Eitan Cohen
צילום: טל כהן
Decision time is here
Unless both sides agree on truce, Israel will proceed to pulverize Gaza Strip
Up until a few years ago, many politicians, military officials, journalists, and announcers enjoyed using the term “the sand in the hourglass is running out” in order to emphasize that time is running out ahead of a political, diplomatic, or military decision.
Today, we can say that “every Qassam and Grad rocket fired from Gaza quickly brings forward the takeover of the entire Strip, from one end to the other.”
In fact, the formula the way it was taking shape Wednesday is as follows: Unless the sides agree on a lull, and should Hamas continue to fire rockets and missiles, IDF radio networks will be replete with “charge ahead” orders. And the tanks will indeed charge ahead.
We can sum it up as follows: “It’s all or nothing.” Or in other words, “all” means taking over the entire Strip. Not just some streets or neighborhoods. Everything. And “nothing” means no Qassams and no Grads. Nothing.
Israeli citizens have been pampered with quick and rapid IDF victories in the past. If we had the same mentality we do today, we would go crazy during the War of Independence, which lasted more than a year, and certainly during the Yom Kippur War, which lasted more than 20 days.
Israelis are unwilling to accept the fact that a terror group like Hamas cannot be run over within two days. Before the current operation, “defense sources” (that is, Ehud Barak’s new name) said that the objectives will be limited and that the goal is to merely “deliver a harsh blow” without even saying that there will be no Qassams after it, yet the fact is that such declarations are unacceptable in the view of Israelis.
Now, the decision is in the hands of Mr. Mashaal, Mr. Haniyeh, and their associates. They can choose another lull, or a bloody confrontation that may hurt the IDF, but will see them pulverized. The Gaza Strip will be set on fire.
So now, either we shall see a lull, or the IDF and State of Israel will embark on a long road, replete with victims, in order to hit Hamas time and again. Qassams and Grads may continue to land in our territory in the meanwhile, yet at the end of the bloody battle, whoever is left of Hamas’ commanders will stand up and declare, just like Nasrallah declared at the end of the Second Lebanon War: “If we knew Israel would respond that way, we wouldn’t have done it.”
