by Michael Deqel

Created on: January 14, 2009   Last Updated: January 18, 2009

Israel launched its largest offensive against Gaza since the Six Day War in 1967, sending in air strikes, then pounding with artillery, then overwhelming with tanks and troops. Images of burning buildings, bloody children, and sheet-wrapped corpses convey the seriousness of the aggression, and repeatedly hammer human hearts and consciences. Many raise the question of why Israel has attacked, and what will come of it. The strength of the reaction (some say overreaction) outweighs the, by comparison, limited damage of Hamas' actions. The reasons for the onslaught are complex, the justifications limited. Yet, with a little analysis, it becomes apparent that the convergence of politics and international affairs at the particular moment when Hamas escalated its attacks at the end of the recent six-month ceasefire pushed Israel's leaders, for better or worse, to attack.

Israel left Gaza in 2005, when the Palestinian Authority took control of it. Since then, according to Israel, rocket and mortar attacks have been a frequent occurrence. Since Hamas drove Fatah out of Gaza in 2006, after elections in which Hamas won but not enough to establish a parliamentary government without Fatah, rockets and mortars have shot out of Gaza into Southern Israel at a high rate. Also in 2006, Hamas militants crossed into Israel, using tunnels, attacked Israel Defense Forces, and kidnapped a soldier. They still hold the soldier captive.

On the other side, Israel controls border crossings from Gaza into Israel and the Occupied Territories, shipments to and from Gaza, fuel and energy for Gaza. Egypt also controls a border crossing, which it has kept highly regulated or closed since Hamas came to power. Many Palestinians in Gaza believe that they are still being occupied by Israel, especially as Israel blockaded Gaza-closing borders and stopping ships-in response to the rocket and mortar attacks.

In early 2008 the rocket and mortar attacks reached a new peak, and Israel made small incursions into Gaza to stop them. A cease fire accord, negotiated by Egypt, went into effect from that June until December 19, 2008. Israel at first opened the border crossings as part of its agreement, but when some rocket attacks resumed, it closed the crossings again. This open-close scenario went on for a bit, then Israel kept the crossings closed. During the ceasefire, the rockets and mortars fell to a few a week, as compared with twenty or more a day, but they still kept coming in. As the end of the ceasefire

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