Sometimes in the next 24 hours Israel was likely to move ground troops into Gaza and turn the clock back on peace in our times. It probably will take a little longer because the tactics call for it. Israel needs to weaken the battery on the other side before going in. if you recall how they did it in Lebanon in 2006, the approach seems much the same. The onslaught from the rocket fire was an indicator through its indiscriminate killings that Israel would cut a swathe through the coastal areas before the world pulls in the slack and applies pressure. And that is a massive window of opportunity since the world is doing very little at present.
This is the closest you get to war without declaring it officially. By naming the activists in Gaza as terrorists who are hitting their civilians Israel has sought to justify the rocket attacks but the picture of dead children say otherwise.
Again, the Israeli strategy seems to allow or encourage the Hamas rockets to exhaust their supply while staying out of range and hitting back with more powerful artillery. Once they are confident that the guns have been silenced only then will the ground armor enter and attempt to push the Palestinians further into a corner.
Israel says it is determined to end cross-border rocket attacks. What happened in a tragic tit for tat following the abduction there of three Jewish teenagers later found killed and a Palestinian teen burned alive in revenge has now become a scene of carnage. There are no warnings, no sirens, no air raid shelters, just bombs falling out of the sky.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri has sounded a defiant note: “Our backs are to the wall and we have nothing to lose. We are ready to battle until the end.” The point really is that there is no end in sight except a bloody death toll.
But the fact is the Israeli juggernaut is that much more powerful and once ground troops arrive in mop-up ops be sure there will be many more casualties. Someone has to step in and stop it because it does have a scorched earth approach and we know what that means … wipe out everything.
UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay expressed concern the Israeli army was violating international law by launching strikes on Gaza. We are way beyond concern. Concern is an emotion shown when you are late for a date. This is a time for action and concerted ‘stop this now’ action so that both sides spike their guns and sit down.
“We have received disturbing reports of civilians, including children, that have been affected by attacks on their homes, and there is growing fear that the Israeli attacks do not comply with international law, and violate human rights,” says the UN spokesperson. So what, so what, so what are you going to do except make these meaningless sounds.
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