Hamas provokes Israeli ground attack in Gaza

Jerusalem Post:

Two IDF soldiers were killed and five others wounded during a military operation meant to combat the ongoing Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli cities in the western Negev. Forty-seven Palestinians have been killed on Saturday and at least 40 were wounded throughout the day.

One soldier was killed when a Palestinian threw an explosive device towards him and
the second soldier was killed during a gun battle that had ensued between his force and Palestinian terrorists.

...

According to Palestinian sources, at least 16 of those killed were civilians, including a baby reported to have been struck when a Palestinian rocket misfired, as well as two teenagers. Palestinian gunmen bombarded Israel with at least 44 rockets and mortar rounds the evening, undeterred by Israeli troops backed by tanks and attack aircrafts.

Later Saturday evening, the IAF bombed a truck filled with over a hundred rockets as well as several terrorists. It was unknown whether they were killed.

...

The the bombs hit their target it is hard to see how anyone could survive while riding on a truck filled with rockets. It is interesting to counter pose this report from Israel with the Arab News report on the events in Gaza.

Israel killed 52 Gazans — including women and children — and injured more than a hundred in a ground incursion yesterday deep into the Gaza Strip, making Saturday the deadliest day of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the Hamas-ruled territory in over a year.

An Israeli undercover unit, backed by tanks, drones and warplanes, pushed into the town and refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza Strip. A heavy exchange of gunfire erupted when Palestinian resistance groups discovered the troops, leading to Israeli warplanes firing rockets and missiles. Those killed included at least four children and three women, said Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza emergency services. At least 12 of those killed were fighters, 10 from Hamas and two from Islamic Jihad.

...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the Israeli actions “unbelievable” and said what is happening “is more than a holocaust,” a reference to comments made on Friday by Deputy Israeli Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, who had warned Gazans they risked a “shoah” if rocket fire did not end. An aide said Vilnai meant “disaster” rather than “holocaust” — the word’s common meaning. “I do not think what Israel is doing is in retaliation to the missiles, which we condemn,” said Abbas....

...

Near the bottom of the story there is finally mention of the provocation that prompted the Israeli action and in the same sentence Abbas acts like indiscriminate rocket fire against Israeli non combatants is not big deal. It is really hard to take these guys serious as a negotiating partner for "peace" when they are so careless about the lives of Israelis. There is the typical victim strategy also trotted out. What the rocket attacks demonstrate is the impotents of the Palestinians to stop attacks on Israel which is just more evidence that the Palestinians have nothing of value to offer Israel.