For the next few minutes imagine that you live in a city that is 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the border and your city is being shelled from that neighboring country. It is just 12 miles from downtown San Diego, California to Tijuana, Mexico. Buffalo, New York is just across a river from Niagara Falls, Canada. If either of those countries started shooting rockets into the United States, how long would it take for the U.S.A. to retaliate?
Israel has been the victim of continuing rocket attacks for many years. There is a city of 120,000 people that is 10 miles from the Gaza strip. That city and other towns near Gaza have been shelled with rockets almost daily. That is the reason that the Israeli government has decided that it must respond. I doubt that the United States or any other nation would have taken so long as Israel has in responding to those rockets.
Israel did occupy Gaza for 38 years. That occupation ended in 2005. Their withdrawal was done in the hope that peace would come to that area. It has not. Instead the Palestinians have continued their assault on Israel. There does not appear to be a peace accord on the horizon. It is likely that other nations will pressure Israel to stop their attack. It is doubtful that the end of the Israeli attack will bring an end to the Palestinian rocket attacks.
There has been no solution to this situation since 1948 when Israel became a free nation. As long as Israel’s neighboring nations and other Arab groups continue to wage war there will be no peace.
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