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Hamas's Suicidal Rocket War with Israel
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
July 9, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Having run Gaza Strip into the ground since seizing
it from Mahmoud Abbas’s Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority June14, 2007,
Hamas’s 51-year-old leader Ismail Haniyeh began firing rockets indiscriminately
into Israel. Out of cash, now
playing a subordinate role to Abbas’s PLO, Haniyeh appealed to Gaza’s utter
desperation, firing rockets into Israel.
For Haniyeh, firing rockets into Israel carries symbolic weight of David
v. Goliath, winning plaudits from the Arab street but further driving the Gaza
Struo into the gutter. After Hamas
abducted and killed three Israeli teens execution style June 12, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanayahu was in no mood to show restraint after Haniyeh
began firing missiles across the border.
Hamas and Israel have been through the cat-and-mouse rocket attacks and
Israeli air strikes in 2012 when Haniyeh pulled off the same stunt.
Firing missiles into Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system does
little other than terrorize the Jewish State, while giving Netanyahu a license
to decimate Gaza’s already dilapidated infrastructure. Calling up some 40,000 reservists,
Netanyahu warned of a ground invasion, something Israel’s did in 2012 against
international pressure. Today’s
defensive operation has most of U.S. yawning, giving Netanyahu the green light
for now to lash out at Hamas. While
Israel would like to put Hamas’s rocket operation out of business, it’s so
deeply embedded into the civilian population that it’s virtually impossible to
root out. No matter what the
provocation, Netanyahu knows he can only pummel Gaza so long before world
opinion forces Israel to back down.
Firing more missiles at Israel buys Netanyahu more time while the collateral
damage piles up to the point Israel must stop.
Showcasing its new arsenal of medium range rockets and ballistic missiles, Hamas wants to
fire enough at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to claim victory. Gaza’s health ministry reported 41
civilians were killed by Israeli air strikes, claiming 13 of the dead were under
16-years-of-age. Highlighting
women, children and elderly killed by Israeli air strikes, Hamas continues to PR
war that will eventually impose a ceasefire on both sides. “Hamas is thus committing a double
war crime,” said Netanyahu blaming Hamas for targeting Israeli civilians while,
at the same time, using Gazans as human shields.
Hamas militants continue to fire rockets beyond Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,
proving their improved missile capability goes over the Jewish State. Hitting the Mediterranean seaside
towns of Zichron, Yaakov, Caesaria and Hadera, Hamas proved that they can hit
almost anywhere in Israel.
Human Rights Watch declared today that Hamas rocket fire at Israeli
civilians centers constituted a war crime.
“Israeli attacks targeting homes may amount to prohibited collective
punishment,” said HRW, putting more pressure on Hamas for a ceasefire. Whether admitted to or not, Netanyahu’s content let the Israeili attacks continue to
degrade the Gazan infrastructure. In the last war between Hamas and Israel in 2012, the international community looked to
Egypt to broker as ceasefire, admonishing both sides to back down. Since joining Hamas June 6 in a
unity government, Abbas bears some responsibility for the latest round of
attacks. Hamas can’t act
independently of Ramallah anymore, raising the question of whether or not Abbas
actually ordered Hamas to attack.
With Netanyahu breaking off peace talks April 24, Abbas wanted to get Bibi back
to the bargaining table.
Reports of collateral damage by international media puts more pressure on
both sides for a ceasefire. If
Netanyahu doesn’t do something once-and-for-all to rid Gaza of its rocket
launching enterprise, Israel can never be safe again. Hamas rocket fire hurts Israeli
tourism, accounting for about 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Firing missiles into Israel could
flat-line the ordinary 3-4% growth rate or worse yet, plunge the economy into
recession. Netanyahu can only go so
long with the Gaza operation before it hurts the economy. Starting a ground operation in Gaza
without any real prospect of finding the mobile rocket operation could backfire
on Netanyahu. As long as Hamas
continues to fire rockets on Israel, Netanyahu will continue air strikes that
only have so much precision without causing the collateral damage, heaping
pressure on both sides for a ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas’s latest
go-around won’t last too much longer, given Gaza’s already failed economy and
Israel’s attempt to maintain its 3-4% GDP growth. Both sides know there’s no winning
when it comes firing rockets or responding with air strikes. With or without Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi negotiating a
ceasefire, both sides know the consequences of continuing the war. As the rockets and air strikes
continue, Abbas will feel more pressure to denounce Hamas’s rocket attacks as
counterproductive. With peace talks
breaking off April 24, it’s going to be along time before Palestinians get
another shot at an independent state.
Firing rockets at Israel gives Palestinians a pyrrhic victory but only
for so long. As collateral and
infrastructure damage mounts, Abbas will call back the dogs, forcing Hamas to
stop. Netanyahu operates with
handcuffs trying to degrade Hamas’s rocket operation.
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