Security Nightmare: Will Gaza Fire 21 Rocket Salute During Sharon Funeral?

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 11 January 2014

In the coming day, the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be buried in a
ceremony attended by officials from around the world within easy range of
the bulk of the delivery systems now in place in the Gaza Strip.

This is thanks to the retreat from the Gaza Strip initiated by the late
prime minister that was followed by the "quiet for quiet" policy that limits
the response to Palestinian weapons development, manufacture and deployment
to their inclusion in the "tit for tat" attacks against locations in the
ever growing "target bank".

So here is the scenario:

The location of Ariel Sharon's future gravesite (he is to be buried next to
his wife) has been known for years.

The time of the funeral will be public knowledge.

The funeral itself will have live coverage.

A variety of groups have had all the time in the world to aim rockets
positioned in concealed launching positions across the Gaza Strip to strike
the funeral service.

Israel may even know about the rockets but under the "quiet for quiet"
formula, Israel's hands are tied.

Add to that: launching a strike to destroy the rockets now would not exactly
be warmly praised by the White House.

Best guess: Very stern threats and warnings will be passed to the Hamas
leadership regarding the consequences of such an attack - an attack that
Hamas will be held responsible for regardless of who actually launches the
attack.

It remains to be seen if this indeed will suffice.

There are players in Gaza who may believe that the prestige they may gain
from launching such an unprecedented high profile attack outweighs the
costs.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il Website: http://www.imra.org.il