Israel killed hostages

Three hostages escaped from HAMAS, only to be killed by Israeli soldiers who repeatedly refused to believe their various efforts to communicate that they were escaped hostages.

It is clear that the Israeli army is so suspicious of traps that it has, in effect, decided to kill anyone who appears in the wrong place and ask questions later.

Many Israelis are very angry at the government over this, and some protesters are calling for negotiation with HAMAS.

This could provide an opportunity to push Netanyahu out of power so that he can be convicted of corruption and imprisoned.

Then there will be the problem of what to do about right-wing terrorists who systematically harass and attack Palestinians in their homes, as the state thugs do nothing to protect the latter.

Israel owes Palestine the land and buildings that these "settlers" live on and in. Returning those to Palestine will deprive the "settlers" of the platform with which they use violence to boost racism.

The bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed around 19,000 Palestinians whose death has been counted. Subtract a few thousand who were HAMAS fighters, and add a few thousand specific individuals (surely mostly civilians) known to have been trapped under the rubble of bombarded buildings, and we get a rough estimate of 20,000 Palestinians civilians killed. By continuing the war in the same fashion, Israel is sure to kill thousands more civilians. Those who are dying of cold, hunger and disease are also being killed by Israel's war -- any siege is an act of war.

Israel cannot justify killing thousands more civilians by military goals.