Israel struck a Hamas administration building with an air strike among other air raids aimed at vehicles. Israel claims all targeted were terrorists, but Hamas claims one of the vehicles hit was a garbage truck carrying three civilians.

If the Hamas statement is true, it is certainly unfortunate. Due to the Israeli strike, Hamas has vowed to send in suicide bombers to strike, well, Israeli civilians.

But what has never stopped has been the nightly barrage of Qassam rockets and mortars into Israel. One rocket hit an Israeli school. Hamas may complain about three civilian deaths, but in this case Israel is only ‘guilty’ because they have more sound weapons. It’s not as if Hamas hasn’t tried in earnest to kill Israelis.

As has happened many times before, the Hamas strikes on Israel were the result of Hamas and Fatah fighting against each other.

Israel only acted after Hamas fired scores of qassam rockets across the Gaza perimeter mostly hitting the Israeli town of Sderot, injuring six people and causing hundreds of civilians to flee.

The Hamas barrage, the largest in months, appeared to be a cynical ploy to provoke an Israeli response. After days of fierce factional fighting with Fatah in which 41 Palestinians died, Hamas believed a tough Israeli response might force the two rival groups to overcome their differences and unite against a common enemy.

Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader exiled to Syria, reflected this thinking when, hours after Israel launched its retaliatory attacks, he heralded the “historic opportunity” for the two factions to join together.

The attempt to end the fighting between Hamas and Fatah by striking Israel makes sense considering Hamas blames Israel for the infighting anyways.