Rocket Fire from Gaza the Work of Israeli Infiltrators

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98794206

What? Say that again...

In an interview played on "All Things Considered" on NPR radio on December 29th, the following statement was made:

"The rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel is the work of Israeli collaborators, says Ahmed Yusuf, political adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He says Hamas was willing to agree to a new cease-fire with Israel, but Israel hadn't lived up to its end of the bargain."

Does/can anyone actually believe this? What in the world could possibly be a motivation for Israel to intentionally start a conflict with with Hamas if they were actually seriously considering negotiating a new cease-fire? Israel has been surrounded by hostile states since 1946 when they were recognized by the United Nations.

Practically from the day that Israel voluntarily returned the Gaza Strip to Palestinian control in 2005 hardline Islamic militant groups have been firing rockets into Israel on a weekly basis. The Palestinian government has completely failed to control it's own populace and rein in the hardliners, but they seem to expect the Israeli government to just stand by as rockets and missiles land in their communities and rain down death to primarily non-combatant targets.

Israel has no choice. If the Palestinian Authority cannot prevent terrorist attacks on Israel, then it falls to Israel to do it. Hamas is now in the process of being taught a very painful lesson which will sadly also catch Palestinian non-combatants in the fire. Israel needs to completely eliminate Hamas' warmaking capability. I expect that Israel will hold onto Gaza City for a while...