On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke regarding the decision to launch the latest Gaza operation that killed the head of Hamas’ military wing, saying in a statement, “Hamas and the terror organizations decided to escalate their attacks on the citizens of Israel over the last few days. We will not accept a situation in which Israeli citizens are threatened by the terror of rockets. No country would accept this, Israel will not accept it.”
The current round of violence officially kickstarted last weekend, when Gaza terrorists fired an anti-tank rocket at an IDF jeep patrol. After Israel responded to the attack, Gaza rocket fire surged. Gaza violence against Israel has increased since the beginning of October with hundreds of rockets fired at Israel in the last six weeks, setting the stage for Operation Pillar of Defense, which began on Wednesday.
Netanyahu also contrasted Israel’s approach to that of Gaza terrorists, which he said are “deliberately harming our citizens, while intentionally hiding behind their citizens. On the other hand, we avoid harming civilians as much as possible and that is one fundamental difference between us.
“It also indicates the big difference between our objectives, and not only in our methods. They want to obliterate us from the face of the earth and they have no qualms about hurting civilians and innocents.”
Thursday morning displayed the contrast vividly. While a Gaza rocket attack killed three Israeli civilians, the IDF website reported that leaflets were dropped in several Gaza locations warning the residents to “stay away from Hamas and other terror organizations’ operatives and facilities that pose a risk to their safety.” The IDF said that as of Thursday morning they have also made more than 20,000 phone calls with the same message.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, November 15, 2012)