March 23, 2009

Another war on Gaza?

According to the Guardian, Matan Vilnai, the Israeli deputy defence minister who suggested a "shoah" (holocaust) against Gaza early last year, is calling for another attack on Gaza and the seizure of land from which rockets have been fired. Here's Rory McCarthy:
Israel's deputy defence minister has called for a new invasion of Gaza and the capture of land close to the border, despite growing domestic and international concern about the conduct of the previous war.

"We need to conquer the areas from which mortar shells are being fired," Matan Vilnai told an Israeli conference on the Gaza war last night. "The mortar shell is the main threat," he said. Most were launched from within four miles (6km) of the border. "We just need to be there," he said.

His comments reflected a wider Israeli frustration with the results of the devastating three-week war. Israeli forces destroyed thousands of homes and buildings and killed more than 1,400 Palestinians but failed to achieve their main goal: to halt the rockets and mortars which are still being fired into southern Israel.

Meanwhile Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, has complained that Israel did in Gaza precisely what nazis were executed at Nuremberg for when they did the same thing:
An advance copy of his report is highly critical of the war, saying Israel's "recourse to force was not legally justified given the circumstances and diplomatic alternatives available, and was potentially, a crime against peace". He calls for an expert inquiry into war crimes allegations against Israel.
Some hope if Obama has a veto.

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