Current Connection #4

Ibrahim Barzak and Karin Laub, a pair of writers for Yahoo! News, state in their article, "Palestinian civilian toll climbs in Gaza," that as Israeli strikes against Hamas rocket launching stations and Hamas military leaders, Palestinian civilians continue to get killed in the crossfire.

In the article Ibrahim Barzak and Karin Laub state, "Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip on Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 94 and devastating several homes belonging to one clan as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel." As Israel attacks targets in Gaza to stop the rocket fire, they also accidentally kill many Palestinian civilians. Understandably, the Palestinians aren't happy about this.

Barzak and Laub also state, "Escalating its bombing campaign, Israel on Sunday began attacking homes of activists in Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza." The activists often have several people living in their homes or are living in the homes of other people. This cowering behind civilians is the cause of many civilian casualties.

Also stated in the article, "Hamas fighters, meanwhile, have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel in the current round of fighting, including 75 on Monday, among them one that hit an empty school." The murder of civilians is not a crime committed exclusively by Israel. Hamas continues its unjustified assault on Israel with rocket fire, encouraging even more action from Israel to stop the rocket fire.

This reminds me of the beginning of many wars throughout history. One country does something little and (often unintentionally) provokes a response from the other. The other country then responds negatively and the original country responds negatively back. This cycle gets worse and worse until a full-scale war begins, causing massive damage to both countries as well as destroying the lives of many innocent people. Thus the saying, "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind," was born.

Though Israel is not specifically targeting civilians, Israel is killing them and that is making Hamas and the rest of the world more and more unhappy with them. It may be wise for Israel, a widely hated country, to discontinue its attacks on Hamas leaders, even if those attacks are completely justified.