More Updates: Hamas Wants "Ceasefire"

Fox news is just now reporting (12:20 EDT) that Hamas wants a "ceasefire". How absurd. First of all, as we have seen from the posts below, Hamas isn't the group launching these missiles and has almost no control over these missiles being launched into Israel - as Iran is using other proxies now to accomplish their goals. Secondly, any previous "ceasefire" with Hamas was a complete joke anyway - typically used in order to thwart obvious imminent Israeli counter-attacks. Therefore, any so-called "ceasefire" proposed by Hamas is a complete joke and will certainly not be taken seriously by Israel.



Three quick updates below:



Jordan warns: Escalation in Gaza threatens entire region



Talk about "stating the obvious":

As the Arab League and Hamas officials reached out to international organizations to stop Israeli counter-attacks on the Gaza Strip, Jordan's Information Ministry issued a statement Sunday warning against continued "military escalation" in Gaza which the statement said "threatened the stability of the region as a whole."

In other words, lets face it: What is really being stated here is "Israel - allow these attacks to continue - without doing anything in response"

The statement, released by Jordanian Information Minister Abdullah Abu Ruman, condemned "Israel military operations that left civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and killed a number of Egyptian officers," and warned against further "targeting of civilians" in Gaza.

Sigh.



Below we get a more realistic view of the evolving situation:



Aharonovitch: Rocket attacks on South will continue

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said on Sunday that the violence in the South will continue in the near future.



"The escalation will continue in the coming days. The public should act accordingly. These will not be easy times," he said.

Indeed.

The public security minister, speaking from Ashkelon during a visit to attack victims there, was referring the current barrage of rockets being launched at southern population centers from the Gaza Strip.



Also on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said that, in light of the ongoing onslaught, the government will have to consider entering the coastal strip.

Uh oh. One can't blame them, and this step will probably be necessary by Israel in order to protect their citizens, but if this does happen, look out - it could unleash violence in the region not seen since 1967.

"We cannot continue in a situation in which one million Israelis are living under constant rocket fire. The deterrence from Operation Cast Lead has exhausted itself. We will need to respond and we are not excluding the option of a ground invasion," Shalom said.

It would also seem that such action is exactly what Iran is attempting to precipitate.



Barak: IDF won't tolerate rocket attacks from Gaza

Hours after an IDF strike on terror cells in the Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that rocket attacks emanating from Gaza would not be tolerated and issued a strong warning to terrorists planning attacks.



"There is a very good chance that those who fire rockets at Israel will have their heads separated from their bodies by precise aerial strikes," Barak said.



The defense minister made the comments while touring an Iron Dome anti-rocket defense battery in the South, and announced that within weeks a third Iron Dome battery would be installed in the region, and estimated that nine more batteries would be positioned within the next two years.



The defense minister said that rocket attacks in the last few days in which more than 100 rockets were fired in the span of only a few days had been a "test, and were likely to continue."

One of the more ominous developments in this whole scenario - is the simple fact that almost everyone agrees that we are only just now seeing the beginnings of what is to come.