July 7, 2006:
The Palestinian terrorists now say they will free their Israeli captive if the Israelis promise to release some Palestinian prisoners in the future. Since some of these prisoners are released periodically anyway, this appears to be a possible way to resolve the situation. The terrorists could then claim that they got their "prisoner exchange," while the Israelis could point out that, for all practical purposes, no such thing happened. However, before this deal is carried out, too many of the Palestinian terrorists may realize that it's all form and no substance, and refuse to let it happen. After all, the terrorists European allies are, along with the Arab nations, trying to get a resolution through the UN, condemning the Israeli operations, with the hope of some kind of sanctions, or worse, to follow. At this point, this is the only kind of pressure the terrorists can apply. Militarily, Hamas and the terrorists are taking a beating, and must depend on others to extricate them from the mess they've gotten themselves into. Hamas knows how to play the victim card, and are doing it now. Many Europeans are conditioned to fall for this subterfuge, and respond by ignoring terrorist attacks, but calling any Israeli response, "aggression.". Fortunately for Israel, the Palestinians allies are basically cowards, more intent on appearing right, than doing right, and willing to offer words, not action, to their Palestinian protégés.
July 6, 2006: Israeli troops advanced farther into Gaza, in an attempt to shut down Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. So far, One Israeli and 22 Palestinians have died during a week of Israeli operations in Gaza.
July 5, 2006: Palestinians continued to fire rockets from Gaza, into nearby Israeli towns. In response to these attacks, Israeli troops moved into populated areas of Gaza, and increased air attacks on terrorist buildings in Gaza. The Palestinians have been launching some of the rockets from populated areas, using civilians as a shield from Israeli artillery fire.
July 4, 2006: Palestinian terrorists fired Kassam rockets from northern Gaza, with at least one landing outside a school in the Israeli town of Ashkelon, nearly ten kilometers away.