I have read and re-read statements from Israeli officials, and I still don’t understand their objective in this military action in the Gaza Strip. Of course I understand that they want to stop Hamas from firing rockets into southern Israel. For years, Israeli citizens have been killed and terrorized by these rockets. It’s despicable and it must be stopped.
However, Israel has now dropped bombs from the air and initiated a ground invasion of Gaza, killing more than 500 Palestinians (at least 100 0f whom were civilians) — and guess what: Hamas continues to shoot rockets into southern Israel. When asked what the plan is for Israel’s objective, officials say “the offensive would go on until Israel achieved “peace and tranquility” for residents of southern Israel.”
Not so much for the Palestinians, I guess.
Before anyone leaves comments here and calls me an anti-Semite, let me state: Israel has every right to defend itself. My humble question is this: at what point is the Israeli army no longer merely defending its country and but instead delivering death and destruction to innocent citizens? Of course Hamas is locating its headquarters in heavily populated areas of the Gaza Strip — the whole area is heavily populated. And as bad as the overhead bombing has been (there are reports that the Israelis have dropped cluster bombs — these will terrorize the civilians for many years to come) the Israeli ground initiative has brought new horror to women and children in the area:
At least 10 Palestinian children were killed, raising the known death toll from a new ground invasion to more than 80, a Palestinian health official said. The vast majority of confirmed deaths have been civilians, fueling international outrage.
International outrage. So what’s a large nation like the United States to do? Well, in the world of George W. Bush, mere inaction isn’t good enough. We’ve got to block action:
Diplomats say US blocks UN statement on Gaza
The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, diplomats said….
Libyan Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi said the United States during the discussions objected to “any outcome” on the proposed statement. He said efforts were made to compromise on a weaker press statement but there was no consensus.
Several other council members, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were closed, also said the U.S. was responsible for the council’s failure to issue a statement.
The Palestinians want a cease-fire. The Israelis refuse. The Hamas militants are still firing rockets into Israel — now further than before. Without a ceasefire and a political solution to to the disagreements between Israel and the Palestinians, the only way Israel will be assured of no more rockets coming from Gaza is when there is no one left alive in the Gaza Strip to fire them.
I won’t pretend to be an expert on the Middle East, but as someone who has studied world history and politics, I can tell you (as if you didn’t already know) that the people of that region have suffered from violence and territorial disputes for thousands of years. In modern times, leaders from around the world have stepped in to negotiate truces between warring parties in order to maintain some sense of global peace. Which is why headlines like this are shameful:
The disagreements in the Gaza region will never be solved through violence. The Israelis, fed up with rockets periodically lobbed at them from Hammas in the Gaza Strip decide that they will stop them once and for all. But war does not work that way. The Israeli bombs don’t discern between civilians and soldiers. And in the end, the growing numbers of Palestinian civilians killed will do nothing more than create more anger among the Arab nations, and more animosity toward Israel. From 
Nailing Jello to the Wall 