the range of their rockets, but we know that they have longer range ones but so far they haven't used them, either because they have been destroyed in the Israeli bombing raids or because it takes too long to set them up and they fear detection by the Israeli satellites or drones. But, in principle it could happen.
We in the center of the country are far from Lebanon too, but the rockets fired from Lebanon in the 2006 Second Lebanon War managed to hit Hadera, only a few kms north of here. So we have been saved so far by the limited range of their rockets, not by their mercy. The fact is that Hizbollah have again amassed a supposed 40,000 rockets, some long range, and Hamas ca. 10,000, and what are they for? When the media reports that the people in Gaza are suffering from lack of supplies, etc. and Israel should supply them it makes me sick. If they spent their money on supplies for the people of Gaza rather than for rockets we wouldn't be in this whole terrible mess. But, that's the reality. We have to subsidize their purchases of rockets and other arms to use against us by supplying them with essential food and medical supplies (usually paid for by the UN or EU).
It is quite likely that unless Operation Cast Lead going on now in Gaza is successful, that in time they would have rockets to blanket the whole country. Then everyone would be terrorized, and the Zionist enterprise would be in jeopardy, i.e. Israelis would be terrorized and people would leave. This is of course without rockets from the West Bank and possible long range rockets from Iran until now. So far the PA under Pres. Abbas has managed to maintain control of the West Bank, with Israeli help, and Hamas is on the defensive there. Fortunately Abbas has come out against the use of rockets as indiscriminate weapons against civilian populations, which is in fact a war crime, although good leftists and liberals prefer to forget this (it's justified because of the "occupation").
It's clear that the constant barrage of rockets and mortars from Hamas in Gaza was intended to get the Israeli Government and public used to it, with occasional casualties and structural damage, then in time they would gradually increase the range. They figured that Israel would not now (with a caretaker Govt. and elections soon) take the risk of a counter-attack. After 8 years and the end of the period of "calm" they were finally wrong. Just as with Hizbollah in the north they discovered that Israel can react devastatingly once it's limit is reached. So for the moment Hamas also has to worry about a missile coming through the window.
posted by Jack Cohen at 4:16 PM
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