Regev states that Hamas conspired to cover up that they were allegedly firing mortars from the school (3:30). However Israel were the ones that blocked many journalists from entering Gaza. It seems as if Israel are the ones trying to cover up their actions in this offensive maneuver.

BBC fails.. They should have asked, "is it a crime to target infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and electric plants"

THis is completely stupid. Hamas should run into Israeli schools and shoot off rockets. It is completely moronic to say, well we were returning fire. What if someone smuggled a rocket into holy sites in Jerusalem? Are they going to bomb the hell out of them?

This idiot fails every time I see him. I'm about to make a playlist for him.

How do two wrongs make a right?

so, to be clear, killed two hamas guys, murdered 100 Palestinian civilians?

Imagine if this happened in Israel; 'Two members of Hamas were killed today, along with 100 Israeli civilians, when the military blew up a school from which they were receiving fire.'

I've been trying not to form a strong opinion on this war, but it is becoming pretty obvious which side is indiscriminately annihilating the other.

The reporter never would have badgered a Hamas spokesperson like this.

The basic idea here is: how ethical is it to fight under the banner of the UN/Red Cross and does using innocent human shields provide impunity to retaliation.

Imagine if the sides were reversed... no-one would talk about the Hamas rockets but rather the immoral cowardice of the Israelis.

I mean come on... why use a SCHOOL? Aren't there any fields you can use to fire mortar? If you want to fight, don't hide behind children then blame the other side for casualties.

If you're in a boxing match and the other guy pulls out a blade... only a fool would stick to his fist.

There were no rockets fire from within or around that school, there was a statement from Israel apologising for their "mistake".

Here, let me google it for you.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=israel+school+mistake&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

>> ^Pprt:
If you're in a boxing match and the other guy pulls out a blade... only a fool would stick to his fist.


And only a complete psychopath would start throwing grenades around and kill 100 people sitting in the audience of the boxing match. But, your analogy is a little lacking.

Imagine you took a school full of children and you locked all the doors with padlocks, then a teacher inside started shooting at the police. WOULD YOU BOMB THE FUCKING SCHOOOL??!!! You are a psycho for even trying to repeat IDF bullshit.

Maybe next time they'll think twice before intentionally endangering civilians.

You can't be a gentleman if you're dealing with brutes. You have to be twice as brutish.

uh huh... and then you get 4 times as much back, then you give 16 times as much back, then you get...

don't be idiotic.

They used to carpet bomb entire cities and it wasn't murder then. Yall are just used to "clean" warfare. War is brutal, and horrible. It is the most uncivilized form of humanity...it is the act of civilization breaking down. The nature of war is horrible, to say the horrible things that happen in another way is just a reiteration of this sentiment.

This isn't warfare. This is annihilation.

Nearly 1,000 Gazans have been killed, 4,400 have been injured, and an estimated 90,000 have fled their homes since Israel's offensive on Gaza began on 27 December, according to Palestinian figures.

Thirteen Israelis have died, three of them civilians, Israel says.

It is impossible to independently confirm casualty figures as Israel has refused to allow international journalists to enter Gaza.

A UN watchdog has accused Israel of showing a "manifest disrespect" for the protection of children in Gaza.

More than 40% of those killed in Gaza were women or children, said the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, even though Israel had signed a UN protocol condemning attacks on places where children were likely to be present.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of trying to "wipe out" his people.

Let's hope the Palestinians learn their lesson: don't support a political party whose sole purpose is to piss off your extremely powerful neighbours.

>> ^Pprt:
Let's hope the Palestinians learn their lesson: don't support a political party whose sole purpose is to piss off your extremely powerful neighbours.


You couldn't be more ignorant.

By that logic, the Israelis deserve what they get for pissing off a whole bunch of nothing-to-lose heathens. And the US deserves generations of suicide attacks from all the orphaned Iraqis and Afghans.

I think if anyone wants peace in that region it has to be the Israelis.

And AFAIK, Americans fight using military uniforms and without shielding themselves behind children and women.

To be protected by international law regarding rules of combat, soldiers must wear identifiable uniforms. If you're dressed like a civilian and hide among civilians you waive your "rights". Hamas knowingly and intentionally endangers the civilian population.

That being said, it's absolutely terrible that non-combatants are being killed, but the blame falls on Hamas fighters for using such low-handed tactics.

^ ^ Ignorance defined..

You don't respond to anyone, just keep throwing out shifting arguments.. Ok, if INTERNATIONAL LAW is obviously the most important consideration, then it doesn't really matter about Hamas following it, because Israel is in violation of many International Lawa.

Are we to count the violations and weigh them against each other.

Which is worse, bombing schools and infrastructures, killing women and children... Or not wearing a uniform and hiding among civilians?

How can you say it is guerilla fighters fault when a school is bombed in the middle of the day, full of children? What if a Hamas dude ran into an Israeli school? What if an Iraqi terrorist ran into a US school and started shooting? (At the police, or even rockets)

Not apt enough, because clearly these children knew about this tactic and were in on it?? Ok, what about Waco or similar circumstance? Why not drop a bomb on them? (Ok, well technically we did but it was tear gas and flash bangs that set the place on fire...)

>> ^joedirt:
By that logic, the Israelis deserve what they get for pissing off a whole bunch of nothing-to-lose heathens. And the US deserves generations of suicide attacks from all the orphaned Iraqis and Afghans.


This may be a very apt description. NOBODY is looking at the big picture here. Everybody thinks that if they can just beat the enemy into submission then that will be the end of it. But it NEVER ENDS. As long as you use violence, the problem will just continue to compound. You will get retribution, blowback, terrorism... people will not forget that some other nation tried to grind them under their heel.

Hamas, or whoever is really firing those rockets from schools, WANTS the Israelis to blow up schools and hospitals. And Israel is falling for it.

America lost its moral high ground with Gitmo and Abu Ghraib. That will not come back for a long, long time. Now Israel is doing the same in Gaza. Their international support, what little they had left, will be gone. That's what Hamas wants. The Palestinians are losing this battle, but winning the war.

Sorry, I can't equate justifiable military operations with cowards hiding among civilians.

War is always tragic and shows the worst of humanity, and to be quite honest, I do believe that Jewish people are more humane than Muslims. Can you imagine the situation if Arab states decided to take Israel?

Knowing what I know about Jewish people and Muslim people, I can't demonize Israel.

Israel is governed democratically, has freedom of the press, freedom of expression and actively participates in the advancement of civilization through scientific research and innovation. I can't say as much for many Muslim states. Call me ignorant if you wish, but it's that's the way I interpret the facts.

Well, at least this conflict once again shows how rediculous the concept of UN resolutions has become.
The list of war crimes and crimes against humanity grows steadily, yet nothing is done about it, because a) the UN Security Council is blocked by the US veto (not that its resolutions would be worth anything anyway), b) the UN General Assembly's convictions aren't worth the paper they're printed on due to lack of enforcement and c) the International Criminal Court is out of the game, because Israel withdrew from the Rome Statute in '02.

Last I read, they were up to 500.000 without access to drinking water, right? Maybe Uri Avnery's comparison of Gaza with Leningrad wasn't so far fetched after all.

^ "Justifiable military operations"? Are you out of your mind? What is justifiable about planning a war against a neighboring country? And planning it 6 months ahead during a cease fire?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/04/israel-gaza-hamas-hidden-agenda

^ Israel has right to attack because Arab states are not democratic: Turn your statements around, what if Sweden would attack the US. Would that be justified because Sweden is more democratic and scores higher on a number of lists than the US according to most international research?

http://www.economist.com/images/rankings/Democracy.jpg

Man wake up. Both Hamas and Israel are playing a dirty war, but since all the power is on the side of Israel, it is no wonder people are choosing the Palestinian side. Israel should know better. This is not the answer.