I do think of those ppl living in Gaza.. they get used as human shields. They don't get medical care b/c hamas won't let them.. I feel bad for those children that die .. but guess what.. I can't stand having to watch my kids like a hawk when Arab workers are around for fear that they will stab my child or myself. or that a tractor will willingly run me over.. The ppl of Sderot have been dealing with these rockets for YEARS and everybody is calling this a massacre just b/c we managed to kill in three days what they have done in a few years....

Hamas has no nuclear weapons,no airforce of F-16,s, F-15, Apache gunships,tanks,navy and dolphin nuclear submarines...as israel does... Hamas has water pipes cutup and filled with crude dynamite...these are not eaxcatly ICBM's=intercontinetel ballistic missiles...these are the weapons of the desperate bseiged Palestinians... 75 % rpt 75% of the Gaza population are refugees-those who were ethnically cleanesed by jewish terrorist gangs such as Hagnah,Palmac,Shtern and Irgun.. Like apartheid nuclear armed white south africa,isreal is a passing phenomenon and will vanish into oblivion...oppression and injustice are ultimately short-lived...

what hurts my brain is wondering why the people of palestine don't put and end to this? why mothers don't join together and say not another dead child? why they don't fight like hell for Hamas not to put rocket launchers near their children? why they don't drive off those that bring death to their families? This is what hurts my head. Nothing and I mean nothing is worth the life of my child.

as a response to the "intelligent" remarks made, comparing the nazi assault in britain, for instance, begs for logic. the two ARE NOT THE SAME: the nazis did not have their land taken by great britain. end of story. the fact that intelligent "policymakers" or journalists don't see this is beyond me.

One weakness of this article is it doesn t clearly give an explanation for why there is a "seige" or blocade of Gaza by Israel in the first place. Perhaps somebody can answer the question here why. I assume it revolves around security but, if that is the case, this article, and those defending Israel, need to make it clear. A lot of people in the world assume the worse, such as Israel is deliberately trying to hurt Palestinians by blocading Gaza (and that is the way Israel's enemies try to make it seem). You cannot assume comsumers of information know much about the situation because often they know little and they can be misled.

The number one root cause: 1) Why do you come, invade and push the palestinian people to the two crowded territory. What do you expect, give a flower to the people that done to you the same thing.

I am not a Jew, but I see that you are more biased than others that you think they are. Being a civilian doesn't mean anything because Hamas is actually using the civilian casualties to draw support from people who judges through their feelings without getting FIRST all the facts. It s about survival- if Israel lays down their arms even for just two hours they will be no more...something that on the flipside will not apply to the Arabs/Palestinians-- if you are thinking just as you pretend to be, you will know this is true.

thats right Isreal can do no wrong its all the palastenians fault they should be grateful that they were kept under occupation for so long and then the cease fire Isreal only tried to choke the life out of Gaza why would anyone mind t

I'm not Jewish and I think that war is a horrible thing. I hope the Israelis and the Palestinians overcome their feud and live peacefully. BUT, on the point of the Israeli blockade on the Palestinians...First of all, what about the Arab countries? I understand that there are MANY of them and they are swimming in money (oil money). Why don’t THEY help their brothers? Why does Israel have to do it? Second, if the Palestinians don’t have food and basic supplies and their life is restricted, how come they have rockets like water? Rockets cost money, they need fuel and, obviously, the Palestinians have food and electricity if they are able to produce them? Or is it that the Arab countries that give "aid" only in the form of rockets?

that land for ceturies belonged to paltinians, now israel ocupied those lands.

Our mainstream news in M'sia are deceiving us into believing Israel is committing a holocaust in Gaza.Thanks for the net we know the real news.I've pulled out my TV aerial & only watch DVDs.I don't understand why our media is so anti Israel.Hang in Israel!

1) Even if this was "planned", it doesn't take a genius to work out that sooner or later the "truce" with Hamas would end otherwise it would be "peace". And it is not a full-fledged offensive, full-fledged offensive by Israel using ALL it's might would have wiped Gaza off the face of the Earth in a couple of days. 2) So what? Qassams don't kill as many people because unlike Hamas and Hizbollah, our shelters aren't for "militants" and weapons but for civilians and we spent millions building systems to prevent Qassams killing people. Whereas Hamas has deliberately built their infrastructure in and around civilian areas. 3) Firstly, we must literally be the only nation on Earth that feeds and aids people whose goal is our destruction. I would like you to name a single other case where one country at war with another is the sole source for food and aid. Secondly, what you are saying is false. Rafah is controlled by Egypt, this has been shown over and over. They open it when they like and close it when they like. Finally, if Israel has such a iron grip then why is Hamas able to enter and leave Gaza at will? Why are weapons - note they are not smuggling food or medical supplies - able to enter at will? 4) Rockets were being fired at day one. There was NEVER a truce, Hamas NEVER kept up it's side of the bargain. The newspapers here were full of the violations, the fact our leaders only now decided to grow a spine is neither here nor there. Finally, what "fishermen" were killed? 5) This is Mr Walt's weakest point. Who cares if Hamas is "democratically elected"? All is shows is that the Palestinians want a government who is adamantly opposed to the existence of Israel. The Nazis were democratically elected that means the Poles shouldn't have fought when attacked in 1939? 6) Well the figure of 50 is from the UNWRA and to put it politely Ms AbuZaid is not exactly known for being biased on the Israeli side - in fact she has lied over and over on the Hamas side. Since when are Hamas policemen walking around with guns "civilians", you honestly think if they see an IDF soldier they won't shoot? But lets be generous, lets assume all 350 dead are civilians, if Israel really really was indifferent to civilian casualties that that would be the largest figure we could manage? On a personal note, I wouldn't bother with all this "avoiding civilians" effort, we get no credit for it, it means we don't kill the bad guys who hide behind women and children and we can't hit all the military targets we want because it might hurt people who were well-aware of the fact they are being used.

Awsom article!!! You said it straight. I appreciate a good read, this was it. I'm so tired of all the whinning about those poor souls, but little about the bombs coming into Israel. Oh I hate to see the innocent killed, I hate to see our soldiers killed by terrorists. That's what Hamas is, period! And why hasn't anybody got on the case of Egypt, for not opening borders? We all know why, Oil baby!!!

It is nice to know that you want to know facts. When Israel left Gaza, there was no blockade; in fact, they left all the greenhouses intact to start a Palestinian industry (which the Palestinians destroyed). The blockade started after Hamas took over with their mantra of "We shall destroy Israel". To thisd end they sent suicide bombers and rockets into Israel. If your next door neighbor was damaging your property, wouldn't you at least put up a fence?

Learn what really happened during the War of Independence in 1948 when six Arab countries plus Arab militias attacked Israel. Only by educating yourself will you learn that ethnic cleansing is a myth. You are one of the few posters on this site who refuses to acknowledge the brutality of Hamas and Israel's supreme restraint in dealing with thousands of terror attacks this year alone. You are also witnessing Hamas place Palestinians in harms way while they continue the missile attacks against Israel. You would like to see Israel disappear just like the Iranian Regime and enjoy distorting the truth at Israel's expense. Your agenda is clear.

I submitted this to digg and someone already had- so if you are a member digg it.

The civilians killed by Israeli are collateral damage while the civilians killed by Hamas rockets are targets.

Great artilcle! I have been monitoring the Isreal situation for quite some time. I am 100% pro-Isreal and wish them the best but they are up against the most vile, cheating, lying, hateful group of people on the planet. How do you play a game of chess against someone who does not follow the rules. You don't! But the idiots of the world can't get it in their thick skulls and keep putting things in their own naive perspective. Nothing will bring peace in the middle east until Isreal and the jews are wiped from it. We are all played as useful idiots by the arab muslims with all these stupid peace efforts. As some Isreali govt person once said, until the Palestinians start loving their children more than they hate the jews, there will be no peace. This cannot happen until they stop raising their weapons, I mean children, to hate the jews. This of course will never happen. I say go after the imans and clerics and govt leaders and get them one by one and make them realize that they will pay the ultimate price for calling others to kill and hate. The leaders that want power fear death.

Yeah!!! I have been waiting for a godly answer to the horrible articles written on the subject by the left wing news.maybe I can direct some of the responders to you. God bless Israel!!!

You are wrong. I have put together a set of facts that proves that these "cliches" as you call them are not that far from the truth. If you disagree with any of the aforementioned facts, prove me wrong. Why don't you add something to this debate instead of a two line slate?

This one by Israelis. "There is no military solution. " In fact for the sake of " Let's win the peace" Israel has made a decision to never win the war. Because of this, Israelis and Palestinians have been needlessly suffering for a generation instaed of finishing off the bad regimes once and for all. By topling Hamas this time - Israel might get some peace finally. Otherwise the war will go on for another generation and the next one will probably include unconventional weapons.

Ynet, please forward this article to every news website around the world!! This is the most concise, truthful and well worded explanation that I have heard in the last few days. What a shame the Israeli politicians and spokes people cannot manage to convey Israel's perspective as clearly and succinctly as this!!

I agree wholeheartedly. I argue with people at topix.com and since they can't argue with the facts they resort to fabricating them. I especially like point number 6.

For years, despite the rocket attacks from Gaza, ISrael has allowed the passage of food, fuel, water, and medicine. How can number 65 call this a siege. Israel has had a clear message for Hamas. Lay down your arms and you shall have peace. And Hamas has had the opposite message for Israel. Lay down your arms, and we, Hamas, will kill you all.

Please stop sharing your wet dreams with us. Post this on a neonazi forum -- they'll drool all over it. And learn to spell my country's name.

It's not about Gaza, it's not about Hamas - it's about whether Palestinians have the right to exist. Zionism in reality, means that no Palestinian has any right, not to education, not to food, not to land, not to life . . .that the Israeli regime is bound to respect. This is the content of the 'peace' Israel seeks to impose.

The fact that Qassams are manufactured from water pipes is exactly why Gaza sewage plants went to pot. Israel sent metal pipes to Gaza to be used for water and sewage systems. HAMAS stole these from the Gazan people, used them as rocket chassis, packed them with dynamite and shot them at Israeli schools. Then these same HAMAS terrorists then had the lack of temerity to blame the Israelis when Gaza sewage systems, which had needed those pipes, began to have problems. As for the rest of your "pipe dream," your ignorance of regional history and current status is only matched by your lack of a human conscience, directed either toward Israelis or Gazans. The information you lack is readily available and I won't repeat it yet again here. But I have a question for you, who care so much about "refugees" (many of whom, such as the Doghmush clan, are not even Arabs, and many others are descended from people who were illegal immigrants to the Levant from other parts of the Arab world): when your own government turned back Jewish refugee ships and sent those helpless civilian Jews back to the death camps to die, was that a good thing?

you're right..... i am ,too, pro-israel. Arabs/ muslims have never won a war yet w/ israel even w/ their backers like russia and china , it is nor ordained that way. they will suffer even more, being against God's chosen people.