Missiles strike at the heart

When a new war broke out last week between Israel and Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, many expected the same result as always, a resounding military victory by Israel.

The war began after a new barrage of missiles from Gaza, with 124 rockets in three days. Israel responded. It assassinated from the air Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari as he drove through Gaza City.

The Israelis would not have expected the response: 1500 missiles from Gaza in eight days, including Iranian-made Fajr missiles. But what rocked the Israeli public was that those missiles reached the outskirts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv has always been immune from the "Gaza problem", but this time the longer-range missiles meant that rather than the one million people in the south living in fear, about three million Israelis were going to sleep thinking about how they could get their families into their "safe rooms" within 15 seconds (if they lived near the border) or 105 seconds (if they lived in Tel Aviv).

While the eight-day war dealt Gaza a far worse death toll than Israel, Hamas has inflicted a serious psychological blow on Israel. Pictures of terrified Tel Avivians running from the beach emboldened Hamas.

Unlike the 2009 war, which Israel wanted to continue but US pressure curtailed, this time Israel wanted a quick end.

Not only did Hamas put fear into more Israelis but it received an unprecedented level of support from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar in particular.

Hamas's government spokesman Taher Nounou echoed the new confidence.

"Maybe we didn't kill a lot of people," he tells Inquirer, "but we sent the message: 'We are here, we can hurt you. We can send death to you if you send death to us.' "

After being on the outer for years, a pariah even to Arab countries, Hamas believes its time has come. Suddenly, powerbrokers want to make contact.

As Israelis received the news of the first bomb on a bus in Tel Aviv for six years, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an emergency visit. She could not talk to Hamas directly - the US, like Australia, lists it as a terrorist organisation - but she desperately wanted to convince it to stop firing.

She did this through Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood government, which was placed in the extraordinary position of being able to use its influence with Hamas to stop Israeli civilians being targeted.

Hamas suddenly has secured a seat at the table. Egypt, home to one-quarter of the Arab world, backed it. So did Turkey. So did Qatar, which is giving $US245 million ($235m) for new building projects, with more to come.

These are formidable allies.

"The difference now is not just rockets but a change in the political position of the Arab countries, particularly Egypt," says Nounou. "A second difference is that in the past Gaza was under Israeli threats. Now all Israeli cities are also under Palestinian threat.

"This is the first time for all Israelis to receive Palestinian rockets. This was a new message for Israelis. Israel was also surprised by the West Bank demonstrations. All the West Bank was supporting the resistance. This is a new thing."

IF you want to understand Gaza it's worth meeting Sameed Assaf. Assaf is 23, a waiter at Al Afih, a popular kebab restaurant. Recently married, he has a job and wants children.

This week he was one of six staff standing around; most Gazans were inside at home for fear of Israeli air strikes.

Assaf turned on the lights, then Al Quds, the Hamas television station. Over pictures of fighters, Hamas's words of hate flowed: "We will destroy Israel," the song said. "Death to Israel. Israel is the enemy of humanity."

We asked Assaf what he thought. "We must destroy Israel until they leave our land the whole of Palestine," he said.

Where should they go? "Where they came from: Britain, France, wherever. We want them to leave and we don't want anything to do with them."

Why wasn't he fighting himself? "I'm a family man. I have an old mother and a wife."

I said surely this madness of Hamas firing rockets and Israel responding with bombs that were killing scores of women and children could not go on.

His reply was shocking: "I hope to have children to sacrifice them for the Palestinian cause. We are sacrificing Gaza's children for the sake of God; it is not expensive."

Why would anyone want to sacrifice children? "This is our only chance to be close to God."

Had his imam told him all this? "No, this is from the Koran."

The contrast for me between Gaza and the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory, is staggering.

In travelling frequently into the West Bank across four years I have never heard words like that. Most West Bankers I've talked to accept that Israel as a state is here to stay.

On the Israeli side, there is a significant constituency who have given up on any solution. One of Israel's most powerful politicians, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, called for Israel to "send Gaza back to the Middle Ages".

One realises visiting Gaza that a central problem is its isolation - former French president Nicolas Sarkozy called it "the world's largest open-air prison". It is now an incubator for radicalism.

The killing of a family of 10, including four children, which Israel admitted was a mistake, has caused widespread anger.

When Inquirer visited the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, its director Raji Sourani began shouting with rage.

"The Israelis said we didn't target that home but the next one," he says. "A state is saying we didn't mean to kill this family, we meant to kill another family. I am an expert in international law and the fact they are saying that is confirming they are committing a war crime. They are confirming they are targeting families. There are babies, women and children; this is a civilian house and it is targeted and killed.

"I fear rage is awful, but what happened with that family outraged me. I document all these war crimes. I saw the corpses and I feel rage. This was a cold-blooded killing."

With a resurgent Hamas, Israel may have lost its chance to make an agreement with the moderate Palestinian Authority. The Netanyahu government has targeted, politically, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has repeatedly attacked his legitimacy.

He revealed what he claimed was a private conversation during the 2009 Gaza war in which Abbas urged Israel to keep bombing.

Recently Lieberman said Abbas was engaging in "diplomatic terror" by lobbying the UN for recognition.

Lieberman may have got what he wished for. Hamas's new confidence may have finished Abbas, who was irrelevant this week.

The way Palestinian moderates are speaking should alarm Israel. This week, democracy advocate Mustafa Barghouti ominously predicted the future would prove costly for Israel.

Speaking after joining Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at a rally in Gaza, he told Inquirer: "For 20 years Israel had the occupation free of charge, an occupation which evolved into a system of apartheid. No longer is this going to be free of charge. It is going to be costly."

Will that cost include violence? "It will be costly," he said.

We asked again: costly with violence? "Economically, politically, internationally."

After a pause, he added: "Every possible way."