Gaza Conflict

[Bunkertor]

Yeah the job Israel had to finish was so important that it had to be done before Obamas inauguration...

C´mon guys. Don´t be silly.

[vbhoutex]

Yeah the job Israel had to finish was so important that it had to be done before Obamas inauguration...

C´mon guys. Don´t be silly.

Huh?? This has nothing to do with Obamas election. Don't even try and bring politics into this like that.

[Bunkertor]

Dude, this is politics. 1st Kadima and Likud have to shape up their profile as strong leaders vs. the Workersparty before the Knesset elections and 2nd : They wanted to avoid that war goes on during inauguration time so that the conflict doesn´t reflect on the U.S. and the new president that much. This case itself has minor impact on the war itself. That´s true. But it matters.

Politics: When UN resolutions against Israel fail there mostly are two Naysayers: USA and Germany.

[cycloneye]

Israel Admits Killing Three Daughters of Prominent Doctor

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli military took the blame Wednesday for the deaths in Gaza of three daughters of a prominent Palestinian doctor during fighting in mid-January between Israeli troops and Hamas militants, the Israel Defense Forces said.

However, the military said the deaths were unintentional, and came as the Israelis were targeting suspects in the upper level of the doctor's home which they didn't know was his.

"Investigations were held on many levels in the IDF, with regards to the incident at the residence of Dr. Az A-Din Abu El-Eish," the IDF said in a written statement.

"The conclusions found that two shells were fired from an IDF tank, resulting in the deaths of Dr. El-Eish's three daughters," the statement says.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the doctor's niece also died, and another daughter, Shadar, 17, was seriously hurt in the shelling.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast ... index.html

[abajan]

If you had a choice of where you and your family could reside, where would you rather live right now? Israel or Gaza? Considering current casualty counts on each side, where would you feel safer? The civilians in Gaza have no such choice.

A simplistic solution like bombing Hamas into oblivion will not work because other extremist elements would probably take their place. I don't know the solution to this conflict and if you guys think you do, you're kiddin' yourselves.

[cycloneye]

More Military Action from Israel as Hamas throws more rockets into Southern Israel

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli warplanes attacked four tunnels and a weapons storage facility in Gaza late Friday evening, an Israeli Defense Forces spokesman said.

A woman looks over her destroyed home Saturday in Gaza after an Israeli airstrike the night before.

The planes attacked near Rafah crossing at Gaza's border with Egypt.

The IDF said it was responding to the firing of two missiles into Israel earlier Friday, the spokesman said.

There were no reports that the missiles inflicted any injuries or damage, the spokesman said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast ... index.html

[Bunkertor]

War is the terrorism of the rich !
Terror is the war of the poor !

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Sad that people keep dying
I pray there is some form of peace soon

[Bunkertor]

There can be no peace without Hamas
If every crisis is also an opportunity, it is now time to rethink the strategy for achieving peace in the Middle East. The latest and bloodiest conflict between Israel and Hamas has demonstrated that the policy of isolating Hamas cannot bring about stability. As former peace negotiators, we believe it is of vital importance to abandon the failed policy of isolation and to involve Hamas in the political process. An Israeli–Palestinian peace settlement without Hamas will not be possible. As the Israeli general and statesman Moshe Dayan said, “If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” There can be no meaningful peace process that involves negotiating with the representative of one part of the Palestinians while simultaneously trying to destroy the other. Whether we like it or not, Hamas will not go away. Since its victory in democratic elections in 2006, Hamas has sustained its support in Palestinian society despite attempts to destroy it through economic blockades, political boycotts and military incursions. This approach is not working; a new strategy must be found.
Yes, Hamas must recognise Israel as part of a permanent solution, but it is a diplomatic process and not ostracisation that will lead them there. The Quartet conditions imposed on Hamas set an unworkable threshold from which to commence negotiations. The most important first step is for Hamas to halt all violence as a precondition for their inclusion in the process. Ending their isolation will in turn help in reconciling the Palestinian national movement, a vital condition for meaningful negotiations with Israel.
We have learnt first-hand that there is no substitute for direct and sustained negotiations with all parties to a conflict, and rarely if ever a durable peace without them. Isolation only bolsters
hardliners and their policies of intransigence. Engagement can strengthen pragmatic elements and their ability to strike the hard compromises needed for peace.
The new US administration and the appointment of George Mitchell as the Mideast Envoy give
hope that a new strategy grounded in realism and not ideology will be pursued. Without this, there will be no two-state solution and no peace and security for either Israelis or Palestinians.
We must recognise that engaging Hamas does not amount to condoning terrorism or attacks on civilians. In fact, it is a precondition for security and for brokering a workable agreement.

______________
Michael Ancram. Former Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office (1994 – 1996), he was responsible for the negotiations leading to the Northern Ireland Peace Process,
and was the first British minister to meet with Sinn Fein and the IRA for 25 years.

Lord Paddy Ashdown. Former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002-2006) overseeing implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Dr. Shlomo Ben-Ami. Former Israeli Foreign Minister (2000 - 2001), he was a key negotiator
with the Palestinians at the 2000 Camp David peace summit. He also led the Israeli delegation to the Taba peace negotiations. He is currently Vice-President of the Toledo International Centre for
Peace.

Betty Bigombe. As former Minister in the Uganda government, she initiated peace talks between the Uganda and the Lord's Resistant Army (LRA) and provided technical support during the Sudan and Uganda peace negotiations (1998 – 2000). Later in 2004-2005 she was the chief mediator between Uganda and the LRA.

Álvaro de Soto. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Envoy to the Quartet (2005-2007). Earlier, he led the Cyprus peace and reunification negotiations (1999-2004)
and the negotiations that ended the decade-long war in El Salvador (1990-1991).

Gareth Evans. As former Australian Foreign Minister (1988 - 1996) he assisted in development of the UN Peace Plan for Cambodia. Currently he is the President of the International Crisis Group.
Peter Gastrow. As a former member of Parliament in South Africa, he participated in the negotiation of the National Peace Accord (1991) and played a key role in implementing it. He was then a member of the National Peace Committee and the National Peace Secretariat, the bodies charged with implementing the Accord (1991-1994).

Gerry Kelly. As member of Sinn Fein he played leading role in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland (1998). He is a current member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

John Hume. Former leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party of Northern Ireland (1979 - 2001), he was one of the architects of the Northern Irish peace process, for which he won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 as well as the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Martin Luther King Award.

Dr. Ram Manikkalingam. Senior advisor to the former President of Sri Lanka on the peace process with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He is the founder of the Dialogue Advisory Group and visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam.

Lord Chris Patten. Former British Governor of Hong Kong (1992-1997) and EU Commissioner for External Relations (2000-2004). He also chaired the Patten Commission established as part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process in 1998.

Sir Kieran Prendergast. As UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs (1997-2005) he oversaw the Cyprus peace and reunification negotiations. He has also been involved in peace processes in the Middle East, Afghanistan, DRC, Guatemala, Somalia, Burundi and East Timor.

Yezid Sayigh. Former advisor and negotiator in the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks with Israel, 1990-1994, and since 1999 has provided policy and technical consultancy on the
permanent status peace talks. Currently he is professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the Department of War Studies, Kings College.

Thorvald Stoltenberg. Former Norwegian Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs (1987 – 1989 and 1990 – 1993) and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, he acted as
peace negotiator in former Yugoslavia (1993 – 1996).