When late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came up with the disengagement plan, which subsequently saw Israel pull out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, having razed the flourishing Israeli communities to the ground and redeployed along the international border, he was asked what would happen if the Palestinians continued firing rockets at civilians even after the eviction. “In that case,” Sharon replied, “I would demand that every rocket be met by heavy artillery fire.”
Sharon’s logic was simple. Once the territorial conflict was over and so was the occupation, firing rockets at civilian towns would be crossing a red line. Every rocket fired should be met with disproportionate force so as to make it clear that Israel would not tolerate a situation whereby one million citizens are being held hostage by a few terrorist organizations.