Attack on Southern Israel

Attack on Southern Israel                                        By Mati Shoshani 

Because of the political upheaval, Egypt is no longer able to guard the border between Gaza and the Sinai. A week ago, a group of 18 terrorists slipped out of Gaza and moved southward along the Israeli border. On Thursday, in a combined and planned ambush, the terrorists crossed the border into Israel along route 12, leading to Eilat. They first shot at a bus full of passengers, but the driver bravely kept driving, thus preventing any casualties.  Then the terrorists fired at a second bus and set off a bomb, killing the driver and burning the bus. They proceeded to attack two private cars, before being killed by security forces that arrived at the spot. Eight Israelis were murdered and dozens injured. 

The last sniper shot took the life of Pasqual Avrahami, the most decorated soldier in the Israeli police SWAT team (Yamam). Pasqual, a legend in Israel Special Forces, was 49 years old, and had participated in almost every mission of the last 30 years.  Israeli soldiers managed to kill 7 of the terrorists, and retaliated by launching an aerial attack on the terrorists' headquarters in Gaza, killing most of their leaders. 

This weekend over 90 (!) missile attacks have been launched from Gaza against the surrounding cities of Beer-Sheva, Ashkelon, and Ashdod. The continuous bombing of densely populated areas has left another dead and many more injured.  The already fragile Israeli-Egyptian relationship is now further jeopardized as the Egyptian lack of will or ability to stop the terrorists speaks loudly of their future intentions towards Israel. It also reveals the inherent danger and delusion of peace treaties with Muslim-controlled countries. The peace treaty on paper will not control terrorist attacks, and cannot prevent a takeover by more extremist Muslim forces in the future.