With pressure mounting from the United States and the United Nations, the war between Israel and Hamas isn’t slowing down. In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear Israel would not stop until the rocket attacks from Hamas are ended. An independent observer must wonder about what keeps fueling the fires.
A number of factors exist that keep the attacks coming. Interestingly enough, of the over one hundred rockets Hamas has fired (including one drone down), virtually none have hit any Israeli city or killed one Jew. On other hand, Israel is turning the Gaza Strip into rumble and leveling Hamas structures to the ground. 168 Palestinians have been killed. 1,300 are now in United Nations Shelters. The numbers reflect Israel’s intention to stop the rocket attacks that have gone ceaselessly for months.
Hamas responds that Israeli missiles are hitting mosques and civilian targets – which is true. However, the problem is that Hamas uses the centers to cover their attacks. In order to stop the rocket attacks, these sites must be destroyed. The use of civilian targets to thwart bombing attempts has backfired on Hamas. The bombing of civilian houses is the result of Hamas military officers and operatives living there.
An additional fear that prompts continued warfare is the growing presence of ISIS and its successes inside Iraq. ISIS’S leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi discussed with his lieutenants expanding their attacks beyond Syria and Iraq. Jordan would become an obvious target. While ISIS has no direct connection with Hamas, they share a common goal to establish imposition of Islamic law on women and the persecution of all other religions in the region through the use of violence. The two organization have too much in common to be written off as not having common goals. Obviously, Hamas will be looking for a new supply of weapons and rockets as the Israeli’s destroy what they have left. The specter of ISIS only fuels the flames to stop the terrorist assaults before they get started.
In today’s warfare, Israel knows that time is on its side. The military power differential between Israel and its foes has grown. The current turmoil in the Arabic world only exposes their failure to modernize and unify. In addition, Palestinian terror attacks inside Israel appear to be contained. By the time Israel ends their assaults on Hamas, the politico-terrorist group’s significance will be further pushed into the sand.
The only threat on the horizon is a nuclear Iran. Should Western attempts fail to halt their development of nuclear weapons, Israel is capable of handling this problem.
Why does the war continue? Because it is to Israel’s advantage to do so. The tragedy is that Palestinian Gaza Strip civilians will pay a heavy price for their unconditional support of Hamas.
Dr. Robert L. Wise 