I believe this is just another opening skirmish between islam and the rest of the world.
Hizbullah to the north, hamas to the south, both intent on the destruction of Israel as a nation state.
As far as I'm aware Israel is not intent on the destruction of it's neighbours.
This is an ongoing war - it can only get worse until the whole region is in flames...

chris, st austell,

As usual we hear the biased supporters of the Israeli state come up with their twisted scaremongering to justify barbaric & sickening brutality. I wonder how much hatred these people have that they can blindly support such terror. If their Israeli state is so weak why don't they quote how many Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the last few years compared to Israeli deaths. Oh i forgot this wouldn't fit their agenda of projecting Israel as the victim. Just for the record Palestinian deaths in the several thousands-ready for this Israeli deaths in the........10s!!! Now draw your own conclusions using the brain God gave you.

ismail, leicester, united kingdon

Arik Silverman of Miulwaukee is completely wrong. Rather than "negotiate from strength", Sharon gave Gaza to the arabs unconditionally as they wouldn't negotiate.
He was also wrong; Arab leaders don't want to "negotiate" as westerners understand it - they simply want to get rid of the Jews by hook or by crook. And it works: by incessant bombardment, they've caused 1/3 of Sderot's population to leave and by increasing their rockets' range they've started to do the same to Ashqelon. Only when they reach Tel Aviv and the Israel so-called leadership finally recognises what it's up against will they mobilise and drive these scum away.At the moment it's they the Israelis who are doing the surrendering - to terrorism - whilst the arabs are doing rather well, both from the damage they cause & the upswing in support when they sustain the resultant damage.
Basically, there's a war going on & the sooner Israel's government recognises it, the better.

M.Lester, London, UK

Arik - you make a good point here. Inaccurate rockets and the like are surely only being sent from Gaza to cause trouble. The Palestinians are the bullies here who have no other motive but to give the Israelis misery on a day to day basis as they have no control over who or what they target. At least the Israelis are targeting specific militants on their hit lists. Unfortunately these militants have many followers who act as human shields and are then killed as "civilians" to twist the view of the media around the world.

James Mack, Manchester,

If Iran & Syria keep supplying
rockets & katiushas to Hamastan/Gaza in order to achieve their own agenda, then they are not there to help the Palestinians. If the Hamas agenda is the annihilation of the state of Israel, they need to build a real army. In the mean while they are playing with fire. No legitimate entity can accept
civilian losses on a daily basis without a just response. If it where any other country on the receiving end, the Palestinians would have undoubtedly paid an extremely heavy price by now. one wonder why Israel has accepted this long punishment without brutal force onto the civilian population from where it is is sent.

Emil, Rhill, ON

Really Paul? USA as role model...I wonder...

James , Vancouver,

Believe me Steve, there are many Governments out there condemning the actions of the Israelis and there are millions of people who are also condemning their actions. However, i think you need to make a clear distinction with the innocent Palestinians who are so powerless in Gaza and are afraid to stand up to Hamas and the actual Hamas gunmen that are firing rockets into Israel. The trouble is that the Hamas gunmen are firing rockets from within civilian areas which makes it very difficult for Israel to respond as they know that innocent civilians are in those areas that the are targeting. I can assure you that Israel weeps every time they injure or kill and innocent Palestinian child, however, please think for a moment what you would do if some of the members of the house across the road from you believed that you should be dead and were going to fire rockets into your house. Would you pre-emptively strike first in order to save your life?

Stephen, London,

While advising to refrain from using force against Hamas in Gaza, Steve from Glasgow (and others), Does not offer any solution for the Sderot and Ashkelon people.

Tom Bowley, Englewood, USA

Whilst Israel certainly has the right, indeed a duty to its citizens, to take measures to stop rocket attacks on their territory, the indiscriminate ,disproportianate scale and level of violence directed at the population of Gaza is what the international community finds shocking and unacceptable.

Israel, sadly, has a track record of overreaction and vengeful attacks on her nieghbours that simply cannot be explained as self defense measures in response to terrorist actions.

The recent massive attack on Lebanon included atttacks on Beirut and the destruction of Beirut airport. No stretch of imagination can ever accept Israels plea of self defense as justification of the deaths of thousands of innocent Lebanese civilians.

It seems every time any kind of peace process seems to be making progress, the hawks within Israels political and military leadership seem to find a reason/pretence for a massive assault on someone.... with the end result being the death of any Peacetalks.

Meanwhile... the brutal Israeli occupation, the building of the Barrier carving through and splitting Palestinian communities, the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian land and, of course, the disproportianate killing of Palestinian civilians... continues apace.

As the saying goes...for an accurate take on events.... Never listen to what Israel SAYS.... rather, watch what Israel DOES.

Douglas Moore, Douglas, Isle of Man

Its "strength" is harming Israel. Ariel Sharon and other Israeli leaders before and after him have constantly uttered the mantra that "Israel must negotiate from a position of strength." The trouble is, there's no need to negotiate when one is as overpoweringly strong as US-backed, atomic-protected Israel is.

Israel rarely faces more from Palestinians than rifle fire, home made and highly inaccurate rockets, and bodies wrapped in explosives. The Palestinians face jet fighter planes, helicopter guy ships, tanks, naval destroyers, heavy artillery, and much more.

This overwhelming advantage causes Israel not to look for a genuine peace, but a surrender. and it will settle for no less than total surrender on the part of the Palestinians. But they refuse to play Israel's game. Maybe Israel should change the rules.

Arik Silverman, Milwaukee, WI

Paul from Nebraska - That is surely a completely spurious comparison. You can just as easily argue that what the Palestinians are doing is no more or no less than what certain nationalist Mexicans would do if the USA occupied their land and treated them as second class citizens, or at least severely hampered their way of life, and denied them the chance to form a nation-state. But the point is that both arguments are completely ridiculous; you have to factor in the history, the political realities and so on. There is no comparable situation. One thing is for certain: violence from either side is NOT the way to end this conflict, no matter what justifcations they put forth - it will just continue in cycles. There needs to be a drastic change to the whole approach from both sides, and that is far easier said than done.

Karl, London, UK

Israel should really consider what it is doing to the Palestinains in the long term. This is not good for peace in the region and I dont see any governemnt condemning the actions of the Israelis.

The innocent Palestinians can do nothing but pray they do not die in the selfish acts of the Israeli warfare supplied by you know who.

Steve, Glasgow, Scotland

Israel should do no more and no less than any other nation would do to a neighbor firing rockets willy nilly at its cities. A measured response would be what one would imaging the USA's response would be the Mexico firing rockets at Dallas and hiding among Mexican civilians to do it. Whatever one imagines the USA then doing is what Israel should do.

Paul, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA