Rocket Attack on IDF base

In the last 20 minutes or so, we are receiving reports of a Qassam rocket that has injured IDF troops at a base outside Gaza. Among those injured are senior officers from the Givati Brigade. (This is not the first time this week that an IDF base has been hit).

We'll have to wait and see the extent of the injuries caused but at this stage one would have to assume (to no surprise) that the government's fascination with using diplomatic pressure on the Palestinian Authority is not causing any reduction in Qassam fire.

I am well aware of Abbas' apparent 'weakness' within in his own people at this time. None of this however should encourage us to overlook the clear and present dangers that exist. We were promised that Disengagement would bring separation from these people who wish to harm us. In fact, it appears to have brought us ever closer to them, or them to us. (I distinctly remember that the orange anti-D team predicted that removing the Gaza Jewish communities would bring the terrorists to those abandoned areas and hence make the distance between launching pad and Israeli centers even smaller - and more enticing).

As the rockets fly ever closer to causing death and disaster in Ashkelon (and in other towns nearby), the question must be asked - when oh when is enough in fact enough? Are we truly determined to completely destroy the IDF deterrent factor? Must we wait for death to come knocking?

I'm not in for wide-scale bombings of Palestinian towns but the terrorists do in fact fire from within dense populated areas - they fire from their homes into Israeli homes and IDF bases. Something in our response doesn't add up.

Maybe it is time for some regrettable but notably non-violent communal punishment. If your home and business were without electricity or water for a few hours a day, wouldn't you demand that your cousin stop launching attacks? In a normal society this unfortunate means might bring this end. In the Palestinian areas... you tell me!