‘Right of the strongest/fittest’. In reality also America, Europe, Russia, China, Iran, etc don’t care about international law. They follow their own political interests. A Hamas rocket killed an Arabic worker last time by the way.

Enough with sacrificing the Palestinian people. We had enough. I am saying this out of my high sense of responsibility for my people. I am not against Hamas. Hamas like all the Palestinian factions have the right to fight the occupation. But we need to think before we fight. Are we ready? What have we prepared? Do we have weapons strong enough to win the battle with Israel? What have we prepared to protect the people? Or do we want sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice and then lose like we have always lost.

This is exactly what I have been thinking the entire time when looking at this conflict. Hamas doesn’t seem to think before it launches attacks against Israel, it knows Israel is going to respond and it is going to be a huge response, all they had to do was look at what Israel did to lebanon. Of course Israel should know better then to launch such attacks but its Israel. Hamas knows that before hand that when it launches attacks that it is only going to tighten Israels grip around gaza not weaken it.

Too be honest I have no sympathy for Hamas nor do I have sympathy for Israel. I have sympathy for the civilians of either side but both governments in this conflict are too dumb. Does Hamas really think it can force/win the issue militarily even if the US was to stop supplying Israel with military aid? Does Israel really think that by building settlements and blocking off access to gaza they will eventually be able to force the palestinians to give up?

This is what I do not understand: What agreement would be acceptable to the Palestinian people in order to live in peace? It seems to me that there have been many offers but none accepted. With Hamas, perhaps I missed it, but I have never ever heard any statement of hope for peace with Israel, only threats to wipe Israel out and to kill the Jewish people. Terrorism is not a proper way to fight oppression if the Palestinian people feel that they are oppressed. It targets innocent people. How do you feel about Hamas? It has not been long since Hamas members machine gunned to death the children of a Fatah member and threw Fatah members from the rooftops, the murders of some Fatah men occurred as they pleaded for their lives. Hamas is seen as a terrorist organization because of its actions. If an organization targets others with bombs and rockets, they can expect a response at some point. I believe that you and I would both like to see an end of violence. I cannot think of a country that would allow constant rockets to be shot at them. Things are just drastic now, and I wonder: Is there any hope for peace? What can be done to achieve peace? When Israel left Gaza, was that not seen as a step toward peace? Certainly, most Israelis on the street were hopeful that it would lead to peaceful relationships with their neighbors and the establishment of a state for the Palestinian people. I will end by saying that I hope that you and your family—as well as all innocent Palestinian people will stay safe. I hope that my comments and questions have not caused offense, Respectfully, L.

Did anyone listen to ‘All Things Considered’ on NPR today? They had a Hamas official speak. Here is what he said, “This has nothing to do with rockets because there are no rockets fired.” He later goes on to say that it is collaborators asked by Israel to fire rockets from Gaza.

Here is the link and judge for yourself.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98593877

I have seen Obama’s quote that he would do everything in his power to stop rockets from coming into the place where his daughters sleep but I wonder under what conditions he would accept his daughters being subjugated by occupiers/colonizers. If there are any then he should be barred from taking office. And if there are none then what excuses does he have to accept that happening to someone else. Any person that excuses occupation/colonization has a spurious and corrupt humanity.
Israelis have occupied the Palestinians’ land for decades, denying them the vote and common human rights on the basis of race, religion and national origin. Recently they have embargoed the Palestinians and tried to annul their election for selecting for themselves people that would fight for their human rights instead of kowtowing to the whims of occupying squatters.
Of course we know the psychopaths Bush and Blair will probably expedite the shipment of cluster bombs to Israel to use on civilian population centers like they did with Israel’s attacks on the population of Lebanon.
If you support Israel then may your children and your children’s children suffer under occupiers as heartless as Bush, Blair and the Israelis.

Cjacks, I cannot agree. The land was to be divided in 1948 between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and at that point the conflict that has never ended had its beginning. It’s time for these two adversaries to find a way to compromise and to have peace. I don’t like violence at all. Israel is targeting Hamas weapons caches and the Hamas members as targets, and they are trying to avoid hitting civilians. In contrast, Hamas has been targeting civilians, particularly shooting rockets during the time when children would be coming home from school, bombing cafes, buses and other areas where their only victims would be civilians. There is not unity between Hamas and Fatah. Not long ago Hamas murdered Fatah members (including their children) in Gaza as they seized power. Violence is a way of life for them apparently. I can understand why Israel finally had enough. The wonder is that they showed restraint for so long. No other country in the world would have tolerated it. There have been many offers made to the Palestinian leadership over the years but on the Palestinian side there seemed to be no willing to compromise, even when offers to assist them in establishing their own state were generous. I can only conclude that they do not want peace with the Israelis in any form and that they prefer to try to destroy Israel and all its people. You say that you wish that those of us that disagree with you harm, that “our children and our children’s children may suffer”. I cannot wish that on you or on anyone. My hope is that some agreement may be found to allow these two very different groups of people to live in peace and safety. This is how I see things.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98794206

Here is the correct link sorry.

It’s funny that it’s always just Israel that “had enough,” even though they are living in bliss compared to what Palestinians must suffer through every single day. You don’t believe that they too had enough?

No other country in the world would have tolerated it.

If you’re talking about the occupation then this would be right. No other country in the world would tolerate being occupied, denied the most basic freedoms and brutally attacked without the slightest consideration for international law and human rights.

I cannot wish that on you or on anyone.

You don’t have to wish this suffering on anyone, but you should realize that this is the reality of Gazans right now.

Why has the truce been throne away?
Who started the violation of the truce?
If it is Harmas why are they not intested in peace matters?
If Israel is attacked wont they defend themselves?
Is there someone who can help with answers?
May God Almighty help
Lord God may you come through for your people.
Have mercy.

Esra, I agree that things are very terrible for the people of Gaza. Why, then, did they not accept the recent offer from Israel that met most of their demands for peace and the additional offer from Israel to give land to connect Gaza and the West Bank. I have friends from the West Bank who tell me that the people in Gaza are different from those in the West Bank, extremists, and that they themselves are afraid of their brand of extremism (Hamas). I listen carefully for any signs at all that Hamas might become a peace partner. If a group is not willing to talk and say some fairly basic things peacefully, and to stop saying aggressive things (we will destroy you), then there is not even the smallest hope for peace.Why when Israel left Gaza, was there an immediate reaction of violence (suicide bombings, rockets) and no talk of peace? I think that would have been the time to begin to work seriously toward peace.
As for the suggestion from Hamas that Israel has had collaborators shooting rockets at Israel, this is insane gibberish. Hamas has made hundreds of statements claiming credit.
I have had so much hope that Abbas might be able to change things for the better for everyone, but he himself has been the target of assassination by Hamas. These has been by and large ruthless group (though I refuse to lump all people together as a group and condemn them). Until Hamas and Fatah sort things out between themselves, there can be no progress in Gaza.
I challenge you to make an honest appraisal of the behavior of Hamas, who has killed their own people, including children, who targets children, and who has made no one single overture toward peace. Compare the treatment of the prisoners that Hamas takes—they are tortured, mistreated, if not murdered. Listen to their words and look at their deeds.

Correction: This has been by and large a ruthless group…

No other country in the world would have shown such restraint.

This is by far the most repeated argument in favour of the war in Gaza, but in his excellent commentary on the Gaza war, Robert Fisk reminds us that it’s not quite true.

But when the IRA were firing mortars over the border into Northern Ireland, when their guerrillas were crossing from the Republic to attack police stations and Protestants, did Britain unleash the RAF on the Irish Republic? Did the RAF bomb churches and tankers and police stations and zap 300 civilians to teach the Irish a lesson? No, it did not. Because the world would have seen it as criminal behaviour. We didn’t want to lower ourselves to the IRA’s level.

The most sickening aspect of this war is how it’s obviously a political game, with the elections drawing nearer. Israel’s politicians are using the corpses of Palestinians and the rubble of destroyed homes, hospitals and mosques as stepping stones.

It’s truly preposterous to believe that by mowing down Gaza, Hamas would be brought to its knees or that extremism would be combated.

Congratulations, Israel! You’ve contributed to the creation of yet another grieving generation, who are quite likely to seek solace in radicalism.

My prayers and sympathies are with the people of Gaza.

The air force functioned, and is functioning, as it knows so well how to do – and unlike some of my colleagues, I will not conceal my enjoyment of the flames and smoke rising from Gaza that have poured from our television screens. The time has finally come for their bellies to quiver and for them to understand that there is a price for their bloody provocations against Israel.

This week, Barak quoted the French saying “war is war.” But a difficult decision still awaits him: What next? For all the success of the aerial operation, it is not clear that bombings alone can shut down Hamas’ growing ability to launch mortars at Israel’s home front. The air force is generally only the appetizer – the first course. But tasty as it is, it is not enough.

“Suffering” indeed.

I just came across a map from UNOSAT that:

“presents a preliminary situation of the reported attacks by Israeli and Hamas forces from 25-30 December 2008, within and surrounding the Gaza Strip. Damage locations have been taken exclusively from open media sources. Many recorded damage sites shown are approximate and may not represent all known incident locations.”