Kassam rocket strikes hothouses in Netiv Haasara (Photo: Edi Israel)

A Qassam rocket launched from Gaza hit a greenhouse to the north, killing 30 year old Manee Singueanphon, a Thai foreign worker employed in Israel. While a warning alarm known as a “Color Red” alert was sounded, Mr. Singueanphon was killed before he could make it to the community shelter. This was the third rocket barrage fired by Hamas in the last 24 hours, coming at a time when Israeli leadership is preparing for proximity talks with the Palestinians under U.S mediation.

“While Israel continues to extend its hand in peace, the other side not only refuses to come to the negotiating table, but continues to incite recklessly against Israel,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon

After years of bloodshed and tragic deaths on both sides, the time has come to negotiate a peace. Hamas, which took control of Gaza following Israel’s withdrawal in 2005, is making it quite clear who the real war criminals are. In contrast to Israel’s tactics for a solution to the conflict which include negotiations without preconditions, the other side chooses random, indiscriminate attacks whose goal is solely to claim innocent lives.

Officials in Israel are pointing their finger at the Goldstone Report, which by condemning Israel sent a message of support to the terrorists whose rockets torment the south of Israel. “The Goldstone Report provides legitimacy and propulsion for terrorism and is immoral and unprofessional. With or without the report, Israel will continue to defend its citizens,” said Ayalon.

With that said, Israel will continue to stand strong in the face of terror and will not allow Hamas to stand as a wedge between the Israeli and Palestinian hopes for a two state solution. Hamas’ stranglehold in Gaza is bolstered by the conflict, and it is in its leaders intentions to prolong it.  Hamas’ actions are still the voice of the minority, and Israel will not them drown out the voices of those who wish for a lasting peace.

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Sometimes, friends disagree.  By no means does that disagreement mean an end of a friendship or an increase in tension.

Photo: GPO

As Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, stated in his op-ed in the New York Times on March 18, 2010, “Israel and America enjoy a deep and multi-layered friendship, but even the closest allies can sometimes disagree. Such a disagreement began last week during Vice President Joseph Biden’s visit to Israel, when a mid-level official in the Interior Ministry announced an interim planning phase in the expansion of Ramat Shlomo, a northern Jerusalem neighborhood. While this discord was unfortunate, it was not a historic low point in United States-Israel relations.”

To read Ambassador Oren’s complete op-ed, click here.

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