While I happen to agree with the earlier GenX87 prediction that this will solve nothing in what amounts to a 60 year conflict, I can't agree with his statement of, "Welcome to war. You think everything goes as perfect as Call of Duty 4 or osmething?"
Simply because, while war inevitably causes collateral damage, it can vary widely in degree depending on the way its conducted, and while Israel could have been even more brutal, Israel took very few steps to minimize civilian causalities. Shelling hospitals, clinics, and UN headquarters is a no no, the always used excuse that someone was firing at us nearby cuts little mustard, when Hamas has no real weapons able to harm a hair on the head of any Israeli soldiers. And if anything Hamas support will increase and not decrease in Gaza just as Hezbollah support tripled in Lebanon. But unlike Hezbollah, Hamas seems to lack any
weapons that will even slow up an Israeli tank, a lack that will inspire many to correct.
But in a population of 1.5 Gaza residents, we can figure, that if Hamas won the election, Hamas base support starts at 750,000. To support any sort of an insurgency, one is usually talking at least one or two percent of the population to be active insurgents, so do the math, we would be talking at least 15,000 to 30,000 willing and able to bear arms. Given only some 1,000 Gaza residents killed, with 60% of those innocent civilians, even if 400 active fighters were killed, it hardly dents Hamas strength. Nor does much evidence exists that the rather ineffectual rockets Hamas has already smuggled in are badly depleted or destroyed. If anything Egyptian popular support lies with Gaza, Mubarak has not come off looking good, and Israel can't can't keep playing the game of starving the residents of Gaza without creating a human rights backlash even in the USA. Israel is skating on very thin ice as it is, its my understanding that the Hamas cease fire only lasts a week, and then it may be time to test the Obama Presidency.
Personally, I think its time for binding third party arbitration, because if we wait for real Irsaeli concessions that lead to a mutually negotiated fair settlement, it will never happen, but the Palestinians and Arabs, in the past 10 years, are just learning how to effectively fight back. Rockets used by Stateless terrorists are not effective yet in hurting Israeli, its better than the rocks and bottles they had, but as the rocket range gets longer and chemical and biological weapons start to be used, its going to get real ugly in the next 10 years. The Arab anger Israel has created is long past the breaking point.
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