Israel Tells The Appeasers To Shove It, It's Still On !

Great, great news! I have to admit...I was surprised that Israel did not opt for a 48 hour truce because that is what they have done so many times in the past 5 years- bent to world opinion. And it is pretty obvious what the main reason is for Israel continuing the barrage of air strikes against Hamas in Gaza - the new weapons that Hamas is now firing into southern Israel. Here's some of the details from Breitbart:

Israel rejected international pressure for a two-day cease-fire with Hamas and sent warplanes Wednesday to demolish smuggling tunnels that are the lifeline of Gaza's Islamic rulers.
The diplomatic efforts to forge a truce were set in motion by the scale of destruction in Gaza since Israel unleashed an offensive Saturday against Hamas militants firing barrages of rockets that are striking closer to the Israeli heartland than previous attacks.

And here's the section that deals with the real reason that Israel will not let up:

Underlying the Israeli decision to keep fighting are the more powerful weapons that Hamas has smuggled into Gaza through underground tunnels along the border with Egypt.
Previously militants relied on crude homemade rockets that could reach 12 miles north of Gaza to terrorize Israeli communities near the border. Now they are firing more accurate weapons manufactured in factories in China and Iran that have dramatically expanded their range and put more than one-tenth of Israel's population in their sights, Israeli defense officials say.
More than two dozens rockets and mortar shells were fired by midday Wednesday, including five that hit in and around the major southern city of Beersheba, 22 miles from Gaza. One hit an empty school. Another landed in a small farming community about 20 miles southeast of metropolitan Tel Aviv, the country's most populated urban area. No serious casualties were reported.

It appears that the Israelis just don't think they have taken out the network of smuggling tunnels that lead into Gaza from Egypt sufficiently and I see that as the final phase of this operation. I still don't think that a ground invasion is being planned. But all in all, this is fantastic news that Israel has finally, FINALLY stood up to the pali sympathizers in the world and decided to defend their people first.

Israel rejects truce call, attacks Gaza

Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed the idea of a two-day truce with his defense and foreign ministers overnight, but the trio decided to pursue the punishing aerial campaign.
Olmert told ministers Israel launched the operation to fundamentally change the situation in the south, and would not leave the job half done with a unilateral cease-fire.
"If conditions ripen to the point that we assess they promise a safer existence in southern Israel, we will consider it. We're not they're yet," Olmert said, according to a participant in the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.
The chief of Israel's internal security services, Yuval Diskin, told Cabinet ministers that Hamas' ability to rule had been "badly impaired." Weapons development facilities have been "completely wiped out," and the network of smuggling tunnels has been badly damaged, a participant in the meeting quoted Diskin as saying. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed to the media.
Underlying the Israeli decision to keep fighting are the more powerful weapons that Hamas has smuggled into Gaza through underground tunnels along the border with Egypt.
Previously militants relied on crude homemade rockets that could reach 12 miles north of Gaza to terrorize Israeli communities near the border. Now they are firing more accurate weapons manufactured in factories in China and Iran that have dramatically expanded their range and put more than one-tenth of Israel's population in their sights, Israeli defense officials say.
More than two dozens rockets and mortar shells were fired by midday Wednesday, including five that hit in and around the major southern city of Beersheba, 22 miles from Gaza. One hit an empty school. Another landed in a small farming community about 20 miles southeast of metropolitan Tel Aviv, the country's most populated urban area. No serious casualties were reported.
Before the latest offensive, rockets had only occasionally landed around Ashkelon, a coastal city of 120,000 located 11 miles north of Gaza. Over the past few days, a raft of new targets have come under fire including Ashdod, Israel's largest southern city with a population of 207,000 located 23 miles north of Gaza. Beersheba, with 186,000, is the second-largest city in southern Israel.
School was canceled in large swaths of Israel's south because of the rocket threat. The 18,000 students at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, southern Israel's only university, were also told to stay home.
Early Wednesday, Israeli aircraft pounded smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border in another attempt to sever the lifeline that keeps Hamas in power by supplying weapons, food and fuel.
Israel and Egypt blockaded Gaza after Hamas violently seized control of the territory in June 2007, and have cracked open their borders only to let in limited amounts of humanitarian aid.
A huge explosion rocked a tunnel that housed a fuel pipeline, and aircraft also smashed the house of a smuggling kingpin. In all, two tunnels were destroyed in the raid, Egyptian security officials in Rafah said.
An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Israel has destroyed 120 tunnels since the aerial campaign began. According to conservative estimates, there were at least 200 tunnels before Israeli warplanes began striking.