[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs] Beginning on Jan. 15 and over the next 24 hours, more than 100 rockets and mortars were fired by Palestinians from Gaza on the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon - indiscriminate fire raining down on Israeli civilians. A Hamas sniper murdered 20-year-old volunteer Carlos Chavez from Ecuador in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha using a special .50 caliber sniper rifle. More than two years ago, Israel removed all of its civilians, soldiers and settlements from Gaza and redeployed behind the recognized border in order to promote a peaceful solution - yet in return received Hamas-backed terror. Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June, approximately 1,500 rockets and mortars have been launched at Israel. Israel has suffered dozens of casualties, hundreds of shock victims, thousands of traumatized children, and severe disruption of daily life. No democracy would watch its civilian population being targeted on a daily basis without responding. Every country is obliged to protect its citizens and would act as Israel to defend them. A clear distinction must be made between Palestinian terror attacks against Israel and Israel's defensive response. Palestinian terrorists directly target Israeli civilians and use their own civilians as human shields. Israel does not view the people of Gaza as its enemy and is doing everything possible to prevent harm to innocent Palestinian civilians. Israel targets only the armed militants directly involved in the violence, rocket and mortar attacks against Israeli citizens. Israel accepts the idea of two nation states living side by side in peace. Unfortunately, the Islamic extremists in Gaza are the greatest obstacle to a two-state solution. The armed Palestinian militants targeted by Israel are not just enemies of the Israeli people, they are enemies of peace. The world does not need another terrorist state. There can be no peace when the Hamas leadership in Gaza is more interested in the obliteration of Israel than in the two-state solution.
2008-01-18 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive