Putting aside for the time being assignment of blame, there is no doubt a dangerous and deadly cycle does exist between Israel and its neighbor to the southeast — Gaza. It seems like at least once a year — if not more often — rockets are launched from the northern Gaza Strip to the State of Israel. Fire is then returned from Israel. Or it starts the other way round. Israel plans an incursion into Gaza, targeting terrorist cells or known terrorists themselves, and in return rockets are launched at Israeli civilians. In the meantime, Israel’s southern-most and oft-targeted city, Sderot, already a less than prosperous place populated in large part by new immigrants, is slowly decaying. Inevitably calls for restraint are heard from international circles and a ceasefire sets in. Also inevitably, this ceasefire is broken, either by Israel or Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Any potential solutions to this standoff remain uncertain and unclear. Hamas continues to disavow Israel’s existence; as recently as last month at a conference in Tehran Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called for continued armed resistance against Israel and the “liberation of all Palestinian lands”. Hamas’ reconciliation with Fatah, and its potential place in the Palestinian government operating out of the West Bank raises a host of pressing questions to the fore, including the future of the peace process as well as of American aid to the Palestinian authority. Commentary’s Jonathan Tobin wrote an insightful piece this week about this very problem. (Revisiting the Failed Gaza Experiment)
Over at The Commentator, Jeremy Havardi writes that the lesson to be learned from this past week’s events is that “The received wisdoms about the Arab-Israeli conflict continue to fly in the face of reality”. Like Tobin, Havardi asserts that Gaza teaches us that the “received wisdoms” of land for piece and disengagement fail to result in positive outcomes. (Rockets from Gaza prove that “Land for Peace” remains a mirage in the desert)
Writing for Tablet, Yossi Melman, however, takes a different lesson writing. Despite that effectiveness of Iron Dome – and that really was Israel’s coup of the week – Melman looks at Grad rockets aiming for Israel and is concerned about the far more potent and destructive Shihab rockets Iran has in its arsenal. Should Hezbollah join in an Iran-led retaliation to an Israeli strike, the recovery from such an attack (for both sides) would be. (Grad Rockets Launched from Gaza Paralyzed Israel’s South)
What’s your take? Did Israel win this latest round, or is that a simplistic way of approaching a hugely complicated situation? To help you with the answers, further analysis can be found in this week’s IJN: Iron Dome intercepts 90% of missiles from Gaza (news analysis) and Musical chairs (commentary).
