Palestinians fired eight Kassam rockets at the western Negev on Friday, all of which fell in open areas, causing no damage. In response, IDF artillery units intensively shelled northern Gaza sites identified as where the rockets originated.
This is precisely how the rocket attacks should be dealt with, even if launched from civilian areas. The message must be “you let the gunnies launch rockets from your neighborhood, expect return traffic”. This also makes it very difficult for the usual suspects to talk about “Israeli aggression” if the shelling is in direct response to attacks. Israel’s response to any request to stop the shelling should be “no rocket attacks, no shelling”. It’s not a policy that will immediately end the threat but one that I believe will pay off well in the long run.