The scale and ferocity of the onslaught on Gaza have been shocking, and the television images of civilian suffering wrench the heart. But however deplorable, Israel\u2019s resort to military means to silence the rockets of Hamas should have been no surprise. This war has been a long time in the making.<\/p>\n
Since Israel evacuated its soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip three years ago, Palestinian groups in Gaza have fired thousands of rudimentary rockets and mortar bombs across the border, killing very few people but disrupting normal life in a swathe of southern Israel. They fired almost 300 between December 19th, when Hamas ignored Egypt\u2019s entreaties and decided not to renew a six-month truce, and December 27th, when Israel started its bombing campaign….To that extent, Israel is right to say it was provoked.<\/p>\n