How Clumsy, Inaccurate Gaza Rockets Could Start a War

I agree, there is a very big disparity in numbers.

Let me just give the reason why this disparity does not matter in the eyes of Israel (I am not saying that civilian deaths at Israel's hands are good things, - they are tragic and sad. Just trying to provide perspective to what Israelis think):

• We have the right to defend ourselves. If they didn't fire missiles at us, we wouldn't fire back
• We don't aim for their civilians. Their civilian deaths are accidents. They aim for us and try to kill us

Beyond this, in Israel right now there is basically a feeling of shell-shock. People are tired of the bombardment, of the constant threat of war and attack, of the terrorist threats and of the rockets. They just want it to stop. It has been nearly sixty years already. Add this to the fact that the Qassam missiles, however inefficient they are, have basically ruined day-to-day life in an Israeli city (schools are canceled, people run to bomb shelters a few times every day, any house or business is a target, a direct hit will kill people), and there is very little sympathy for people who are on the receiving end of Israeli retribution. People who are caught in the cross-fire receive sympathy, but more of the "I am sorry that it had to happen this way, but you started it and you can end it" type of sympathy, rather than the "we have to stop firing back because it kills innocent civilians" sympathy.

So in the context of this article, regarding how the Qassams can start an all out war, I agree with the placement of that statistic at the end of the article.

Case in point: Kassam hits school at 6am this morning, damages fire polls.

True, there were no Israeli casualties. Another miracle: it hit the school building an hour or two before the kid would begin to arrive (there is school on Sundays in Israel).

However, all of the residents of the city heard the air-raid warning. Most are too scared to send their children to school. They are terrorized and upset. For them it does not matter what the relative casualty counts are. They want it to stop, and they don't care how. And most of Israel is on their side.