Don't misunderstand - I find any death unfortunate, and combat-related deaths to be especially tragic. I lost a high-school classmate in Iraq. While I support the Palestinians in their struggle for liberation, I acknowledge the will of parties on both sides to cease hostilities and I hope they reach a solution to the violence as soon as possible.
That being said, when I heard on the news today that an Israeli soldier had been killed, I was surprised by my initial reaction: "Well, good."
This reaction surprised me, and I considered it for a bit, trying to decide if I was some horrible bastard or if there was a more rational explanation, perhaps one relying on nigh-Vulcan logic (I say Vulcan as opposed to human - it cannot be humane to feel anything but sadness at such an unnecessary death).
I try to be a fair person. The comparison between Israeli military strength and Gaza's defensive capability is laughable. Israel claims it killed around 30 Hamas fighters today; twice that number of children were just reported killed thus far in the conflict on CNN.
I do know this: Israel violated the cease-fire with Hamas. From the Chicago Tribune:
The outbreak of violence across the border began Nov. 4, when Israeli forces crossed into the Gaza Strip to destroy what the army said was a tunnel dug by Hamas to seize an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid. Six gunmen were killed, and militants responded with volleys of mortars and rockets into Israel.
There. Bang. Israel conducts a cross-border raid in November. Then Hamas starts firing rockets again. Then Israel invades, complaining that Hamas violated the cease-fire with rocket attacks. 507 in Gaza dead thus far.
FOUR in Israel have been killed. Two of those four were Arab-Israelis. Arab housing in Israel is not required to meet the same rigorous safety demands of Israeli housing, which is designed to help withstand rocket attacks.
I don't condone the killing or kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in order to level any kind of playing field. But when I see column after column of soldiers streaming into an area twice the size of Manhattan with one and a half million people, no food or medical supplies and two very closed borders, the underdog-supporting Rocky fan in me finds a sort of satisfaction in the death of an Israeli soldier. It's not glee or any other form of happy satisfaction - it's the satisfaction of an ever-so-slight equalization of an exchange. It is no surprise that soldiers die in battle. When you invade a country, you're going to lose soldiers. It's understandable. It's expected. And it's only fair.