Day Four of the Gaza War, and we’re heading into Day 5 with some mixed feelings and a lot of questions.

The shine of the first two days’ heavy aerial bombardment of Gaza is rapidly wearing off with targets running out and Hamas resurgent. The IAF is still attacking rocket crews and tunnels, but increasingly it is bombing buildings it has already bombed previously, what is called “Real Estate Targets” here. For days we’ve been led to believe that IDF ground forces are poised to enter the fray.

But instead:

I’m seeing the IDF start a YouTube channel.

I hear the IDF is starting vlogs and blogs.

I’m seeing pictures of IDF tanks and soldiers massed all around the Gaza Strip – posing for pictures and looking as if they’re preparing for battle.

I’m seeing Israeli diplomats on twitter, SKY and FOX.

I’m seeing local and foreign correspondents broadcasting live pictures of Israeli battle formations from the Gaza border, an area that was on Monday decreed by the IDF as a closed military zone.

I see rockets as far as Beersheba and Kiryat Malachi, and Yavne. Yavne is not “in the south” of the country, it is very firmly in the center.

I see Israel sending in hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza – aid likely also going to Hamas fighters.

I hear talk of a 48 hour ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, which will likely lead to a negotiated ceasefire binding both Hamas and Israel, but at the same time Hamas has rebounded from the initial IAF shock and awe operation and firing rockets into central Israel.

What I don’t see is the IDF fighting. In fact I’m seeing the IDF do everything but fight. The IAF is doing the best it can, but as we learned in Lebanon, it cannot finish the job.

What I don’t see is Hamas fighters in their foxholes, or in camouflage waiting in ambush, or positioning snipers and mortar crews. Why? Because they’re doing it far away from the eyes of the media, quietly, secretly, the way it’s supposed to be done. Continue reading →