[aes256]

There are both dense and sparsely populated areas of the Strip.

Israel are not carpet-bombing the area, they are performing pinpoint strikes on legitimate military targets.

As a civilian, it is not difficult to avoid those targets.

[guelo]

If it's so easy how could this BBC reporter have avoided his house being hit and his baby killed? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/15...

[aes256]

It's a large-scale armed conflict. Civilians are going to get caught in the crossfire.

Alas, it's a strange sort of conflict in which one side deliberately targets civilians, while the other does everything humanly possible to avoid them.

[jpxxx]

No, this is pretty much the regular kind of conflict. Looks like apartheid, smells like ethnic cleansing, and ends up with plenty of bodies on both sides.

[AutoCorrect]

nope, not the regular kind of conflict at all: for a large portion of our history the greater power would obliterate all resistance in the hostile territory, then settle the area with their own population. The Israelis are showing remarkable restraint.

The land was sparsely inhabited when the Israelis formed their own nation. They spent time, money, and effort making it a better place to live. The Palestinians should call it a day and agree to a truce, before Israel gets serious and wipes them out completely.

[guelo]

If it was so sparsely populated how did 1.6 million people end up squeezed on top of each other in a concentration camp?

[gadders]

Yes, because in Apartheid South Africa, you had black justices on the Supreme Court, just like you have Palestinians Justices on the Israeli Supreme Court. Oh, hold on...

[jpxxx]

An atrocious effort and a waste of otherwise serviceable sarcasm. Please try again.

[pyre]

You said:

  > As a civilian, it is not difficult to avoid those
  > targets.

Then you said:

  > It's a large-scale armed conflict. Civilians are
  > going to get caught in the crossfire.

If it's not so hard for civilians to avoid these areas, then why is it inevitable that they be caught in the crossfire?

The idea that Israel is somehow free of 'blood on their hands' because they try to warn people to leave the area for the bombing doesn't make sense. Both sides have plenty of blood on their hands, yet they continue to butt heads using the same tactics over and over again as if something is going to change. Unless they change tactics it's just a war of attrition at this point.

[aes256]

> If it's not so hard to civilians to avoid these areas, then why is it inevitable that they be caught in the crossfire?

Nothing is perfect. Equipment malfunctions, mistaken intel, and human error can all lead to civilian casualties, despite the best precautions.

[pyre]

Your comments about how 'easy' it is for civilians to leave these areas seem to be aimed at placing the blame on the civilians for not having left the area, while absolving Israel of guilt. Even if you believe that Israel is in the right for bombing Gaza it makes no sense to try and deny that innocent civilians are caught in the cross-fire. Their blood is on Israel's hands just as much as the blood of innocent Israelis is on the hands of Hamas.

[aes256]

The comments about how easy it is to avoid targets are in response to those making farcical claims about the density population of the Gaza Strip, and suggesting it is impossible for civilians to escape the conflict.

Israel are engaged in a legitimate military operation, exclusively targeting legitimate military targets.

If you deliberately put yourself in harm's way, then I'm sorry, but you are partially responsible for the harm that comes to you.

[anthonyb]

Except when it's, say, a car driving down a populated street.