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Last update - 01:40 11/01/2009
A big shudder on the wing
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: gaza, hamas, israel news 

Around two weeks after the start of fighting in Gaza, there are only vague reports on Israel's success in damaging Hamas' terrorist infrastructure. On the other hand, statistics on the harm done to civilians accumulate. More than 800 Palestinians have been killed and around 3,000 have been wounded, an overwhelming majority of them from air strikes. According to UN figures, half of those killed are civilians, and half of the civilians killed are women and children.

Alongside reports on the number of dead and injured are reports of doctors being denied entry, the inability of aid groups to reach refugees and give them food, and a serious shortage of medicine and supplies. Blame does not rest with the Israel Defense Forces for all these issues. Hamas and other Palestinian organizations deliberately fired at a food convoy heading to Gaza because it sought to enter the Strip through a different crossing than what Hamas had desired. Hamas also liquidates its adversaries at home and is not ready to adopt the Egyptian cease-fire initiative. But these cannot serve as a pretext for a cruel, all-out war against 1.5 million Palestinian civilians.

Yesterday Israel announced, by dropping leaflets into densely populated areas in Gaza, that it plans to escalate its military operation. This stirs concerns that, similar to what occurred during the Second Lebanon War, the reason for going to war has been forgotten and replaced by an unrealistic desire to topple the Hamas regime in the Strip. If a few years ago the public cried out in protest over the bombing of a home in Gaza and the statement by former pilot and chief of staff Dan Halutz, who said he felt a "slight shudder on the wing" when he bombed a house, today it responds indifferently, even satisfactorily, to the harming of Palestinians.
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The lessons of previous wars, during which the IDF destroyed infrastructure targets and the homes of civilians but did not gain the quiet it had sought, have not been internalized. Israel's justified rationale in acting against rocket launchers has been increasingly damaged over two weeks. The legitimacy and understanding extended to Israel melt away amid the pictures of killing and ruin. Accusations of war crimes are already being bandied about in Israel. This war needs to move immediately to the diplomatic track and agreements that will end the fantasies and delusions of both sides.
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  1.   Hope IDF READS THIS ! 08:40  |  Ariel 11/01/09
  2.   very true 11:16  |  rm 11/01/09
  3.   Only at the end of "Cast Lead" will we see the real 14:21  |  Kris Lazar 11/01/09
  4.   Thank you! 14:21  |  Kornlia 11/01/09
  5.   I knew that 14:27  |  Jose Marcio 11/01/09
  6.   Not one report on Egypt`s part in the siege? 14:36  |  concerned jew 11/01/09
  7.   collateral damage 14:36  |  Dr David Schiby 11/01/09
  8.   Do not pay attention to this leftist propaganda! GO IDF! 14:37  |  AIG 11/01/09
  9.   wrong 14:55  |  seth 11/01/09
  10.   Editorial wrong! 16:33  |  Eli 11/01/09
  11.   Propaganda 16:39  |  Texan 11/01/09
  12.   Leftwing propaganda 16:39  |  Mark Epstein 11/01/09
  13.   Hamas chose the battlefield 16:42  |  judith 11/01/09
  14.   Israel is a rogue state 16:43  |  H M 11/01/09
  15.   Soldiers Need Support 16:45  |  Ray S 11/01/09
  16.   #9 16:45  |  Jew with a Clue 11/01/09
  17.   Ariel # 1 16:46  |  Alice 11/01/09
  18.   Israel`s Fringe Journalists Lost Touch With Reality 16:46  |  Steve 11/01/09
  19.   No. 9 coward 16:49  |  Mitch Katz 11/01/09
  20.   Lzar of aUSTRIA 16:50  |  aLICE 11/01/09
  21.   It`s called a war, stupid. Don`t you left-wing nut jobs get it? 16:51  |  flyingdoc57 11/01/09
  22.   Huge Stategic Mistake 16:53  |  Philipp 11/01/09
  23.   WEAR CRIMES 16:54  |  Alice 11/01/09
  24.   HYPOCRITES Take the Side of Terrorists 16:55  |  Linda Rivera 11/01/09
  25.   Hamas/PA Target JEWISH INNOCENTS. Israel Targets Terrorists 16:57  |  Linda Rivera 11/01/09
  26.   A Big Shudder 16:57  |  Neil Feinstein 11/01/09
  27.   Chickens, eggs and context 17:00  |  Dan 11/01/09
  28.   I wish a Fajr strikes Haaretz HQ soon... as simple as that.. 17:03  |  Iguana Pacheca 11/01/09
  29.   A big shudder on the wing 17:08  |  Barbara 11/01/09
  30.   chamor 17:32  |  john 11/01/09
  31.   All Out War Against Civilians, by hamas. 17:32  |  Ron 11/01/09
  32.   TelAviv 17:33  |  Rafiq 11/01/09
  33.   There is more than a military pointy of view 17:33  |  stan 11/01/09
  34.   #5 Jose Marcio - about your "tribunal". 2nd try 17:35  |  S 11/01/09
  35.   There will be blood! 17:38  |  Stem cell 11/01/09
  36.   Iguna Pacheca`s sick hatred 17:38  |  Arturo Dalmau 11/01/09
  37.   If IDF had fought Okinawa or Berlin 17:50  |  Steve 11/01/09
  38.   to ariel in TA -BYE!! 17:52  |  Arie 11/01/09
  39.   Israel is not a "civilian" killer, Hamas is for sure ! 17:53  |  Romy 11/01/09
  40.   To Iguana:A fajr against haaretz would be difficult 17:54  |  Arie 11/01/09
  41.   #16-and what are you? 17:56  |  Arie 11/01/09
  42.   The name of the game changed 18:00  |  TOMY 11/01/09
  43.   Dan, whose land?! 18:02  |  Zev Davis 11/01/09
  44.   A big shudder.... 18:05  |  Paul Reichberg 11/01/09
  45.   Time to Convert To Islam!! 18:07  |  Chicago Samson 11/01/09
  46.   Barbara 18:07  |  lady from USA 11/01/09
  47.   "the robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief" 18:09  |  Romy 11/01/09
  48.   If you really care about the civilians 18:12  |  lady from USA 11/01/09
  49.   Agree with #14 18:16  |  Luis 11/01/09
  50.   A journalist too far... 18:18  |  MJ 11/01/09
  51.   Yes, the cowardly terrorists will turn and run 19:00  |  Marshall Wyatt Earp 11/01/09
  52.   #30...HaHaHa.......Make my Day...Punk! 19:00  |  Clint Eastwood 11/01/09
  53.   This is a Reckoning Editor...meet me at... 19:01  |  Marshall Wyatt Earp 11/01/09
  54.   Hamas, run like Santa Ana 19:01  |  General Sam Houston 11/01/09
  55.   This is a Reckoning..hamas...meet me at... 19:02  |  Marshall Wyatt Earp 11/01/09
  56.   barbara,congratulations,you win the prize for the dumbest post 19:03  |  terrornator 11/01/09
  57.   Mj,your absolutely right and there`s a lot more that are fed up 19:06  |  terrornator 11/01/09
  58.   #14 Who doen`t want peace? 19:08  |  DesMnsDave 11/01/09
  59.   Hezbollah became quiet after a 1000 kills 19:57  |  Mark 11/01/09
  60.   Ariel #1... Bon voyage... 00:17  |  Esther 12/01/09
  61.   Leftist Dribble 01:02  |  Grisha.Luba 12/01/09
  62.   The residents of Gaza 01:04  |  Jane 12/01/09
  63.   No Mercy 01:11  |  DavidF 12/01/09
  64.   Hamas is responsible 03:59  |  Eduardo 12/01/09
  65.   Amen! 04:06  |  Laura 12/01/09
  66.   You must be kidding 04:09  |  Beverly L. 12/01/09
  67.   GO FOR IT, IDF 04:16  |  ALLAN 12/01/09
  68.   It cetainly does 04:20  |  Michael 12/01/09
  69.   Why look at only the body count? 05:29  |  Sean 12/01/09
  70.   This War is israel v. Iran, Syria and Hisbollah 05:45  |  NoName 12/01/09
  71.   Shuder at Unreaslistic Haaretz Editorial 06:30  |  Michael Gorinsky 12/01/09
  72.   #21 flyingdoc57 ...... calling for surrender 08:14  |  allang 12/01/09
  73.   What else could be said? 09:03  |  Frantz 12/01/09
  74.   Dan Halutz and his sense of Churchillian Wit 09:36  |  Bader S Abu-Ghosh 12/01/09
  75.   Yes, the cowardly terrorists will turn and run 09:51  |  Robert 12/01/09
  76.   #14 is so wrong 09:56  |  David R. Zukerman 12/01/09
  77.   Annihilating Hamas Infrastructure 10:05  |  Michael 12/01/09
  78.   Collateral damage!!!!!??????????? 12:48  |  Tareque 12/01/09
  79.   To: #66 18:39  |  Joseph 15/01/09
 Read & React
Harel & Issacharoff: Egypt's Gaza truce plan is mostly bad for Hamas
Responses: 51
Olmert to Ban: Gunmen fired at IDF troops from UN Gaza compound
Responses: 43
Gideon Levy: The IDF has no mercy for the children in Gaza nursery schools
Responses: 60
U.S. may cut $1billion in loan guarantees to Israel over West Bank settlements
Responses: 21


More Headlines
18:51 Palestinians: IDF kills Hamas interior min., security chief in Gaza air strike
17:42 Five wounded, two seriously, as Gaza rockets slam into Be'er Sheva
18:49 Egypt television: Israel agrees in principle to Gaza truce plan
17:28 Olmert to Ban: Gunmen fired at IDF troops from UN Gaza compound
17:09 UN Chief: Success of Gaza truce deal depends on Israel's will
15:04 Israeli charged with attempting to spy on behalf of Iran
15:00 Livni urges Red Cross to press Hamas for access to Gilad Shalit
12:23 ANALYSIS / Key to Israeli exit from Gaza rests with Egypt, U.S.
12:22 ANALYSIS / Egypt's Gaza truce plan is mostly bad for Hamas
13:47 WATCH / Obama: We must engage Syria and Iran in Middle East peace efforts
17:57 Ahmadinejad calls on Obama to stop supporting Israel
15:17 Unsung Israeli hero risks his life to save Gaza children
18:22 Israel Navy ships turn back boat carrying Gaza humanitarian aid
17:33 U.S., Israel near deal aimed at halting Gaza arms smuggling
12:00 Israelis receive SMS messages apparently from Hamas warning of `surprises` in Gaza
16:08 U.S. may cut $1b in loan guarantees to Israel over West Bank settlements
14:26 Protesters against Gaza op heckle Israeli ambassador at Holocaust ceremony in Poland
12:01 Poll shows most Israelis back IDF action in Gaza
13:46 Israel Foreign Ministry preparing for 'day after' IDF leaves Gaza
12:17 Venezuela: We cut ties with Israel over 'persecution of Palestinians'
14:47 The IDF has no mercy for the children in Gaza nursery schools
09:25 Pro-Gaza demonstration in Ramallah canceled for a lack of protesters
09:36 Israeli Arab singer urged to step down from Eurovision, so as not to present 'false image' of coexistence
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