Since Hamas decided to end the calm on 19 December, there has been a marked deterioration of the situation in southern Israel . The Israel civilians living near the Gaza border have been the targets of Hamas rocket and mortar attacks for years, despite the fact that Israel disengaged from Gaza more than three years ago.

The situation improved somewhat during the state of calm that began in June of this year. However, since Hamas decided to end the calm last Friday (19 December), there has been a marked deterioration. Dozens of Kassam rockets are now raining down on Israel on a daily basis. Hamas is launching the longer-range and more deadly Grad Kaytusha rockets at the southern resort city of Ashkelon and is threatening to carry out suicide bombings in Israel .

More than a hundred thousand Israelis are trying to celebrate the eight-day festival of Hannukah, as well as to carry on with their normal day-to-day activities, only to be interrupted time and again by the warning sirens of an incoming missile. They have only a few seconds to try to find cover, to pray that this time the rocket won’t explode in a house, a school or a crowded supermarket.

Israel says that it has no interest in conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip, but it is clear that the current situation, in which Israeli civilians are being targeted around the clock, cannot continue indefinitely. The residents of the cities of Sderot and Ashkeon, as well as the towns and villages in ballistic range of the Gaza Strip, cannot be held hostage forever to the radical fundamentalist agenda of Hamas.

President Peres in Sderot on Dec 24 said “In Gaza they light rockets, and in Sderot we light candles… To the Palestinians I say – we do not want to see you suffering on account of Hamas’s guilt. The moment that you stop firing rockets at us, there will be quiet in Gaza and the crossings will be open.”

It is not only Israeli civilians who are being held hostage, so too are those Palestinian residents of Gaza who wanted the calm to continue. Hamas and other terror organizations are firing from within populated areas, exposing Palestinian civilians to danger.

Israel says that it does not want a humanitarian crisis in to develop in Gaza and will continue to supply rood, medications and electricity to Gaza ‘s residents, as the situation allows. But the ability to supply these necessities depends on the conditions on the ground, as created by Hamas.

Diary of events

On Friday morning (19 Dec), the Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades officially declared that the six-month calm was over. Three rockets fired from northern Gaza Strip landed in open areas in southern Israel , and Palestinians fired at farmers working in kibbutz fields. More than 40 rockets and mortars were fired at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip over the weekend.

Palestinian terrorists fired over 20 Kassam rockets and mortars into Israel on Sunday (21 Dec), one damaging a house in Sderot. A foreign worker on a kibbutz was lightly injured from shrapnel from a mortar bomb.

On Tuesday (Dec 23) an IDF patrol killed three terrorists intending to plant an explosive device along the security fence on the border with Gaza near Netiv Ha’asara.

60-80 rockets and mortar bombs were fired at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip between Tuesday night and Wednesday (23-24 Dec), including 7 rockets at Ashkelon , among them Grad-type missiles, and 5 at Netivot – one exploding outside a local community center which was full of children enjoying Hanukkah activities. Although no injuries were reported, about 60 people were treated for shock and several homes suffered direct hits.

- Ynet – Rocket fire leads to close calls: Lives of three children saved as Grad missile fired from northern Gaza hit their home.

DM Barak (24 Dec) canceled plans to allow food and medicine to enter the Gaza Strip after the crossings had been closed due to ongoing rocket fire from Gaza. Trucks from Egypt and international relief organizations had been scheduled to cross into Gaza on Wednesday.