The New York Times today reports that the Israeli cabinet is about to approve a ceasefire in Gaza, ending the weeks-long operation that inflamed the passions on this website. Since every bit of bad news was posted here, let me break that pattern by posting this bit of good news. Not only is the operation about to end, but Israel has achieved several objectives which will lead to more security for both peoples in the future.
Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet Saturday night to declare a cease-fire in Gaza and will keep its forces there in the short term while the next stage of an agreement with Egypt is worked out.
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Meanwhile, Israeli tank fire killed two boys at a United Nations-run school on Saturday in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, a U.N. official told Reuters.
Let's not forget the innocent victims of this conflict, including these two children who lost their lives today. If Hamas truly cared about its people, it would work on peace with Israel, because once the Palestinians stop attacking Israel, there will be peace
The most promising element for bringing the three-week conflict to a close occurred in Washington on Friday, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel signed an understanding on a range of steps the United States would take to stem the flow of new arms to Hamas from the Egyptian Sinai, mostly via tunnels.
More good news.
"Israel will not be able to destroy our resistance, and the United States will not be able to dictate us their rules," the leader, Khaled Meshal, said in defiant remarks broadcast worldwide. "Arab countries should help Hamas to fight against the death of civilian Palestinians."
But the Gaza branch of Hamas, squabbling with exiles out of the line of Israeli fire, seems to have agreed to much of Egypt’s cease-fire proposal.
For all the talk about his this most recent conflict has strengthened Hamas, this sure seems to contradict that. I think that once they realized that they weren't invulnerable in the Gaza region, the party was pretty much over.
After meeting with Ms. Rice, Ms. Livni, who has been hawkish on continuing the assault aimed at stopping Hamas rockets from coming into Israel, stressed that the nation had met its war aims and was prepared to enter a cease-fire cautiously.
Of course, Livni wouldn't admit it if they had failed, but considering the fact that Gaza-Hamas is eager to accept the ceasefire, I think that Israel has done some serious damage to Hamas. (But we'll have to wait and see for the final answer.)
Serious damage has been done to Hamas, and a lot of innocent civilians have been killed, sadly. Problem is, Gaza is densely populated. So either Israel can let Gaza be a save haven for terrorists, or it has to strike against the terrorists who operate in that region. These Hamas-terrorists, being terrorists with absolutely no regard for human life, have no qualms about using civilians as human shields - and it's a no-win situation. If Israel is deterred by the presence of human shields, they have protected themselves. If Israel strikes and kills both the terrorists and the human shields, they have a propaganda-tool to demonize Israel with.
I don't think that Israel really has a choice.
NYT: Israeli Cabinet Appears Ready to Declare a Gaza Cease-Fire