Living from day to day

Yesterday I was sure that we were coming to the end of the hostilities, today is a whole new ball game. That's life in the Middle East.

This morning, just so that we didn't forget about their existence (as if we could), our friends on the northern border decided to fire a couple of rockets at Nahariya on the border with Lebanon. I have just watched the news. One fell on an old folks home, thankfully not causing any serious physical injuries, but it was horrible to see how shocked the elderly people were.

Later on, when Israel once again initiated a unilateral cease fire to allow humanitarian aid to get through, the Hamas did two things. Firstly, it told the Palestinian citizens not to go out of their homes or take food, as it was a Zionist trick; secondly, it proceeded to fire rockets at Israel.

Just now, I understand that the Hamas has rejected the Egyptian proposals and Israel tends to think that they are not suitable. In other words, having been offered a ladder to get down from the tree, neither side is taking advantage of it. Since our forces, as they stand, in Gaza have pretty much done as much as they can, if we don't reach an agreement, we will have to send our reserve soldiers in. The results could be absolutely disastrous.

One of the problems is that the value we place on human life is seen as a weakness by the Hamas. They are trying to take soldiers hostage as they know this is Israel's weakest point. I saw footage of booby-trapped dummies which, when they blow up reveal a tunnel into which 'hopefully' the Israeli soldier who detonated it will fall and if he is still alive can then be taken hostage. They apparently jump out of buildings and try to drag soldiers to tunnels. On the other hand, the clip that I posted which shows how they use children as human shields shows exactly how much value the other side places on human life. Have you noticed that every house in Israel either has its own shelter or is situated next to a public one? On the other hand, I haven't seen any shelters, public or otherwise, in Gaza. People, it appears, huddle in public buildings or just sit tight in their homes (many of which have a complete arsenal in the basement). One can only assume that this lack of shelters is linked to the fact that dead civilians make better propaganda tools. Israeli TV networks never show clear images of our fatalities on TV. The other side has no problem with that.

Enough for today. Who knows? Maybe by tomorrow we'll have found a solution...????