[Sandwich]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cdb_1352961388

At least eight rockets were fired Thursday morning at Beersheba, which took the brunt of the 90 rockets Gaza hurled at Israel a day earlier following the assassination of Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari. Five rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, which is programmed to intercept rockets heading towards populated areas. The rest fell in open areas, causing no injuries or damage.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=israel+iron+dome%2C+today&lclk=today

Those sirens give me flashbacks to the (first) Gulf War.

[Sandwich]

Rocket just exploded in Tel-Aviv.

[chief1983]

Glad the dome works fairly well.  Hope this nonsense sorts itself out sooner than later.

[Sandwich]

I just got a call from a unit-mate from reserves. He was tasked with calling around to see who's in the country in case we get called up.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I ran across this on Facebook:

[Aardwolf]

Ok, now give one to the Palestinians.

* Aardwolf hides

[watsisname]

Just heard about this on the radio.  Tense times. :|

[Nemesis6]

I heard that in Kiryat Malachi, which is just outside Ashkelon, an apartment building was hit and three people were killed. It seems that sometimes the dome doesn't work, or maybe they're not covered?

[NGTM-1R]

I heard that in Kiryat Malachi, which is just outside Ashkelon, an apartment building was hit and three people were killed. It seems that sometimes the dome doesn't work, or maybe they're not covered?

System might have been saturated, or they might be trying to conserve for the most dangerous inbounds. There's been an awful lot of rockets launched in the last few days and I don't think Iron Dome was envisioned as being able to deal with hundreds of incoming rockets over a few days.

Or it's outside of coverage, yeah.

[Sandwich]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4305658,00.html

The victims of the Kiryat Malachi attacks didn't make it to the fortified stairwell in their building, which did not have a viable shelter. Two people were seriously injured in the blast, one boy was moderately hurt and two infants sustained light wounds. Several others suffered panic attacks. Another building in the city was directly hit, but no injuries were reported. Hamas' military wing accepted responsibility for the attacks.

Over 50 rockets were fired since morning, and the count climbed by the minute. Several were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system. One rocket hit the front yard of a home in Shaar Hanegev on Thursday afternoon. Another hit an open area in Ashkelon.
 
Earlier in the day, a rocket barrage targeted Ashdod, with one projectile hitting a home but failing to cause casualties. A school in Ofakim was also hit. Salvos targeted Beersheba, Ashkelon and Gan Yavne and other areas as well. Some of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

IDF Commissioner Yohanan Danino told Ynet that the tension in the south is expected to last for several days, and that the rocket fire is set to intensify. He said that despite Israel's advanced aerial defense and warning systems, civilian vigilance is of the essence.

EDIT: The video embedded in the article I linked to above is pretty incredible, showing about 14 rocket interceptions over a city within the space of 30 seconds.

[Mongoose]

Jeez...what an absolute cluster****.  Are you anywhere near here Sandwich, or more to the north?

[Grizzly]

Ok, now give one to the Palestinians.

* Aardwolf hides

* -Joshua- finds himself agreeing with this sentiment

How did this one escalate again?

[Flipside]

This one started a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

Thing is, both sides are trapped in an endless cycle, they are both waiting for the other to stop first. To be brutally honest, if both sides had exchanged trade, rather than ammunition when the Jewish state started, it'd probably be one of the most powerful blocs on the planet given their access to manpower, technology and resources. However, there are reasons, many, many reasons some sensible, some silly, but all adding up to an enormous cluster****.

[Sandwich]

Jeez...what an absolute cluster****.  Are you anywhere near here Sandwich, or more to the north?

It's Israel. We're the size of the state of New Jersey. I'm out of range of the rockets that have been lunched so far, which is to say, I'm exactly 41.7 miles east-northeast from the Gaza Strip.

This one started a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

Thing is, both sides are trapped in an endless cycle, they are both waiting for the other to stop first.

The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war.
     - Binyamin Netanyahu, 2006

[Mongoose]

Jeez...what an absolute cluster****.  Are you anywhere near here Sandwich, or more to the north?

It's Israel. We're the size of the state of New Jersey. I'm out of range of the rockets that have been lunched so far, which is to say, I'm exactly 41.7 miles east-northeast from the Gaza Strip.

Good point, though not exactly a comforting one.

I'm not even sure what to think about this current chain of events.  The continuous barrage of rockets that Hamas has been launching at civilian areas is just ridiculous, and Israel has every right to defend its citizenry from that.  But then you know that taking out a Hamas commander was going to provoke a huge reaction, because that's what always happens, and it's like...was that really the best move here?  Or was there any good move at all?

[Polpolion]

I'm not even sure what to think about this current chain of events.  The continuous barrage of rockets that Hamas has been launching at civilian areas is just ridiculous, and Israel has every right to defend its citizenry from that.  But then you know that taking out a Hamas commander was going to provoke a huge reaction, because that's what always happens, and it's like...was that really the best move here?  Or was there any good move at all?

It's these kinds of things that would stop me from running for office if I ever had the inclination, not that Native Americans are lobbing rockets at us anymore or anything. Iron Dome looks totally kick ass, though. Try not to explode, Sandwich.

[Black Wolf]

If there's a solution, it starts with the end of the Gaza blockade and the various other **** that the Israelis are always doing in Palestine. It's a lot harder to maintain a militant hatred of Israel if they aren't directly responsible for your nation's pereptually ****ed economy, and you're going to be a lot less willign to martyr yourself if you've got the kind of life that's worth living (i.e. not in constant poverty).

[Mongoose]

I agree that **** like continuing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is patently ridiculous, and I have little to no respect for Netanyahu in general because of his advocating policies like that.  (I guess what I'm really interested in is what the general opinion of him is at home.)  It's also true that the best way to combat extremism in general is to give people a standard of living that prevents that sort of lunacy from fermenting in the first place.  But honestly, there isn't any sort of unilateral action that's going to magically stop things at this point.  Even if Israel acquiesces to every common-sense demand on the table, you know there's a fringe element out there that would still continue their attacks, and then Israel would respond in turn, and then we'd be right back where we started.

[achtung]

One side is simply going to have to "win" some day. There is no other realistic alternative.

[karajorma]

One side is simply going to have to "win" some day. There is no other realistic alternative.

Maybe I'm channelling Nuke here but the complete destruction of both sides would also end it.

And frankly, it's the more likely of the two.

[Mongoose]

The cynical side of me feels like the only real solution might be to just yoink every single child out of there, and then let them grow up in a place where the centuries' worth of nonsense doesn't mean anything.  There are groups that work today to get Israeli and Palestinian kids to meet up and interact, for the purpose of letting them see that the other side is *GASP* just like them.  The problems only start after they go back home to the culture that produces the self-fulfilling cycle of hatred.  So just get them out of there, and tell the adults that they'll only be given back if everyone can get the hell over this bull****.  If they can manage that, great.  If not...well, you just let time take its toll, and either way, the conflict ends with that generation, and the next one gets a fresh start.

(Obviously this is by no means a reasonable or conscionable solution.)