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PIJ rockets remind Israelis of failure of Gaza withdrawal

Though Israel possesses the best military means in the region, when attacked by rockets, its hands are tied, unable to retaliate forcefully, and the Israeli population is growing more and more skeptical about the worth of an agreement.
Israeli onlookers survey the damage caused by a rocket which was fired from the Gaza Strip and landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot March 12, 2014. Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired at least 20 rockets into Israel on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, in the heaviest such barrage in two years. REUTERS/Ilan Assayag (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ISRAEL - RTR3GSN7
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When late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came up with the disengagement plan, which subsequently saw Israel pull out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, having razed the flourishing Israeli communities to the ground and redeployed along the international border, he was asked what would happen if the Palestinians continued firing rockets at civilians even after the eviction. “In that case,” Sharon replied, “I would demand that every rocket be met by heavy artillery fire.”

Sharon’s logic was simple. Once the territorial conflict was over and so was the occupation, firing rockets at civilian towns would be crossing a red line. Every rocket fired should be met with disproportionate force so as to make it clear that Israel would not tolerate a situation whereby one million citizens are being held hostage by a few terrorist organizations.

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