HAMAS = AL QAIDA. The world must understand this. You do not sign a cease-fire with Al Qaida, do you? So, stop forcing Israel to cut military operations short of their goals. The U.S. would never do this, so why should Israel? This war is ON THE BORDER and not 5000 miles away!!!

Let Israeli leaders, at the head of the planet’s most powerful war machine, be tried before an international court of justice for conducting a savage air war on unarmed civilians in Gaza. The mindless dumb rockets of Hamas are as slingshots compared to the killing power of the Israeli “Defence” Force.

There is no need to enter Gaza, I can tell you the sights are not nice, but this is war and the Palestinians should have thought about it before they attacked Israel.
Israel’s response shouldn’t be propotional, it should be as strong as possible. Israel’s mistake was to let this situation exist for so long. If each missile the Palestinians fired was answered with this kind of an attack, this would have never happened.
I’m sad civilians get hurt, but when civilians continue to let terrorists fire from their territory they are no longer civilians.

I for one am glad to see these airstrikes. They have been a long time coming. For too long Hamas has been launching countless rockets into Israel and gone unanswered. For years now Israilis have been injured and killed by these cowards and anytime Israel tries to do anything about it somebody screams foul. For a long time now Israel has been a big dog in a cage and all these Islamic states have been poking at it with sticks. Guess what, the door is open and the big dog is going to bite. I hope Israel bombs Hamas into dust and they are never able to recover. Good riddance.

Tom: you may have your opinion but please, do not call Gaza’s people coward. They are amongst the most courageous in the history of humanity. I should add that I also do not agree with Hamas but not everybody in Gaza belongs to them. There are plenty of innocent children
being pushed to Hamas by the bombings and killings.

What Israel is doing is barbaric and an act of terror.First they blocade GAZA and then bomb it.Isreal would achieve nothing except more hatred and mistrust.Better for both sides to sit and solve their problems amicably.Bombing and show of might cannot save Israel,but, serious and sincere talks can.Hope Israel is listening.

We need to know the history first before judging. Israel occupied the land. People are trying to defend themselves. The world is giving power and weapons to Israel and potting a siege around the Palestinians. Palestinians are denied from food, medicine and fuel. At the end, they are questioned if they defend themselves. What’s happening is murder and some are trying to justify it.

First off this isn’t a “war” and neither is it an “occupation” . Bottom line is Hamas is a terrorist organization. If they want peace, then start by recognizing the state of Israel. They can’t even do that. If they want peace stop firing rockets at civilians and then being a bunch of cowards and hiding behind children and women. I am pleased to see Israel finally take action – against terrorists and those who hide and support the terrorist. Israel gave the Palestinians the land and look what they did, voted a terrorist organization as their government and leaders, let them launch missiles randomly and without a real cause at innocent civilians. I use to support the Palestinians, but after looking at the terrorist organization they voted in to govern, and how they have wasted the chances they had to prove they can govern just a small piece of land I no longer think they deserve my support nor that of the international community. Innocent people are dying not because of Israel or the US, but because of the leadership and government the Palestinians have chosen – Hamas. For god sake Palestinian People – WAKE UP, GET REAL, and stand up to Hamas. The majority of you hide behind these terrible men and no longer stand up for what you know is right. The Palestinians who are the heroes aren’t the idiots killing innocent lives and civilians, it’s those of you with the courage to stand up and call Hamas and those that follow them for what they really are, a bunch of terrorists who believe killing civilians is martyrdom, when all it is cowardice.

Hassan, just substitute the word Hamas instead of Israel and you get the real story. By the way, the blockade did not come first. It was the response to rockets and the Hamas violent take-over of Gaza.

Youry, history did not begin in 1967, 1948, 1917 or the end of the 19th century.

The situation is tragic on both sides of the border however Israel is working their hardest to prevent civilian casualties on both sides whereas Hamas is trying their hardest to cause the maximum number of casualties on both sides. Yet there are people who still think Hamas is innocent.

Historically speaking, Jews were the first ones in Palestine. Then in succession came the Romans, Byzantines (Eastern Roman Empire), the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Arabs again, the Mamelouks, the Ottoman Turks, and finally the British (under League of Nations Mandate).
When the British pulled out in 1948, there was the First Israeli-Arab war and Israel was born out of its victory.
If we go by seniority, Jews get the bigger piece of the pie but but one cannot ignore the rights of the peoples that came afterwards…there should be some compromise.
What a mess!!
Both sides are so intolerant that I can’t see a peaceful solution to this.
To have a peaceful solution all sides must want it; obviously Hamas does not.

I forgot to mention that – with the exception of the trasition between Roman and Byzantine (the latter merely a continuation of Rome after the empire split in two in IV AD, but now with more Greek than Latin character) – all the other “occupiers” of the land now known as Palestine arrived and conquered by brute force.

Isreal has the better farm land, water, medical supplies, religous sites there people live in safety and has never feel hunger but this is what they force the inocent Plastinian to face on a dail basis. Isreal when I see what you do to these people I wonder, how can God allow you to continue with this, but just as Obama has changed the world view of black people so shall the Arabs join together and punish you for what you are doing.
I feel Isreal use the Plastinian people as target practice for there weapons.
Palastine should join with Iran and and get stronger rockets to let Isreal feel real power.
Isreal is a clear Bully!!
Death to Isreal!!!

Morice

I am very disappointed with the way Israel is terrorizing Gaza these days. From past experience, this is what I believe will take place in 2009…

1. The stated “goal” of showing the Palestinians their “mistake” in supporting Hamas (after a democratic election pushed by the US that could teach them a lesson on how elections should be carried out) will not work. Palestinians will more than ever blame Israel and the US for their situation.

2. Hamas will not disappear. It will become stronger. The families of those wounded and killed will produce more members and more leaders for that organization, with even more hatred of Israel and the US.

3. Israel will suffer the consequences of enraging their Arab neighbors, who for quite some time have been trying to work with them, within the limitations of their relationships with other entities, to bring about some kind of peaceful solution to at least coexist. Channels of communication will disappear, and the citizens of Israel will be less secure in 2009 than they were in 2008.

4. The reputation of the Israeli armed forces as cowardly terrorists who indiscriminately kill hundreds of civilians at a time without batting an eyelash will become more widespread and ingrained in the minds of billions of people, deserved or not.

5. Israel will be unable to maintain a working relationship with Mahmoud Abbas. If anything, Abbas will become a prime target. He will be lucky to survive 2009, and if he doesn’t, it will set back the peace process for years, if not decades.

6. The retribution cycle will get worse. More innocent people will die in the idiotic tit-for-tat.

The reality is this: Israel broke the cease-fire over 1,000 times in the last six months. So far it has killed over 350 people, mostly civilians, including four young sisters cowering in a room, ages 4-17. A few months ago the IDF murdered over 1,000 innocent men, women and children in Lebanon, and left the place littered with unexploded cluster bombs as they crawled away with their tails between their collective legs. Its been the occupying force in the territories for 41 years. With its partner, the US, it called for democratic elections for the Palestinians, but since the Palestinians did not democratically pick the candidates Israel and the US wanted, Israel imposes a siege and starts strangling the Gaza strip.

And you people think more violence is the solution?

John Doe, there is a major difference between this conflict and previous ones with Israel. Not all the Arab governments are supporting Hamas. Some even blame Hamas, rightfully, for breaking the conflict. This division may actually produce a change in future negotiations between the Arabs and Israel.

Israel did not break the cease-fire. Rockets were fired into Israel 5 times in the first week and many more throughout the 6 months.

The majority of Gazans killed have been Hamas, not innocent civilians. Israel targets Hamas terrorists and weapons, at the same time warning the occupants of the buildings to vacate beforehand. Hamas prefer to remain inside and prevent others from exiting.

Hamas deliberately aims their rockets towards civilian populated areas in Israel. Nothing justifies that.

Perhaps the only way to resolve the Gaza issue is for both sides to agree to a complete enduring ceasefire, with the proviso that should a single Hamas missile land in Israel, the Israelis will carry out blanket bombing of Gaza until it is completely flattened. This surely would be a sufficient deterrent against random attacks by Hamas.

I am so tired of the Arab-Muslim double talk. Not only have they cried Kill the Israeli for years, but my memory is good enough to remember the news clips of children being trained with weapons and chanting Kill the Jews. The world punished Germany for years, for what was given birth by the unjust ending of World War I, but Palestinians and people like the leader of Iran openly prepare and call for the complete elimination of Israel. And who is it that kills the voice of any Arab- Muslim who dare even try to work towards peace. Keep in mind that these young people have been raised to hate the Jew, the American, the European, or any Muslim that does not agree with them.

Well said JimD. There can be no doubt that the vast majority of conflicts are Muslim inspired e.g. Gaza, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kosovo, Bosnia, Darfur, Somalia etc etc. It is unquestionably the spreading tentacles of Islam and the rest of the world needs to stand up against it or risk being totally swamped.

Israel has the right to defend herself from Hamas. However, what we can see is more then self-defence; it’s a ethnic cleansing.

For long time Palestinian do not have its rights respected. They cannot work properly, they cannot have its own power electricity, they do not have its own water, etc. Israel has been depriving Palestinian people of those basic rights earlier than when Hamas took power.
What impress me is the fact that Jews had those rights cut during the Second Word War and now they are doing the same to Palestinian. The excuse used to act in this way it’s the same: they are terrorists and with them there’s no dialogue.

If they consider Hamas a terrorist group, they should fight only against Hamas and not against all Palestinian as they have been doing. It’s ironic to see leaflets being dropped by IDF over Gaza with messages to Palestinian people run away because the offensive is just beginning. Where should they go? They are not allowed to get out of its own city without getting Israeli permission!
It’s really ironic!

We also watched Mr. Olmert saying that Palestinians are not the aim. As he had said, “as well as Israelis, Palestinian are victims of Hamas”. Here we can see that this sentence was built by aiming to put Palestinians against Hamas – and not against Israel. It’s another hypocritical message to show an excuse to this war.

I can just imagine that it’s maybe horrible to live with fear of getting rockets over your house for almost eight years. Nevertheless, Israel has one of the most powerful secret service in the world – the Mossad – and they could have used it to put an end to this launching (at last, Israel have control of the whole Gaza!).

Let’s be impartial.
Israel has the right of defending herself against all sort of terrorist attack, period. However Palestinian has the right of living like human beings, with dignity – and not in ghettoes.

What will this strike on Gaza achieve?
More terrorist attacks around the world!
The most they kill each other, the most hatred flourish inside those eternal enemies.
They fear peace. They always will fight each other. The only word that is well-known by both of them are ‘hatred’.

Andrea, the Jews were not the first in Palestine there were other tribes before them. Also the first Jewish Arab war in the 20th century came about after Ben Gurion announced the creation of the state of Israel.
@Miriam, my apology for being ignorant, but since Gaza is one of the highest populated area in the world, if not the most populated area, where do you suggest the civilians should go? Especially since the border crossings are closed?

Fact is that the Jewish people did what everyone else did thousands of years ago, they entered a region which was not theirs, but they were stronger than the local tribes and therefore they won the land for a few hundred years, in which during the same time the Jewish people had a few civil wars themselves. So kind of looks like history is coming back but this time the Palestinians want the land (”back”) and they had their own civil “war”. Seems like this is how the Semite tribes are.
Another point we talk about democracy but the west did not like the results in Palestine. So they called Hamas a terrorist organization. Nobody really wants to talk to them, but Hamas should accept some pre conditions first. So if Hamas has been legally elected in a proper democratic election, which they have, the current conflict is legally a war. Who started it is makes no difference and it also can probably not be answered.
So I agree with the fact that Hamas in this present war started with the rocket attacks and Israel responded. I do not believe that moving into Gaza is a smart thing, but it is also unavoidable should Israel really want to destroy the military wing of Hamas, which seems to be the IDF’s main goal.
The question is, is the Israeli public ready for more body bags from their soldiers?
The issue of Hamas using civilian targets as a shield is true, but at the same time unavoidable. Gaza as mentioned earlier is one of the most, if not even the most populated area in the world per square kilometer. So since this is the case no matter where Hamas military would have their bases, hideouts warehouses etc. Civilians will be the victims.

There is not winner in this war only loser. All are guilty, nobody is innocent. Hard to believe it is true. Those who are watching on the sideline are doing nothing to stop this, therefore guilty for just sitting and waiting like sheep sent to the slaughter house, this is true for both sides.

The Israelis are arrogantly showing off their might and showing contempt towards world opinion by refusing to stop their unrestrained and savage assault on Gaza.

Their refusal to stop targetting civilians is not the conduct of a civilised people; but have more in common with the behaviour of barbarians such as Hitler, Genghis Khan, etc.

This is a one-sided conflict: home-made Qassam rockets which hardly killed any Israelis versus American-made high-tech weapons of mass destruction which the Israelis are using.

The current score: approximately 500 Palestinians killed (including children and women) versus 4 Israelis. This is not a conflict; more of an ethnic cleansing. I suggest that the names of those killed in Gaza should be remembered alongside those butchered at Auschwitz, Dachau, Sobibor, etc.

I recall the story of David against Goliath. I pray that David (Palestinians) will prevail over the murderer Goliath. Amen

I find the refusal of the Israelis, to allow foreign news correspondents to cover this war, very strange, and more than a little sinister.

That is not the behaviour of someone who has noble motives.

Imagine, if you will, a population of unwanted people, rejected because of their religion, many of them refugees, crowded together in a small area. Imagine that they depend upon people who despise, and don’t want them, for every need, from electricity and running water, to access to cash. Imagine they are blockaded, and cannot leave the tiny area they have been ‘given’. If for some reason, the larger population doesn’t want to give them medical aid, or send in food, they have no choice. They do without. If the power is turned off, they are in the dark, with no heat. Above all, they are not permitted to leave, for any reason. They both fear and hate the larger soci ety, which has imprisoned them. Efforts at uprisings are invariably met with violence. They have no voice, no power, and a small underground resistance. All they share is their faith, and their oppression. They know that any day, the larger society, which does not want them, could decide to starve them to death, or just attack them.

No, I am not describing the Gaza Strip.

I am describing the Warsaw Ghetto, before it was emptied into trains, headed for the Nazi death camps.

How sick my Zionist father was, in 1980, when he realised what the Israeli government had become. I will never forget the way the blood drained from his face, in sheer horror. He, whose extended family had moved to Israel, many of whom had died at the hands of Nazis, saw the treatment of the Palestinians for what it was — and what it is. ‘Fascists’, he whispered, roughly. ‘They have become fascists’.

What kind of savages wage war upon people, whom they have imprisoned, so civilians cannot even flee?

Darfuris have more freedom.

Zimbabweans have more freedom.

The Congolese have more freedom.

There is genocide occurring in Darfur, in Zimbabwe, and in the Congo.

I don’t accept this nonsense about ‘we are making war on Hamas, not on the Palestinians’. Hamas are grass-roots members of the Palestinian society in Gaza. They have a military wing, which has been rebelling against the blockade, the starvation, the deprivation, the way Israel has held all the power over Gaza’s society, since they ‘ended’ the occupation.

I remember when so many countries did not ‘recognise’ Israel. Just because Israel does not ‘recognise’ Hamas, as the legitimate, elected government of the Gaza Strip, does not make them any less part of the society of Gaza. This ‘human shields’ crap is pure crap. In an area so small, and so densely populated, where nobody can leave, where the hell are Hamas supposed to be?

I have no problem with Jewish people. I am half-Jewish. I have a HUGE problem with Zionism. ‘Zion, regardless of the cost’ is the slogan I learnt, from my father. No. The ends do not justify the means.

You cannot call Hamas ‘terrorists’, and delegitimise them (and dehumanise them) that way… so their few pinpricks over the past few years (in protest of oppression, not out of the blue!) are somehow not comparable to Israeli military actions. The heavy-handedness of the Zionist invasion of Gaza is stunning. Denying Gaza medical care? What sort of savages pen up their enemy, and kill them with one hand, while pretending, with the other, that they care about the welfare of the ‘civilians’.

I don’t believe what I am seeing! This takes the concept of ’shooting fish in a barrel’ to new lows! Because of the USA’s carte blanche, no matter how much the rest of the world is horrified, the Zionist State will get away with anything, however criminal. They can do what they like, regardless of Geneva Conventions (which Israel never signed) nor any other accepted Rules of Engagement (which Israel may not have signed, either — or ignores with impunity).

How many Gazan deaths equal one Israeli death? I make it about 100:1, if that.

Why does anyone expect anything from the Arab States? They never lifted a finger to help Palestinian refugees, in the three generations since they became refugees. Why would they start helping these people, who have been living in Refugee Camps for 60 years, now?

The Arab States are colluding in this ethnic-cleansing, by their silence. They don’t care. They never have done.

To quote a very wise French priest, from Christiane Amanpour’s ‘Scream Bloody Murder’, ‘Countries are monsters, which do not care about human rights.’ Israel is being aided and abetted in its war-crimes, by the rest of the world, Muslim and non-Muslim.

Let’s be candid:

It isn’t a struggle against Hamas; it is a ethnic cleansing.

Why is Israel refusing to allow foreing journalists to report from Gaza? The answer is simple: they would see the killing of lots of innocents civilians, most of them children.

It may be time for the Middle East to be turned into a parking lot. Jews and Muslims fighting over land for a god that doesn’t exist. I say wipe them all out. Only then will there be peace.

Someone explain to me why Israel gets away with committing war crime after war crime, and breaking UN Resolutions, and ignoring International and Humanitarian Laws? Anyone who supports Israel’s actions should be labeled a terrorist. Hamas doesn’t target just anybody, they target people who are occupying their land. A nation has a right to defend itself from rockets. In this case, Israel is not your typical nation. They are an occuyping power, and it is the Palestinians that are trying to defend their land. Quit the BS and trying to make Israel look like the victim, please. This ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has been going on for more than half a century, and the United States is the only country that supports their every action, while the rest of the world condemns it.

The IDF and the Israeli cabinet are the true terrorists. The illegal occupiers of Palestine have shown their true nature and intent. If the UN does not sanction war crimes against the IDF and the state of Israel, then the UN should be completely dissolved due to its apparent irrelevance. For all those who feel the cowardly Israeli attack on civilians is justified, just for a moment put yourself in the position of someone whose land has been stolen and what little land they have is surrounded by tanks and IDF forces who constantly provoke confrontation. You can only kick a hungry dog so many times before he lashes out. The world can clearly see now that the IDF should be labeled an official terrorist organization due to the constant and repeated violations of UN policy.

There is one fair way for Israel to answer the rockets from Gaza: Stockpile the same type of rockets that Hamas is firing at Israel and return rockets one for one, tit for tat. The damage in Gaza would be many times greater than it would be in Israel and noone could say Israel was invading Gaza. Just returning fire.

When people are able to defend the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians by Israeli’s or stand back and do nothing… you really have to wonder what type of world we live in.

It appears that people’s idea of right and wrong have become skewed and based on hatred and revenge rather than true justice.

Israel should have grass roots campaign inside Gaza. They should give Palestinians hope for a better life other than militancy. Economic activity would have a trickle down effect on the populace. Give them hope, give them peace…make Hamas irrelevant.

The casualties the Palestinians have suffered is very alarming. It is time for the international community to come together and put an end to this naked aggression that will evoke hatred and cacophony in the middle east.

It’s war, and war is dirty. The best thing for both sides to do is to finish it quickly. There are no innocents in this conflict. It’s a battle for survival, so let’s not pretend that we care. If you truly do, let me throw out a few names: Darfur, Rwanda, Zimbabwe…need I say more?