Raining Rockets

Southern Israel is again under rocket attack from Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. More than 120 rockets have fallen in the last week. The West is turning a blind eye to the murderous thugs who are running Gaza, as usual. Hamas is getting all the weapons and explosives they can use yet Europe is silent about that fact.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened tougher action if the intensified rocket fire on Israeli border communities didn't cease.

The sixth straight day of airstrikes came as an uneasy truce between warring Palestinian factions set in. Masked Hamas and Fatah gunmen who had controlled the streets and taken over apartment buildings in the previous week scaled back their presence sharply, and residents who had holed up at home seeking refuge from the gunbattles ventured out to stock up on supplies at busy shops.

Children went back to school in time for final exams, and adults returned to work.

Four previous truces last week quickly collapsed, but Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said he expected the cease-fire deal reached Saturday to stick because of Israel's military action.

"No one would accept to fight one another while the Israelis are shelling Gaza," he said.

More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in fighting that broke out after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah stationed thousands of loyalist security forces on the streets of Gaza City without consulting Hamas, its partner in the Palestinian governing alliance.

The infighting has threatened the survival of the fragile national unity government, formed in March to end an earlier round of factional bloodshed.

Israel added an overlapping layer of violence by sending warplanes after Hamas rocket squads whose attacks on Israeli border towns have sown panic and sent thousands fleeing to safer ground.

Israel has carried out 21 airstrikes against Gaza since Tuesday, the army said, and at their weekly meeting on Sunday, Cabinet ministers discussed how to respond to the rocket barrages.

This article from Israel Insider gives a description of what it is like being under the rockets, including some video. The site appears to be down at the moment, however. If the West were to start holding the Palestinians accountable for this behavior instead of always seeking a way to blame it on Israel, there might be a chance to stop it. But until something changes, the terrorists will keep right on doing this. Maybe if a few more Western journalists were to witness the terror of the attacks they'd start coming down against Hamas.