Hamas backtracks: We didn't apologize for rocket fire against Israel civilians

Wow.....you really know how to rewrite history there, don't you? Fortunately there are plenty of knowledgeable people who know the truth behind your lies. Arabs were massacaring Jews? Hardly. Arabs were living their lives not bothering anyone when the Zionist movement decided that they were going to "reclaim their God-given land" and started terrorizing the Palestinian people by emigrating en masse to Palestine, massacaring entire villages, chasing the inhabitants out of their own homes and claiming them for themselves and taking over the olive groves that had been in their families for generations. The Stern and Irgun gangs were formed to defend Jews? That's laughable. The Jews were not the ones under attack. The Palestinians, were the ones under attack by these thuggish gangs that were formed for the sole purpose of getting "rid of" the Palestinians at any cost. These are simple historical facts. Learn them before taking on those who already know them.

Once again, SDHD comes on here attempting to "correct" someone else's post with a series of misinformation and lies. Learn your history, SDHD. it WAS the Irgun, Stern Gang and the Haganah who invented terrorism. Those sort of tactics against civilians did not exist until those groups of Zionist thugs began their campaign to ethnically cleanse all of Palestine of its native inhabitants in order to create the state of Israel. You need to read "Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of Transfer in Zionist Political Thought" before you come on here and contradict the truth any more!!

I do not blame Israel only. I blame them all, Jews, Arabs, others. We must move into new ways of resolving disputes or there is no future for any of us.

It just seems your criticism is of Israel only, I may be wrong about that. But your posts suggest that you put the blame on Israel, when clearly both have to share blame. That being said, it is the Palestinian children that are taught to hate not the Israeli's. I'm unaware of even a single Jewish suicide bomber while they are standing in line on the Arab side. Since true peace comes from a man's heart not a piece of paper, I would say the main obstacle to peace is the hatred taught in the Muslim world to their children. First you must acknowledge the problem before we can solve it.

You pretend to live in Israel. I hope you never visited East Jerusalem, because you, as a Jew, are not wanted there by the Arabs you defend. I've been there and reserve the right to go there again. How about you? You've got a lot of nerve denying Jews the right to live on lands which have never been Jew-free except for 1948-67. Again, you claim to live in Israel, and never show a molecule of indignation about the widespread bombings Israel was subjected to, or the security measures ALL Israelis must endure. Why is that, airhead?

Nor when they deliberately put their own people in the firing line,in fact quite the oppositte boasting about their use of women and children. Why should Israel or any other coun try expect any better treatement from global jihadists?

No letters from Natalli Dorson or Swiss Dino Nor fro BBC NEWS how sad

I live on the same planet as you except I am not willing to accept things as they are and at least try to make them better. No one deserves to be bombed on their way to work or in their beds at night and no one deserves to live their entire lives in fear and hatred. If left up to the lazy and unwilling to speak out nothing will change. I've been involved with Israel for nearly 50 years now and I am indeed a grown up and one who is sick of this stupid war made by stupid men who can only see war and more war as the solution to everything.

They are totally surrounded by zionists, in fact blockaded, nobody goes in or out. How on earth can they " launch barrel bombs at Israeli beaches" ?

"I was pleased when Arafat finally died, but didn`t go public with it." You just did !! bravo !

Hamas would like to apologise for failing to kill more Israeli and Arab civilians but it was not for want of trying. All credit is due to the IDF for FIGHTING the murderers and stopping their war crimes against their own human shields as well as against their intended Jewish targets.

"It is 2010 and we are still behaving like cave men. We must sit down and try to come to resolution with everyone including the worst of the worst enemies of Israel and the west. We did it with the Germans and Japanese after WW2 and with every other maniac we ever encountered." - Jane from Palm Beach Yes, the 'allies' of WWI got it all wrong and the Marshall plan got it all right. The Germans and Japanese learned the right lessons from WW II. America learned the wrong ones. Israel prevailed and earned the respect of the world until it became a petite imperialist nation after 1967. Not that Israel went into that war intending to become the last gasp of 19th century imperialism. It went into that war because Levi Eshkol had no other solution than to either demobilize or attack. Had anyone told Israelis in May of 1967 that they would produce far worse terrorism than they had endured for the last 10 years, that they were creating a monster which would dominate national politics. . .

Hamas said the opposite (revealling it true face once again), so how exactly you conclude that Israel talks like Hamas?

"Now that`s an anti-Jewish statement if I ever read one. It`s tantamount to saying that the Jewsd control all the wealth. Err..Don`t we?" - Yonatan Nope. No matter what the lunatic anti-semites think.

"isn`t Sderot the headquarters for the Southern Command".... if you can "remember" this then hopefully you wont forget that King David was HQ of UK Military in M.East." - Rich from London And London was the HQ of Britain. Did that justify firing Vengeance weapons to indiscriminately kill civilians in WWII? Oh, and for your information, the HQ of Southern Command is is at Camp Bar Lev, not Sedrot.

Yonatan, we have both sympathized, antagonized and disagreed and agreed. Not all posts I made to this forum were published which shows there are problems on ALL sides. Hamas argues that it's rockets are imprecise weapons, and Israel pretends that the M825A1 White Phosphorus round is not a munition which is by design, intentionally, imprecise in it's effects. An area denial munition. I cannot for a minute defend the rocket attacks against the citizens of Sderot. Nor can I defend the use of indiscriminate weapons against the citizens of Gaza. Both are essentially the same. Nothing but terrorism intended to harm civilians when the attacker lacks the ability or will to take on the armed forces. Thus we share a problem Yonatan. Your intentions are well, and your defense of your nation is honorable. The problem is there is no rational justification for what Israel and the palestinians are doing to each other. The shame is that neither will stop first. Which means ever.

The total of Israelis killed was 1,250, pensioners at a hotel Pesach seder, mothers and kids in a pizza cafe, teens in a disco, Haredim on a bus from the Kotel, kids at school bus stops -- and many other 'military targets'. The BBC used the figures of 1,300 Pals and 13 Israelis, counting only the 21 days of Cast Lead, as if what came before never happened, not even the years of thousands of missiles aimed at Southern Israeli civilians.

For many years Arafat had two personae. In English he was a martyr for peace, fighting the Israeli occupation. In Arabic he was the freedom fighter trying to 'liberate' Jerusalem and destroy Israel. He never managed to be the statesman building a new country -- that would have required too much real work. Hamas tells the UN it's sorry for killing Israelis, while it tells Arabs it's all a big misunderstanding.

Use Cluster Munitions against Israeli civillians,Fight from Arab villages with and without uniforms. What do you expect.? A peace prize if Hezballah starts firing all, the millions of dollars of military equipment it has recieved?

of Netanyahu government retracting any regret for casualties??

civillians knowing what anybody except their apologists know that it would result in civillian casualties.

So the fact that thousands of missiles were fired at Israeli civillians was deliberate What fellow travellers need to realise is if Israel chose to target civillians the ratio of civillians would have been much,much higher with all the firepower at Israels disposal. Civillian casualties. There was NO military activity from the vast majority of the sites where Hamas missiles.landed

without uniforms and choses the cities as their battlefield what do you expect? Who then is a civillian? The martyr mother,grandmother,child that Hamas boasts about and uses.? You should be well aware that Israel announced repeatedly it was coming and Hamas could and should have avoided any fighting in the area. How many shots were fired from Sderot CJ?Well?

I have read your comments & your rationalization is ridiculas. (Aside from taking things out of context.)All you do is justify a murder ring. First you said at least they apologized; then you cut them down for killing other arabs. Why are you not cutting them down for killing Jewish people. Are we not human in your book? Also, use your head: how could it be defensive when the bombs being fired started before Operation Cast Lead? (by years - which Obama even said.)

Sir, You apparently do not want to be taken seriously -

... as for East Jerusalem, used to be a favorite venue, but recent interventions ruin the atmosphere...

Ach that's what bothers you that Israelis are better army (best in the world!)It's driving you crazy!Well it's easy to end this all, ACCEPT ISRAEL!but that would be to much for instigator like you.

You expect Israel to shut the same rockets back at the terrorists???Than you must be some kind if idiot. Or maybe the Israelis should trow rocks for defense??? Go and bother the terrorists with this, they will listen, same level of intelligence as yours ;)))

Sorry Deluded Hasbara Denial?

First, the Irgun originally formed to protect Jews from the terrorist attacks on them by Arabs (Cesarani, 2009, p. 15). Second, the Irgun and Stern/LEHI alienated the Jewish population and the Jewish Agency, the quasi government of Jews in Palestine; in fact, both the Irgun/LHI were consequently known as "dissidents" (ibid., p. 22). Third, the "leadership of the Yishuv even employed the Haganah to suppress the Stern Gang and Irgun" (Gelvin, Israel Palestine Conflict, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 119). Fourth, in the 1949 Knesset elections the LHI veterans party won no seats (Morris, One State, Two States, Yale U. Press, 2009, p. 183).

Good of you to clear things up.

Hamas didn't fire rockets at civilians, they were aiming at weapon stock piles. if a few rockets went off track oh well. but when isrl dropped bombs on civilian cities, it was a mistake? lol, u people r just to much. isrl will be wiped off the map but not by the arab world, but by God. A tsunami will swollow it whole. i just hope i'm around to watch. even thou i know many isrlies do not support their zionist regime, they will have brought it on themselves. i say to the arab sget out now or u wil be swollowed up along with them. than when the water goes back u can go in and reclaim ur land. after all it was arab land to begin with.

Both Hamas and Fatah have vowed not to recognize Israel's right to exist. Both have made these remarks in the last couple months. So my question is what on earth are you talking about, are you that naive. BTW your Hamas/Lehi comparison was nonsense.Lehi only existed from 1940-48, it was not mainstream group with never more than a few hundred members and was not supported by the majority...as Hamas is since they are elected...it was outlawed in 1948 by the new Israeli government and some of its leaders sent to prison. By contrast Hamas is 22 years old and recently elected as part of the government, their suicide attacks on buses and pizza cafe's enjoy the support of 73% of the Palestinian public according to their own polls. Grow up!!!

"Problem is that both cummings and SDHD blabber generalities, with little or no on-site knowledge" Esther, have you ever been "on-site" to Hebron, where Jews were wiped out of the area? How about East Jerusalem? Ever been there, airhead?

First it is a war crime to fire any rocket or missile that cannot be targeted in an accurate way at military targets, so their claim doesn't pass the laugh test. Every rocket they fired constituted a war crime. Second Hamas brags about using human shields but now like their retracted apology denies it? See Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wJXf2nt4Y and Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TejVJWSTTpY&NR=1 This last video is especially nice where the Hamas fighter grabs a kid hiding behind cover and uses the kid as shield to run across the street while under fire, NICE! These are the people the anti-Israel writers defend? Quite sickening really.

... with little or no on-site knowledge... ... OK guys, have some virtual fun... ... just don't get so serious about it...

... sorry as in, inadequate. "so just to make sure Israel has a ready supply of weapons to drop among civilians in other lands" What are those who attack Israel doing mixing in with civilians?

Neither Southern Command or any other branch of the military is based in Sderot. Cast Lead was about destroying smuggling tunnels and arms dumps and every effort was made to avoid civilian casualties. The IAF would in advance drop leaflets saying get out of this area because we are about to bomb it. Text messages were sent to cellphones also warning people to leave the area. Sure there were civilian casualties but in urban warfare where terrorists live an operate in the same towns as the civilians you have no choice but to either. 1) Do nothing, let Hamas continue to build up their arms supplies to be fired at Israeli towns. 2) Carry out the military operation but make every effort possible to avoid civilian casualties. You ask why Israel didn't let civilians leave, were we supposed to welcome them to Israel? You notice Egypt has a border with Gaza but they refused to open their border to anybody wanting to leave Gaza. Israel would not have stopped them opening their own border.

Israel's weapons store rooms, "were not sufficiently filled..." (Yitzhak Harel, Israel defense force 2006, Israel TV channel 1/Jerusalem Post) during the attack on Lebanon 2006, so just to make sure Israel has a ready supply of weapons to drop among civilians in other lands, the U.S. has stored $800m of weapons in Israel to be at Israel's disposal if needed! And that is on top of the U.S. military aid Israel receives each year!

""isn`t Sderot the headquarters for the Southern Command"." Meanwhile, there aren't any Israelis in Gaza, are there? Yet, the missiles continue to fly, you bore.

"Yeah sure. Just like the Israeli `terrorists` in Stern, Lehi and Irgun, who killed civilians, troops, Arabs and each other with gleeful zest and were happy to explode bombs that killed and maimed the innocent." Arabs were massacring Jews in the region long before Jews organized into groups to defend themselves, cummings. When will you ever focus on that?

"Plus stopping Israeli land seizure and illegal settlement of the WB, which is what the Palestinians are fighting against." Ridiculous, cummings. The Arabs in the region have been fighting against the presence of Jews living there since 1920. Portraying it as Jews grabbing Arab land is nonsense. It's Arabs attempting to wipe the area clean of Jews which is the problem, dingleberry.

or at least we've seen indications that they would reconcile with President Abbas and agree with the signed agreements Israel has signed with the PLO. Al Qaeda seems more radical within the Islamic community and whether one can talk to such organizations is unclear. Unfortunately they're more misguided or brainwashed against the Jewish narrative in Middle Eastern history to have any effect. It's highly unlikely that any dialogue or engagement would support changing their ways, but dealings with Hamas is not as complex perhaps. On the other hand, it's not unreasonable to ask for Osama Benladen and their leadership to surrender their cause for the sake of world peace because they are not advancing the livelihood of Muslims or representing the true teachings of the Koran.

Although sometimes there will be unintended civilian casualties of war freedom fighters target the military. Terrorists see everybody as being fair game and if they think intentionally killing civilians will further their cause they the civilians are legitimate targets. When you fire rockets at Sderot there is no way you can claim that you were firing at a tank or military site. When you get onto a bus wearing an explosive belt and detonate it there is no way you can claim you were trying to hit a tank or military site but the bomb went astray and accidentally blew up the bus full of civilians. The only difference between Hamas & Al Quaida is their causes.

CJ I would highly recommend you get a new hobby. Your style of shooting arrows and then drawing circles around it, is so typical of those obsessed with little to stand on.

Hamas issued an expedient apology to get brownie points with the UN, and Fatah seizes the opportunity to score points with Palastinians by effectively calling Hamas Jew lovers. It's no different than Southern segregationists of 60 years ago calling their adversaries Black lovers (although they were more crude), or the Tea Party crackpots calling Obama a socialist, or the Nazis blaming Jews for anything and everything. They all appeal to raw bigotry and ignorance to get power. Just as problematic as Fatah, the supposed moderates, appealing to bigotry to gain power, is the fact that there are enough Palastinains who are responsive to those calls. Otherwise, Fatah wouldn't be using this tactic. And these are the people with whom Israelis are supposed to live with cheek to cheek in a two state solution?

Every stone=throwing child, terrorist sending mother and father, IDF soldier and parents, innocent civilians whether Jewish or Muslim--I am sorry and sad for them all. This is ridiculous. It is 2010 and we are still behaving like cave men. We must sit down and try to come to resolution with everyone including the worst of the worst enemies of Israel and the west. We did it with the Germans and Japanese after WW2 and with every other maniac we ever encountered. No matter what their writings say we can do better than throwing bombs and flattening entire neighborhoods. We are more evolved than that aren't we? Look to the future for our children.

It doesn't get either side closer to stopping innocent death and destruction of men women and children. I am sick of them all, terrorist or government killers. It makes no difference. The dead are still dead and the destruction is still there. I would talk to the devil himself to save lives. You are all a bunch of maniacs caught in a cycle of violence by corrupt leaders and wrong thinking. We are all human beings with a right to life and liberty. Someone has to speak up and today it's me. Enough is enough you morons. Yes, I am indeed Israeli, Jewish and a Zionist. So frigging what?

Have you ever heard of irony? Have a nice day! "...mean post against a small chance of peace in the world, and that from the safety of South Carolina, which gave you asylum!"

I know all about their lousy covenant with the gevil but I still hope to resolve things without bloodshed. Silly me.

The difference between your people and mine is that Jews - with the exception, perhaps, of a handful of fanatics - do not cheer, publicly or privately, even when our worst enemies are vanquished. We do not dance in the streets or pass around candy, not even when scum like Sheik Yassin goes the way of all flesh. I was pleased when Arafat finally died, but didn't go public with it.

It's hilarious that Abbas' Fatah stooges should demand that Hamas apologize for the "coup" that removed Fatah from Gaza. Hamas are the democratically elected Government of Palestine. It is impossible for a government to stage a coup against itself. The reality is that it was Fatah that were seeking to undermine the democratic legitimacy of the Government, and were prepared to oust it using criminal means at the earliest opportunity. Hamas merely pre-empted them in order to safeguard the democratic system. Regardless of whether one supports or opposes Hamas, anyone with a genuine commitment to democracy should accept that it is Hamas who the voters elected, and that it was Fatah who tried to topple the democratically elected government. Fatah should apologize to Hamas.

Hamas needs to be eliminated. Here's how. Presently, the PA is the only political/semi-military organization that has enough legitimacy among the Pals of Gaza to succeed Hamas. Israel can make the initial attack to soften up the ground, and then send the PA in to take control. Only a military campaign will work. It is in the best interests of the Pals and Israel.

...mean post against a small chance of peace in the world, and that from the safety of South Carolina, which gave you asylum! "I was afraid for a moment that Hamas had apologized and felt disappointed in the same way I felt when the famous hand-shaking incident between the Israeli and Iranian ministers happened in Madrid. Luckily, both of these incidents never occurred; they were only BAD DREAMS!" (utagawa)

We'd all like to heear your input.

So what do you have to say about the relative strength of Nazi Germany and the European Jews during the Holocaust, flora?

"Israel have the money to buy themself the thruth and keep it hiding from the world" - flora Now that's an anti-Jewish statement if I ever read one. It's tantamount to saying that the Jewsd control all the wealth. Err..Don't we?

As you see, Hamas did "retrace its steps".

How about Al-Qaeda and the US sitting down to talk? Don't be sily, Jane.

I was afraid for a moment that Hamas had apologized and felt disappointed in the same way I felt when the famous hand-shaking incident between the Israeli and Iranian ministers happened in Madrid. Luckily, both of these incidents never occurred; they were only BAD DREAMS!

Muslims, in general, have terrible PR (public relations), especially when directed at us Americans. Look at today's news - sunni bombing shias civilians in both karbala, iraq and karachi, pakistan. Yes sadly, MUSLIMS EAT THEIR OWN! And we Americans know it. Where are the mass protests in the streets to denounce this muslim-on-muslim violence? I....AM...WAITING!! Won't happen. But many in the House of Islam will never skip a chance to join the daily street rallies against Israel, Denmark, and the US.

What did you say about apologizing, Mark? I don't think I can make out yur statemeny.

"Say have Hamas ever stopped Israeli civilians from fleeing a war zone, then attacked the territory" Why should Israeli civilians flee from their homes in Israels own territory when fired upon by a terrorist group. You would love to see us "Flee" into the sea. Sorry CJ aint going to happen. According to you the citizens of New York should of fled after 9/11 and the USA turned over to Osama. CJ you stoop to a new low level in your never ending anti Israel drivel.

"isn't Sderot the headquarters for the Southern Command".... if you can "remember" this then hopefully you wont forget that King David was HQ of UK Military in M.East.

Maybe Hamas has been watching the Lifetime Television Channel (Estrogen Channel)and has developed empathy...YA RIGHT!

They have learned how to talk like the Netanyahu government. Say something, say you didn't say it, say it again another way, then issue a differently worded clarification so that no one knows what your think, or if you think, before talking.

firing rockets as soon as Israel left Gaza, and then threw their Fatah friends off roofs in a coup. Hamas had options for peace and development , but would rather throw Israel into the sea rather than live in peace.

It is difficult to understand why Hamas would continue to lie about apologizing for targeting civilians when their actions and charter continue to target civilians and call for the destruction of Israel. Perhaps they felt some pressure from their sponsors to show moderation but if they want to be part of the civilized world they can start by ceasing rockets and now barrel bombs which target civilians. Their actions justify the U.S. State Department listing them as a TERRORIST organization.

Hamas' charter clearly states that their goal is genocide of ALL Jews in the world. They gloated whenever they succeeded in harming Jews and yesterday claimed that they were 'sorry' for killing civilians. Today they withdrew even that minor fig leaf. So is the UN going to condemn them - of course not! They know that they can commit any war-crimes they want and the world will say nothing against them. To all here that condemn Israel - you are supporting war-crimes. We have more than fulfilled ever single legal obligation. In fact we have gone so far beyond what international law requires that any complaint shows the world that you are nothing but racist hypocrites.

difference between arab states and Israel. in israel there is 6000000 different ideas for 1 subject. but at the end they have 1 or 2 which is applied and agreed on. in arab states there re 100m different idea 100 thousand different things agreed 50 applied thats why they re divided in 50 countries hardly stable... even one little fraction of the nation Hamas cant agree to what to do or say. and we expect them to agree with Israel while the totality of the nation cant agree and even inside the little fractions like PA and Hamas they cant. and the worst we wait them to resolve the problem with israel without violence when they cant resist to use violence among themselfs. Anti israelis re totally right we want too much from palestinians! and they wait too much from us how can israel allow a constant civil war state next to it which will have one common idea the hatred of israel???and probably sides will blame israel for their disagreements...

They are expected to rule Gaza with iron fist and be decimated as needed when misbehave. Please, live them alone.

war crimes committed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad with all the suicide bombings within Israel, previous to all of the wars, such as in Gaza and these actions were crimes against humanity as innocent civilians died in the hundreds or were seriously injured. There's nothing defensive or excusable about suicide bombings - they're acts of revenge on innocents. Now the IDF's Operation Cast Lead did not get rid of these groups as was anticipated but only brought more difficulties in escalating the conflict & worsen Israel's global image. So what I'm saying is that a Report such as the Goldstone UN backed report should have been implemented when the suicide bombings took place before 2004. Later, these groups refused the Quartet's conditions for inclusion into the political spectrum of resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Get Egypt to lift its Gaza siege, to open its Gaza border and let in suffering Arabs as Israel let in a million Jews kicked from the Arab world, where they lives as second class citizens subject to periodic massacres for millennia. Get your Muslim cronies to stop their greed for more than 57 Muslim states, with 21 Arab states. Get them to admit that over 60% of Palestine IS in present-day Jordan. Get to the truth and know that the so-called West Bank was known as Judea and Samaria for hundreds of years before "WB", and known as its original name, Yehuda and Shomron, for thousands of years before that. The double standards of the Israel-haters are so transparent that they defy logic and sicken any sense of morality.

Hamas: Imminent Shalit deal. No, no Shalit deal. Yes, deal. No deal. Mabhouh was killed by the Mossad. No, he died of cancer. No, he died of another disease. No, he was killed with electricity. No, he was killed with a drug. But not by the Mossad. Yes, it was the Mossad. They appologize for killing civilians. No, they don't appologize for killing civilians.

The fact that Hamas felt the need to retract a statement apologizing for deliberate rocket fire that resulted in the deaths of civilians tells us all we need to no about the nature of there organization

Dallas, to better judge that, may be you should read and take into acount what Kevin has written (re:Lebanon cluster bombs)

"How About Israel-Hamas Sit Down to Talk? Isn`t that a better idea than randomly killing each others citizens? Just a thought." - Jane This is impossible Jane. It might lead to peace. There is nothing more feared and hated by Netanyahu and Meshal than peace. If peace happened they would be out of their jobs.

or a "tragic mistake"! i.e.like the most moral army in history does adnauseam....Israels false hand wringing about Palestinian deaths with the lame excuse of "human shield" is the true Orwellian joke. Human shileds have always been the using of the enemys people so they won't shoot at thier own people. If the Palestinians had "real" humanshields, would the IDF still be able to kill said shields so easily?....... Peace Ever?

Hamas is using the same strategy than Israel and learning the lesson: cynism. One is a recognises State, the other a terrorist organisation ? Speaking of "dancing in the streets", how many isrealis applauded the wonderful Gaza show last year ? 99%...just a thought. And what does 9/11 have to do with Hamas and Israel ? nothing.

Even Hamas now impliedly admits that its attacks on civilians have been immoral. Otherwise why apologise? So much for the myth of legitimate "resistance".

"Tired of the same drivel" Yep, sure am! Say have Hamas ever stopped Israeli civilians from fleeing a war zone, then attacked the territory, like Israel did the citizens of Gaza? Ironically, they couldn't even flee into the sea.....

Many terrorist groups throughout history have gone on to become bonafide governments. Take Etzel Lechi for example, or even Fatah. Don't close your mind to a better future. Hamas is sending signals that perhaps they are willing to change and Israel should take any opportunity to help them make the change.

The article states " suicide bombings of Israeli buses, cafes and the like, which have not, however, been seen for several years". The reason for that is because we have not seen many palestinians for a few years. The wall and the borders help! If we open their borders, we will see palestinians and shortly thereafter, suicide bombings.

during their military operations, or Operation re-elect Livni and Barak. Then HAMAS must be allowed to use the same defence. Afterall isn't Sderot the headquarters for the Southern Command of the IDF? And do Israelis serve in the army until they are in their 40's wearing civilian clothes to blend into the population?

when is war the casualty cannot be legitimate when you go 1400 versus 12?????????? that is not war that is killing purposely!hamas a terrirst group? by Israel and usa standart because they need to stand by Israel, but Israel is the occupier with the sofisticated weapon not Hamas!! so this i call killing innocent people!

Yes hamas lie but Israel have the money to buy themself the thruth and keep it hiding from the world. who is worse?

'Hamas is a terrorist group, and thus not worth talking to.' Yeah sure. Just like the Israeli 'terrorists' in Stern, Lehi and Irgun, who killed civilians, troops, Arabs and each other with gleeful zest and were happy to explode bombs that killed and maimed the innocent. And who provided not only many of Israel's future leaders, but also the core Israeli beliefs that might is right and ends justify means, however despicable the means.. They claimed to be fighting British occupation, when in fact they were fighting (a) a League of Nations mandate and (b) to seize Arab land to create an immigrant Jewish state. Hamas, fighting Israeli occupation and illegal settlement in Palestine, can at least claim to be freedom or resistance fighters against an invader. The Jewish terrorists had no such excuse. The trouble is that Jews like Heather put forward such a warped view of history, they lose any intellectual high ground and just come over as unhinged Zio propagandists.

' (Israel's) Blockade imposed after Hamas suicide bombings will be lifted if attacks stop. What do we need to talk about? Lifting the blockade in exchange for attacks stopping maybe? Plus stopping Israeli land seizure and illegal settlement of the WB, which is what the Palestinians are fighting against. Israelis love to compartmentalise these issues and pretend that Gaza is one thing and its colonial settlement project in so-called 'Judea and Samaria' a totally different, separate matter. When Israel is ready to stop its siege and its land-theft, then there might be a chance for talks and peace. Ball in intransigent Israel's court, as it has been for 42 years.

Is this supposed to be somekind of sick joke, first they regrett rockets hitting Israeli civilians saying they were not the target, and then they go on to say they will continue suicide bombings whose targets are civilians,Hamas contradicted themselves miserably.

This announcement is a surprise, and it doesn't sound very convincing. However, it is a public statement, and that makes it hard for Hamas to return on its steps. So let's grab the opportunity of the moment, and create a situation where there is at least no violence.

all the horrors commited by Israel and no word of remorse! hamas were angels in comparison.

It is obvious that Hamas would prefer to target IDF assets/troops instead of civilians. But, contrary to the IDF, Hamas lacks the sophisticated arms to do so, so they go after softer targets. It's exactly what happened in Afghanistan with the Taliban.they bombed civilians and used IED's until they had restablished their basis and weapon supplies in recent years.Now they go after the US troops proper.It's contraproductive for a guerrilla groups to target the civilian population in the disputed territory, no matter which side civilians.

By now they have understood that Europeans and the UN will believe the moon is made of cheese if only Jews can be blamed for it, so they'll try to hide their snickering as they pretend to be an honest-to-God aggrieved, innocent party. Now watch the Scandinavians lapping it up and demanding that Hamas be given the chair of the Human Rights Council!

... commensurate with the number of missiles that they have aimed at Israel... ... according to that means of calculation, it would be mind-boggling to tote up the number of petential Pal deaths that could be laid to Israel's account... ... dramatic calculations such as those of the mayor, should take into account the entire hypothetical spectrum...

Their first and foremost mentor in matters of deceptive C.Y.A. public relations stategies. They do with this, just as they did with their own rebuttal of the Goldstone report that they submitted to the U.N. And any questions about their sincerity can be equally applied to Israel's expressed regrets over civilian casualties in Gaza.

"Hamas" said no such thing, in fact, the Hamas leadership renounced the supposed "regret" written by a low-level official in an obscure report. Obviously even this is a cynical and sleazy PR stunt, especially since they continue to launch Kassams at Israeli civilians (2 yesterday). Under international law, randomly launching weapons in the general direction of civilians, is equivalent to DIRECTLY and INTENTIONALLY targeting civilians, since the law requires avoiding civilians. There are no military targets anywhere near Sderot in any case. Hamas' history of suicide bombing buses and restaurants (but NEVER military installations) establishes that they target civilians as a matter of policy, not accident.

Rather than randomly killing each other's civilians, maybe it is time for both sides to talk. Jane is an Israeli citizen. She has the right idea. Hamas is indicating that they think some killing of civilians is wrong. Why doesn't the right wing Israeli government think some killing of Palestinian civilians is wrong? For that matter, why don't you?

6000 rockets and they are sorry for the inconvenience. What a bunch of crock. Those rockets were meant to frighten the population into moving out of the towns near gaza. The gaza excursion proved to hamas that Israel will protect its population and if it means total destruction of gaza so be it. Hamas and the other terror organizations are to be blamed for the misery of the gazans, for the blockade...etc

... talk is not enough, unless some positive cociliatory action is taken...

You know... when the chips are down I will always side with Israel but I am telling you people on both sides that cooler heads can communicate better. Just stop the violence! Then talk.

Jane, have you ever read the Hamas Covenant? Do you know what they stand for? Judging from your post, you haven't. You can find it at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp The article relevant to negotiations is #13. Read it, and you will learn that it's Hamas that rejects any and all negotiated solutions. "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."

Is this the same Hamas that danced in the streets on 9/11 handing out candy? Of course it is. Another lie from Hamas. They will do nothing but lie and continue to do so.

and an apology to those who survived would be more than appropriate.

Oh, wouldn't that be nice! First, it's been done on numerous occasions. Second, Hamas is a terrorist group, and thus not worth talking to.

Hundreds of rockets fired at random targets the thought never crossed their minds that civilians might get hit?

Dancing in the streets and handing out sweets when Israeli civillians are killed i think they are full of sh@#

By using language that mirrors Israel's defense of their own actions, Hamas (who already couldn't care less about international human rights) is creating equivalence between their attacks and Israel's. That is to say, on the one hand Hamas claims that they don't really know where the rockets are going but they hope and pray it will it an Israeli combatant; on the other hand, Israel claims that it takes great care in selecting and engaging targets, but every once in a while the hit a UN compound with white phosphorous shells. No thinking person in the West will believe that Hamas DIDN'T try to kill civilians, but in seeing the similarity between the Israeli regret of the loss of innocent life, they might be led to believe that Israel's code of conduct is just the same as Hamas. It's a PR disaster for Israel. What's the point of having the most moral army in the world if nobody believes it?

before Hamas joins Libya and Iran as the newest member on the United Nations Human Rights Council. Can't wait!

If the UN believes that people can have wars or, other forms of conflicts that lead to war, without civilian casualties, they should think again. You prevent military conflicts by supporting legitimate governments, not terrorists. You can publish reports all day long but, as long as you can't stop Iran, the Hezbollah or Syria from moving arms around, defying the UN regulations, who do you think is going to take the UN seriously?

Israely troops are off Gaza. Settlements are gone. Industrial zones for Palestinians are already built to provide Gazans with jobs/income and closed after Hamas suicide attaks. Blockade imposed after Hamas suicide bombings will be lifted if attacks stop. What do we need to talk about?

Etzi ?

Isn't that a better idea than randomly killing each others citizens? Just a thought.

Hamas is out-playing you in the Public Relations front. Sure it is all a line of bull. But they played THEIR line of bull way better than Israel played theirs.

..."And for my next joke..."

far more revealing. This is for international consumption. But I think the West is wising up to this sort of "talk" Deeds and words in ALL LANGUAGES need to match. Tired of the same drivel.

They are not civilians? Ah, it's because of the Goldstone report. Not a matter of values, but of opportunities. Funny, but the world does not believe in you, you know. Ask Mubarak for example

no military targets in those directions.

Give me a break. Next osama will announce that he regrets 9/11 and then expect obama to agree with it. Wait, i'm not entirely sure how obama would respond. Hamas is a terrorist group and they should be treated as such not given a public place to speak especially in the UN. You dont ask murderers why they did it. The reason doesnt matter.

How can this guy lie through his teeth. Allah should punish him for his blatant lie. We can start with Tali Hatuel, murdered in cold blood with her four daughters, children, babes. Their bodies were riddled with bullets, AFTER THEY WERE DEAD. Just last month, Rabbi Chai was brutally executed, in cold blood. He was an innocent civilian, not a soldier. This lying pile of human trash Judge. Who's he kidding. There are hundreds of other civilians killed by Hamas.

"There is no change in the movement's policy, and that includes our position on the martyrdom operations." - Hamas official to Reuters Then why did Hamas pick up the Bull Shovel? Why toss crap about regrets over killing civilians? There is no justification for murdering civilians just because it is 'too hard' to kill combatants. Goldstone accused Hamas of not only criminal acts against Israeli civilians, but for crimes of recklessly endangering Palestinian civilians. It seems Hamas has tried to weasel it's way out of the charges of crimes against humanity against Israeli civilians. It has not addressed it's war crimes against Palestinians. It is not hard to see why everyone is squirming and dissembling over Goldstone. The truth hurts.

" its improvised rockets were fired purely defensively and were aimed at Israeli military targets. They simply lacked the necessary accuracy, Hamas said." - Haaretz No fooling? Everyone knew the quality control, launchers and launch crews were incapable individually or collectively of delivering accurate fire. EVERYONE! Hamas will have to let go of it's fig-leaf excuse that it was firing at military targets if it KNEW, which it had to have known, that it couldn't hit target smaller than a city more than half the time. "It should be noted that the Palestinian resistance...is not an organized army that possesses developed technological weapons," the report said. "It may target a military site or a tank position and their fire goes astray...and hit a civilian location, despite their efforts to avoid hurting civilians." - Haaretz How reassuring. Hamas and the IDf have the same excuse for hitting civilians. Anytime you kill more civilians than combatants you have no excuse.

"We regret any harm that may have befallen any Israeli civilian." - Hamas in response to the Goldstone Report's allegations that it committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. I hope that is a sincere comment. "We hope the Israeli civilians understand that their government's continued attacks on us were the key issue and the cause," - ibid No question who was on which end of the kill ratio. "For years Hamas has boasted about deliberately targeting civilians, either through suicide bombings, by gunfire or by rockets. Who are they trying to fool now?" - Yigal Palmor No one will believe it unless Hamas avoids harming civilians forever. Even then, it will be years before a change in behavior would be accepted as more than words. ". . . its improvised rockets were fired purely defensively and were aimed at Israeli military targets. They simply lacked the necessary accuracy, Hamas said." - Reuters And so does a M825A1 White Phosphorous shell aimed at a crowded city.

During the last 48 hours of the recent conflict in Lebanon, when it was clear a ceasefire was imminent, Israel blanketed the southern area with millions of cluster bomblets. These are long lasting imprecise anti-personnel weapons released in a civilian area with actual targeting of militants dubious and unreliable due to the weapon's known imprecise and persistent nature. Their practical effects were a sustained vengeful action against the civilian populace despite any stated military rational. The last time I saw mention of their consequence, over 45 Lebanese civilians have since died from them and hundreds injured, and they have to live with the continued fear of their random destruction. So Israel behaves no better; in fact their similar reckless actions have dealt more lethal consequences than the entire Hamas rocket campaign. You are just as unethical if not more. 8000 rockets vs millions of clusterbombs. Hamas can stop their rockets, but those bombs still wreak their legacy

We are sorry for the loss of life to the Palestinian civilians that were killed when you shot at us from the civilian neigborhoods. If you do it again we will probably have to apologize again. So please do not fire from amidst civilian populations again. Better yet...sit down and talk real peace.

This is exactly why Israel should set up an independent commission to investigate supposed war crimes. If Israel backs out then Hamas can back out too. The fact remains that Hamas's crimes were easily documented every night on the evening news. We saw missiles being fired from Gaza's civilian neighbourhoods (a war crime) and landing in Israeli civilian cities (a war crime). How they think the world will convinced that they were aiming at military targets is crazy. This was their plan all along, to force Israel into attacking Gaza where they would have to enter civilian areas to stop the missiles. Have the inquiry already! Indict Haniyah and Meshal for war crimes.

Hamas apologizes for something it did harming the innocent. Israel rejects it as not enough, but pointedly does not regret the civilian deaths its government actions have caused. Interestingly, it must not have occurred to any journalist to ask why Israel doesn't regret any Palestinian Gazan civilian deaths the Israeli government has caused. Either that or the entire story is written from PR releases from the two governments.

Do what you want, but carry a cheap excuse with you.

Good that Israel will stand her ground and always remember that there is no statute of limitations on murder. We also remember that the families of the 500 Israeli victims suffer to this day. We compassionate Westerners also regret the Palestinians needlessly murdered by Hamas and who also continue to suffer at Hamas' hands to this day. Could Hamas really think that such a convenient and insincere show of false regret will make any difference to anyone? Taqiyya and a poorly acted job of taqiyya at that!

In true Orwellian manner. Hamas regrets killing the civilians it targets to kill.

Is this the same Hamas who blew up Buses, restaurants and cafes in Israel and pictures the suicide bombers as Heroes in Gaza!!