The IDF overnight bombed one Hamas military post in a belated and tepid response to at least three shooting attacks on soldiers patrolling at the security fence.
The latest shooting occurred on Sunday when several bullet holes smashed through the windshield of an Engineer Corps vehicle in southern Gaza. The soldiers were inside the car but miraculously were not wounded. On Friday, terrorists fired at an army vehicle securing the border.
The military finally decided to retaliate in the middle of the night early Monday morning and, according to the IDF, “launched an airstrike against a terrorist infrastructure belonging to Hamas in northern Gaza.”
The “retaliation” appears to be a message to Hamas that, in the words of the military, “The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm the security of IDF soldiers and the security of the citizens of Israel.”
As noted here on Sunday, it is easier to stage a tit-for-tat response against rocket attacks. The Air Force’s intelligence surveillance usually identifies the source of the launch and can quickly hit the area.
Shootings are a different matter, unless soldiers and return fire immediately. Since yesterday’s attack was in southern Gaza and the bombing of a solitary Hamas outpost was in northern Gaza, it is clear that the “retaliation” was a message and not a “proportional response.”