The Gaza Tragedy

In the course of the predominantly one-sided reporting of the Gaza massacres (As far as I could see only BBC World, Al Jazeera and an independent Italian network, “Sky TG 24” have attempted to hear both sides of the issue), there is a question which is only rarely, and then rather timidly asked of the various, usually rather self-assured, if not arrogant, Israeli spokespersons, whose task it is to justify the massive, disproportionate raids in Gaza.
The question could be thus summarised: How many Israeli civilians have been killed or even slightly injured, in the past eighteen months because of the so-called “rain of Hamas Rockets” ? And how does that number compare to the Palestinian civilians killed or injured in the same period, even before the beginning of this new exercise in indiscriminate killing?
The answers are sometimes evasive, but usually stubbornly rooted in the “rain of rockets” mantra, and are followed by detailed explanations on how these strikes are “surgical” and are not aimed at the civilian population.
These strikes seem to be about as “surgical” as a sawn-off shotgun blast in the belly, and the disdain already shown by Israel in 2006 regarding the fate of non Jewish civilians does not seem to have abated.
As usual in Middle East affairs, there are innumerable sets of wheels within wheels, and it would be a mistake to attempt to give a clean bill of health to any one of the protagonists as, indeed, it would be a mistake do demonise Israel, Hamas, Iran or others attributing the entire responsibility of the bloodshed exclusively to them.
My feeling is that the Egyptians secretly relished the imminent Israeli action against Gaza, because they felt that they had been snubbed by Hamas in a recent attempt at organising Palestinian reconciliation talks in Egypt. Hamas seems to share this feeling because that’s the only possible explanation for their refusal to accept Egypt’s offer to help evacuate the wounded from the Strip.
The West Bank Authorities (Fatah) perhaps also did not mind the idea of a lesson being given to Hamas by the Israelis, and this would explain the initially tepid reaction by the Fatah presidency, who at first attributed the main responsibility to Hamas.
Both Egypt and Fatah, however, were probably jolted by the ferocity and the extent of the attack, as well as the growing resentment that built up in many Arab Countries as well as Iran, and so they have now joined their voices in condemning the Israeli attack,
It is difficult to see what the final outcome of this episode will be, but it will certainly result in an accumulation of hatred and resentment which will make any further attempts at pacification even more difficult for the incoming Obama administration in the United States.