Hamas deploys forces near Israel-Gaza border to enforce truce

If Israel has not committed any war crimes, if the IDF has a perfectly good conscience, then what do you have to fear? The more rage you demonstrate fighting the report, the more guilty you appear. Make an inquiry into the charges and prove to the international community that they are wrong. This is the only way you will convince the world. Not by lobbying against Goldstone could do.

Hamas was abiding by its end of a cease fire prior to Cast Lead - it was Israeli assaults that broke it...

Was intended to cause the collapse all support for Hamas in Gaza leading to it's overthrow. That did not happen and is not happening.

stupid.

Nothing would gratify Hamas more than to show the world that despite their 'attempt' to uphold the cease fire by protecting Israel they were slaughtered by a ruthless foe utterly disinterested in peace. A trap is what idiots step into because they have not the sense to avoid them. Hamas has set a trap, and the only way out for Israel is to not step into the trap.

Imagine that the Muslim world is the size of a football field, On this field is a packet of matches which represents Israel.Now all they want is half of the matches. Where is your compasion?

Hi Natallie A 3 week offensive by a modern army with all of the weapons that you speak of and only approx. 1000 dead, the vast majority of whom Hamas admits were in fact millitants. This week Israel was successful in avoiding inflicting a similar loss of life in Gaza by convincing (through Egypt) Hamas of the seriousness of Israels intentions to respond. It seems to me, at least, that Hamas's greatest weapon is Israel's restraint and unwillingness to kill on a large scale despite her ability. I wonder if Hamas would show the same kind of restraint had they the weapons. BTW same thing in Lebanon. A month long IAF bombing campaign and only 1000 millitants dead. Amazing. No? It seems to me, at least, that Hamas's greatest weapon is Israel's unwillingness to

It's not a matter of Israeli incapability, it's a matter of Hamas' tactics. They fight and hide from within civilian infrastructure, and they store their weapons within civilian infrastructure (schools, mosques, hospitals, etc.). Basically, they take advantage of the fact that the IDF is a moral army, and the fact that whenever a single civilian is harmed, or a mosque bombed, the "international community" cries bloody murder. If it wasn't for these factors, Hamas (and the other terrorist groups) would have been wiped out by the IDF long ago.

Imagine that the Muslim world is the size of a football field, On this field is a packet of matches which represents Palestine.now would it be logical to claim half of that match box then whine about the consequences, not even that, take the whole match box by force and refuse to return half of it even when the whole stadium reach out for them.

of Iranian Islamic Islamofascist Republic which has expansionary plans to control ME. Thats why they give more and more rockets and missiles to Hezbolah and Hamas. As soon as Israel destroyed the missilesand Katyshas of Hezbolla and weapons of Hamas Iranian islamofascist smuugle in more thorugh the vaccum in Lebanon and tunnels from Sinai Egypt why Egyptian pretend not to see it. Cast Lead II and Lebanon War III if, provoked by Iranian proxies (Hez and Hamas) will end this cycle of terrorist being resisutated by Iranian Ayatollaha Regime. Its a insult to decency that European countries act as supporters of the Iranian machniantions.. Imagine French, English Scandinavian... who call themselve democrats give verbal and support by trading with Mullahs and Yayatolahs with medieval dress code and laws banning womento show their hair and even faces and dead by stoning sentences, But thats another optics of this blurred by anti Jewish tradition for 2,000 years.

who gave speeches, but never seemed to get to the point and when he did get there his audience had either left the theater or were sound asleep or, in the case of one poor lost soul, had gone to his lodgings and hung himself. The moral is, words can kill.

at one point that stadium was scattered with Jews, but because the constant change in ruling laws in the stadium, we were forced to move, many of us to a different stadium altogether and many of us to that little matchbox, the only safe place for our kind. I would trade you your home in Palestine if for mine in Lebanon but I know that the stadium will just get rowdy again and kick me back to the matchbox, or perhaps even farther. It is the conduct of the Muslim world that has created their worst nightmare and enemy, and until it is modernized and the servitude of the dhimmi is thrown to the wind we can never return to our homes.

Ms arm chair General,totally wrong as usual

It was Golstones of the world who wouldn't let the IDF pulverize Gaza and Lebanon, and the terrorists hiding among the civilian population. Had the IDF fought this war like any other country (remember the US bombing a restaurant and killing 14 people because someone somewhere said Saddam Hussein was there? Any war crimes there??), they would have won handily. So don't tie the IDF's hands behind its back and then carp that they can't win a war.

Not satisfied with the stadium, they want the matchbox, too. And when the matchbox is filled with plutonium, the much larger size of the stadium makes much less difference. Go ahead and try to steal the Jews matchbox, and watch what happens to your Islamic stadium. AGAIN. The smart move is to be grateful for your Islamic stadium, live in peace in it, and leave the Jews alone with their tiny matchbox..

maybe everyone needs to light a fire to keep warm and do a bit of cooking

and cannot be judged without including them. And if you stop to think about the number of recent friendly fire incidents, it takes no stretch of the imagination to realize that there's a policy in effect - either official or unofficial - of shooting anything that moves along that border.

People who think with their behind see the whole world in brown. Try to remember, the brain is above the eyes, not below.

Some idiot thinks they are there to protect Israel and thinks it is a joke.

Hamas forces could patrol their border with just sandals on and armed only with their pocket combs and Israel would care less and leave them alone if only they were peaceful. But they're energized with daily readings and incantations of their Charter of Death & Destruction of Israel so things won't get any better for them while that's the case.

How many farmers get shot for wandering near (or even 1 or 2 km near) the fence? What heat were they packing? Hamas's troops had better be very careful or they'll wind up just as dead as everything else near the fence.

Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel. It's not perfect but do you see a lot of sniping going on back and forth constantly? One of the few notable ones was years back when a deranged Jordanian soldier went berserk and shot up some people on the Israeli side. Jordanian soldiers patrol their border with Israel on a constant basis with their regular armaments but do you think any one of them would be in danger tomorrow if they decided to do so with just khaki shorts, a muscle shirt, and sandals on while combing their hair? Mark makes it out to be that Israel has it in for Hamas if they're either bad or good. I tell you if they ever make a drastic, permanent change for good with verifiable proof in their hearts and minds and on the ground, Israel would help them build Gaza to be jewel on that prime piece of real-estate along this highly desirable Mediterranean coastline. The hot houses in Gaza could have been highly productive by now employing dozens of Gazans and bringing in real honest, hard-working, capital with dignity, not left in shattered glass shards and broken dreams for the Palestinians there. Now, tell me how much you learned in your extensive travels to the middle east?

Would you please tell the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Netanyahu Government? They are under the impression that Israel has never relinquished it's legal status as the Occupying Power. A belief shared by every government in the world. You clearly must contact them and set them right.

The goal of Hamas has evolved and now is aimed at taking control of the west bank as it does Gaza. To do so they depend upon thwarting any peace agreement between Abbas and Israel. They also need to continually prove that they are the legitimate resistance and the PA has sold out. Nothing suits those goals than an occasional atrocity in Gaza courtesy Israel. Netanyahu has shown more sensibility than Olmert and has avoided the kind of gratuitous attacks which helped Hamas gain power in Gaza. That does not change the need to have Israel attack them to prove their substance as the true champions of the Palestinian people. Hamas is far more dangerous than Arafat's Fatah ever was because they are far more shrewd in their strategy.

Since when has acts of terrorism and war been 'curious' in the Mideast?

The West Bank would only be a stepping stone to their paradise in the middle east which includes no Jewish State in sight. My original post dealt with the positive repercussions of a repentant not a recalcitrant Hamas. Of course Israel will be heavily involved in thwarting them with all means possible at the time if Hamas chooses to remain the same, and there's no light of hope shining at the end of that tunnel.

Look who's talking!

I've been reading your comments since you began commenting and I've NEVER seen you display any objectivity

Mark Lincoln is a very short story. His entire depth of knowledge, vis-a-vis middle east and worldly matters, can be summed up as follows...Hamas, Hezbollah, PLO, PFLP, Islamic Jihad, Al-Qaida, and every other terrorist organization that has ever existed are all bad. HOWEVER, (and here's the important part), they were ALL invented by the U.S. and Israel. Therefore, any and every act of terrorism/war, all natural disasters, all global poverty and political oppression, are ALL directly or indirectly the fault of the U.S. and Israel. Nothing is EVER the fault of anyone or anything else. Period. End of story. And, as for Lincoln ever traveling to Israel to learn something, give me a break. Mark Lincoln is in the full-time business of "teaching". He hasn't had the time to "learn" anything since becoming obsessed with 24/7 rantings on an Israeli newspaper's website several years ago.

Hamas has abandoned the impossible and is working with grim determination towards an achievable goal. The threat of Hamas is actually far worse now that they have adjusted their goals to one they might achieve. Particularly if the psycho-right refuses to comprehend the real nature of the problem and continues to rave about a threat long past. The problem facing Israel now is that having crushed Abbas it will be left with a Palestinian State which will remain determined in hatred towards Israel instead of one which would try to improve the peace into a decent relationship. Hamas is not an Arafat so vile that he would strut into the UN with a side arm. It is a far more cunning and dangerous opponent because, as it has shown, is quite capable of doing a balancing act like that of Egypt and Jordan during the 1950s, where they both 'deplored' and winked at terrorist based in the Gaza strip and the west bank. You can continue to fight an enemy that exists only in your imagination. I guarantee you that it will gratify Hamas no end if Israel does. Summer Rains failed, Cast Lead failed, Hamas is far more dangerous than any Palestinian threat Israel has ever faced, because their goal is now achievable and their methods make them largely impervious to Israel's traditional methods.

Take a deep breath and try again.

If Hamas gets whacked, then they will be portrayed as martyrs for peace. Then the fray will be on with Israel to blame in the eyes of Palestinians and most of the world. I think Hamas would be delighted for the IDF to start shooting. Hamas has given up on the impossible and has a goal within (just) reach of a Palestinian state within the Green Line. That goal includes them as the ruling power. Essential to that goal is preventing Abbas from achieving a Palestinian state before they have control of the West Bank, and that requires bloodshed. The strategic problem is ensuring Israel takes the blame. Push the pawns forward in the name of suppressing fire at Israel and hope for someone on the other side start shooting.