One year ago on 7/05/05 I wrote in this blog "At the end of the day how many people doubt that Israel will be forced to respond to violence and terror by attacking or re-entering Gaza?"
Sadly this has come to pass.
While I cannot comment on the current pause in battle ,or the alleged conflict between Peretz and Olmert,to the present, the Israeli response has been measured and free of negative criticism from the usual anti-Israel sources.Whether diplomacy can still work,will be answered very quickly.
However, the underlying question after the determination of the fate of the kidnapped soldier(Cpl Gilad Shalit),is the long term deterrence that this operation will have in preventing the daily rocket attacks against Israeli population centers .To have invested so much military manpower,and international political chits without stopping the Quassams would be a great waste and perhaps even a military loss.
Whether a secondary result(or tertiary)will be the crippling of Hamas as a functioning political unit again remain to be seen (but surely desirable).
