Will this increase or decrease the likelihood of terrorist actions in America, Europe and the rest of the world?

If you were a member of a family murdered in this conflict, would you be seeking revenge?

Should Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert, be tried for war crimes if or when this conflict comes to an end?

What will the price of oil be in 4 weeks time?

For Mash heads
ISRAEL has agreed to open a corridor into Gaza for essential humanitarian supplies and then fire hundreds of missiles at it.


Israeli F-15s are fitted with school-seeking missiles
As the international community accused the Israelis of using a sledgehammer to crack a school, the Tel Aviv government pledged to increase both the level of aid to Palestinian civilians and attacks upon it.

A spokesman said: "We're happy to provide humanitarian supplies as long as you understand that anything going in or out of Gaza is a legitimate target. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about that."

The Israeli airforce last night issued a map showing the route the aid convoys will take and the exact points where each truck will be blown to smithereens.

Meanwhile Hamas has pledged to commandeer any humanitarian supplies that make it through, fill them with semtex and fire them at settlements in southern Israel.

A Hamas spokesman said: "For every bag of rice you send us without blowing it up, we will send back thousands of pieces of exploding rice. How's about that?"

Meanwhile UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon said that while Hamas is undoubtedly a collection of grade-A psychopaths, firing home-made rockets is not quite the same thing as having a personalised bomb for every Palestinian man, woman and child.

You either backed up Israel when you heard the first bell
Palestine would be fine if they towed the right line
Poor children lay dead.. all crumpled in bed
Brave soldiers are told.. no sorrow be bold

Now as you all knowfights come and they go
But not this oneand Ill tell you why

What you mustnt forgetis the reasonand yet
It was so damned stupid and daft..
I once told a friend and in the end he just laughed and he laughed and he laughed
They fought over thatwell Ill eat my hatits the same old story today
When involved in a fighttheres no wrong or no right
Nobody has the last say!
OK!

http://www.elfarra.org/gallery/gaza.htm

Simple solution-Hamas stop indiscriminate firing of unsophisticated rockets and Israel will withdraw and a ceasefire will be put in place.

Am I the only one who can see the solution.

Strange how no head of any Arab Govt-apart from Syria,no surprise there,has stood up and are prepared to side with Hamas.

I think the majority of International Aid bodies are condemning Israels disproportionate actions. Or is it one rule for the Bullies and another for the Bullied.

Collateral damage, or just another AID worker.

What is disproportionate-have a read below.


On Dec. 27, Israel began "Operation Cast Lead" to stop Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza from continuing its years-long campaign of attacking Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets, missiles and mortars. Following are facts and figures to help you relate to Israel 's defensive efforts in Gaza :
Iran-backed Hamas Rocket, Mortar Attacks and Nuclear Developments
9,400+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2003. [1]

3,200+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [2]

6,500+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [3]

543+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [4]

28
deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire ended, Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars that killed an Israeli-Arab construction worker and a mother of four who was seeking shelter in a bus station as a rocket warning siren sounded. [5]

1,000+
people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire, 44 Israelis have been injured and 200 have been treated for shock. [6]

20,000
Hamas troops Israel is targeting as part of "Operation Cast Lead." [7]

750,000
number of Israeli civilians Hamas is targeting and can reach. [8]

15
seconds Israelis have to get to a bomb shelter once a warning siren has sounded. [9]

8
years that Israel has been hit by rockets and mortars from Gaza [10]

3
mosques in Gaza used as weapons, ammunitions and explosives depots that were struck by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the operation in Gaza . [11]

4
UN Security Council resolutions passed since 2006 to try to stop Iran from enriching uranium. [12]

5,000+
number of centrifuges operating in Iran to enrich uranium, the material used to produce a nuclear weapon. [13]



Israel's Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

179
truckloads of humanitarian aid that have been delivered through Israeli crossings into Gaza since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, including basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies, donations of governments and blood units.

106
additional truckloads of humanitarian expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31 [14]

6,500
tons of aid transported into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. The World Food Program informed Israel that it will cease shipment of food to Gaza because warehouses are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks. [15]

What Israel Gave Up in Hopes of Peace - Gaza Withdrawal Aug. 2005
100%
proportion of the Gaza Strip evacuated and handed over to the
Palestinians. [16]

300
square miles of the West Bank evacuated. [17]

21
Israeli settlements uprooted in the Gaza Strip. [18]

4
Israeli settlements uprooted in the West Bank . [19]

48
graves uprooted in Gaza 's former Gush Katif Cemetery , including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists. [20]

9,000
approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 families, who lived in Gaza and the northern West Bank . All of them were moved out as part of the withdrawal. [21]

38
synagogues dismantled in the Gaza Strip. [22]

5,000
school-age children who had to find new schools. [23]

42
daycare centers that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [24]

36
kindergartens that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [25]

7
elementary schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [26]

3
high schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [27]

320
mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to serve as temporary housing for settlers. [28]

45,000
Israeli soldiers and policemen who participated in the Gaza withdrawal. [29]

$1.7 billion
the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative. [30]

166
Israeli farmers who were moved out of Gaza . [31]

800
cows, which comprised the second largest dairy farm in Israel , moved out of Gaza 's Gush Katif community. [32]

$120 million
value of flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif and lost following the evacuation. [33]

1
zoo, the "Katifari," that housed hundreds of animals and was moved. [34]

10,000
people who were employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians. [35]

60%
proportion of Israel 's cherry tomato exports that came from the Gaza Strip. Israel 's withdrawal from Gaza extinguished this economic resource. [36]

3.5 million
square meters (almost 1,000 acres ) of greenhouses abandoned in Gaza . [37]

70
percentage of Israel 's organic produce grown in Gaza another economic resource lost in the evacuation. [38]

60
percentage of herbs exported from Israel that came from Gush Katif. [39]

15
percentage of Israel agricultural exports that originated in Gaza exports lost following Israel 's withdrawal from Gaza . [40]

$360,000
expected average compensation amount Israel expected to pay to relocate each family. [41]

$870 million
approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former West Bank and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country. [42]

$500 million
amount of money Israel 's security establishment spent to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities. [43]

After Israel 's evacuation from Gaza
430,000
West Bank Palestinians able to move freely within and between Palestinian-controlled areas. [44]

1
Israeli remaining in Gaza . Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was abducted from Israel on June 25, 2006 by Hamas in a bloody cross-border raid in which the terrorists also killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. [45]

1.2 million
Arabs who remained full and legal citizens of Israel . All Israeli citizens Christians, Muslims, and Jews have freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote. [46]

1.3 million
Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip many of them in Palestinian Authority-controlled refugee camps, who live under their own leaders. [47]

820,000
Jewish refugees forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, and who have never been compensated by Arab governments for their losses. [48]

650,000
Arab refugees who left Israel from 1947-1949 and still need Palestinian leaders who will end terrorism and the culture of hate. [49]


Israel 's withdrawal from four northern West Bank settlements created an area more than twice the size of Gaza's 140 square miles under Palestinian control and devoid of any Israeli presence. [50]

frankly, i am almost as appalled by USA's support of Israel's action as i am of the action itself.

no one would pretend that Hamas is (remotely) blameless, but there is no doubt that Israel has made Gaza little better than a ghetto of the type initially imposed on the Jews in Warsaw. If you were a Palestinian, what would you do?

Israel is also very keen to harp on about various UN resolutions that Hamas has ignored, but what about those similarly imposed and ignored by Israel?

cynic - if i 'wrere' a palestinian I'd be bringing aid in through whatever channels are currently being used to bring in rocketfuel, explosives and arms.

interesting idea, but i think there are probably some good legit and logistical reasons why your idea would not work

cynic if you were Palestinian living in Gaza you could join your compatriots in UAE but then you wouldn't receive any UN handouts.

???? ..... if you mean the imported workers into UAE, then believe me, i am well aware that they get pretty harsh conditions ..... actually, i think most Palestinians are actually of Jordanian or Syrian extraction.

anyway, that is a side issue ..... in my opinion, the Palestinians have every right to expect to have their own homeland and to be treated like human beings if they live in Israel or Gaza.

Israel equally has a right to live peaceably, but that is a two-way transaction ..... on the other hand, Israel has no rights at all to have annexed and built settlements on Left Bank.

Jerusalem should be an "open" city, perhaps under the auspices of UN for lack of a better alternative, where all faiths would have an inalienable right to visit and pray at their particular "holy of holies"

Cynic

you paint this as though its some kind of israeli racist attack against palestinians - and it certainly is not.

Plenty of palestinians do live in Israel - where they are quite properly treated as equals, have all the usual demoocratic rights etc.

The West Bank is thriving economically and receives regular help and assistance from Israel.

Gaza's only export seems to be used rocket cases in their thousands. This incursion is about self defence - make no mistake.

cynic you should be aware there are more Palestinians living outside the conflict areas than within. Most people living in the middle east tend to be "nomadic" and there is nothing wrong with that. The Israel/Palestine conflict will not be resolved unless the rest of the world turns away having tired of this pointless argument and stops supplying weapons and money to both sides.But if that is allowed to happen then a lot of people in high places would lose their share of the money being squandered on this never ending cost to us ordinary taxpayers.

This is a conflict that will run and run. The actual rights and wrongs matter very little now.

My view is that Israel should never been created as a separate state. The wandering Jews of the post war era should maybe have been allowed to move to the area, but just as immigrants to the area. The previous Palastinian inhabitants will not accept Israel's exitence.

Israel are still occupying areas that do not belong to them. I know they claim to be occupying certain areas for security reasons, but settlement of these areas should not have been allowed.

Hamas is behaving in absurd manner. What is the point in punching the biggest boy in the playground in the face and then complaining when he flattens you. I think the whole idea of proportional response is a nonsense. Israel's attitude has always been one of deliberate disproportional response and why not. It is meant as a deterrent.

I think the US's support in the face of rocket attacks is reasonable.

Hamas has miscalculated badly. There is an upcoming election in Israel and the government needed to prove they were strong. Israel only had a small window before the new US president was sworn in. They had to attack strongly while Bush was still there. Hamas have shown themselves to be politically naive once again.

Once again there is a conflict between Jews and Muslems. This is unfortunate. My view has always been that I am generally anti-Israel and pro Jewish. I see them as two distinct things.

haystack wasn't Jesus born a jew 2000 or so years ago in Bethlehem, so whose land is it then? There is no solution to this land dispute, ignore it and it will go away.

the West Bank may well be thriving, but the Israeli settlements (most if not all) should not be there in the first place or should have been demolished or abandoned following the relevant UN resolution.

of course, if the "ordinary people" were allowed their voice to be properly heard, there would probably be no conflict at all, just as would have applied not so many years ago in Ireland.

Israel has ample technology to spy/locate any rocket launcher with satellites and then destroy then with pin point accuracy. By indescriminate destruction of Palestinain infrastrucure, incl Power stations and phone masks what they are doing is a deliberate attempt to fuel more terrorism around the world.

halifax
I think where jesus was born is of no interest. You would have to believe in god or think that where Jesus was born was of any significance today for that to matter.

Princess_Zubi
The rocket launches are not in fixed positions, so it is not worth much to identify ther location. I do think that they probably can locate them and my guess is that they were using that intellligence for their attacks by helicopter gunships prior to the later incursions. But it doesn't stop the firing from another position.

halifax .... i am afraid just ignoring this situation will not make it conveniently disappear, for the M/E in general has far too much strategic importance for all parties .... and therein i fear lies much of the problem

zubi .... if there is such pinpoint accuracy, how do you explain away the massive collateral damage???

Israel's population was formed by an influx of mainly Jews from Europe and America, who colonised part of Palestinian land.

Will the nomadic Palestinian tribes be allowed to return to the land now named as Israel?
If so will they have equal rights?

I somehow doubt it.

I don't believe that it is possible to demolish the State of Israel. It is "fait accompli" .

But I do wish both sides could develop a little mutual respect and possibly trust, which may lead to the benefit of the region and themselves.

I think Bush and Blair's decisions over the last 10 years were disastrous to possible peace in the ME.
t