THE GAZA STRIKE

Israel's much anticipated strike at Hamas' Gaza base happened last night, but in an unexpected form - through the air, as opposed to an incursion into Palestinian-controlled territory. The attack sucessfully took out its intended target - Salah Shehada, but the blast also killed 13 bystanders, including 9 children. It is always tragic when children are killed, even in war. Still, there can be no equating of this attack with the ones Shehada planned - which had as their aim to massacre as many civilians as possible. The stark reality facing Israel is that there is no way for it to eliminate Palestinian military targets without civilian casualties. Palestinian terrorists deliberately use civilians as human shields - viewing the death of their fellow Palestinians as simply adding to a laudable martyr tally.

Admittedly, an air strike in such a circumstance, no matter how surgical, is a rather blunt instrument. In the wake of the Jenin "massacre", it is understandle why Israel is shying away from the alternative of block-to-block urban combat. Such an approach places Israel's soldiers at great risk, and the reduction in civilian casulties is not appreciated by the international community. The reward for Israel's caution last time was an international lynch-mob ready to hang the state on a specious massacre charge (complete with falsified evidence being prepared for the UN team).

The "safe" attack on Israel is the lie that such an attack merely provokes Hamas. First, it should be perfectly clear that Hamas would be no less angry had the Israelis accomplished what they set out to do - kill only Shehada. Whatever revenge Hamas is claiming to seek stems from his death, not the unfortunate deaths of those near him. Second, Hamas' goal is the destruction of Israel. An organization with such maximalist goals can not be "provoked" into killing Israelis - that is its raison d'etre. For there to be any hope of peace between Israel and the Palestinians Hamas must be eliminated.

Still, there is not much to rejoice at in the Gaza strike. The Israeli government continues to think tactically, rather than strategically. In the long run, Hamas can not only be defeated by military strikes - it must be rendered completely irrelevant, by a government in Gaza that provides the critical social services that Hamas now uses to spread its gospel of hate and war.