When Fatah ruled Gaza, Hamas fired Kassams and Fatah was helpless to stop them. Now that Hamas rules Gaza, Jihad fires Kassms and Hamas is helpless to stop them. I guess if Jihad rules Gaza then Al Kaida will fire the rockets.

They're making a good bet. They know that Israeli leaders only act out of selfish, narrow, short-sighted, self- interest. Our leaders have made it quite clear they will not defend their citizens if it means paying a political price. Hamas knows that the suckers who run this country will cave in to any demands, make any concessions, agree to any terms, rather than risk a military operation with political risks & consequences. So why shouldn't they push for more concessions? There is no truce since that implies a two-sided arrangement. We have a one-sided agreement - our politicians have declared a truce by themselves, a truce that only exists in their empty speeches. Hamas carries on as usual, manipulating our politicians with verbal references to this non-existent truce knowing they will jump at the bait. And, Hamas knows they have a few aces in their hand - this gov't. follows the dictates of other countries over the clear national interest. The US, the EU, the UN, Egypt & Jordan - their interests determine our foreign policy. And I shouldn't forget our moderate terrorist peace partner who might be ''weakened'' or threaten to cease the phoney negotiations because we act against Gaza. Hamas also knows that as soon as we take any action, the lunatic peace-creeps here in Israel will start jumping up & down, the mental midgets from all the NGO's will condemn us, the international media will jump on the anti-Israel band-wagon, the UN will condemn us, the cries of ''Palestinian suffering'' will spout from the mouths of all the bleeding-heart liberal brain-dead. Hamas knows our leaders are super-sensitive to the clamor raised by the hypocrites of the world who have ''adopted'' the Palestinian cause while over-looking Palestinian misbehavior & responsibility for their self-inflicted mess. Neither should it be over-looked that Hamas actually believes it's own propaganda - these people are lunatics motivated by a less-than-rational ideology. Articles like this distort reality by implying that if we only give in to Hamas' demands, some new truce will be possible. This is total rubbish. There is no truce - we are only setting the stage for another round of concessions & demands.

Ever note that whereas 150 people responded to your stories a year ago, 5 do now. Nobody believes that the Israeli government is much different from the lying US government, and also news in many papers are looking more daily like propoganda dept. of past and present governments, with Olmert, a criminal mind you....still gracing the face of papers as Prime Minister. Nobody in US believes him or trust Israeli government to speak with any degree of integrity or frankly many papers anymore. The BBC is just as reliable, sadly, and also has copy readers.

...then it will have to offer something in return. Namely recognizing previous Israeli/Palestinian agreements. Let us know that this is not procrastination, but a step to a permanent deal. Otherwise what is the point to delay the invasion.

Hamas is a blood-thristy terrorist gang that conquered Gaza by violence and now rules Gaza by force. Their genocidal desire is to annihilate Israel and to exterminate the Jewish people. Why Ynet would do a warm and fuzzy piece on Hamas is beyond belief. To humanize the monsters in Hamas endangers decent people everywhere. Let Al-Jazeera do their PR.

This is actually quite a good opinion piece, which reflects the reality on the ground, that I have experienced, much more accurately than the hysterical diatribe of Mr Miller. I must grant it to him: he manages to put an awful lot of prejudice against Hamas together in two sentences.

so what if they are firing mortars not rockets - would you be happy if Israel was shooting artillery not bombing? And one thing the "lull" did prove is that when Hamas wants quiet in Gaza there is quiet and when so when there isn't quiet it is because it doesn't want it. There are exactly two things that would kill Hamas's support dead in Gaza: 1) Execute the prisoners it wants for shalit. Make it clear that kidnappings result in the death of prisoners not their release, 2) Say "We tried pulling out but it didn't work", reoccupy Gaza start talking about rebuilding settlements. Make it clear the rocket fire is the reason the Israelis are back. Coupled with strikes on their leaders would take them back to the dark old days of 2003-2004 when they were in chaos and barely able to operate.

it is not a game but it is a war . your post may be written after doing and good results but if it is before as a decision israil will get the same results of 2nd lebanon war and may be worse

It makes no difference what Israel does. Status quo= hamas fires rockets while world condemns Israel. Pullouts, gestures, money & prisoner releases = hamas fires rockets while world condemns Israel Go into Gaza and deal with these morons = hamas fires rockets while world condemns Israel. There is only one solution. Go in there and put down every single one of them -permanently- and stop participating in the farce in NY called UN. ( I think UN actually means "Unbelievable Naivete" but not totally sure)

Israel is the one who treats it like a game. We are at war and should act accordingly, the government of Israel should have exactly two goals: 1) Securing the state of Israel THEN 2) minimising Israeli and IDF casualties Full stop. There is no point with this "we try not to hit 'non-involved' people". Firstly no one believes us - ask Mr Alofs. Secondly, it risks Israeli lives for no reason. Finally, it is immoral because it means that Hamas, Hizbollah and et al put ALL of their equipment in civilian areas which means there are MORE civilian casualties than if you made it clear that you will bomb anything anywhere if it is a target. As soon as Israel says we are not planning to stay, we will pull out then Hamas has won. They just need one guy and one rocket and they fire that and claim victory.