Dec 31, 2008

Rockets reach farthest point yet

Dec. 31, 2008

Congratulations to Hamas for a new record: A missile on Tuesday landed farther into Israel than any previous launch. It hit a school where, miraculously, students had gotten out for the day already. School are now closed in the region. The army confirms:
On Tuesday, 30 December, the longer-range Grad rockets now being deployed from Gaza reached as far as Beersheba, the capital of the Negev with a population of 185,000, almost 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the Gaza Strip. Other Israeli cities and communities over 30 kilometers from Gaza have joined the long list of Hamas targets: Ashdod, Yavne, Kiryat Malakhi, Omer, and the Beduin town of Rahat. One of the first rockets to hit Beersheba struck a kindergarten that would have been filled with children had it hit earlier in the day. Another struck a Beersheba school on Wednesday morning.
Israel gets castigated because her aim is better, but Hamas gets away with targeting civilian sites since they don't actually kill anyone most of the time. From Israel's Foreign Ministry:
Israel agreed to the calm last June, which was immediately violated by Hamas when it refused to advance the release of Gilad Shalit, continued to arm itself, and continued firing. Hamas used the six months of calm to build up its strength, develop and produce weapons, and train terrorist operatives, preparing for the period after the calm.

The targets struck by the IAF show just how prepared the Hamas terror apparatus was and how deeply entrenched, using its civilian population as human shields. Its military headquarters and terrorist facilities are placed in civilian structures such as private homes, basements of houses inhabited by families with children, schools, colleges and universities, mosques and other public buildings.

Israel and Hamas cannot be placed in the same moral equation. Israel is operating against Hamas, a terror organization which uses civilians as human shields and deliberately targets civilians. Hamas does not care what happens to the residents of Gaza. Israel warned the Gaza residents that every site of terrorist activity is a target. The sole responsibility for the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian population lies with Hamas.

Israel's fight is against Hamas, a terror organization, not against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Despite the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza, Israel is allowing the transfer of humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip.


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