Balance of terror

In an interesting development (and an interesting choice of words by Ynet), the IDF has responded harshly to the latest terrorist mortar attack.

Balance of terror in Gaza: IDF forces directed dozens of artillery shells at the northern Gaza Strip late Sunday and early Monday in response to the firing of a mortar shell in the direction of Gaza’s Karni crossing.

[…] “This is no longer our fire against their fire, but rather, a harsh response,” he added.

By midnight, the IDF had fired ten artillery rounds, and soldiers continued to fire dozens of shells after the one mortar shell was fired by the Palestinians.

On Sunday, a number of Palestinian attempts to fire mortars were thwarted, and no mortars landed in Israel.

[…] The IDF has decided not to call in helicopters and warplanes for the time being, and said that artillery fire was the most effective means of striking deep into Palestinian territory

There is also this interview, which is worth being read in full:

“Operation ‘First Rain’ a month ago achieved the objectives and created deterrence,” he says. “We made it clear to everyone that there’s a new situation here, that we don’t intend to engage in a specific clash with this or that terrorist or cell.”

“This is not going to be, in my view, a series of operations and responses, but rather, an attempt to create ‘rules of the game’ based on deterrence. It has to come together with Palestinian desire to avoid firing. Unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority is simply not doing its job,” he says.

Wait for the UN resolutions condemning Israel’s retaliatory strikes, while barely mentioning terrorist mortar and qassam attacks. But then, the UN is so predictable.