The New Nation - Internet Edition

ISRAELI air strikes on the Gaza strip for the fifth consecutive day have so far left about 400 Palestinians killed and some 1700 injured. This is one of the bloodiest onslaughts by Israel. Israel unleashed this attack on Saturday with some 60 warplanes hitting more than 50 targets in just a few minutes. The Israeli attack is said to be in response to what it termed persistent rocket fire by Hamas militants. This mass killing is being perpetrated for the protection of Israeli citizens. The international community including the UN Security Council has called for an immediate halt to all violence. Egypt is trying to negotiate a new ceasefire. But an immediate halt of Israeli aggression seems unlikely as Israel has vowed to 'expand and deepen' its operations and deployed land forces along the border blocking the movement of people and supply of essentials and medicines causing immense suffering to the impoverished people of Gaza.

The current Israeli aggression against the Palestinians is not a war against a parallel army. It is actually brutal killing of virtually the unarmed people of Palestine. This is a continuation of the six-decade long atrocity. The Palestinian people have been struggling for decades to establish their legitimate rights to have a sovereign state of their own. They enjoy the unequivocal support of the world people. Killing of innocent people will only add to their determination and anger.

The world community must come forward to stop the Israeli atrocities immediately. They should exert pressure on Israel to stop murder of civilians and instead address the root cause of the anger of Palestinians. Without solving the Palestine problem it will be difficult to stop terrorism elsewhere.