Yes Israel should cut all contact with the palis and Gaza. That off course includes power and water. Let the palis produce their own power and supply their own water. But Israel should let the palis controll their borders with Egypt and the air and sea areas. The number one reason for this is that if you do this you can just sit back and watch the palis kill each other and ruin their own "state". And the best thing about it is that the world cant blame Israel for it.

have lost the war. DOn't be stupid!

Then say good night in the cold and dark you've created for yourself. Pals could have made peace but, they make war. They could move and make many arabs happy.

Dear Sir, Do you think it will affect the Gazan people,I do not believe so.It might affect people in Israel ,in Europe and in The States.But it will not affect who have no food,no money and they have nothing to lose. I suggest something else ,you put a huge curtain infront of the sea to block air . Dear Sir, The best thing to do is leave both parties away(Hamas and Fataeh) away.and do peace with the Palestinian people instead of punishing them .if you think you punish Hamas ,you are mistaking Hamas is living its best period.fancy cars ,fancy offices and plenty of money.

Our luck, the Arabs in Gaza will probably use the blackout time to make more babies. That's what happened in New York many years ago. We can never win, can we??

Just think about it from the Palestinian point of view you are in siege with no power, no fuel etc. They will eat your hearts before being ate by poverty and darkness.

The Gaza Strip terrorists would be a whole lot more fearful of firing Kassams at us if we responded with a few dozen 155 mm artillery shells fired into Khan Yunis or Gaza City for each Kassam fired at us.

#35 if you are so happy by Gaza rulers' successes, what is your problem? Couple of pieces of rotten cheese in the fridge won't spoil the popular joy. BTW - do you know, using Jewish-made electricity might be a danger for your health. #37 one simple question, do you support destruction of Israel? If no - are you in favour of stopping rocket fire? If yes - what is your problem, again? This is how the project looks like. Could've been much worse if Gazan stood against, say, Lebanese army.

The power should be cut on 1 condition and that is its done properly not token measures they need a week or so in complete darkness let them manage in that time with just the minotity of power they get from Egypt. Two hours just looks like sadism not a punishment and cutting the power is a more humane way of retaliating than a full scale millitary assult. The problem for the palestians here is if Israel sends in tanks and soilders to deal with things the terrorists can fire on soilders and tanks cutting the electricty who are they going to shoot at the problem is more of fustration. Sitting in the dark doesnt get you 72 virgins and your not killing Israelis either but t the same time your being punished for your actions... this really is the worst type of punishment you can impose because you dont die a glorious martyr but your still paying a price for your terror. After a week or so without then you start talking about a limited cut for maybe half hour for every rocket fired so if they fired 3 rockets on one day then next day you cut the electricty for an hour and a half untill they get the message. You continue to allow food aid in there so they wont starve even if they cant have their cotage cheese or tv and you allow the hospitals to continue operating without power shortage that means basic humanitarian needs are still being respected but at the same time they are learning that attacking Israel doesnt bring them any rewards. Gaza is an enemy entity I cant think of any other country where a country whose people are reguarly being fired on by terrorists provide terrorists with electricty so Israel needs to show its not spineless and do somethng instead of playing the politicly correct nice guy. If this is just a feeble gesture by Barak & Olmert to look tough in the eyes of the Israeli voters and not something thats being used to its full extenct to stop the terrorism then its a waste of time and we should just go with the millitary option but if this is going to be done properly then it should be the prefered choice of punishment because it denies the terrorists martyrdom and it doesnt put any soilders at risk.

Those people who say Israel should not cut power to Gaza have a very short memory. The idea to limit or stop supplies was created by the Arabs who refused to sell oil and any other commodity to Israel for several decades. Indeed I believe the the office of the "boycott of Israel" is still functioning in Syria for all Arabs to follow. Those who now have put a cloak of moral rightfulness against the Israeli action should ask themselves if they have spoken in the past agaist the Arab boycott otherwise they should shut up as they did when Israel was the victim.

For every rocket they sit without all power for a full 24 hrs. They fire three rockets they sit in darkness for three days. As to hospitals send the generators and give only fule supplies for that use only. If there own people steal the gas then its there problem. Plain and simple. If Jewish children must sit in shelters then there children will sit in heat and darkness. The problem is the left liberal govt. in Israel. Israel needs Netanyhu and Arens NOW.

Palestinians are willing to suffer or die for their "holy" cause....so bombs and deprivations have never broken their will. Paper their land with pornographic images of their Prophet. Their ensuing frenzy will lead to their defeat.

In as much as Gaza is a hostile state that in fact is at "war" with Israel, Israel should not only cut off t he power but should close all borders and end the supply of all goods & services. The residents of Gaza are not innocent bystanders they elected Hamas

Haven't the leftists in Israel already destroyed any pride Israel has in itself. Sure, keep supplying gas,electricity and food to the people (they all voted for Hamas or Fatah-all terrorists) sworn to kill them. What self-loathing. No wonder the Philistines will never compromise. Why bother when your enemies are doing more to hurt themselves than anything they ever could. Israel has become pathetic and is losing support from those of us who cannot abide by your decision to commit national suicide at the behest of leftist self-haters like Beilin/Peres and Olmert.

BRING HAMAS TO THE TABLE @ ANNAPOLIS? http://www.guardian.co.uk/insidegaza These videos clearly show that Hamas’ militancy has sub-sided & that other groups are responsible for the most recent Qassam rocket attacks on Israel. They are actually losing support for renouncing violence. Surely, they should be at Annapolis in late November? I’m sure Alan Johnston would agree; especially after: Richard Burden has tabled EDM 1841: RELEASE OF ALAN JOHNSTON: That this House welcomes the release unharmed of Alan Johnston from captivity in Gaza; pays tribute to his integrity and courage, to the dignity shown by his parents throughout their ordeal, to Alan's friends and colleagues at the BBC for pursuing every avenue they could to secure Alan's release, to Foreign Office staff for their efforts, to the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who have expressed their support for Alan and to the Palestinians themselves; notes particularly that Alan Johnston himself has acknowledged the pivotal role played by Hamas in condemning the kidnapping and securing his release; believes that this shows why the international community's support for Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate President of Palestine should not preclude contact with Hamas, why the Quartet should support the reconciliation between different Palestinian parties that will be crucial to a successful peace process between Israel and Palestine and why this is further evidence that peace results from discussions between enemies as well as friends. 127 UK MP’s have signed this. My friend in Gaza, tends to agree and knows full well the situation on the ground: “Now, I could tell you something!! The situation on the ground is about to explode soon!! Hamas is being boycotted despite its desire of truce with Israel. If Israel will not get in any deal with Hamas directly....Hamas will go deep in the Iranian Hug. People are boiling now.....Hamas didn't do anything coz of siege despite it alleviated it's operations against Israel. Soon and after the Anabolis meeting i could tell that the region will be in a stormy time!!!” I can’t help feeling that the seclusion of Hamas from Annapolis and increased collective punishment, in the restrictions of electricity, movement and medicinal supplies etc etc, will only exacerbate tensions and provide very dodgy footing to walk confidently with any hope into any Peace Conference. If Israel, America and the UK governments are serious about wanting peace, I for one suggest that Hamas be brought to the table at Annapolis.

An automatic switch-off in response to Kassam rockets puts responsibility where it belongs - Kassam can keep the power flowing by stopping the bombardment of Sderot and other Israeli settlements

So you want us to make peace with the Palestinian People. Very strange way of asking for it? By electing HAMAS you told the whole world that you never want peace with Israel. If there was even a glimmer of hope that we could reach an agreement with Hamas, our lefty government would have long ago jumped on it. Who do you suggest we negotiate peace with? Perhaps you believe the idea that we are all suicidal and enjoy pain so those Kassams you are sending are just love taps. Check for yourself, the only way your elected government will make Peace with Israel is when all Jews leave Israel or die. Sorry, though some of us may be willing, most of us have brains and choose to remain here and alive.

i have no problem with cutting off power --- their rockets cause pain in Israel -- perhaps they need to feel 7 fold pain for such as this.. ============ shalom ========== augustine e johnson

Thanks for a well reasoned argument for cutting the power in Gaza in proportion to the number of rockets the Arabs fire into Israel (possibly killing innocent Arabs who also live peacefully in Israel). I would do it this way. As soon as the rocket alert goes off, the power to Hamasland goes off for two hours. If more than two rockets go off in one day, the power goes off from 5pm to 7 am. This is called conditioning for better behavior. The better behavior is no more rockets into Israel period. When that goal is achieved, power can be restored. If that goal is not achieved, more services should be eliminated. Generators should be supplied to hospitals only.

Janet, why would you choose to be an agitator regarding an issue which does not concern you and obviously escapes you. If you are so concerned with Israeli morality in far away Medford I suggest you get off your ignorant ass and spend one month in Israel (preferably Sderot) and then spend a month in Gaza. If you emerge alive I would wager you would change your world view considerably. Until then your opinions are of little consequence due to your profound ignorance and obvious contempt for Jews.

What is immoral is that this part of Isarel has been occupied and destroyed. This area is as much Israel as Tel Aviv. The boundaris of Isarel scritually include both Gaza and Sinai. Trans Jordan , created by the British inlcudes boith the West Bank and what is now occupied Isarel in Jordan. Take a good look. Do you see any sembalnce of anything but anarchy and mass murder in all these areas? Can you name one democratic or religiously tolerant Islamic state? Ever in history? Do you see a tolerance for Judaism or Christianity in any of these areas not occupied and controlled by Israel. The problem is not power black outs. The problem and shall ever be the existence of Islam. That is the root cause of all the problems in the world today. Not some incomprehensible flagellation and moral equivalency about a blackout.