Kristen Ess – It is being reported in the Israeli media that Saraya Al Quds, who claimed responsibility for launching projectiles from the Gaza Strip at Sderot last night, “broke the calm.”
Others are reporting that it was justified after Israeli forces assassinated the northern West Bank’s leader of the Islamic Jihad-linked armed resistance wing, in addition to a fourth year student at Nablus’ An Najah University.
But what is not being reported is that on Monday Israeli forces opened fire on a farmer in Gaza who was working in his fields, critically injuring him. That was the “break in the calm.”
The Hamas government in Gaza is calling for a preservation of the “calm” regardless of anything that has happened, while Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday night that the crossings in the Strip would not be reopened due to the projectile launches.
However, earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the Rafah Crossing would not be opened at all until the Israeli soldier captured while invading the southern Gaza Strip in June 2006 was released.
Others are screaming that there can be no “calm” in Gaza while Israeli forces are conducting targeted assassinations in the West Bank. President Abbas has said that his main issue is the continuation of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
However, the Israeli court issued a freeze on the construction of 450 more settler units in East Jerusalem’s At Tur neighborhood. But for how long that freeze will last is as uncertain as is this notion of “calm.”
During the last period such as this, when it was referred to as “the hudna” or “cease-fire” in the Gaza Strip in 2005, Israeli forces killed over 20 members of the Palestinian armed resistance in the Strip before they began to fight back.
Currently, during this period of "calm," Israeli forces have not left the Gaza Strip but are instead ringing it with their military bases still in-tact and soldiers on the ready. Their orders are to "shoot in the air" if they believe someone gets too close to them and their lives are in danger, unless they receive permission from a higher ranking officer. What kind of mortal danger did the farmer pose to Israeli soldiers on Monday as he worked in his fields?
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