MidEast peace hopes continue downward spiral
03/03/2008
The Middle East conflict was ratcheted up a gear over the weekend, with the Jewish state launching a large-scale Gaza incursion which left some 110 Palestinians dead, including 22 children.
Israel maintains that the majority of those killed were militants and it accuses Palestinian fighters of using human shields in a bid to raise civilian casualties and win popular support.
Palestinians, however, argue the incursion - which has now drawn to a close having also left two Israeli soldiers dead - is just the latest in a long line of disproportionate military operations.
The violence flared up late last week after Gaza-based militants stepped up rocket attacks on Israeli towns, launching 130 Qassam and Grad missiles across the border and killing one Israeli man.
Over the same two-day period, actions by Israeli troops left some 30 Palestinians dead - and deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai provoked an international outcry after invoking Nazi-era terminology in his threats to the Palestinians.
"The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," the minister said.
Government officials immediately moved to clarify the statement, insisting that the Hebrew word 'shoah' can mean 'catastrophe' in a generic sense - as well as specifically referring to the Nazi genocide - but the damage had already been done.
Mr Vilnai's comments evoked memories of the Jewish state's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who once famously declared: "We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population."
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas have been holding fortnightly peace talks since November, though most analysts say the prospect of a breakthrough remains slim.
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