Hamas bombardment continues

Yesterday, Hamas nearly hit a schoolbus.

Three children suffered shock and were treated by Magen David Adom paramedics. The bus’ windows were shattered and a fire broke out nearby

Today, they just missed a kindergarten—in Ashkelon.

One rocket hit a southern neighborhood in the seaside city and another in the Ashkelon National Park south of the city. The first rocket landed near an elementary school in an area where several schools and kindergartens are located. One woman suffered from shock and several houses sustained damage.

Haim Asokar, who lives nearby, told Ynet, “I was just making coffee on my way to leave the house. We heard the siren, but we have no fortification here and our bomb shelter is closed. I then heard a very loud explosion. The entire house shook.

“My mother, who looked out the window, noticed something flying right in front of her and falling near the building. A great miracle occurred here, although had the rocket landed several minutes later, children would have already arrived in the area and many people would have been walking around here.”

The rockets struck at 7 a.m. It was sent there at that time to try to hit children on their way to school, and people on their way to work. Let me repeat, this is not Sderot. This is Ashkelon. But then, the terrorist have been getting away with it so far, so why not fire into more Israeli cities? In the meantime, what does Condi Rice say? That Israel needs to “show progress” in peace talks.

The Bush administration has told Israeli and Palestinian leaders they will need to show progress in their secret talks soon, or risk a potentially fatal erosion in public support for a process now in its sixth month without any obvious successes.

[…] Rice mentioned borders prominently, suggesting she thinks it is the best chance for progress in the near term. Twice during her most recent trip, Rice urged that the sides draw a final map soon, in part because it would help settle other disputes.

Yes, because knowing that Hamas is firing rockets over legitimate borders is so important for peace.

Meantime, Olmert says he’s doing everything he can. No, really.

“I am doing everything so this country will be able to defend itself against its enemies and so that our children and grandchildren won’t live their lives filled with the suffering prevalent here,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday evening during a Jewish National Fund (JNF) conference held at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum.

Addressing the incessant Qassam rocket fire emanating from Gaza and the internal crisis in Lebanon, Olmert said, “We must deal with enemies from the north and the south that are looking to wipe us off the map, but we will always be prepared. You can count on it.”

And the Israeli public believes him so much, 59% of them say he should resign as Prime Minister. Unfortunately, they also indicate they will continue to vote for Kadima.

The prime minister is also perceived by the public as paralyzed in his ability to lead. Sixty percent of the public state that he is incapable of leading diplomatic moves due to the investigation against him.

[…] The survey shows that it is too early to pronounce Kadima dead. Should Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni head the party, she would defeat the Likud headed by Benjamin Netanyahu with 27 Knesset seats, compared to 23 Likud seats and 15 seats for the Labor Party.

And the Egyptian who has been trying to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel met with Ehud Barak today with Hamas’s demands.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that “Israel views (kidnapped soldier) Gilad Shalit’s release and the progress made in the talks for his release as having a key role in resolving the security situation in the Gaza Strip.”

Speaking during a meeting with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Barak said, “Israel cannot continue exercising restraint over the ongoing terror from the Gaza Strip.”

Suleiman said before the meeting that he had “high expectations” that the outline of a truce between Israel, Hamas and the armed organizations in the Gaza Strip would be implemented.

The only positive news I get out of that is that I’m positive that Hamas will not release Gilad Shalit, because they’ll demand the release of convicted murderers. Olmert hasn’t the political capital to make such a deal, and even he has said he won’t release the murderers Hamas is asking for.

The soldiers want to go in and take care of the terrorists. Perhaps Olmert should let them. Because the terrorists are deliberately firing mortars because they think that the IDF won’t retaliate, as the mortars are “less effective” than kassams. And yet, a mortar killed Jimmy Kdoshim on Friday.

The longer Israel lets rocket fire on her citizens remain unanswered, the more rockets will be fired on her citizens. It’s as simple as that. Terrorists have sworn to make Sderot a “ghost town.” They are succeeding. Unless Israel acts, more Israelis will die in this latest version of the War of Attrition.

The world will stand up and howl when Israel responds to these attacks on her people and on her soveriegnty. So what? But this time, Israel should have a PR campaign ready to respond. This time, the IDF should release pictures and video of terrorists hiding in mosques and schoolyards and firing from among civilians. Not that I think they will. Israeli PR is made up of morons who couldn’t sell blankets to an Eskimo. I had an argument with the Israeli ambassador to Washington years ago. A member of my synagogue and I were asking him why Israel doesn’t respond to the horrible anti-Israel publicity in the press, and he told us, over and over again, that polls show Americans believe Israel is the good guy in this battle. That may be true, but the bad publicity is scoring many, many hits. Witness the number of anti-Israel articles on her sixtieth anniversary, even in the American press.

Well. President Bush is due in Israel next week. The last of the so-called truce offers is being made as I write this. Things should start moving along soon. God help the Israelis, and save them from the inevitable rocket barrage that will happen when the IDF moves in. (Although if they do it fast, Hezbullah will be too busy fighting the Lebanese to help.)