If anyone is really surprised by this, call the State Department. I’m sure they’re looking for fresh recruits. “Gaza rockets hit Israel despite unilateral truce,” by Nidal al-Mughrabi for Reuters, January 18 (thanks to Ruth King):
GAZA (Reuters) – Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets into southern Israel on Sunday in defiance of the unilateral ceasefire that Israel declared hours earlier.
After 22 days of fierce assaults in the Gaza Strip, Israel appeared to be back at the starting point — threatening military action unless cross-border rocket salvoes stopped….
Leaders from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy and Turkey and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon were to meet in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh within hours to coordinate policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Egypt said the summit would try to help it turn the ceasefire Israel declared into a mutual agreement leading to Israeli withdrawal from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Uh, didn’t we already have an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip? And didn’t that lead to the firing of these rockets at Israeli civilians? How many times will the world demand that Israel go along with this charade, and how many times will Israel willingly go along with it?
The deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians and mounting destruction and hardship in the territory brought strong international pressure on Israel to stop the offensive.
No mention, of course, of how Hamas tried to provoke civilian casualties.