Three hostages escaped from HAMAS, only to be killed by Israeli
soldiers who repeatedly refused to believe their various efforts to
communicate that they were escaped hostages.
It is clear that the Israeli army is so suspicious of traps that it
has, in effect, decided to kill anyone who appears in the wrong place
and ask questions later.
Many Israelis are very angry at the government over this, and some
protesters are calling for negotiation with HAMAS.
This could provide an opportunity to push Netanyahu out of power
so that he can be convicted of corruption and imprisoned.
Then there will be the problem of what to do about right-wing
terrorists who systematically harass and attack Palestinians
in their homes, as the state thugs do nothing to protect the latter.
Israel owes Palestine the land and buildings that these "settlers"
live on and in. Returning those to Palestine will deprive the
"settlers" of the platform with which they use violence to boost
racism.
The bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed around 19,000
Palestinians whose death has been counted. Subtract a few thousand
who were HAMAS fighters, and add a few thousand specific individuals
(surely mostly civilians) known to have been trapped under the rubble
of bombarded buildings,
and we get a rough estimate of 20,000
Palestinians civilians killed. By continuing the war in the same
fashion, Israel is sure to kill thousands more civilians. Those who
are dying of cold, hunger and disease are also being killed by
Israel's war -- any siege is an act of war.
Israel cannot justify killing thousands more civilians by military
goals.