I’ve seen relatively little Western press coverage of Israel’s recent Gaza bombings, so I thought it might be worthwhile to provide some links. It began a couple weeks ago in response to the Ansar al-Sunna rocket attacks. Reports emerged yesterday about Israeli drones dropping leaflets on Gaza warning of further attacks, which have already commenced. These attacks are in response to further rocket fire from Gaza. All of this puts Hamas in a difficult position. Hamas’ initial response was to condemn the rocket fire. This is still Hamas’ stance. As JPost reports:
Speaking to Hamas’s leader in Syria, Khaled Mashaal, Lavrov [Russia’s Foreign Minister] said the organization must stop the “unconscionable firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.”
Mashaal said in response that the Hamas leadership had decided to “maintain the calm, and is not interested in escalating the tension.”
He promised that his organization would take “appropriate measures to prevent the rocket fire.”
However, Hamas apparently has limited ability to stop these attacks, and, in the wake of continued Israeli retaliations, will likely face increased pressure to resume violence.
