Crocs never get enough to satisfy their need to feed

Contrary to popular mythology the disengagement has not brought peace to Israel, and instead, the Israelis remain under a constant kassam missile barrages from the former Gaza Strip. While most of us in the west were sitting down for turkey on December 25th, The Jerusalem Post made note of the latest location to fall victim to a Kassam attack:

One rocket landed near a kindergarten in a kibbutz near Gaza during a Hanukka party that was attended by 50 children. A second Kassam was fired at Sderot and landed in an open field.

Debkafile is reporting that Shaul Mofaz, Minister of Israeli Defense, has received the go-ahead to create a no-go buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip in response to the latest Kassam attacks by Palestinian terrorists.

Mofaz reported to Israeli cabinet Sunday, Dec. 25, on orders given to Israel’s armed forces to intensify aerial and artillery operations for this no-go zone and to step up targeted assassinations. Palestinian areas will stay under closure until end of Hanukah, Jan. 3, he said, in view of terrorist threats to strike inside Israel – especially from the Jihad Islami DEBKAfile`s military sources note that the Palestinian terrorists are rapidly turning the area on the Israeli side of the Gaza border into a no-go zone. The defense minister Shaul Mofaz demanded Sunday, Dec. 25, that the government urgently release INS125m ($50m) to fortify the dozens of small villages and kibbutzim within range of Palestinian missiles and mortar fire. Civilian traffic on the roads in the region has become extremely hazardous. Protective walls are going up in the military base at Zikkim where five Israeli servicemen suffered minor injuries last week from a Qassam hit.

This situation developed following Israel’s pullback from the Gaza Strip since when Palestinian terrorist groups are pressing their advantage. While most Qassam missile barrages are reported, scant information reaches the public on hits in more remote places like Kissufim and Kerem Shalom, or the round-the-clock shelling by 60mm mortars and RPGs that keep IDF patrols and roads outside the border under constant fire. There has also been an increase in bomb traps planted and explosive devices hurled along these patrol routes.

As a response to the coming Israeli no-go zone in the Gaza strip, the animals had this to announce (taken from the Jerusalem Post report):

Three armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip on Monday threatened to continue their attacks on Israel and said they have long-range missiles capable of reaching more Israeli towns and cities.

One of the groups belongs to Fatah, the ruling party headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The two others are the Popular Resistance Committees, an alliance of various armed groups, and al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. PA officials in Ramallah expressed deep concern over the threats and said Israel was responsible for the latest cycle of violence. "Israel must stop its military offensive before the situation gets out of control," a senior PA official told The Jerusalem Post. "Israel's decision to set up a security zone [in the northern Gaza Strip] will only complicate matters."

Asked about the new long-range missiles, the official said he did not rule out the possibility that such weapons had been smuggled from Egypt in recent weeks. Representatives of the three armed groups appeared at a joint press conference in Gaza City, where they said attacks on Israel would continue following of Israel's decision to establish a security zone in the northern Gaza Strip to stop rocket attacks.

"The security zone will never bring security to Israel," said one of the gunmen. "As the Zionist enemy is in a state of confusion because of our painful attacks, the war leaders of the Zionist enemy are threatening to wage a merciless war on our people and their freedom fighters." A leaflet distributed by the three groups said the current truce with Israel "went to hell" because of Israel's policy of targeted killings. "Launching rocket attacks is one of the means of resistance and soon there will be surprises," the leaflet warned.

Earlier, the armed wing of Fatah, Aksa Martyrs Brigades, claimed that it possessed Grad missiles with a range of 25 kilometers. "If Israel sets up a security zone in the northern Gaza Strip our group will not sit idly by," warned Abu Fadi, a spokesman for the group in the Gaza Strip. "We will use these weapons and the occupation government will be the biggest loser due to its own actions."

"Members of the [Fatah] rocket unit are capable of hitting targets deep in the Zionist entity," he added. "We want to warn the barbaric [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz that our men can hit targets in Ashkelon. But we have no plans to use these missiles unless Israel attacks the Gaza Strip or assassinates senior Palestinian commanders." The 122-mm. caliber Grad missile, officially known as BM-21, was first used by the Soviet Red Army in 1963. The first missiles were fired from trucks fitted with launchers capable of firing 40 rockets within six seconds.

Its the height of folly to presume one can ever safely appease the Crocs.