Since the Israeli withdrawal in 2005, approximately 9,000 rockets and 5,000 mortar bombs have been fired at Israel from the Gaza strip and Hamas has been involved in digging tunnels from Gaza into Israel which they use to carry out terrorist attacks, abduct Israelis and smuggle terrorists into Israeli territory. No country can accept its citizens being under daily attack and Israel has the right to react in order to defend itself.
On July 8 (Tuesday), 146 rockets were launched from Gaza to Israel. Of these, 117 reached the Holy Land and 29 were intercepted by the Iron Dome System.
Residents from many cities such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Southern Be’er Sheva, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sderot, Ofakim, Sha’ar HaNegev, Sdot Negev, the Eshkol regional council, Merhavim, Kiryat Malachi, Hof Ashkelon, Be’er Tuvia, Rehovot, Herzliya, Gadera, Ramat Hasharon, Yavne, Caesarea, Binyamina, Rishon Lezion, Hadera, Givatiyim, Bat Yam and Holon were targets or attacked multiple times.
Because of Israel’s extensive defense preparations, no fatalities were reported only minor injuries such as an IDF soldier being injured when terrorists attempted to infiltrate Israel to carry out an attack.
Rocket fire from the Gaza strip started on June 12 (Thursday), the same day that 3 Israeli teenagers were abducted and murdered. The shooting escalated significantly starting on June 30, even before the bodies of the teens were found later that day and before the murder of Palestinian youth Muhammad Abu Khdeir.
Between the day of the kidnapping (June 12) and July 8, 284 rockets were launched at Israel, many of them fired directly by the military arm of Hamas.
Hamas has been responsible for the escalation as well as the rockets launched by other organizations by virtue of the fact that it has ruled Gaza since 2007. Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization in the international community and they share similar characteristics, ideologies and methods to other extremist Islamist organizations in the Middle East and elsewhere, such as ISI, al-Qaeda, Hizbullah and Boko Haram.
Israel opted to respond without military action so as to keep the peace in the region but because of the incessant attacks by Hamas, the Israeli government decided on July 7 to initiate operation “Protective Edge.” The country could no longer tolerate having their citizens live under constant threat by a terrorist organization whose goal is to destroy and eradicate the Jewish nation.
