Charles Krauthammer explained the situation in the Middle East on Special Report tonight:
It’s one of the reasons that Hamas started this all in the first place. And they did with a barrage of 150 rockets, over several days before Israel retaliated. Why would they want to do that? Because Hamas’s strategic aim right now is to change — is to institutionalize the change in their relations, their power. Two sources of the power. Number one, the weaponry, the new weaponry. They can actually hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. They shot a rocket that landed outside of Jerusalem for the first time in 40 years that has happened. So their weaponry is now sophisticated. It’s stronger. But they also want to translate the new strategic relation by the change of the neighborhood. Turkey, which is a very strong pro-Israel ally for 60 years is now run by a moderate Islamist, who is extremely anti-Israel. He calls Israel a “terrorist state” today. Egypt is run by the Brotherhood, which as you know is the mother organization of Hamas, which is simply the Palestinian wing of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. And lastly, the Emir of Qatar dropped in a month ago and he left behind half a billion dollars. So there’s are an array of countries. What is Hamas trying to do? It wants to translate the increase in strength to new agreements. Its demands are now for the cease-fire that Israel agrees not to attack again, to allow Hamas to build up its weaponry, and to pledge not to hit any Hamas leaders. And not to hit in the future any Hamas weapons or missiles, which means it would have a truce, it never will have a peace. It will have a truce; it’s called a “hoodna.” During which they will become extremely strong, develop hundreds of thousands of rockets that can hit Israel. Can hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and put 80 percent of Israel under its rockets. Israel will never agree to that. That is slow suicide. So, as long as Hamas is demanding that the offensive will continue. And if it keeps demanding it, as we heard David Lee Miller report beyond a day or two, there will be a ground invasion.