Middle East Crisis

[anagram]

Maybe it's just me....but....we see all the news reports of the bombing in Gaza. And, yes, it's terrible, all the innocent people that have been killed. But...what happens to all the rockets that Hamas fire into Israel? We never see what happens to these rockets. They have to land somewhere. All the news reports that I have seen concentrate on Gaza, and as a byline they add 'oh yes 24 rockets were fired into Israel by Hamas'.

[237SJ]

I watched an article about the iron dome system the other day. From the videos I saw, it looked pretty effective. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014/.premium-1.608828

[Gromit]

// what happens to all the rockets that Hamas fire into Israel? We never see what happens to these rockets. They have to land somewhere //

99% land in empty fields. They are not computer or laser guided. They are basically just pointed in the right direction and fired. In the last 14 years (since the start of the Intafada) about 10,000 missiles have been fired into Israel. That has resulted in 28 deaths over 14 years, or 2 a year.

[Gromit]

Of course, the missiles do not kill a great number, but they terrorise the population below them.


2011
3 Israelis killed in missile attacks
40 Palestinians killed in retaliation

2012
6 Israelis killed in missile attacks
41 Palestinians killed in retaliation

2013.
0 Israelis killed in missile attacks
1 Palestinian killed in retaliation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel

[keyplus90]

Because those rockets are not more than fire works we entertain our children with. Otherwise, yes, you are right, how many people have been killed due to those rockets so far?

[naomi24]

Israel is, in the main, a scrap of barren land - and that's where the rockets (that Keyplus rightly describes as fireworks) land.

[Jeza]

In the words of Ronald Reagan "Nuke the commie ***" JOKE.

[Svejk]

some fireworks, http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_28/556251/140710-gaza-rocket-7a_af0d92cf7d35be5efa00236bd82ce91c.jpg

[sandyRoe]

Are they rockets that are to be fired into Gaza? ^

[naomi24]

Svejk, comparatively speaking, of course.

[Svejk]

from, sandy, from.

[Gromit]

Svejk
Those weapons in your photo were never found in Gaza. They have never been fired from Gaza.
They are Chinese missiles which the Israelus intercepted in the Red Sea. They were a consignment headed for Iran, in breach of the International Embargo, and were destined for Sudan.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/28/us-iran-sanctions-un-idUSKBN0F300H20140628

The majority of Hamas' rockets are improvised, made out of sewerage pipes with fins on.

[ToraToraTora]

makes you wonder why they bother firing them really! Especially known the effects they have on the firing side.

[anotheoldgit]

It has recently been reported that president Obama has approved a $225m grant to replenish Iron Dome parts,.

One has to ask what amount of grants are the peoples of Gaza receiving?

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014/.premium-1.608828

[scooping]

The Iron Dome anti-missile system, similar to the Patriot missiles used in Gulf War 1 to counter Iraqi scuds.

[Svejk]

the reason the Israelis, as I'm sure you well know, stop arms shipments from Iran to Sudan is they go straight across the border into Egypt, through a tunnel to Gaza, next stop Israel.
If anyone believes Hamas are sending 'fireworks' into Israel, google Hamas Rockets. You'll find a large selection on view with nary a 'sewer pipe' to be found.

[Gromit]

AOG,
The US paid the $1billion cost of Iron Dome.

The US has given Israel $37billion. It now gives $3billion annually.

I wonder what would happen if the US stopped the handouts. And the Arab countries stopped arming the Palestinians. And both countries had to work to keep their economies afloat? My guess is that there would be less war.

[retrocop]

As I wrote on another link yesterday.The Hamas rockets are not firework squibs.They are lethal weapons containing warheads which you wouldn't want dropped on your house.They are of Chinese or Russian design largely built and supplied under licence by Iran.They do not have guidance systems and are randomly fired into Israel's direction.That means if Israel didn't posses the "iron dome" they could land on Israeli hospitals,schools,kibbutz etc.The Israeli's are not a 3rd world country and they protect their citizens unlike Hamas who believe lives are cheap and can be used as propaganda tools.Israel has early warning defence systems(radar) and all buildings have air raid shelters as a result of a constant blitz of Hamas rockets.I notice that Hamas don't dig shelters for their people.They just dig tunnels to smuggle the rockets into Gaza which come from Iran via Sinai and Egypt.Iron Dome and air raid precautions by Israel keep their casualties low but that doesn't alter the fact that thousands upon thousands of Lethal rockets have been fired into Israel over recent years.

[scooping]

Retrocop. You put it better than I. There is, in my view, a tinge of anti-Semitism in this debate and a lack of understanding of the Israeli position.

[sandyRoe]

The Israeli position seems to be this: We've stole the land, and as every day passes we steal more, and if you(the Palestinians) have the temerity to object you'll pay a heavy price in blood.

[retrocop]

Thanks scooping.I have to agree with you.Too many people are being suckered in by the biased media footage which Hamas revels in.More foreign aid money to build more tunnels and rockets!!!