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War on Terror

IDF finally acts to defend Israelis in the south


By Stan Goodenough
December 28, 2008

After enduring eight years and thousands of missile attacks from Gaza's Arabs, Israelis in range of the Kassam and Grad rockets at the weekend voiced relief as the Olmert government gave the Israel Defense Forces the green light to stop the "Palestinians" from terrorizing them.

Finally unleashed, in "Operation Cast Lead," the IDF used its pilotless drones to target Hamas sites across Gaza which were then devastated by missiles fired from IAF warplanes high above the strip.

In what was described as the most intensive Israeli military action in Gaza since the 1967 Six Day War, air force pilots flew at least 140 sorties in two days, sending fireballs and plumes of smoke shooting up from targets across the area, while international reporters stood behind the fence on the "Israeli side," flinching at the detonations shaking the ground.

Arab sources reported as many as 280 people dead as a result of the Israeli strikes. Hundreds more were said to have been wounded.

Footage from inside Gaza Saturday showed numerous bodies of dead men in military uniform, and long lines of ambulances and cars ferrying wounded people to hospitals. Hamas spokesman, who just hours before had taunted Israel, saying that its rockets had rendered the Israelis "hopeless and desperate," now described themselves as victims of an Israeli massacre and called for the world to intervene.

"Israel is just killing as many people as it can," Hamas spokesman Ehab el-Ghazzim whined, courtesy of the BBC, which failed to point out that if Israel had been so inclined the number of Arab casualties would by now be in the tens of thousands and not merely a few hundred.

On Sunday morning the Israeli cabinet authorized the calling up of 6,500 Israeli troops, and IDF tanks massed on the "border" with Gaza, intensifying the signal to Hamas that Israel was ready to put "boots on the ground" in a massive land operation if the group did not stop firing rockets at Israeli communities in the Negev and on the coast north of Gaza.

For their part the Arabs fired more than 100 rockets after the Israeli attacks began. A 58-year-old Israeli man was killed when a rocket hit outside his home in Netivot Saturday, and a number of others were injured. One rocket directly hit a synagogue.

The Israeli operation comes after the expiry of the so-called ceasefire with Hamas, a ceasefire which in any event was not kept by the terror group, and which it refused to renew last week.

Rockets rained down on the Negev, and Israelis learned that the terrorists - who have been working to increase the range of their missiles - could now attack the cities of Beersheba and Ashdod.

Indeed, for the first time Sunday, two Katyusha rockets were fired from Gaza and hit Ashdod. Traveling as far as 37 km, they marked the furthest strike to date. Rockets also repeatedly hit the slightly more southern city of Ashkelon.

While the Arab rockets are mostly described as makeshift, and have "only" killed a few Israelis, they have successfully terrorized tens of thousands of people, psychologically wounding untold numbers of children and others who have had to flee with every sounded alarm.

Only by the grace of God - what some call pure luck - have a number of schoolrooms full of children been spared a direct attack.

As of last week, at least a quarter of a million Israelis have been living under threat of attacks.

Despite this, the international consensus - at least on the part of the world's news services over the months - is that an Israeli military response was not warranted.

While they would never sit still were their citizens being targeted in their homes, the United Nations, France and Russia were among those who this weekend slammed Israel for using "excessive force."

The Security Council and the European Union called for an "immediate halt to the violence."

Responding to a barrage of accusatory questions from Sky News, IDF Spokesman Major Avital Leibovich demanded to know where the world's condemnation had been when, day after day, month after month, year after year, Israelis were forced to cower in their shelters as sirens warned of the incoming attacks.

"Israel has had enough," she said.

Minister Isaac Herzog stated emphatically: Israel will do whatever it has to, whatever it takes, to restore security and a normal life to its citizens in the south.

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