REPORTING IN WAR MODE

SUB-HEAD: Gaza is a greater mess than had ever been thought possible. Palestinian management skills leave something to be desired. Surprised?


Over one hundred rockets have been fired off at Sderot from locations in Gaza in the last week by Hamas and its pals.

Israel, which delayed reaction longer than was necessary or even sane, perhaps out of a hope-against-hope that confrontation could be avoided, has struck back in the last day and a half.

Predictably the Hamas leadership has voiced outrage and called for massive bloody revenge against the Zionist monster, threatening suicide bombings and other creative acts.

[Note of perspective: Far fewer Hamas members have perished as a result of recent Israeli actions than have snuffed it in the internecine combat between Hamas and Fatah. Note also that Fatah have suffered more casualties than Hamas in the gang-battles on the streets of Gaza these past two weeks.]


For good up-to-date coverage on this war, from a realistic and Israeli perspective, please visit Jameel at the Muqata.

Link: http://muqata.blogspot.com/


Calling it a war is perhaps an overstatement, as there has been no significant Israeli incursion, the Qassams from Gaza in the direction of Sderot (and soon also Ashkelon) are routine and entirely predictable attempts to massacre civilians, and so far more Palestinians have slaughtered each other since this latest round started than have been killed by Israeli actions.
It is perhaps better to think of it as a Beirut-type conflict, with the sparks and shrapnel from the main participants (Hamas and Fatah) hitting the bystanders, and provocative acts by both participants the sole purpose of which is to draw the attention of outsiders, with the hope that other parties will get involved and so change the equation.

The only way in which this gangbanging significantly differs from the Beirut fracas of a generation ago is that the Gazan factions represent the same ethno-religious group, and still enthusiastically cheer the deaths of Jews. In Beirut, for a while, there were ethno-religious differences and they were more enthusiastic about the deaths of each other. Barring that, rape and torture.