Hamas was elected-the palestinians are now paying the price for it-but is this fair?A GROUND ASSAULT NEXT? Israel pounds Gaza for second day. Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip from the air on Sunday and prepared for a possible land invasion. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Hamas was elected-the palestinians are now paying the price for it-but is this fair?A GROUND ASSAULT NEXT? Israel pounds Gaza for second day. Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip from the air on Sunday and prepared for a possible land invasion. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

pHOTO-g. ORENSTEIN. Israeli Merkava tanks rolling into Lebanon/2006 July war.


GAZA (Reuters) - Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip from the air on Sunday and prepared for a possible invasion after killing at least 298 Palestinians in two days of attacks.

Israel said the campaign that began on Saturday was a response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire that intensified after Hamas, the Islamist group in charge of the enclave that Israel quit in 2005, ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.

Israel stepped up air strikes after dark on Sunday, destroying a laboratory building at the Islamic University in Gaza, a significant cultural symbol, Hamas said. Israel has accused Hamas of using the facilities to develop explosives.

During the first two days of the assault, militants fired about 150 rockets and mortars at Israel, the army said, less than had been expected. Two rockets struck near the port of Ashdod, 30 km (18 miles) from Gaza, causing NO casualties.

The attacks enraged Arabs across the Middle East, where protesters burned Israeli and U.S. flags to press for a stronger response from their leaders to Israel's attack on Gaza.

Israeli tanks deployed on the edge of the Gaza Strip, poised to enter the densely populated enclave of 1.5 million Palestinians. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet approved a call-up of 6,500 reservists, a government official said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told top commanders at a briefing on Sunday that the Israeli offensive was open-ended. Military spokesman Avi Benayahu said it could "take many days."

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, said the campaign would continue until the population in southern Israel "will no longer live in terror and in fear of constant rocket barrages."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who hopes to become prime minister after a February 10 election, appeared to rule out a large-scale invasion to recapture the territory.

"Our goal is not to reoccupy Gaza Strip," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. Asked on Fox News if Israel was out to topple Gaza's Hamas rulers, Livni replied: "Not now."

The U.N. Security Council called on all sides to cease fire. But an Israeli official said Israel was feeling little international pressure to halt its operations.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum urged Palestinian groups to use "all available means, including martyrdom operations" -- a reference to suicide bombings in Israel.

Keeping pressure on Hamas after bombing runs that turned Saturday into one of the bloodiest days for Palestinians in 60 years of conflict, Israeli aircraft flattened the group's main security compound in Gaza, killing at least four security men.

Israel expanded its air campaign to the southern Gaza Strip, bombing some 40 smuggling tunnels running under the border with Egypt, a network that is a lifeline to the outside world.

Dozens of Gazans crossed into Egypt through holes opened in the border wall by bulldozers and explosives. An Egyptian border guard and a Palestinian youth died in a clash as Egyptian police tried to stop the influx, medics and Egyptian security said.

Egypt later warned Gaza residents to steer clear of the border area as Israel planned to bomb more tunnels there, a Palestinian security source said. Israel says militants use border tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

"SHOCK AND AWE"

Palestinian health officials said the deaths raised to 298 the number of Palestinians killed since Saturday, when Israel launched what one Israeli newspaper columnist described as "shock and awe" air strikes against Hamas facilities.

Hamas said 180 of its members were killed and the rest included civilians, among them 16 women and some children.

The international Red Cross said that hospitals in the Gaza Strip were overwhelmed and unable to cope with the casualties.

One Israeli was killed on Saturday by a rocket fired from Gaza. Gazan rockets have caused few Israeli casualties but have damaged property and sparked panic in many border towns.

Benayahu, the army spokesman, said Hamas had not yet responded as strongly as expected, possibly because it was "trying to recover from the blows," but that "it is too soon to eulogize" it.

Livni said Israel was trying to "target only terrorists and Hamas headquarters." "But, unfortunately, in a war ... sometimes also civilians pay the price."

Violence spread to the occupied West Bank, where Israeli soldiers opened fire at stone-throwing Palestinian protesters. Palestinian medical officials said two Palestinians were killed.

Palestinian forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah shot and wounded three people in a protest in support of Hamas. Arab citizens of Israel also held protests.

In Damascus, a senior official said Syria has suspended indirect peace talks with Israel in response to the attacks.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas who fought a 2006 war with Israel, said he asked fighters to be on standby for a possible Israeli attack.

Parents in Gaza kept their children home from school as the roar of Israeli aircraft and thunder of explosions echoed. Schools in Israel's south, due to reopen on Tuesday after the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, were ordered to stay shut.

Abbas, speaking in Cairo, accused Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah in 2007, of triggering Israel's raids by not extending the ceasefire that Egypt brokered in June.

U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, in its final weeks in office, put the onus on Hamas to prevent more violence.

(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Dan Williams, Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Douglas Hamilton and Adam Entous in Jerusalem, Wafa Amr and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by )



Source; www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSLS69391620081228?sp=true 

Comments

	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Payback time for the holocaust. Sorry, but the Israelis are doing what was done to them in Nazi Germany!! Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: i cant wait. bring the pain! Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Hi Rath- 1. Do you feel that the killing of 300 Palestinians is justifiable? 2. Yes, they may have killed about 30-40 Hamas militanats but do you really think that this is going to stop Hamas or breed more hate/ x Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: i dont think killing is justifiable period killing breads hate. its a never ending cycle like the # 8 infinity this age is about to end. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: So why do you say bring on the pain? Xx Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: its was an ugly joke. sorry. sometimes we are so desensitized by death you first reaction is to laugh. later regret. people become desensitized to killing. so they justify killing live and let live Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Gotcha- thank for that- also, i think that is an oversimplification of a very very complex psychological state of mind Jews have. I think this goes beyond justifying the killing of others by killing others. I think this is the shame the jews are suffering as 6 million died in the holocaust and now they have to punish the palestinians for it. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Remeber-aren't we the choosen ones? the smartest, well-educated. How could we let 6 million be killed? Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: if you ask me. I think the high ups let it happen. but Im probably wrong. excuse my ignorance. Im not well educated on the subject. They dont teach us anything in the USA Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: hi Rath- Now, regarding your comment on the US education system and you beign ignorant-I do not buy that for one minute. That is just an over used statement which usually translates into you don't want to discuss this issue-thats coool, but i doubt you don't have a clue about the situation. Even if you disagree with me, or agree I am not going to call you an anti-semite whatever you say. Often times, like saying the work nigger if you are not black-you you are a Jew it is easy to call soemone an anti-semite to get them to shut up. XX Peace Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: who do you think is responsible for 9-11? what group was behind it? Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: hi Rath- I am not going there-are you talking about possible conspiracy theories? That is like a full-novel one could write on the subject, but so is the Israeli/palestine conflict. The illistrator Fish, he is a Jew. That is what is interesting about what he writes on the illustration Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	d200 dug No censorship!    says: Again I cannot help but think what an amazing place the middle east could be if as much effort and money was put into education peace and building as is put into hate killing and destruction. There is wrong on both sides even though Hamas is an elected government I don't feel they have the right to attack Israel. To me Hamas is the small kid who picks on a much stronger kid all the time untill the bigger kid strikes back then the smaller kid cries foul and says the big kid hit me getting sympathy. ( Being a big kid at school I remember this happening to me ) Death destruction and killing is not the answer. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Okay- But listen, the santions did not stop Hamas. What is going to happen. Doug- Death destruction-that is never the answer. What I am talking about here, and I wish that this guy Anonymous was around to help me here, but there will never be peace. This is only going to breed generations and generations of hate. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: For every bomb Israel retaliates with, there are hundreds of palestinian kids waiting for revenge. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: and one day all the palestinian kids will be dead. Israel will still have more bombs. rocks = dirt Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: you cant beat a beast with sticks and stones Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: war is not about one side or another. not about right or wrong. good or bad. its about making money. the rich get richer. the poor get poor. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: and once people understand that. the will wake up and destroy their masters. not their "enemies" masters. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: a master is a master. no matter the side. its the same master evil is evil no such thing as a lesser of two evils Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: the word "enemy" is a created word from the tongue of the serpent. HISSSSS HIISSSSSSSsSSSSSssss........ Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: all organized religion is false its a tool used to destroy the spirit in us all Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: fuck a flag Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: burn a flag Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: dont ever wear a flag unlless its a BLACK FLAG Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: Killers are cowards Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: As in the music group Black flag? xx your an anarchist you little devil!! x Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: a pirate's flag. I like booty Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	oldseaman154 says: Hi Gail, Maybe you can tell me why the US stands behind Israel no matter what they do? Thanks, Doug Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: they like to: divide and conquer believing all the lies that they're tell you buying all the products there selling you Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: and that my friend is Rage Against the Machine Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: Israel and the US ruling elite think they have a lots of secrets that the serfs dont know about Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: yo ho yo ho ho ho ho ho merry christmas a pirates life for me Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: think im crazy yet? Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: hide the truth from your friends...the serfs Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: so you can keep on endorsing killing Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: love is the answer Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: hey nice jewish girl. one last thing. Pres. Nixon "Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember other may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself." Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Hi Rath- I locve it-thanks, I will be true to Nixon!! I promise. Love is the answer, than why do we hate so much and not fuck more? Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: how do you expect me to answer that question. Im not GOD Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: the ruling elite believe in depopulation. they dont want us here. they think were are the plague. a virus on earth THEY ARE NOT HUMAN Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: they teach us to fight each other. the breed us to hate Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: we believe their garbage lies as truth and carry out their crazy commands. we are slaves to them Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: the elite are never the ones that actually do the fighting. they sit back and watch in the shadows laughing at how stupid they've breed us to be. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: bummer- I thought you had this peace, love and no war thing figured out!! XX Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	Rath & Some says: the elite never die in wars the slaves do all the dying Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: The US funds both sides of the war Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	Rath & Some says: we are under total and complete mind control. Im lucky. I recently got abducted. the gave me a special chip. ALIENS ARE OUR FRIENDS Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	johncoxon    says: So you ar e a "Jewess" but actually your are first a human and doing your stuf and with such a Good hold on the market. I love you and want yer body !Fuck it , Northern ireland got sorted out . I saw the Berlin Wall fall and also South AFRICA, aparthied got took down. In my heart I am a Palestinian. Don't you fucking hate those jew right wing settlers and well I'd blow the fuckersup as they ar e such a fucking embassment. Israel , the state was developed , actualllyu , through terrorism and now we are supposed to be onside with Isreal. This shelling of Palestine these last few days is fucking disgracefu. Israel ,loads of money, lex talionis and might is right. Think the UN ought to come in and kick arse and also you'd hope that the UK wouldn't back up0 the abuse of Palestine but theyt do. Fuck Israel. And then again Ro9bert Mugabe remains in power. He needs assasinatimng. Fuck him. Oh babe , really pissws me off that we have supported Israel.Judaism is a great religion. Islam is aloso. If both read andb undesrtood their scripures , this situation could have been worked out. Fuck it. Israel needs to lighten up. I'd rocket them so tell me why Palestine should stop rocketing them. Israel has to get some balls and talk to hamas. Come on , the promnised land was actualloy stolen. We all know this! . Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	rober1236jua says: This will someday have to come to an end if Israel wants to survive. They have an election coming up and they are all trying to show the Israelis that they will not tolerate any terrorism. The problem is they have to balance this conflict, which by the way is not working. Hamas still remained popular with the Palestinians even under heavy sanctions. Israel is to heavy handed in this. Israel will prevail in this war of attrition, but Hamas will gain in terms of recruitment after this, you will have another breed of hate waiting in line to become the next martyr. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	jakomako1 says: fukn zionists never live in israel,they use israelians they use jews,,, their only interest is the oil in middle east. all arabic old jews admit they ve been living in piece hundred of years with muslims and christians,, its the same cross campaigns all again Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	jakomako1 says: anyone who accuses hamas could tell me why can a person sacrifice his life??? the only reason i can figure that he is not living already Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Hi JakoWako- A lot of Zionists do live in Israel. I have never heard that argument, that they don't live in Israel and are just stirring things up and using non-Zionist Israeli Jews to take the pain. Where did you hear that? Do you really exist or are you just one of my many faceless fans who love to disguise themselves. Well anyway, I like your 4 photos. x Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: So where are you claiming that all of the Zionists live that do this? Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	revzillo    says: It's all S.N.A.F.U .......or is that F.U.B.A.R to me ......This and the whole Fucking world ........Why can't we all just get along together..... and fight Aliens from out of space instead ?!! Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	MY$terio$ says: Hi , all so why israel fight elect goverment and killl ppl ......coz they voted HAmas or they live in the same ground .........all this is crazy :( u will tell me hamas is terrorist group !! but barak obama is black but the amarican voted !! so we shouldn't go against ppl decision and drown down they hope ........ Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	d200 dug No censorship!    says: revzillo if we could spend the money spent on fighting one another on space exploration we could go and find some aliens to fight with :-( Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	jakomako1 says: well i think they live all around world specially in usa which serves them well and invented the vito shit also for them,why do u think the media insists that hamas fireworks r bombs?? it does not kill a person unless it strikes the middle of his head,thats an oscar movie indeed (hamas and israel) lols. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	d200 dug No censorship!    says: IMHO Hamas and Al Queda are both unwitting stooges for US defence industry and the US government. War is very profitable and they need the money. It's not the rich and powerful kids or families being killed so they don't care as long as the profits keep rolling in. I read somewhere something like $17 trillion dollars is spent on defence EVERY WEEK !! Imagine how many companies and corporations would go bankrupt if peace ever broke out !! It would make the current economic meltdown look like a picnic. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete )
	NICE JEWISH GIRL    says: Jakowako- No-I don' think they live much in North Africa and subsahara Africa. Although very involved in the diamond trade though. Yes, Zionists live in the USA. Yes, the USA supports Israel and if it did not Israel would not exist tomorrow. Compared to what the IDF is has it is like fireworks!! Go see Waltz with Bashir, my sweet dear Jakowako Rippie-I love your spelling, it is as bad as mine. That makes me feel great. Someone who makes fun of my spelling should come on here and be such a poor speller, hmm...yeah, to good to be true. Posted 2 weeks ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )
	PearlAxe says: What we are all forgetting is that Israel and the Phillistines (aka.Palistinians) have been fighting since the days of Abraham.(Over 4000 years) Half brothers, if you will, fighting for a birth-right promised. Both sides fighting for land that was promised to the seed of Abraham, Isac, and Jacob. At one time Israel spaned as far or farther than the once great Babalonian Empire. Under great leadership Israel was the richest most powerful nation under the stars. Under foolish leadership they lost it all. History has a funny way of repeating itself. In fact if one was so inclined to believe prophetic scripture, Many nations shall rise up against Israel but shall be quickly defeated. As for my personal opinion (such as it is), If the USA doesn't back Israel on this issue, or any issue for that matter, we haven't sealed thier doom, but our own. Israel is in the thick of it every day. They are better informed of the commings and goings of terrorist regimes in the Middle East better than our own government. Who knows how manny American lives have been saved because Israel does what they do best. They ought to have a clue how to fight wars. They have been doing it for centuries, and have somehow managed to survive. Posted 1 week ago. ( permalink | delete )
	PearlAxe says: Oh yah! I can't spell nearly as well as you do Nice Jewish Babe. Posted 1 week ago. ( permalink | delete )
	revzillo    says: Yeh alright you got a point there d200 dug .....By the way what d'you think the'yre doing in Area 51 then ?!!! Posted 10 days ago. ( permalink | delete )
	jakomako1 says: lalala what pearl says is a real joke where do u get ur knowledge from??comics??thats really fun god said to sons of israel that who killed a single human soul without right as if he killed all humanity, which regime in earth would like to be terrorist against peacful people?never happened in finland switzerland or any other peacful nation terrorism as u call it is due to injustice of people to each other, peace is the main principle in any land that believs in god, so middle east as the source of all religions u know it cant be land of terrorism its not mangol its not nazi just another people who seeks peace and living in their own Posted 10 days ago. ( permalink | delete )
	PearlAxe says: Well jakomako1, all one has to do is read! You know what that is don't you?Comics? What a laugh. Read a history book. Not the rehtoric they like to teach in schools, but real historical documents and books like the one's in the Library of congress or the great library of Alexandria. Obviously one should have the wherewithall to read with an open mind, to look past the bias of the author and put the pieces toghether himself. The Torah or the Koran are actually great sources of history. All one has to do is open one and read. Oh by the way... Wars have been fought for many reasons since the begining of time. I think if you look back, even Finland and the ever neutral Switzerland have had their violence filled history. Until the masses are stronger than the governments that run them, there always will be unrest and wars. Greed and corruption will always breed violence as will one group trying to force thier beliefs on others. Man, by nature is selfish and greedy. The "I want it all and I want it now" attitude is rampant through all humanity. Some are just willing to sacrifice the lives of some one elses children to get what they want. Isn't it strange that the terrorist group leaders are the ones telling others to suicide themselves for a cause not of there own but yet wont do it themselves. Or governments calling on their people to fight a war in some distant land while they are safe at home. Ican guarantee you that if they were the ones going off to fight for thier own cause they wouldn't be so quick to fight. I Hate war! I hate the fact that we can't just live in peace. I hate that there is more money spent on wars than looking for cures for disease and starvation. But more than anything, I hate that the birthright of every man, woman and child, true freedom and living in peace, is nothing more than just words. Posted 10 days ago. ( permalink | delete )
	d200 dug No censorship!    says: revzillo said: Yeh alright you got a point there d200 dug .....By the way what d'you think the'yre doing in Area 51 then ?!!! ========================================= I don't care about area 51 I would like to know what funny things they are cooking up in area 63 :-) Never believe the things you are not told about, worry about the things they don't even mention ! Posted 10 days ago. ( permalink | delete )
	jakomako1 says: well pearl i know that wars happens since the begining of humanity, and some people r evil and not well bred, but u said that israel is helping u avoiding more terrorstic deeds accusing the arabic nation indeed and thats not true at all not because of sane group like qaeda which was made in beggining by usa to terrorise soviets u ve to make a hebrew spot inside the arabic circle, these conflicts are just made to serve the western supplies of oil from gulf, and with further financal crisis usa decieded to take the oil free and sell their best benefit of steel inventions to helpless people in gulf as u said. who is the terrorist then??? Posted 9 days ago. ( permalink | delete )
	PearlAxe says: Unquestionably the US government backed and financed what are now terrorist organizations. Which made my case and point. Do I believe that the US is without blame for the shape that the world is in? Absolutely not! Greed hiding under the guise of "good for the world" is still greed. If power corrupts than absolute power corrupts absolutely. This however does not mean that the people of any country are all evil or terrorist. The ruling governments do that and then enforce their agendas by the blood of children of thier country. A perfect world is a pipe dream. Why? Because Man can not handel power. Any elected official can go in with a good heart thinking of peace and prosperity, but once he or she tastes the power of the held office or falls victom of corruption from within thier trusted advisers they too fall into the corruption of power. Someone is allways going to want what is not thiers, and are willing to sacrifice someone elses children to get it. Therefore it isn't a sacrifice at all. Because they have lost nothing but the popularity vote. Posted 9 days ago. ( permalink | delete )

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