Gaza terrorists fired two rockets towards Ashkelon Thursday afternoon, six more on Sderot and other Gaza Belt communities in the evening and at least another two at night in what was a typical signature of a Gaza ceasefire.

All of the missiles exploded in open areas and caused little or no damage.

Israel has denied knowledge of the agreement that Islamic Jihad terrorists said earlier in the day was put into effect with help of mediators from Egypt. Islamic Jihad denied that its terrorists launched the rockets after it said it was holding hits fire.

Sporadic rocket fire by Gaze terrorists is part of a typical Gaze ceasefire.

There have been dozens of announcements  over the past years of a truce or “calm” – the Arabs have all kinds of names to get out of using the word “ceasefire” –  and virtually every one of them goes into effect with a couple of rocket attacks, a farewell salute to another attempt to kill a few more Zionists.

The Arabs love gunfire and rockets. No Arab wedding is complete without fireworks. No Hamas or Fatah rally is decent without machine guns hoisted in the air. And no ceasefire, as temporary as it is, can be consummated without its being broken, just to show everyone how useless it is.

Israel always has played along with the game, unless one of those aimless rockets happens to hit someone, and then the ceasefire is postponed until after the next round of retaliation, attacks and retaliation.

Gaza terrorists always like to get in the last word, or shot, and it is easy for Islamic Jihad or Hamas to say that some small group, perhaps a couple of kids who decided to form their own clubhouse terrorist gang, launched the rockets to show Hamas who really is in charge.

Hamas is certainly not in charge, and Egypt has further isolated it, bypassing it and talking directly to Islamic Jihad leaders, a move that could further weaken Hamas’ control of Gaza.

Hamas either stood by  jealously while Islamic Jihad fired dozens of missiles on Israel this week or simply was not able to wield any influence over its rival terrorists, who were aided by three other smaller gangs.

Gaza has been a hell-hole by all accounts. That is the way it was when Egypt neglected it before the Six-Day War in 1967, and that is the way it has been since Yasser Arafat started making peace with Israel in the 1980s by killing as many Jews as possible. Things got even worse when Hamas ousted rival Fatah faction in a bloody militia war in 2005.

Israel has said it knows nothing of a ceasefire and that it does not negotiate with terrorists, a blatant bluff, if not lie, since that is what it did to conclude the hostilities a year and a half ago when it launched the Pillar of Defense campaign to stop missile fire that reached as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Thursday “quiet will be met with quiet” and that if missile attacks resume, “we know how to hit whoever has to be hit,” de facto confirmations that the shooting is over – for now, unless Hamas continues to lose control over the terrorist gangs and  the rocket attacks continue,

Islamic Jihad leaders said Thursday afternoon that Egypt has brokered a ceasefire following the Israeli Air Force’s bombing of smuggling tunnels in the Gaza-Egypt border city of Rafiah Thursday afternoon in retaliation for Islamic Jihad missile attacks on the Ashkelon-Ashdod area earlier in the day.

Israel has not commented on the report, but there is relative quiet in the Jewish communities near Gaza.

“The ceasefire has been reached with the mediation of Egypt and will continue until Israel breaks it,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

Assuming the terrorists honor the ceasefire, which probably will be broken by an occasional Kassam rocket attack just to let everyone that the terrorists are not sleeping, it will put an end to the latest war of chickens.

The sudden and massive missile barrage on Israel last night and today caused no injuries other than emotional shock, and it is not coincidental that the equally massive IDF retaliation Wednesday did not cause any casualties.Gaza sources said three people were injured in the aerial strikes on Rafiah. No one was killed, and terrorists’ smuggling tunnels and not the terrorists themselves were the targets.

Nobody except the simple peasants in Gaza want an escalation of violence to the point that Israel has no choice other than to make Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s dream come true by invading and taking over Gaza, rescuing the average Mohammed on the street from the despotic Hamas regime that has made their lives worse than miserable, although Yasser Arafat gets the credit for having stared the bomb rolling down that road.

Islamic Jihad launched a new round of attacks on Israel as a response to the Israeli military’s killing three of its terrorist after they fired a mortar shell at Israeli soldiers earlier this week..

Iran could have a hand in the decision to strike back since Israel exposed the Islamic Republic regime’s evil hand in trying to arm Hamas so it can carry out a proxy war on Israel. If Israel really wants to retaliate for the missile attacks, Tehran is a better target than Gaza, but that is not going to happen so long as President Barack Obama keeps Iran chattering so no one can hear the sounds of centrifuges spinning out enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb.

Islamic Jihad got much needed PR from its “missile roulette” attacks. No Israeli was injured, so Israel could respond “proportionately” and hit unmanned terrorist posts and underground missile launchers without eliminating a few terrorists. The IDF has to retaliate so that Gaza terrorists would not get a message that they could extend their assault northwards towards Tel Aviv. They are saving that for a future war if it decides to commit suicide.

Lieberman notwithstanding, Israel cannot invade Gaza without nothing worse than malign neglect from its useless friends in the European Union, who as recently as today continue to blame Jerusalem for the perennial humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Islamic Jihad terrorists are a bunch of chickens. They did nothing but panic the residents of southern Israel, who are not as valuable to the Israeli government as the good citizens of Tel Aviv.

The IDF played chicken but did so out of strength, not weakness.

These chicken wars have taken place before and they will take place again.

The problem is that one day, one of those chickens is going to launch a missile that “misfires” and hits, God forbid, a hospital, kindergarten, shopping center or a family bedroom.

If that happens, the terrorists won’t be able to flee the subsequent invasion of Gaza because chickens can’t fly.

Syrian Rebels are holding four UN peacekeepers prisoner. The four Filipino peacekeepers were on the Golan Heights to monitor the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel.

The Rebels claim they are holding them, to keep them safe.

This morning a rocket (or two according to some news sites) was fired at Ashkelon. No injuries, and of more concern, no siren to give those few seconds of warning. Yesterday, there were riots and many stoning attacks. Hamas has once again called for its “fighters” to kidnap soldiers.

I never for a moment believed this cease fire would last; never thought this was the dawn of a different enemy. But I thought we had more time; I still hope we do. I predicted six months of “relative quiet” – instead, we got only about two months.

And the reason….

I believe it is Obama’s upcoming visit. I do. The Palestinians have been cooking up this idea of when and how to put on the pressure, to start their next intifada. They have always believed that what they cannot achieve through international pressure, lies, and mistruths, they can accomplish with violence. We all knew it was a matter of time – I just thought there’d be more.

It was an M75 long range missile fired at a city with over 120,000 people.

Barack Obama is coming to Israel – for what, we have no idea. Some say to put pressure on Israel not to attack Iran – and for that I ask what right he has to pressure us, to think he knows more of what the Iranians plan to do than we do.

Some say he wants to restart the peace process, another absurd concept showing his utter lack of understanding. Obama does not know how to deal with the Middle East situation, but I have no doubt the Arabs no how to deal with Obama.

It shouldn’t be happening now…and it wouldn’t be, if Obama has not announced his upcoming visit. We don’t need Obama to visit. We simply do not.

Visit A Soldier’s Mother, where this blog was originally published under the title, “It Shouldn’t be Happening Now…”.

Today, the IDF announced that it had “accomplished its pre-determined objectives for Operation Pillar of Defense, and has inflicted severe damage to Hamas and its military capabilities.”

It is embarrassing to read this statement, which includes the fact that 130 rockets slammed into Israeli towns on the last day until the ceasefire came into effect at 9 PM. It does not even mention that 20 more struck between 9 PM and midnight.

While many Hamas rockets and launchers were destroyed, clearly many were not. Hamas has been building fortifications since 2009, and much of this infrastructure escaped the air bombardment. Hamas was certainly dealt a serious blow, but not a knockout punch. Its Iranian weapons suppliers will soon re-equip it, and it will probably get millions in ‘humanitarian’ aid from its friends in Europe.

Israel’s operation is estimated to have cost 3 billion Israeli Shekels (about $770 million). Each Tamir interceptor fired by Iron Dome cost $40,000. Now there is a ceasefire, and 30,000 reservists (cost: $60 million) will likely be sent home.

Hamas established that it can hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with missiles that can only improve in the future. It established that — by launching a large number of rockets at once, as it did in an attack on Beer Sheva today — it can overwhelm the Iron Dome system. It established that it can withstand a concentrated air attack and still fire rockets.

Palestinians understand quite well what happened, both the people in the street and their leaders.

As always, Israel’s overwhelming military might can’t stand up against the ‘persuasive’ powers of the White House, and yet again defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory. There will be another round, and another, and another.

But what do you expect? Israel is addicted to US weapons systems and spare parts — and now, to the Iron Dome system, developed in Israel but funded by the US. Saying no is unthinkable.

One question that Israelis are asking is this: why didn’t Barak and Netanyahu expect this? Did they have assurances from the Obama administration that they could go into Gaza, assurances which were later withdrawn? It doesn’t make sense to call up 30,000 reservists just to scare the other side.

We’ll probably never know exactly what happened. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t interpret this as a positive outcome for Israel.

Visit FresnoZionism.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister has announced that a truce between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 9 PM GMT, 2 PM Eastern.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently spoke with President Barack Obama and accepted his recommendation to give a chance to the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire, and thus provide an opportunity to stabilize the situation and calm it down before it became necessary to use even more force.

Netanyahu expressed his deep appreciation to the president’s support of Israel during the operation and his contribution to the Iron Dome system.

The prime minister reiterated that Israel will take all necessary steps to protect the citizens of Israel.

An Egyptian official confirmed to Reuters that a ceasefire agreement was reached between Palestinians, Israel. Israel has agreed to a truce in Gaza, but will not lift blockade: Israeli sources. (Reuters)

Hillary Clinton on Egyptian TV Wednesday Night

Secretary Clinton said on Egyptian television tonight: “The U.S. will work with partners across the region, improve conditions in Gaza, provide security for the people in Israel. Every step must move us towards a comprehensive peace for all the people in the region. Egypt is assuming responsibility and leadership of the region.”

Clinton made no mention of Hamas in her short speech, referring only to PA president Mahmoud Abbas.

The Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal has Egyptian “guarantees,” an Egyptian source close to the truce talks told Reuters.

An Egyptian source said the truce includes an end to “assassinations” and “incursions,” and will also ease movement of Palestinians in and out of Gaza. (Reuters)

The Ma’an news agency reports that Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri hailed the explosion in Tel Aviv this afternoon.

“Hamas blesses the attack in Tel Aviv and sees it as a natural response to the Israeli massacres…in Gaza,” he told Reuters. “Palestinian factions will resort to all means in order to protect our Palestinian civilians in the absence of a world effort to stop the Israeli aggression.”

Sweet cakes were handed out in celebration in Gaza’s main hospital, which has been inundated with wounded from the round-the-clock Israeli bombing and shelling.

“You opened the gates of hell on yourselves,” Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam brigades, said on Twitter. “Oh Zionists, you have to drag yourselves out of hell, go back home now, go back to Germany, Poland, Russia, America and anywhere else.”

The last time a bomb blast hit Israel’s commercial capital was in April 2006, when an Arab suicide bomber killed 11 people at a sandwich stand near the old central bus station.

Hamas Terrorists have fired at least four rockets at Tel Aviv over the past week, but they were not able to get any direct hits and caused no casualties.

Israel launched its air offensive with the goal of putting a stop all missile launches out of the Gaza Strip, which lies a little over 40 miles south of Tel Aviv. So far, despite a dense and relentless pounding by the Israeli air force, of targets that have been analyzed and picked over months, and despite the fact that many Hamas assets have been laid to ruin – the terrorists are still able to inflict pain on Israel’s civilian population.

As every army in modern history has learned, you can’t win wars from the air, or even with artillery from afar. Wars are won by infantry and armored units who move in and deny the enemy the freedom to continue operations.

Now pass me one of them sweet cakes.

A purported ceasefire went into effect between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday at mighnight, apparently negotiated by Egyptian officials, putting an end to IDF strikes on terror installations in Gaza in exchange for a halting of rocket fire from terrorists.

The Israeli government did not confirm the announcement.

Over 80 missiles were fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza on civilians in southern Israel on Wednesday.  Three foreign workers and two Israelis were injured, and eight houses suffered damage.

IDF retaliation resulted in the deaths of three terrorist operatives from Gaza who were in the process of launching further attacks on Israel.

According to reports on Army Radio, the ceasefire was initiated by Hamas, who made its interest in making an agreements known through Egyptian intermediaries.  Sources in the capital city of Jerusalem said they believe Hamas initiated contact due to severe Israeli damage inflicted on their terror centers.

The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha begins on Friday.

In August 2005, opponents of the forced withdrawal of Jewish residents from the Gaza communities of Gush Katif warned that Gaza would become a hotbed of terrorism if Israel relinquished sovereignty on the area.  Since then, over 8,000 rockets have been launched against civilian targets in Israel.