Reuters is reporting that the Israelis have bombed the Palestinian Foreign Ministry:
GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike destroyed the office of Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar on Thursday in an attack that signaled Israel would pursue its Gaza offensive while fighting along a second front in Lebanon.
No one was hurt in the night-time raid on the Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City, Palestinian security officials said.
Israel killed at least 24 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including nine members of one family in an air strike that destroyed a house where the army said senior Hamas commanders were meeting.
“This is state terrorism against the Palestinian people,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Taher al-Nunu said about the latest attack.
An Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv confirmed the air strike and said the ministry was used by the governing Hamas group to further the movement’s activities.
Hamas, an Islamist militant organization, is dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
Witnesses said the attack set off a fire in the Foreign Ministry and destroyed Zahar’s office. Zahar is a senior Hamas leader.
I continue to wish there were some other way of resolving the situation but I’m still in the dark as to how that might come about.
Frequent commenter at Winds of Change Mark Buehner outlines what is probably the answer to the question asked in the previoius post: what next?
The idea of basically going back to a Greater Israel scheme is not tenable. The borders are not securable. How do you police all of the border between Eilat to Gaza? You’d probably have to reoccupy the Sinai and push the Palestinians into Egypt. Occupying Southern Lebanon is an even bigger problem, population ethnically cleansed or no. Expanding Israel doesnt make it more secure, particularly since it means going back to war with Egypt and Joran (they arent going to take the Palestinians for the asking).The right solution is to withdraw to something equivalent to the Green Line and level anything within a square mile that shoots, rockets, or tunnels after you.
It seems to me that all of this is very much a foreseeable consequence of putting Hamas in charge of the reins of government in the Palestinian territory. When you put an armed faction of what are indisputably terrorists in charge of your government, those terrorists become de facto your army. The next terrorist attack is then an act of war and kaboom.
UPDATE: Wil Syria step in to assist Hezbollah?
Israel’s options now are aggression on two fronts. Israeli would best act cautiously in order not to open a third front with Syria, unless Damascus taunts Israel.
Clearly Israel will strike Lebanese infrastructure related to Hezbollah and may expand its targets in its wrath. For years, Israel neglected the rocket system Hezbollah built in Lebanon with Iranian and Syrian help. It took no preventative measures against the convoys and storehouses of weaponry. We thought they would rust and now they are directed at Israel. There is also an absurd situation where we ignored Hezbollah positions adjacent to the border and to our Galilee communities. Some of those positions were once IDF outposts.
Israel must not allow Hezbollah to return to border positions. This is a clearcut defensive tactic and, in any case, Hezbollah is taking the offensive against Israel. Israel’s operation in Gaza is not enough. The Gaza front will become secondary if the fighting in the north expands. If Israel wants even partial international support, it must avoid causing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. After Wednesday’s events on the northern border, international efforts to mediate on the matter of the abductees and the prisoners will increase and address additional issues. In which case, Israel will have little time for a broad military operation.
There have been expected, though muted, condemnations of Israel (with the notably predictable stuttering from Kofi Annan). I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the ME equivalent of ctrl+alt+delete.