http://news.yahoo.com/gaza-truce-pressu ... 48745.htmlGAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - International pressure for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip puts Egypt's new Islamist president in the spotlight on Tuesday after a sixth day of Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli air strikes that have killed over 100 people.
Israel's leaders weighed the benefits and risks of sending tanks and infantry into the densely populated coastal enclave two months before an Israeli election, and indicated they would prefer a diplomatic path backed by world powers, including U.S. President Barack Obama, the European Union and Russia.
Any such solution may pass through Egypt, Gaza's other neighbor and the biggest Arab nation, where the ousting of U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak and election of President Mohamed Mursi is part of a dramatic reshaping of the Middle East, wrought by the Arab Spring and now affecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mursi, whose Muslim Brotherhood was mentor to the founders of Hamas, took a call from Obama on Monday telling him the group must stop rocket fire into Israel - effectively endorsing Israel's stated aim in launching the offensive last week. Obama, as quoted by the White House, also said he regretted civilian deaths - which have been predominantly among the Palestinians.
"The two leaders discussed ways to de-escalate the situation in Gaza, and President Obama underscored the necessity of Hamas ending rocket fire into Israel," the White House said.
"President Obama then called Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and received an update on the situation in Gaza and Israel. In both calls, President Obama expressed regret for the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives."
Three Israeli civilians and 108 Palestinians have been killed. Gaza officials say over half of those killed in the enclave were civilians, 27 of them children.
I would certainly say that Israel would be fully justified in launching a ground attack on Gaza if the government reaches the conclusion that this would be the only way to bring the rocket attacks against it's civilian population centers to an end.
While the casualties Israel has sustained to date have been relatively light, the disruption to the lives of it's population with daily repeated air raids shutting down economic life, disrupting schools, etc. (40% of Israel's population resides in Tel Aviv alone, and Jerusalem has also come under fire from Hamas' improved missiles.) is completely intolerable; no sovereign nation would permit this. The entire nation is essentially being terrorized. If Canada were lobbing missiles at Boston, we wouldn't put it up with it just because not that many people had yet been killed.
That having been said, I think the Israelis really need to think long and hard about a full scale incursion into Gaza; it would come at a very steep price.
The densely populated Gaza strip has long been one of the most forlorn hell holes on earth. It has almost no economy or infrastructure to speak of; it is essentially an over grown open air refugee camp. It's hapless residents have been victimized both by the indignities of occupation, (which ended eight years ago) and by first ineffective, and now gangster leadership ....
Since the Hamas thugs overthrew the Palestinian Authority they have done nothing but compound the misery of a people who are more their captives than their citizenry....They don't give one small damn for the well being of their people, in fact the more innocent civilians who are killed in this conflict, the better from their point of view. They are far more interested in scoring propaganda points then they are in the well being of the people of Gaza; they have proven this consistently ever since they seized power, and they are driving the point home in spades in this latest round of attacks.
And therein lies the problem for Israel. An incursion into the Gaza strip under the best of circumstances, conducted in the most professional way, would inevitably result in significant civilian casualties, just owing to the nature of the place, and these would not be "the best of circumstances". You can bet your boots that the Hamas terrorists would do everything humanly possible to maximize civilian casualties. These are people would think nothing of placing rocket batteries in orphanages.
So because the cost of this would be extremely high for Israel in terms of the effect that the images of burning children will inevitably have on much of world opinion, in my view, they really need to conclude that all other reasonable options for bringing an end to these terror missile attacks have been exhausted before they march in to this hornet's nest.
Of course if that threshold is met, then they have no choice but to act, regardless of world opinion, (much of which is automatically inclined to reflexively take an anti-Israeli position anyway, always and everywhere, regardless of the facts.)
