According to one officer, what we’ve seen the last few days—over 20 Palestinian terrorists killed at the cost of a few wounded Israeli soldiers—was combat, not, as the media like to say, “raids.”
“What we’re seeing in Gaza is not ordinary day-to-day security maintenance, it’s combat. The events of the past week have made this quite clear,” said a senior military official from the IDF’s Southern Command on Thursday evening.
Over 20 Palestinian gunmen have been killed since last Sunday as Israel stepped up its operations in Gaza to curb the incessant rocket and mortar fire against its southern communities.
“You don’t examine the end result after only a day or two of activity, but obviously every operation we carry out carries with it a message that ultimately will bring genuine results.”
That’s good news. And the success of the IDF in bringing back the high terrorist kill rate vs. the low IDF casualty rate is very good news. Of course, there’s still a big problem.
But despite the intensive operation, Palestinian terror groups still managed to fire Qassam rockets at Israel. One rocket landed near a school in Sderot. No injuries were reported, though damage was caused to buildings in the area. Eighteen people, most of them schoolchildren, were treated for shock after the rocket struck.
Later in the day residents of Netiv Ha’asara were ordered to remain in their bomb shelters for almost an hour as almost a dozen mortar shells struck the grounds adjacent to the Erez community near Gaza’s northern border. No injuries were reported.
That’s because the problem will not be solved until the IDF either decapitates the Hamas and PIJ leadership, or goes into Gaza with a large force, or retakes the Philadelphi corridor. Or all three.
Terror groups in Gaza have adapted and advanced their methods, said Halamish, nowadays rockets can be fired automatically by electronic systems. “By the time the rocket is making its way towards Israel, the terrorist is already sipping coffee someplace far away.”
Which means the decapitation of the leadership is what needs to be done the most. Get them while they’re sipping coffee, get them while they’re driving, who cares? Just get them.