Truce Isn't Holding As Rockets Continue Slamming Into Israel

Egypt has been trying to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but with little effect. The terrorists continue firing their rockets, including two fired towards Ashkelon. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. That brings the total fired on Israel during Wednesday to more than 70:

At approximately 1:30 pm a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in open territory in th Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No one was wounded and no damaged was caused.

Earlier, at around 7:30 am, five rockets landed in the Negev's Eshkol Regional Council, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

No less than 70 rockets hit Israel's southern region on Wednesday.

Following the attack on Ashkelon, Mayor Benny Vaknin ordered local elementary schools to remain closed Thursday. The mayor reached the decision following consultations with security establishment officials and parent committee representatives.

"The parents' committee representatives told me their children barely slept last night because of the sirens, and some of them suffer from anxiety. After consulting with security officials I decided to keep the schools closed," the mayor said.

No country would ever allow an enemy regime or entity to engage in such actions for any duration of time without suffering serious repercussions, and yet Israel is expected to do just that. Israeli airstrikes are extremely limited in scope, and it appears that Israel's government is willing to accept a certain level of violence in order to maintain the status quo.

The terrorists know this as well. They can attack up to a certain level of carnage before Israel will respond and retaliate for the damage wrought on Israeli lives and property.

What we're seeing now is the usual dance - Israel's retaliations for the attacks that left one Israeli Arab dead and several others injured result in still more mortar and missile/rocket barrages, and the escalation results in more Israeli airstrikes against terrorist infrastructure. Once the Israelis hit enough critical targets, the terrorists claim that Israel has gone too far and cry for a ceasefire, which they promptly break by blaming Israel for defending itself.