The Gaza Trap. That’s the term used by the intelligence community in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the enormous dilemma that Israel faces whenever things heat up along the border with the Gaza Strip. The rationale guiding the decision-makers in Jerusalem is to establish a balance of deterrence and strike at Hamas targets, whether military or civilian, whenever there is a serious security incident that cannot be overlooked. That’s what happened on Dec. 24 after Salah Abu Latif, 22, an employee of the Israeli security services from the Bedouin town of Rahat, was shot and killed by snipers while mending the fence between Gaza and Israel. The IDF’s response was quick in coming. A series of targets was bombed, and in one attack in the Al-Maghazi region in the central Gaza Strip a 4-year-old girl was killed. From this point onward it was just a small step to the same scenario that the people of southern Israel and the Gaza Strip know all too well by now. Qassam rockets are fired. The IDF launches an attack in retaliation, and Palestinian groups break the rules put in place in the wake of Operation Pillar of Defense.
And where is Hamas in all of this? Caught between a rock and a hard place.