{"id":47864,"date":"2019-03-25T11:14:20","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=47864"},"modified":"2019-03-25T11:14:20","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:14:20","slug":"idf-readies-response-to-pummel-hamas-after-one-rocket-attack-too-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/idf-readies-response-to-pummel-hamas-after-one-rocket-attack-too-many\/","title":{"rendered":"IDF readies response to pummel Hamas after one rocket attack too many"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>By YAAKOV LAPPIN<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"dateline\">(<em>JNS.org<\/em>)<\/span>&nbsp;&#8212; The Hamas rocket that shattered a village home in the Sharon district of central Israel, north of Tel Aviv early on Monday morning, is an attack that for Israeli leadership represents a step too far.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_47865\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47865\" class=\"wp-image-47865 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495.jpg 880w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/169;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47865\" class=\"wp-image-47865 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/F190325NRF33-1-880x495.jpg 880w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-47865\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israeli security forces inspect the scene of a house that was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Moshav Mishmeret, central Israel, on March 25, 2019. Credit: Noam Revkin Fenton\/Flash90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Eleven days after Hamas fired two rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv\u2014in what it claimed was \u201can accidental\u201d maintenance error\u2014this time, it appears as if the organization\u2019s addiction to gambling and upping the ante to extract concessions from Israel has led it to commit a serious mistake, one that will come with punishing repercussions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>No Israeli leadership can ignore the fact that seven Israeli civilians were injured in the rocket strike, including six members of a single family, who narrowly escaped a fate far worse than injury in the surprise attack. The latest incident has further dented Israelis\u2019 sense of security, as well as Israeli deterrence against its enemies.<\/p>\n<p>For the past year, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has used \u201ccontrolled violence\u201d tactics, like border rioting, planting bombs along the Gazan-Israeli border and sending explosives over the border attached to kites and balloons. The goal has been to pressure Israel, Egypt and the international community to allow more international funds into Gaza, as well as agree to demands for a seaport, more trade with the outside world, investment in infrastructure and job-producing projects.<\/p>\n<p>Such measures would allow Hamas to avoid an internal rebellion by Gazans. The Gazan population has been made desperate by its deteriorating economic situation and lack of hope for improvement on the horizon\u2014conditions created by Hamas\u2019s policy of turning the Gaza Strip into an isolated terrorist-military base sponsored by Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Monday\u2019s rocket had a range of more than more 75 miles, and according to assessments by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it was manufactured in Hamas\u2019s domestic arms factories. It was launched from a Hamas position in Rafah in southern Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>The military would not officially discuss its intelligence assessments regarding the calculations that guided those firing it or get drawn into responding to claims from Gaza that once again, someone fired a long-range projectile into Israel \u201cby accident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the IDF got busy preparing itself and southern Israel for a significant response.<\/p>\n<p>That response started on Monday evening local time, with the IDF striking Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, the military deployed two additional infantry and armored corps conscripted brigades to the IDF\u2019s Southern Command and conducted a limited call-up of reserves\u2014at least, for now\u2014mainly for air defenses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are ready for all contingencies,\u201d a defense source told JNS.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF\u2019s Gaza Division also closed off whole areas and roads in the south that are near the Gazan border, and ordered Israeli farmers to in the area to stop working their land.<\/p>\n<p>All of the signs indicate that a significant Israeli military retaliation is in the works.<\/p>\n<p>Usually in such cases, the Israeli General Staff draws up a range of options and the Israeli cabinet chooses one of them.<\/p>\n<p>What remains unknown at this time is how extensive Israel\u2019s military action will be and how Gaza\u2019s terrorist factions will, in turn, respond. The escalation dynamic remains unknown.<\/p>\n<p>The answers to such questions will in large part determine whether the region is about to enter a brief, yet intensive, exchange of fire, or whether the situation might escalate into a wider conflict that could even include a ground offensive.<\/p>\n<p>Another question that the Israeli cabinet will need to answer is whether, after all is said and done, it will wish to leave the Hamas regime in power and limit its strikes to the military wing, or go further and strike at the regime\u2019s survivability.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s dilemma, ever since Hamas seized power in a violent coup in 2007, has been whether to choose a hostile radical Islamist regime\u2014yet one that is capable of ruling Gaza and has been partially responsive to deterrence\u2014or to topple the regime. Hamas is fully aware of Israel\u2019s deep reluctance to reoccupy Gaza and its aversion to the scenario of getting \u201cstuck in the Gazan mud,\u201d an awareness it has used to keep gambling and pressuring Israel.<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, the new IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, has ordered the military\u2019s Southern Command to review its attack plans and ensure they are up to date. Kochavi also told a new Military Intelligence targeting center to prioritize the collection of intelligence on enemy targets in Gaza. These steps are part of his keen awareness that Gaza remains the most unstable arena in Israel\u2019s neighborhood and the one that is most likely to explode first.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF will also need to factor in the risk of Gaza setting off other arenas, particularly the West Bank, and even also northern fronts.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, as some in the Israeli defense establishment have been pointing out, military force is an essential but not exclusive tool to deal with Gaza. Sooner or later, the Strip\u2019s economic and infrastructure woes will require treatment or the next escalation that follows this one will not be far away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"IDF%20readies%20response%20to%20pummel%20Hamas%20after%20one%20rocket%20attack%20too%20many\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":47865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[663,491,8781,8790,8795,8788,664],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47864"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47866,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47864\/revisions\/47866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}