The rocket attacks been ineffectual largely because Israel has been effective at defending against them. A significant part of that defense has been strikes against the rocket launching locations.
I don’t understand the idea that Israel is obligated morally to wait until after Hamas kills a lot of civilians before they can act. Isn’t it better to take out the tunnels before they are used, instead of waiting until after?
Regards,
Shodan
Like the world looks at Israel more favorably in any way when lots of Israeli civilians die?
Fisk just tweeted “what if it was 800 Israelis dead”? Well guess what, moron, in the so-called “second intifada” 1000+ Israeli civilians were killed. Did the world look at Israel more sympathetically? Did the world turn more anti-Palestinian? No? Then go to hell with your “what ifs”.
Hospitals where Hamas gathers up human shields? Power plants Hamas uses to to extort taxes that pay for terrorism?
Hamas needs to go down. Everyone but the Western media seems to think so. Western media is also obsessed with click-bait cat videos.
No, it’s for sure they wouldn’t.
Which I also don’t understand - why does Hamas win the PR war? Hamas is using human shields and directly attacking Israel. They are building tunnels and hiding their rocket launchers in schools and hospitals. And Israel has made all kinds of concessions. In return they get blamed because the Palestinians stonewall on negotiations.
Like I said before - Israel makes a concession and gives the Palestinians part of what they want - a moratorium on settlements in the West Bank. In return - they get nothing except a demand from the Palestinians that they be given the rest of what they want. Israel gives up land for peace. They give up the land, but they sure as hell don’t get the peace.
“Give me everything I ask for; then we can start negotiating” is not how you form an agreement that both sides can live with long-term.
Maybe Israel is making a mistake by making concessions and offers. That makes them appear reasonable. If Hamas makes it clear that they are not going to be reasonable, and will never offer anything in return, and the rest of the world wants peace, then the pressure is going always to be on Israel to continue to make concessions and not get anything in return.
Giving up land for peace is one thing. Giving up land for nothing is another.
Maybe the approach should be to take the settlements off the table. "Sorry, Hamas, you had a chance to negotiate and you declined. All the land with settlements on it is Israeli territory forever.
Let us know when you want to negotiate anything else."
Regards,
Shodan
Some people don’t like Jews.
Oh, the western media does not have any love for Hamas. They just don’t equate them with Palestinians.
It doesn’t? Ok - show me one news clip that shows actual Hamas fighters on the streets of Gaza. There are plenty showing Israelis. But if you only watched “western media”, you would get the idea that the Israeli soldiers are the only soldiers on those streets. You know - wantonly killing Palestinian civilians. It’s a wonder that 56 Israeli soldiers died in action. Probably all those “civilians” fighting them, right?
Maybe not, but the media sure do a good job of portraying Hamas just how Hamas likes it – sympathetically, without criticism, and devoid of pesky questions.
I see human interest stories about a hot Palestinian guy who just wants to run his fabulous Palestinian food restaurant if it weren’t for those pesky Israeli bombs.
I’m not seeing the sympathy. Hamas is generally acknowledged to be the ones that started the current conflict. I haven’t seen any mainstream media source say Israel started it. I haven’t seen any mainstream media source say it’s both sides’ fault that it started. There’s a general agreement that it’s Hamas that started it. But the numbers indicate that Israel is really giving Hamas a curb-stomping at this point. How many women and children does Israel have to kill to be satisfied?
Well, a curb stomping doesn’t always make the curb stomper the bad guy.
When the opponent is down and out and you’re just kicking him in the head a lot, don’t expect anyone to admire your heroism.
The opponent says “your nation must die.”
Commence curb stomping.
It sucks. It really does. NO ONE debates that.
Zero. Zero civilian casualties would be Israel’s ideal war.
If they keep hiding behind women & kids & keep shooting at me, I would keep killing until they quit shooting at me & mine or I finally killed all the bad guys behind the women & kids.
Me too… But I would never, ever, be “satisfied” with that kind of thing.
One is one too many. I just blame the people who use civilians as shields more than I blame the people shooting through those shields.
What was the line from Crimson Tide? War itself is the enemy.
Yeah…but two questions
a) How much damage are the mortar attacks doing in the meantime?
b) Hasn’t this been going on for what, 60 years? Two generations? How long range do you want?
c) Wasn’t the restoration of Japan / Germany after WW2 also pretty long range? how long did that take?
Hamas have offered terms for a ten year ceasefire. The Israelis refused to even negotiate.
All terms are clearly aimed at making life in the Gaza Strip more bearable, and include reinstating their industrial zone, allowing importation of things needed to run the power station, allowing fishing boats to go slightly further out to sea, although not even close to international waters, and releasing the political prisoners they released in the last armistice, and then rearrested while attempting to provoke the current crisis. And of course they want Israel to stop trying to destroy the Hamas/Fatah coalition. They’d also like the tanks to be moved back from the border so Gaza farmers can tend their fields safely.
There’s a revised proposal backed by France.