to not understand how you can fire missiles targeting civilians and it not be a war crime

[Itsaboatjack]

now I'm not especially knowledgable about the problems in the middle east but surely firing missiles into a city intentionally killing civilians is some kind of war crime?

My beautiful Israeli family have had rockets fired into their country by Hamas for years now and are not the aggressors here. Before the IDF fires into Gaza they drop leaflets warning the civilians what is going to happen, they are treating Palestinians in Israeli hospitals and taking food and medication in. But the world's press report what it wants to report and as Israel has the bigger, better and stronger military capability it is portrayed as the bully when all it is doing is defending it's people after many, many months of provocation. Please remember that the Hamas Charter of 1987 states that it is 'determined to wipe Israel off the face of the map'.

Elaine I can understand Israeli civilians being in favour of it,in all honesty.

I remember watching the news as a child and suicide bombings were an almost weekly occurrence.

reports of white phosphorous being used today :(

really, who wants to defend that?

chemical warfare in a built up area......

:'(

ducklips they drop leaflets, and tell them to get out of the area? so then if the Palestinians go to the checkpoints, will they let them out of Gaza?

and the white phosphorous and cluster bombs? that is defence?

so you going to drop leaflets saying we are going to bomb get out of the area and then drop white phosphorous, which the wind will blow around, and will melt the skin flesh and bones of all it comes into contact with?

but that's ok coz all the borders are open, for people to get out of the area? and there is no big wall caging them in.

Will they let medical supplies in? concrete to rebuild schools and hospitals.

Tell me when David threw a stone at Goliath was he in the wrong?

news from those in Gaza

"Just to say a thing! The IDF has asked civilians to evacuate and go to a place named Baghdad street. Minutes after this, they have done a massacre against them in Baghdad. Now, 8 has been murdered and 3 are critically injured. No place in Gaza is safe! No way, we will never evacuate. We will never give up. We will be here forever."

Is there a link from a credible source regarding the alleged use of white posphorus nalaik?

Hope you're equally outraged at the public execution and mutilation by the lovely Hamas of 6 Palestinians today in gaza.

Why doesn't mosri of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt open the rajah border to allow civilians to leave? I thought he was a Hamas supporter since hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim brotherhood.

And a credible link to the story that the Idf asked civilians to evacuate to a certain street and then massacred them there?

The Israelis may behave with callousness towards innocent Palestinian casualties (which is not right) but there is no way that they would target them - a subtle but important distinction with Hamas.

If Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel, the Israeli attacks will stop. Clearly they don't care all too much about innocent civilians either, even their own.

Btw nalaik there used to be an open border between gaza and Israel until the second intifada and suicide bombings which killed hundreds upon hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians without even the pretext of a military target.

10 people wounded in a bomb attack on a bus in Tel Aviv.

That's gonna help with the ceasefire

Yes, Hamas are committing war crimes (against their own people and the Israelis) and should stand before the Hague.

You can't negotiate with people who do this:
(warning: graphic images)

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2235635/Gaza-crisis-Six-Israeli-spies-executed-baying-mob.html

I'm sure Hamas should stand before the Hague.

So should the Israelis.

What is a credible link? The thing is if you don't believe Gaza's authorities to be credible and the people to be credible then what info will you believe?

If they don't target civilian casualties, they have such good weapons. Then why so many civilians hurt and killed?

Who kills more civilians?

And I agree about Egypt, Jordan etc

If they don't target civilian casualties, they have such good weapons. Then why so many civilians hurt and killed? Who kills more civilians?

The Israelis aim to perform surgical strikes:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_strike

Inevitably and regrettably, mistakes will happen, but they are not aiming at innocent civilians. They are aiming for rocket launch sites, weapons caches and Hamas activists.

Hamas fires rockets at Israel, aiming to kill civilians. Due to Israel?s Iron Dome defence system,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_dome air raid warnings and bomb shelters, there are fewer Israeli?s killed and injured than Palestinians. Without these things, there would be many more deaths. Since last week, over 1000 rockets have been fired into Israel, aiming for innocent civilians.

www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Palestinian_ceasefire_violations_since_end_Operation_Cast_Lead.htm

they are not aiming at innocent civilians

Their aim must be seriously off whack then.

Seriously is their aim so bad? Is there weaponry so crude homemade rockets?

Oh wait that's Palestine.

Why can Palestine not have missile defence to defend their civilians too?

Hamas activists are the democraticly elected government.

The un goldstone report was critical of Israel for not sufficiently accounting for palestinian civilian welfare during military operations but acknowledged that
a) palestinians militants intentionally wear civilian clothes to avoid being identified
b) Palestinian militants intentionally use civilians as human shields and intentionally operate in highly populated areas
c) Israel was not intentionally targeting civilians

Nalaik

A credible source would be an independent news agency like the bbc. Or do you believe everything coming out of Israel as well?

Im guessing you don't have a credible source so i assume it's just unsubstantiated rumors.

Nalaik

Do you know that there is more to democracy than just winning elections?

The nazis were also democratically elected.

they are not aiming at innocent civilians

Their aim must be seriously off whack then.

Or they use innocent civialians as human shields.

"The IAF is dealing with an enemy keen on using the densely populated Gaza Strip as a rocket base, often shooting the projectiles from the tops of residential buildings, or near schools, mosques, and other public places.

Such tactics are not new for Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In recent years, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya declared that ?the Palestinians are a nation of jihad and martyrdom,? while Hamas MP Fathi Hamed, addressing Israel, said, ?We desire death more than you desire life. Hamed went on to state that, ?For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel... the elderly excel at this... and so do the children.

This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children.?
Hamas TV campaigns instruct the population that ?bombs are more precious than children.?

In line with this ideology, rockets and explosives are hidden in Gazan homes, and senior terrorists, such as Yahiya Abiya, the head of Hamas?s rocket program, often remain in homes surrounded by civilians.

While the IDF makes major efforts to avoid harming civilians, such as distributing warning leaflets instructing noncombatants to stay away from areas used by Hamas to fire on Israel, phoning- in warnings, and deliberately missing targets on the first strike, to give civilians time to leave, these attempts at caution don?t always succeed.

In the case of Abiya, the air strike killed 10 Palestinian civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

While Abiya was hit in the strike, it seems fair to assume that IDF planners were not aware of the fact that the home was filled with noncombatants as well.

Each air strike carries its own cost-risk analysis, a calculation influenced by the level of threat posed by the intended target.

Yahiya was responsible for firing thousands upon thousands of rockets at Ashdod, Beersheba, and Ashkelon, and would have been seen as a high-value target.

This won?t be the last time that senior Hamas terrorists will seek cover behind Palestinian civilians."

Or they're aiming at innocent civilians.

Why can Palestine not have missile defence to defend their civilians too?

Dunno, guess you should ask them that.

Nailak

Crude homemade rockets could not reach tel aviv from gaza. Iranian supplied ones do.

It's not just a number game. Israel is fortunate to have a mIssile defense system put in place due to the attacks. But the constant threat of missile attack is damaging to the whole social and economic life of the country. Israelis are entitled to live without fear of missile attack (as are Palestinians of course). The way for this to be achieved on both sides is for hamas to stop.

Hamas just 'blessed the bus attack in tel aviv'. These are people who delight in causing civilian casualties. Thank god they don't have more sophisticated weapons because I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to use them.

muslimahdirections.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/stop-pretending-israels-massacre-in-gaza-is-part-of-an-even-battle-with-hamas-and-the-palestinians/