The Israeli attacks on Hamas targets have brought the six-month
truce between the two sides to a bloody end.
The Israeli security cabinet decided on Sunday to step up
strikes against militant leaders involved in rocket attacks against
southern Israel.
Israeli ministers had resolved to "intensify operational steps
by striking at terrorist infrastructure and those who operate the
Qassam attacks".
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said military operations
would focus on the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants he accused of
being responsible for an escalation in rocket attacks over the past
week.
The decision and the ensuing Israeli attacks, including the air
strike which was Israel's deadliest in Gaza in about a year, is
plunging the region into chaos.
Sunday's air raids raised to 27 the number of Palestinians
Israel has killed in Gaza since it stepped up air strikes in
response to heightened rocket attacks that wounded a dozen Israelis
last week.
The escalation will lead the Middle East to more violence and
instability.
The Hamas militants vowed its "response will be like an
earthquake" as they launched more rockets at Israel.
Gaza is on the brink of civil war with the collapse of the
series of Egypt-mediated truces between Hamas and Fatah. This makes
the situation more dismal.
Responding to a series of bold Hamas offensives that killed more
than 13 people, President Mahmoud Abbas may declare a state of
emergency in the West Bank and Gaza.
Any hope of normalcy has been crushed. Gazan schools and
businesses have closed as residents stay indoors to keep out of the
crossfire and avoid random roadblocks.
A new escalation in the fighting is believed to be around the
corner.
Gaza has already been weakened by an international economic
boycott of the Hamas government. Worse still, Israel has crippled
the territory by limiting passage of civilians and commercial goods
at Gaza crossings.
Life will be more difficult in this part of the world, with
intensifying air raids from Israel and growing conflict between the
two Palestinian sects.
(China Daily May 22, 2007)
