Israeli Cabinet members blame US for failed cease-fire
Backed by Qatar and Turkey and facing American hesitance, Hamas refused the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin a ground operation in Gaza to destroy the tunnel networks.
Israel was dragged into Gaza by the hair.
For 10 days, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Israel's most militarily restrained prime ministers, did almost everything he could to end this round of hostilities without a ground incursion into Gaza. Waiting and pausing, he debated and weighed his options until he found himself at a dead end. The negotiations in Cairo bogged down. The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire was honored only by Israel while Hamas continued its fire as usual. And what about the humanitarian lull? It was the exact same story. During said lull, Hamas continued to fire rockets while attempting to stage a terrorist attack via an explosive tunnel.
At one point, almost everyone — the Egyptians, the Americans and the Europeans (but with the exception of the Turks and Qataris, who obviously regard themselves as Hamas' allies) — had come to the realization that there was no other choice. Hamas simply wants Israel to incur into the Gaza Strip. What does it know that we don't? Has it reached the conclusion that the only way for the organization to survive and ensure its economic future, given that it has gone bankrupt in recent months, is by blood and fire?
For 10 days, Hamas fired more than 1,000 rockets at Israeli towns, including Tel Aviv and its greater metropolitan area. Luckily for Israel, it enjoys an impressive and unique technological development of its own making — the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system — which has allowed its citizens to live through this trying period with "only" one fatality. But I have yet to see another world leader who would take it lying down when a terrorist organization makes a habit of firing rockets on a daily basis at his country's main metropolis and most densely populated region. What would Russian President Vladimir Putin do if the Chechens fired 1,000 rockets at Moscow? What would Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan do if the Kurds did the same thing and fired rockets at Istanbul? It seems to me that even US President Barack Obama — the "hippie-turned-president, to our great disaster," as a senior advisor in Jerusalem described him this week in a closed discussion — would launch a military operation if al-Qaeda fired hundreds of rockets at New York City.
