Haaretz reported:

A senior defense official said Wednesday night that the Israeli response to the rocket fire on Sderot and Ashkelon is expected to be particularly harsh, and that Israel does not intend to let pass Hamas' decision to escalate its offensive measures...

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday during his visit to Japan that there is a war going on in the south of Israel and the Gaza Strip.

"No one in Hamas, neither among the low ranks nor among the senior ranks, will be immune to that war," Olmert threatened.

Given such strong language, I believe Israel needs to back the Defense official's and Prime Minister's words with tough action. Words, if they are not backed by decisive action, will not provide the credibility necessary to deter future Palestinian terrorist attacks. In fact, repetition of tough statements in the absence of action undermines credibility. Hence, should Israel fail to carry out a significant counterterrorism operation, such inaction could actually increase the frequency of acts of aggression now being carried out against Israel.

Although it might not yet be necessary for Israel to retake land in the Gaza Strip to establish military buffer zones to push the rockets out of reach of Israel, I believe Israel will need to carry out targeted strikes against at least some of Hamas' most senior leadership. Otherwise, the Prime Minister's pledge that "no one in Hamas...will be immune" would ring hollow. In turn, Israel's capacity to deter terrorist attacks would be further eroded. Once that happens, the possibility that Israel might need to retake the entire Gaza Strip would be increased. In short, a painful but still avoidable military option might well be rendered necessary in the absence of deterrence.

Therefore, in the wake of the barrage of rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists, I believe Israel needs to make a robust investment in deterrence. Maintaining an approach that differs little from present security measures will not materially bolster Israel's capacity to deter terrorism. Under present security measures, the magnitude of rocket attacks has been increasing. Neither would specific threats, alone, against Hamas' senior leadership. Hamas would simply exploit the gap between words and acts and be emboldened to carry out more intense terrorist attacks.

Carrying out operations that target several senior leaders of Hamas--along the lines of an Ismail Haniyeh or Mahmoud Zahar, both of whom are legitimate military targets under international law--would constitute a credible downpayment on such an investment in enhanced deterrence. There is even a chance that such targeting, if successful, might achieve the desired end of compelling the Palestinian terrorists to abandon their unprovoked and unwarranted rocket attacks. If so, that outcome would safeguard the lives of Israel's civilian population that is currently under assault. Finally, the targeting that I described would also have the added benefits of protecting the lives of Israel's military forces and minimizing Palestinian civilian casualties.

It should be noted that the IDF may well have additional options that might enhance Israel's capacity to deter Palestinian terrorism. My point is that the tough language needs to be followed with action that is consistent with that language if deterrence is to be enhanced.

Therefore, in the wake of the barrage of rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists, I believe Israel needs to make a robust investment in deterrence.

Israel, with no help from the Palestinian leadership at the time, brought an end to the relentless assault of suicide bombers. The combination of military operations and initiation and advance of the construction of the security fence largely brought an end to that problem.

I am reasonably confident that, in time, Israel will develop a portfolio of offensive and defensive measures--some active and others passive--that will essentially bring an end to the rocket attacks.

Originally Posted by MarcusMagnus They've been doing that for decades. Tit for tat isn't working. They need to find a new approach if they want peace.

Originally Posted by donsutherland1 [left]Haaretz reported: [i]A senior defense official said Wednesday night that the Israeli response to the rocket fire on Sderot and Ashkelon is expected to be particularly harsh, and that Israel does not intend to let pass Hamas' decision to escalate its offensive measures...

"No one in Hamas, neither among the low ranks nor among the senior ranks, will be immune to that war," Olmert threatened

Originally Posted by CaptainCourtesy Problem is they've never allowed themselves to go far enough.

Originally Posted by bub Like what? Invade and colonize the last patches of Palestine?

My Web Profile Page

Originally Posted by bub Just changes "Hamas" by "Israel" and that sounds like Ahmadinejad I'm really happy not to live there.

Originally Posted by Reverend_Hellh0und difference is Hamas is a terrorist organization.

Originally Posted by Tashah If Israel wanted the Gaza ****hole, she would already have it.

I think the Captain here is referring to decimating Hamas

Vingt-six Palestiniens, dont six enfants, ont été tués depuis mercredi 27 février dans des raids israéliens dans la bande de Gaza. Les attaques, qui ont fait, dans un premier temps, onze morts mercredi à Gaza (cinq activistes du Hamas, quatre civils, un enfant de 12 ans et un bébé de 6 mois), se sont intensifiées après la mort d'un Israélien, tué par la chute d'une roquette tirée par le Hamas près de Sderot, dans le sud d'Israël. Après avoir frappé plusieurs cibles à Gaza dans la nuit, Israël a mené de nouveaux raids jeudi matin, tuant huit membres du Hamas et deux autres combattants, ainsi que quatre enfants, âgés de 7 à 12 ans, et un civil, selon des sources médicales.