The Israeli raid on Gaza over the last weekend was a first serious action in a long long time. It came after attacks on Sderot became more intensive, and after some rockets hit the larger coastal town of Ashkelon.
Whilst I’m in favor of a peaceful solution, especially when Gilad Shalit is still in Hamas’ hands, such an operation shows that our government is finally ready to do something about the Qassam rockets.
Qassam rockets are being fired on Sderot since April 2001. No serious action has been taken to stop them. A solution can be either through talks with Hamas that is in control of the Gaza strip, or through a military action.
Up to now, it seemed that our government just didn’t give a damn about those people living in the south. Their voice isn’t heard in Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem. Protests have done little to move Israelis that live outside of the rockets’ zone.
The media usually doesn’t find reports about Qassams to be news.
It seemed convenient to live with a regular share of rockets and casualties, and to use this issue as an excuse for not making progress in any peace process.
The rockets on Ashkelon, the student that was killed in Sapir college and the rising frequency of rockets probably moved the media and the government. The action wasn’t the promised “Big Operation”, and I hope that such a big operation won’t go through.
I hope that the recent raid will trigger some talks about a cessation of hostilities as some Israeli politicians have suggested. These suggestions are now spoken by the politicians and also voiced by the media.
These voices wouldn’t be echoed without the raid on the weekend.
Will we see an end to this war of attrition?
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