What would you do if you lived under the constant threat of rocket attack? Since Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, the people of southern Israel have been held hostage by Hamas. The truth is that there never really was a ceasefire to begin with. Since Israel left Gaza, Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist group by both the U.S. and the EU, has fired more than 6,000 rockets into civilian areas of Israel.
Critics love to point the finger at Israel for "collectively punishing" the Palestinians. However, isn't firing rockets at Israeli civilians a form of indiscriminate, collective punishment?Unfortunately, Hamas has also decided to punish its own people by drawing the Israel Defense Forces into civilian areas. Hamas uses houses, schools and hospitals as launching pads for rockets. Most disturbingly, Hamas uses human shields - a blatant violation of international law. Israel is doing the world's work by fighting a radical group that has become a cancer in the Middle East.
As long as Hamas holds innocent people hostage and continues to put its own population under fire, there can be no hope for peace in the region. Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbors.
That's why Israel made painful concessions to make peace with Egypt and Jordan.The problem is that Hamas doesn't want peace with Israel. It wants an end to peaceful nations altogether.
