Gaza toll mounts as fragile 12-hour truce takes hold

Great shot of Kerry. Waiting for housekeeping?

How can both sides best take advantage of this ceasefire for mutual benefit?

That Hamas agrees to the ceasefire simply means they are running short of rockets, and still undiscovered tunnels. Easy predition: In a days, someone will "broker" a permanent ceasefire, which Hamas will use to re-arm and re-attack the Israeli population within a month or so.

WilliB,

In a days, someone will "broker" a permanent ceasefire, which Hamas will use to re-arm and re-attack the Israeli population within a month or so.

This PM is the last person who'd give Hamas the benefit of the doubt. Yet Bibi himself last month acknowledged they hadn't fired rockets since 2012:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Monday (30th June) of involvement, for the first time since a Gaza war in 2012, in rocket attacks on Israel

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/30/uk-palestinian-israel-idUKKBN0F51CZ20140630

Surely we too can give peace a chance?

Surely we too can give peace a chance?

Let's hope for the best.

Hamas's human side comes out when they are at the receiving end.

Great gesture from Israel though, knowing well that Hamas is going to re-arm itself during the truce.

In northern Beit Hanun, southern Khan Yunis and eastern Shejaiya and Zaitun, they found scenes of utter destruction, with homes flattened and bodies lying in the streets and under rubble.

Meanwhile the shopping malls in Tel Aviv were just buzzing. Not a hair out of place.

According to the UN, as of 1 hour ago, there are now 162,862 evacuees within Gaza are being housed in UN facilities. |That number totals more than 50,000 over full capacity for the largest sports stadium in the U.S.|

Hundreds of innocent children are dying and they are looking for a “fruitful negotiation”!! “Israel has the right to defend” but those innocent children in Gaza who just came in this world a few days ago they “Don’t have any right to live”!! Congratulation…UN, Mr. Obama and other western and Muslim leaders! Why don’t you negotiate for several more years until the “leaders are agreed”!!!. I ashamed little girl that I live in this world for 40 years but fail to give you even few years –it is a shame for me to be a human, it’s a shame to belong in this “civilized society”.

The militants knew this would be the result. And they started firing anyway.

The militants knew this would be the result. And they started firing anyway.

I think that's Hamas' strategy, i.e., launch rockets, that they know will most likely be intercepted, and rely on pictures of dead and wounded kidscivilians at the launch site, to gain international sympathy. Rockets fired from mobilized launch platforms gives Hamas an opportunity to fire the rockets from sites in populated areas, move the platforms, and rely on Israel to return fire on the areas from which the rockets were launched.

Yet Bibi himself last month acknowledged they hadn't fired rockets since 2012:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Monday (30th June) of involvement, for the first time since a Gaza war in 2012, in rocket attacks on Israel

But that doesn’t mean no rockets. Although 2013 was remarkable with the lowest number of rockets since 2001, there were still around 40. The most reasonable explanation for the low number is that Hamas didn’t fire any. Hamas went so far as to ban rocket fire directed at Israel by other Palestinian groups and there are even accounts of Hamas police arresting Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters who were attempting to violate the order.

In March of this year the Palestinian Islamic Jihad initiated operation “Breaking the Silence” in which it launched dozens of rockets into Israel from Gaza. The PIJ claimed that the attack was in response to Israel killing three of its fighters and that it was done in cooperation and coordination with Hamas. Hamas put another spin on it and took the position that it (Hamas) had given the nod to the PIJ for a limited and measured response to Israeli aggression but major cities were not to be targeted. Apparently, the PIJ didn’t get the memo.

Although the political leadership of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad go to great lengths to put on a happy face and keep the tensions between their groups out of the public eye; the fact remains that their relationship has changed significantly since Hamas assumed the mantle of civil authority in Gaza. The onus of providing even the most basic needs to the people of Gaza has distracted Hamas from the spirit of their original charter; which was the armed obliteration of Israel. Hamas changed, they had to. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad didn’t changed one iota. They are still 100% focused on retaliation, revenge and killing Israelis. And most importantly, they shun governance like the plague.

A recent poll conducted by a Gaza based research center, found over 60% of the public believed that armed resistance is the appropriate course of action towards regaining their rights. Around 6% felt that negotiations were the way to go. Hamas was voted into power riding on that wave of public opinion. But once they became the establishment they also became the target of complaints about the conditions that the people of Gaza had to deal with. On the other hand, the PIJ has just kept on firing rockets and fighting the IDF. The same poll found that in the realm of public opinion Hamas is losing its support among the people of Gaza, while the PIJ is gaining. In any democratically elected government (which Gaza is) the will of the people is the ultimate arbiter. As long as the majority of Palestinians in Gaza support armed conflict with Israel and as long as groups like the PIJ are ready to do the dirty work; this kind of stuff will just keep happening. And it really doesn’t matter who the government is.

As long as the majority of Palestinians in Gaza support armed conflict with Israel

Why would this be?

More importantly however, how can we change this bloody status quo?

Is bombing Gaza **really the answer?**

Why would this be?

Well for one, the Palestinians in Gaza have some very legitimate grievances against Israel. And secondly, the Palestinians in Gaza have a culture that glorifies armed conflict; especially armed conflict with Israel. Hamas and the other groups resisting the Israeli aggression are heroic figures to many people in Gaza. They are like rock stars, glorious role models to be honored and emulated. Almost 65% of the population in Gaza is under 25 years of age and the median age there is only 18; lots of young impressionable minds. Hamas produced a children’s television program for a while called Tomorrow’s Pioneers, the show had its own Palestinian version of Mickey Mouse named Farfour and promoted an agenda of anti-Israel sentiment and “resistance Jihad”. The show ended when the star, Farfour, was beaten to death by an Israeli agent. (On the show, not in real life) The target audience ranged from pre-school age up to around 12 yrs. Hamas also produced a popular music video (aiming for a slightly older demographic) that showed Hamas fighters dancing and singing while assembling and firing rockets into Israel. One line of the song goes, “We prepare a generation of warriors who cling to death like the enemy clings to life.” Hamas prepared a generation alright and now everybody has to deal with the results.

More importantly however, how can we change this bloody status quo?

We can’t! Only the players involved can.

Is bombing Gaza really the answer?

It seems to be for Israel. Just like firing rockets is really the answer for many Palestinians.