[justizin]

"A senior Israel Defense Forces officer said Wednesday that the number of rockets to hit Israel can be expected to rise."

In other words, Israel is not planning to de-escalate their illegal occupation - in fact it sounds likely they're planning to invade the gaza strip, which they have been bombing quite actively in recent days and hours.

[JumpCrisscross]

>In other words, Israel is not planning to de-escalate their illegal occupation

This is a complex issue involving diverse viewpoints. One may find it enriching to consider the differing views and values that go into such a misunderstanding. I've learned a lot about myself and human nature by contemplating and modelling geopolitics.

Referring to the situation as an "illegal occupation" is harsh. And ambiguous. This is an international conflict; there are no laws which gain automatic primacy.

Further, your conclusion - as stated - appears tenuous. A military spokesperson pointing at rising attacks could signify many things. Domestic support could be waning. Or the enthusiasm of an offshore balancer. It could also signify increased militarism in Gaza, independent of IDF activity. Granted, it could also mean preparations for IDF escalation. But you need to produce more concrete evidence, not vitriol, to back up that hypothesis.

[madaxe_again]

It's utterly unambiguous. Familiar with the Stern gang?

More attacks would be a result of Israeli air strikes and Netanyahu egging on a ground offensive.

I'm sorry that you've been brainwashed, but you're the warmongers here, not the oppressed Palestinians.

[thescrewdriver]

> I'm sorry that you've been brainwashed, but you're the warmongers here, not the oppressed Palestinians.

Of course Hamas is a completely innocent, never having murdered anyone ever... You're so busy pointing fingers at one side that you're blinded to the faults of the other...

[thebiglebrewski]

Thank you! How could anyone say that Hamas is not guilty of anything? As mentioned in a comment above: if Hamas stopped shooting rockets, I'd have a really hard time believing that Israel would not stop their assault, the government has said several times that they are simply responding to rocket fire.

"We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us." -Golda Meir

[xwowsersx]

How you managed to grab a sentence from the article about the IDF's assessment that there will likely be more rockets fired on Israel from Gaza and turn that into flagrant incendiary baffles me.

"Dogs are cute."

In other words, roses are red.

[madaxe_again]

I feel like you wanted to write antisemitism. It isn't. Israel have started a war here. There's nothing incendiary about the truth, except to those who prefer lies.

[Kanbab]

There is an ongoing cold & hot war between Hamas and Israel. Israel maintains checkpoints in the West Bank, and continues to build settlements, while leaving Gaza alone. Hamas undermines West Bank peace by murdering Fatah members, and not negotiating with Israel, claiming they want to ultimately fight all Jews in the world. Furthermore, Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank joined Hamas in a unity government.

I think you are mistaken about who started the current fighting. In short, among the backdrop of relative calm: 3 Israelis youths were murdered, Israel searched the West Bank, and arrested numerous Hamas individuals, among other suspects. An Arab boy was murdered, Israel arrested numerous Israeli suspects. Hamas begins firing rockets from Gaza. Then Israel began responding with air attacks in Gaza.

[madaxe_again]

And who murdered those kids? Not Hamas.

And who runs Gaza and the West Bank? Not Hamas.

Who sent in troops and violated the ceasefire, killing children, and precipitating this? Sure as hell not Hamas. Netanyahu.

Finally - the "unity government" you speak ill of was welcomed everywhere as a positive step towards peace - except for in Israel where it's being used as an excuse for war.

[laichzeit0]

And who began firing rockets from Gaza? "Not Hamas"? I'm not trying to establish order of events here. Just baiting you to acknowledge a factual detail first.

[madaxe_again]

Not Hamas. Hamas have been acting as Israel's extended defence force in the area for the past 18 months, since the cease-fire - actively preventing jihadist groups from carrying out strikes.

Israel's heavy-handed response to the "missing" (when in fact they already knew they were dead) children is what precipitated this.

Hamas started rocket salvos, and acknowledged such, when the airstrikes began in earnest.

[thescrewdriver]

> And who murdered those kids? Not Hamas.

Hamas themselves neither confirms nor denies it [1], so how can you claim that?

[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-palestinians-is...

[Kanbab]

Who runs Gaza? If not Hamas, then who?

[falsestprophet]

To be fair, their activities comply with Israel law.