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One last roll of the dice By Gideon Levy Tags: Hamas, Israel, Gaza  The intoxicating sensation of this move is known to every gambler: Just one more roll of the dice, another hand, another spin of the roulette wheel, and we will be winners. At a time when there is talk about an Israeli agreement to the French-Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire, air force aircraft dropped fliers over Rafah, in which the civilians were called to evacuate their homes before yet another air attack. "Where are they supposed to evacuate to?" a television presenter naively asked, his question hanging in the air. "Move to the north," was the answer of the all-knowing analyst, who is aware that even "northward" these people have no safe haven. One of the areas that are in the program for evacuation-bombing is the refugee camp Yibneh. Those who live there, a camp I visited many times and which is perhaps the most miserable of the lot, were already evacuated once from Yibneh - today's Yavneh, the hometown of Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit. He said last night that if we stop firing now without an agreement, we will come out "looking like idiots." Advertisement Either way, yesterday they inaugurated the "siesta" in the Gaza Strip, in honor of the "peace activist" Condoleezza Rice: three hours of "humanitarian" cease-fire, during the normal siesta period between 1 P.M. and 4 P.M. The pictures from Gaza were depressing: As hundreds of desperate civilians stood in line for hours during this short tahadiye (lull) waiting for bread at the few bakeries, wounded from the Zeitun neighborhood made their way to hospital. They had not been wounded yesterday, or the day before. They were injured four days ago, and since then were stuck, bleeding in their homes and neighborhoods, in pain and unable to reach hospital. In any case, 21 medical personnel had already lost their lives in this war, contravening any international convention, but in the case of Zeitun, even the brave ones could not get close. At a time when the new national propagandist, Danny Gillerman, in his usual fancy dress and with ridiculous arguments, explained that Hamas is responsible for killing children - among the 686 dead Palestinians so far, 217 were children. A bereaved father pointed to the bodies of two small children at the entrance to Shifa Hospital and shouted in Hebrew: "Is all this for the sake of elections?" Our leadership wondered yesterday whether to take another spin on the roulette wheel, broaden and thrash some more victims for no reason - or to hold fire and bring an end to a war that is probably the most brutal and least necessary in the history of Israel. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fallen hero Relatives mourn Maj. Roey Rosner, 27, killed Wednesday by Gaza militants. On the northern front Hezbollah denies responsibility for two rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon.   1.   Iran 14:53  |  Colin 08/01/09   2.   "END UNNECESSARY WAR".... 16:05  |  Robert 08/01/09   3.   Stoping rocket attacks on citizens is not neccesary 16:54  |  Boruch 08/01/09   4.   Unnecessary war? 22:26  |  Robert Haymond 08/01/09

Read & React Red Cross: Israel breaking int'l law, letting children starve in Gaza Responses: 114 Two Lebanon rockets hit North; Hezbollah denies involvment Responses: 68 Yossi Melman: Excellent intel on Gaza shows Israel learned from Lebanon errors Responses: 21 Yoav Stern: Rocket fire on North may be realization of Iran threat Responses: 25 Gideon Lichfield: So, why isn't Israel winning the PR war? Responses: 74 More Headlines 23:04 Third IDF soldier killed in Gaza over past 24 hours 22:37 Draft UN Security Council resolution doesn't call for immediate Gaza truce 02:23 Report: Obama ready to talk to Hamas after taking office 02:24 'This country exists because of people like him' 22:35 Israel to present complaint to UN over Lebanon rocket fire 01:24 European Jews to hold rallies supporting Israel's Gaza offensive 22:10 'I pray that he will watch over us, he died a hero' 22:38 At least two Lebanon rockets hit north Israel; Hezbollah denies involvment 02:06 UN: Army admitted school shelling was by mistake 18:20 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email 22:05 IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi tours Gaza battlefields 23:11 WATCH: Olmert spokesman says Israel never sought war in Gaza 18:12 ANALYSIS / Rocket fire on North may be realization of Iran threat 19:57 UN says halting aid to Gaza, citing danger to staff from IDF 15:01 ANALYSIS / Excellent intel on Gaza shows Israel learned from its errors in Lebanon 19:07 Palestinians: 35 found dead in rubble of Gaza battle zone 17:07 Olmert: IDF has not yet achieved all its goals in Gaza offensive 20:35 WATCH: U.S. Senate voices strong support for Israel's Gaza battle against Hamas 18:53 Sarkozy: Halt to arms smuggling is key to Gaza cease-fire 16:08 Red Cross: Israel breaking int'l law, letting children starve in Gaza 21:49 Iran bans volunteer suicide bombers from traveling to Israel 17:18 Palestinian shot dead after trying to blow up settlement gas station Previous Editions Select Day 08 jan 07 jan 06 jan 05 jan 04 jan 02 jan 01 jan 31 dec 30 dec 29 dec 28 dec 26 dec

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