Israel could if they wanted put nuclear bombs in Gaza, but then that would affect Egypt and the Israeli desert towns like Sdreot.

Yes, NATO membership for Israel, along with 1968 borders, or something close with deviations mutually negotiated, recognised by all arab nations and Iran.

Or, an increasingly embattled and embittered Israeli populace finding itself unable to either ignore or defeat those who commit atrocities. With every holding action costing it necessary support, in Europe, amongst its neighbours, and amongst its own liberal and Arab populace. Which will only embolden those who see a future when one day a US presidential candidate, overstreched, overbudget and overseas, will find votes in abandoning US support for Israel.

Won’t happen this year or next, but 5, 10, 20 years, who can say?

If it does, all the idiot pseudo-leftists correspondingly re-switching sides to ‘plucky, outnumbered and outgunned Israel, victim of US imperialist treachery’, wouldn’t quite compensate.

So, the victor in any war – the stronger power – is guilty of slaughter? How odd. If might is not right, then any solution to the Israel/Palestinian problem cannot be made on who has the largest guns or the largest number of casualties but the upholding of justice and international law. In this case, both sides have been both the victim and the aggressor and both have to make sacrifices.

Stop attacking and preparing to attack Israel = peace, a Palestinian state. Something Hamas does not want. Hamas wanted this WAR.

War is War when fought between too equal powers, otherwise it’s slaughter.

I don’t feel guilty, or indeed “faux”, but I suspect it is a situation not unlike psychotherapy whereby the patient has to acknowledge the source of their illness before much can be done about it. Israel/ Palestine is the symptom, not the source. The West and Arab states need to acknowledge and “own” the illness before a cure is likely. But that ain’t going to happen any time soon.

I bet you’ll be telling me you don’t believe in therapy next

But that is the route we follow because it is the route out of a political mess (well described in the article) not out of some faux, self-flagellating guilt.

Doh. But seeing as how you’re apparently racist pigshit Plat I’m not surprised you don’t get it.

MM – I think you misunderstood the point I was trying to make. As for solutions, I suppose I was trying to infer that both the West and wider Muslim world take responsibility for a situation that is largely of their creation and enforce a settlement. This could be achieved by a hard line from the West on Israel, along with cast-iron guarantees of security, and an equally firm line from the Arab world committing itself to a resolution which includes peaceful coexistence with Israel. I didn’t bother to mention it, because it’s a pipe dream: neither side actually wants peace enough or is likely to face up to its responsibility.

Hamas didn’t expect a Blue Peter badge. But it’s pretty obvious they got exactly what they wanted – something at which they could point and triumphantly cry “holocaust”. They may be demented, but they’re not stupid.

Israel is stupid for playing into their hands.

not *at all*? You seem to speaking with the knowledge of certainty. Tell us what *is* happening then Steve M.

You’ll find that self-delusion doesn’t help.

“Anyway, Gene at Harrys Place asks all the right questions here”

No, Gene asks a few bewildering questions so that there can be a fight in the comment threads, a couple of dodgy “zionist” references and a quick condemnation before lunch.

What we’re referring to as a “disproportionate” response is one that makes little or no attempt to avoid inflicting harm on civilians, as explained by the Israeli general Gadi Eisenkot…

““What happened in the Beirut suburb of Dahiya in 2006 will happen in every village from which shots are fired in the direction of Israel…We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction.”

The utter irony of this situation is that Hamas is directly responsible for Israel’s warmonger government, and Hamas is the result of Israel’s irresponsible and inhumane actions in Palestinian territories.

Mind you, this is not an intractable problem: Israel could very well make Hamas irrelevant by providing the same financial and logistic support as they give to Jewish settlers. Why does Israel want to perpetuate this inequality? Is it part of a strategy to make a neighbour weak to keep Israel safe? How short-sighted.

Can you please suggest where the police station/governments building should be located, where do we locate ours. Arent the police a civil body. The Hamas milliterly wing is not part of the police force, they have thier own control of commend.