25.12.2010                     18.Tevet, 5771

Hamas:

Security and Defense: Avoiding Cast Lead II

Hamas has long-range rockets, and Israel’s deterrence may have eroded, but neither side is interested in another large-scale conflict.

The latest round of clashes along the Gaza border reminded a number of veterans from the IDF’s Southern Command of the period preceding the abduction of Gilad Schalit in the summer of 2006.
Then too, shortly after the completion of the historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, a period of fighting began mostly along the border: small clashes, involving sporadic gunfire, mortar shelling and Kassam rockets into Sderot. Attacks deeper into the country were rare, mostly since Hamas did not yet have the capability….