Day 1 of the unilateral ceasefire Israel embarked on in Gaza. We’ve already had Hamas firing rockets at the south, but that’s because this is an Israeli ceasefire, not something Hamas has signed onto. There is wide consensus that eventually, Israel and Hamas will clash again. The government’s aim in embarking on Operation Cast Lead was to bring quiet to the south for an extended period of time, and to deal with the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip, re. weaken Hamas in the long term by making sure they cannot rearm so heavily. Continue reading →