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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA HIGHLIGHT FAILURE OF CEASE FIRE

ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA HIGHLIGHT FAILURE OF CEASE FIRE

December 27 2008

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories – As Israeli airstrikes pounded Hamas controlled sections of Gaza City killing over two hundred people, international observers were left helpless. The Israeli attacks were a response to repeated missile volleys from inside the Hamas controlled territories and left the international community wondering at the failure of the Egyptian brokered ceasefire.

“We have to experience shelling and rocket attacks on innocent civilians, that's something we will not accept,” said Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak. “This will not be a short operation. The war on terrorism is an ongoing one, and we will have to stand firm in order to change the situation in the south.”

The Egyptian government is in the midst of renegotiating a new cease fire agreement, but the escalation by the Israeli’s is likely to provoke a violent response from Hamas.

“We will stand up, we will defend our own people, we will defend our land, and we will not give up,” said senior Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan. “Hamas did not fire rockets through the cease-fire. It's clear that the one who violated the cease-fire is the Israelis. For half the period of cease-fire, they closed all the checkpoints, and they killed 28 Palestinians.”

The breakdown in the region is leaving many in the international community to wonder if there’s any hope left for the term ceasefire and whether or not it should be scrapped in favour of another term or an entirely different practice altogether.

“Cease fire after all does mean to cease firing. The whole point is to stop shooting missile and bullets at each other not just keep doing the same thing that you’ve been doing under the auspices of working towards peace. The entire point is not to just say you’re not going to kill people, it’s to actually stop killing,” said Scrape TV Middle East analyst David Gershwin. “The really difficult thing about a ceasefire in this area of the world is neither side wants to stop firing. For all the talk of peace and land the reality is they spend downtime arming and the rest of the time fighting. The cycle of violence is going to continue as long as both sides are breathing, unfortunately, and things like ceasefires only give both sides time to recover for another attack.”

The Hamas, who are the legally elected government of the Palestinian territories, agreed to the cease fire in part to alleviate strangling sanctions by the Israeli’s. The cessations of hostilities allowed them time to rearm in preparation for further attacks, which in turn allowed the Israeli government the opportunity to
“It’s a very complicated situation in the area. Both sides benefit from conflict, both culturally and financially, and so it is their best interest to continue to fight. Rearming and launching smaller attacks though kind of goes against the spirit of the term. It isn’t called wait to fight, or rearm time, its ceasefire.”

The swift resumption of hostilities has prompted many observers to realize that violence in the Middle East may not be solved by simply asking.

“People are beginning to realize that the issues here are more fundamental and far reaching than they had originally thought. Simply signing a piece of paper is great if you just want to say you’ve done something and then move on with your life, but if you actually want to accomplish something you need to put in the effort,” continued Gershwin. “It’s time the world community began to realize that there are serious problems in the Middle East and they aren’t going to be done away with by simply signing a piece of paper, well maybe if they word it really politely.”

More than 200 have been killed in the latest round of attacks.

Emil Uliya, International Correspondent

NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA HIGHLIGHT FAILURE OF CEASE FIRE

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