Hey – when Javier Solana was in Gaza yesterday…
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Gaza Friday for the first time since Hamas violently took over the territory. Solana’s tour comes amid a flurry of talks on an Israel-Hamas truce, reconciliation between Palestinian factions and donations for the territory’s reconstruction… “I came to express solidarity with the people of Gaza and to tell them that we will be helping them in the reconstruction process,” Solana said, standing at the ruins of the American International School of Gaza, destroyed during the IDF’s recent counter-terror operation.
… do you think he got a look at the Palestinian soldiers who hit an Israeli school with a Grad rocket:
Palestinian in the Gaza Strip fired at least five projectiles at southern Israel on Saturday morning, with a Grad-type rocket hitting an Asheklon school. No one was wounded in the attack, as the school was closed, though a number of residents were treated for shock. Another Grad rocket landed in an open area just outside the city. In the latest attack, a Kassam rocket struck an open area in the Eshkol region, causing no casualties or damage… On Friday, Gazans fired a Kassam that hit an open area in the Sdot Negev region. No one was wounded and no damage was caused by the rocket launched from northern Gaza.
Because that’s the kind of thing that an international diplomat of good will would want to pass on to Israel, the sovereign UN member that was the victim of the attack. And of the other 100+ rocket and missile attacks that have – in the AFP’s words – “strained a fragile month-old ceasefire:”
Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired five rockets at Israel on Saturday, according to the Israeli military, further straining a fragile month-old ceasefire.. Palestinian militants have fired more than 100 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel since the fragile January 18 truce that ended Israel’s massive military offensive on Gaza, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
In other news, diplomats suspect that Hamas has renewed smuggling Grad rockets into Gaza despite the State Department’s promise to help stop that. I hope those rumors turn out to be overblown!
References:
* Javier Solana makes trip to Gaza Strip [JPost]
* School damaged in Grad-type rocket attack on Ashkelon [JPost]
* Five Gaza rockets strike Israel: military [AFP]
* ‘Hamas has smuggled anti-aircraft missiles, Grad rockets since Gaza op’ [JPost]
* Israel To Call Unilateral Ceasefire, Declare Partial Victory (Plus: Has Operation Cast Lead Achieved Anything?) [MR]
Previously:
* Hamas Launches More Rockets At Israeli Civilians, Accuses Israeli Politicians Of Being "Terrorists"
* Unilateral Israeli Ceasefire Going Exactly As Expected
* Hamas Fires 50+ Rockets Since Cast Lead, Obama And Europe Cozy Up To Hamas
