P.K.

Awww..... That's so sweet of you....

So what...? The idea that "throwing stones" is just the local youngsters having a laugh couldn't be further from the truth.

Even the Roman Legions feared slingers. How lethal were slings? Scholars typically focus on the simple thrown spear (javelin), throwing axe, bow, and crossbow. However, in experienced hands, the sling was arguably the most effective personal projectile weapon until the 15th century, surpassing the accuracy and deadliness of the bow and even of early firearms

Quite. A palestinian lady who was there for the attempted murder of an Israeli was set free. According to her mother it was "Thanks to Hamas".... That's what the IDF are up against. Literally generations of hatred...

Well, I'm of the opinion that attacking a state with a view of annihilating it is almost certainly illegal as well...! Syria lost the conflict it started. So losing the Golan Heights as war reparations for Israeli losses is not an unreasonable position to take IMHO. The West Bank is essentially under Israeli military occupation. Are the settlements illegal according to the laws of the occupying power? Personally I doubt it...

The Golan Heights and Sinai are a good case in point. The Yom Kippur war of 1973 was an assault by Egypt to retake the Sinai peninsula and a simultaneous assault by Syria to retake the Golan Heights and from there onwards who knows...? They both failed although the cost to Israel was 2,600 casualties. In 1979 Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty. In it Egypt got the Sinai back by recognition of Israel as a legitimate sovereign state. Israel even demolished settlements in the area. So if Syria wants the Golan Heights back it knows exactly what it has to do. And so does everybody else. However while it fails to follow Egypt's lead then the threat of a further assault on Israel is still there so no way will Israel give up a very strategic position for no purpose. It would be a very stupid thing to do...

@HeteroErectus Playing your posts certainly. So after you were found quoting PFLP propaganda explain how this isn't a childish response...?

@La_Dolce_Vita I admire them as a people and a country. They have made a modern state against all the odds. And those odds were considerable. From the start the surrounding arab nations and Saudi Arabia were set on the destruction of the fledgling state. They tried not once but several times. But Israel prevailed. With hard work and $billions of aid from the US. Your "avoiding conflict" remark was somewhat ironic as for years just being Israeli meant that you just couldn't avoid conflict...! Iran's stated aim and therefore that of it's proxies is the destruction of Israel. So things haven't changed that much over the decades really... At the Camp David talks between Egypt and Israel the (probably surprised to be) Israeli PM Menachem Begin stated that their position was "no land will be surrendered for peace" meaning Sinai. The same was true for places like the Golan Heights. Because Israeli blood had been shed on them to prevent Israel being annihilated. To give them up would be to dishonour their war dead. That's a very powerful argument that resonates in a country that since it's creation has always lived under the threat of destruction. However he was eventually prevailed upon to surrender concessions on Sinai and the accord was signed that cost Egyptian President Anwar Sadat his life. But it secured Israel's Southern Border. The Golan heights are seriously strategic. The thing is they have little other value. Therefore they will never be surrendered so the militarily strategic advantage stays with the defenders. The settlers in the West Bank are a problem. They could argue they are simply carrying out UN Resolution 181. I'm also pretty sure that there's an element that says we've been kicked around by everybody for literally millenia but now it's our turn... Of course, all the usual suspects bang on about it conveniently forgetting that Israeli settlers tried it on in Northern Gaza and were booted off by the IDF and all their properties were bulldozed. I personally think that there simply isn't an answer that can break the downward spiral of hatred. Due mostly to all the blood that's been spilt and the continuous preaching of hatred towards Israel. But that's how Iran and the other Arab states like it...

Hello Stranger I just want to dismiss that particular poster. They just trawl looking for anything anti-Israel and paste it up without checking any provenance or anything else for that matter. When you point out it's anti-Israel propaganda the reply is childish nonsense - see above. Just a waste of bandwidth...

Addameer is an “affiliate” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel....

So don't go and live there then! No doubt any incarcerated are as pure as driven snow... Since it's formation Israel has been under threat of annihilation not only by external forces like the surrounding arab states, Iran etc but also from within like Hamas. So in reply to your amazingly astonishing revelation not - so effing what? Keep up with the muck-raking, it clearly suits...

All with "local" staff no doubt... The charade of parading premature born babies for a photoshoot was pretty low actually. Especially as the monitor in the corner was powered up. But it certainly takes in the hard of thinking...

Who is doing the "documenting"?

If Hamas terrorists give their position away in Gaza then the IDF have a duty to try and kill them. @HeliX Why do you persist with posting up pointless Hamas propaganda on here?

@HeliX Especially when it's not true... Lot's have made the journey and face the fact it's a lot safer in the South than being a Hamas human shield in Gaza City...

It's a lot safer than the alternative...

See above "Of course, all the usual suspects will bang on...." etc etc etc

Predictably enough ignoring the reality and playing the man and not the ball... The bottom line remains the same no matter what bs you spout...

How very naive. The massive difference between the two acts is that the Israelis were butchered without warning whereas the Palestinians were told to get out of the firing line with time to spare. Personally I can't understand, after being warned what was coming, why anyone especially with children would stay in harm's way. Of course all the usual suspects will bang on about the journey, old folks, conditions in the South, how it's not a perfectly safe haven etc etc but being a Hamas supporter will not get a mention. They were told to leave but instead made a choice to stay in harms way with inevitable results...

What a load of inconsequential drivel. The IDF could have filled the hospital with a small arsenal if they had a mind to do so... So much of the footage is deliberately being orchestrated by Hamas to try and sway opinion against the actions of the IDF. It works to the extent that humanitarian organisations are complaining about the death toll in Gaza but how true the figures are is anyone's guess. However nation states are taking the view that the cycle of violence can only be broken by the removal of Hamas by whatever means possible. So a ceasefire allowing your enemy to re-group is probably a bad idea from a tactical point of view. Humanitarian gestures are seen by the likes of Hamas as a weakness to be exploited so they would only agree to anything that gave them an advantage ie they get to kill more IDF. Talking of exploiting weaknesses I wonder how many Hamas wounded were being treated at the hospital that Israel built...? A tactical truism is that you can take the ground with every means possible but you can only hold it with men. The IDF should continue to sweep south but when they've finished what then? An occupation? Frankly every option looks bad...

Firstly there are some 7.5 million Jews in the US and all the contributions they make to Israeli charities are actually tax deductible! That's one important lobby group. Secondly there has been far too much blood spilt to ever have a single secular state. Even if there was a seperate Palestinian State the extremists would take control and the violence would just go on forever...

There is loads of footage of Hamas and Islamic Jihad launching missiles deliberately from built up areas in Gaza. I CBA to dig any up just for you to ignore...

I don't preach hatred against Israel in my house. Fancy you not knowing that...

Presumably this spokesperson is from Hamas?

You're right there's something the matter with me. My hearing is not so good anymore... An RM patrol in the Falklands conducting an ATC patrol. The point man steps on an AP mine. CRACK! The patrol drops and takes up an all round defence posture while the number two crawls over to the point who is lying on the ground moaning "I've lost my leg. I've lost my leg". The second says "No you haven't. Look, there it is over there..."