(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - What was different about Israel's response to Hamas rocket fire into Sderot was not the firepower used, but that it was sustained, day in and day out for more than a week, without any significant protest from the world. If Hamas didn't understand that the rules had changed when the IDF left Gaza, the U.S. and Europe, at last, seemed to internalize that this was not the same old "cycle of violence." As a result, the skies over the western Negev have been quiet for a few days, quiet enough for Sharon to reschedule a meeting with Abbas that was cancelled on October 2 as violence from Gaza surged. The arrest of more than 400 suspects - including 200 Hamas activists, among them leading Hamas military and political figures - is widely believed in Jerusalem to have "moved Hamas." According to assessments in Jerusalem, the sustained IDF pressure threatened to weaken the operational infrastructure Hamas has tried so hard to rebuild.
2005-10-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive