[Christian Science Monitor] Joshua Mitnick - With one Israeli dead and two critically injured from Palestinian rocket fire on Wednesday, the attack has ratcheted up pressure on the Israeli government to order an all-out offensive in Gaza. Advocates of an incursion say Israel must reoccupy a corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border to block smuggling of weapons with longer firing ranges and improved precision. Palestinians have fired more than 1,000 Kassam rockets into Israel in the last year, killing three civilians and wounding dozens. Michael Oren, a military historian and a fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, argues that Israel should be directing its retaliation at Hamas leaders - even those in Damascus - rather than the militants who hide among Palestinian civilians. "[Israel should] stop bombing and stop sending forces into Gaza. You have to make the people who are responsible for the rocket fire pay the consequences," he says.
2006-11-17 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive