The Gaza Conflict

As of January 12, 2009, 898 Palestinians have been killed, 3,695 wounded since the Gaza war erupted last December 27, 2008. According to the media, almost half of those killed are women and children. On the side of Israel, 13 have died, 10 of them are soldiers. The war between Gaza and Israel is already on its 17th day and casualties on both sides continue to escalate. World leaders and even the UN had already intervened but to no avail. Missiles and rockets continue to be launched from both sides and Israeli ground troops are waging a fierce battle with Hamas militants in the city of Gaza.

Many are surprised and ask themselves why Israel went into war with Gaza. Israel has only one answer: to protect its people. Many did not agree with the move of Israel to invade Gaza because this would mean more civilians casualties caught in between the two warring nations but I think Israel has the reasons to do it. I am not against the Hamas militants who are branded as “terrorists” and I do not condone the death of civilians but I agree that Israel has to do something to protect its own people. I have been following up the news about the fighting in Gaza in these past days and I came to know that the decision of Israel to wage war with Hamas is triggered by the determination to put a stop to the horrible experiences of people in Southern Israel who are like living in ghost towns because they have been continuously taking cover in bomb shelters and bunkers to protect themselves from the missiles and rockets fired from Gaza.

I feel sorry about the civilians in Gaza, especially women and children, because they are used by Hamas as fronts to show to the media of Israel’s brutality. Of course, it is impossible not to have civilian casualties because Hamas militants live with these civilians, they store their weapons in ordinary houses and even use mosques as meeting areas and training ground of its army. In short, the civilians are somehow used as shields to protect themselves from being fired upon and to cover up their military operations. Who would not feel angry and disappointed with Israel if all what are seen on TV and newspapers are pictures of dead women and children? I am wondering why media only show to the people worldwide civilian casualties and not show even a single picture of Hamas casualty. There are speculations that Hamas are hiding their dead and injured comrades but I think this is just one way of media saying that: too much lives have been wasted, something has to be done! ®