Into Gaza (and into my blog –CK has finally fixed it so I can get back into the blog. He thinks it was hacked as the 404 not found page was being sent directly to my IP address and no one else’s and the admin password had been altered.) So far, it has been handled just right. They waited and let those rockets fall while not doing a thing in retaliation. We sat by as more than 300 rockets and mortars landed among civilians in just 3 days, adding to those that fell in the days before and the more than 3,000 that had been launched at those civilian communities this year alone. The rockets fell on us as we treated in our hospitals Palestinians who were hit by Hamas rockets that mis-fired and fell among their own people. The rockets fell on us as convoys of aid, fuel, medical supplies and food made their way across our border and into Gaza.

Because we waited, two important things were won. First, justification for a much larger blow against the terrorists than simply going after a rocket-launcher here and one there. The latter strategy is not only ineffective but gives the international community a chance to spin the situation as a tit for tat equal responsibility for the situation. Clearly, when the attacks are coming consistently only from one direction, it cannot be spun as tit for tat. Even Abbas has said that Hamas is responsible and brought this on themselves. The second thing we won was the element of surprise.

Ema, by the way, we’d talked about the possibility of moving to Kiryat Gat in the south –we’re going north :) Kiryat Gat lies 43 kilometres (27 mi) north of Beer Sheva and yesterday it was hit by a rocket barrage launched from Gaza. All those folks in Beer Sheva who didn’t think Hamas had rockets that could reach them are obviously doing a quick turn-around in their thinking. Today, for the first time, grad rockets landed in Ashdod –41 kms from Gaza’s border –and injuring two.

Things are far from over and now that they’ve started, they should continue until Hamas is neutralized and Gaza returned to the people of Gaza, whom Hamas is holding hostage –Egypt is reporting that Hamas is even refusing to allow the injured to cross the border for medical treatment.