Thirty Days of Quiet?

Has Hamas decided to engage in a 30-day hudna with Israel, with Israel agreeing? That's what the Jerusalem Post is reporting. A hudna is nothing more than a strategic and tactical pause to regroup before the next round of fighting.

Israel is demanding that a formal calm with Hamas be preceded by a 30-day "feeling the pulse" period, the London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi reported Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the demand was presented to Egyptian officials by Amos Gilad, who heads the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau.

The report quoted a "senior Palestinian source" as saying that if the 30-day period proves successful, Israel will assent to the Egyptian calm initiative, including the cessation of ground and air attacks in the Gaza Strip and refraining from retaliating for the terror attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva last week.

So, how is this possible when Olmert says that Israel isn't talking with Hamas? Well, they're likely engaging in backchannel negotiations through a third party - Egypt. It does make sense that this is how such things are done.

I question why it is being done. Hamas was on the ropes and the IDF was doing a good job eliminating terrorists; the reduction in rocket attacks is because the IDF was doing its job. A pause only favors the terrorists since it enables them to regroup and rearm.

This pause, should it come to fruition will be lauded as a victory by Hamas and used to prepare for the next round in fighting. Israel should never give them that opportunity.

Prime Minister Olmert says that Israel should get used to rocket fire - that the Israelis have no way to stop the Grad rockets or kassams. This is yet another reason why Olmert must go. There is a way to stop the kassams - kill the terrorists who fire them; their leaders who direct this conflict against Israel, and make it impossible for the Palestinians to obtain weapons and resupply their stocks of rockets. Ceasefires are not how that will ever happen.

Olmert says there's no promise that the rocket attacks wont restart after this pregnant pause. Time and time again, Israel's restraint in use of force is misconstrued by the terrorists as a sign of weakness and exploited. How can this situation be avoided? Olmert says that the reason that Sderot is experiencing a lull in rocket fire is the IDF doing its job. Well, that's a great line, but it's too bad that you're cutting the IDF off from the ability to finish the job. Israel has the ability to strike a fatal blow against Hamas infrastructure in Gaza, and yet they're letting Hamas off the hook with this hudna.

UPDATE:
The terrorists seemingly can't go 30 minutes without trying to fire rockets and missiles at Israel. One of the terror groups fired a kassam at Ashkelon; no damage was reported. And that doesn't include the Molotov cocktails tossed at Israeli border guards either.