Ha'aretz writes:
Shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet decided Monday to escalate attacks against Hamas and the Gaza Strip, militants in the coastal territory fired a barrage of some 35 rockets at Israel.85 rockets in a single day from the Gaza strip and Netanyahu... who has actually been a quite restrained leader when it comes to military action... is calling up the reserves.
Sirens rang across the south as well as in central Israel and the Jerusalem area, for the first time since the recent round of escalation began. More than 85 rockets have been launched over the course of Monday.
The security cabinet has voted to call up some 40,000 reservists in preparation of a possible ground operation in Gaza Strip as part of Operation Protective Edge, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to "take off the gloves" in its confrontation with Hamas.I find myself skeptical. The last time Israel confronted Hamas the Obama administration stepped in to protect the terrorist organization and my suspicion is that they will do so again. Therefore, if Netanyahu intends to have a significant effect on Hamas's ability to function he will need to act quickly and in devastating moves that the EU, the UN, and Obama administration can complain about only afterward.
I cannot know what is in Netanyahu's mind, but I am sincerely hoping that he is considering taking out Hamas as a functioning genocidal organization supported by the west. The western left is going to screech at Israel no matter what it does, or does not, do. Always. The only thing that Israel can do is protect its own people and that means eliminating a small, but viciously murderous organization just across the border.
In the mean time a million Israelis - Jewish, Muslim, and Christian - in the southern part of the state are living in bomb shelters and watching their own kids develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
