'Hamas could have prevented massacre'

[Vegasaurus]

Hamas could have prevented the "massacre" in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday in Cairo.

"We spoke to them and told them 'Please, we ask you not to end the cease-fire. Let it continue,'" Abbas said during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "We want to protect the Gaza Strip. We don't want it to be destroyed."

Abbas called on Hamas to renew the cease-fire with Israel to avoid further bloodshed in Gaza.

Aboul Gheit also attacked Hamas, saying the group had prevented people wounded in the Israeli offensive from passing into Egypt to receive medical attention.

"We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to reach Egypt. They aren't being allowed to go through," he said.

Asked who was to blame for the dire situation in Gaza, the foreign minister replied: "Ask the party that controls Gaza."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456495581&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[ixion]

1. yeah, whatever, Israel...

:eyes:

[Vegasaurus]

4. It isn't Israel saying this

it is the president of the PA.

Reported on all AP, not just Israel news.

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnLS264262.html

[LeftishBrit]

8. This is Abbas speaking. Not Israel.

[anndash]

2. Yeah, sure....

"The Israel military is currently preparing a detailed plan of assault on the Gaza Strip, with Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi stating that Israel “must use its full force to damage the terror infrastructures and create a different security situation.”

The Israeli military and government see a small window of opportunity and are likely to use it. Christmas has passed, and therefore the end of the big tourist season; the US elections are over; President Bush is on his way out and President-Elect Obama has not yet taken over control; and while the Israeli election cycle is in full swing, an attack on Gaza seems about the only thing all major parties agree on. Even the Zionist-Left party Meretz publicly stated today that “The time has come to act without compromise and without narrow political considerations to protect the residents of Gaza-area communities and Sderot. <…> Strike Hamas in a targeted manner and work for a new cease-fire.”

Yet, while Israeli politicians and generals are largely of one mind in support of a large scale military operation in Gaza, the same is not true for the Israeli citizenry. Today, Haaretz published the results of a poll it commissioned, which reveal that “46 percent of Israelis said they do not support a massive Israel Defense Forces invasion into the Gaza Strip, with 40 percent saying they would favor such an operation.” Public opinion, however, has little effect on government policy or proclamations of wide popular support for its actions. For instance, polls in Israel have long shown majority support for dialogue with Hamas, but not only has the Israeli government rejected any dialogue, but it commonly argues that it would be antithetical to the desires of the Israeli people. ....."

http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/israel-planning-military-assault-on-gaza-strip-20081225.html

[Dennis Donovan]

3. You put a stranglehold on a people; you don't allow humanitarian aid thru...

...and you're surprised when they ignore/rescind a cease-fire?:shrug:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. The people or Hamas?

Remember that like some US Presidents, they did not get the majority of the votes.

[Dennis Donovan]

6. The people.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Hamas is making the decisions, and like many I do not believe that they

have the best interests of the Gazans at heart. Its not like there is an election planned or any resistance allowed to Hamas in Gaza at this point.

[GoesTo11]

9. Hamas doesn't have the best interests of Gazans at heart? That's an understatement.

They want to make the people of Gaza suffer so that they can gain glory and sympathy and Swiss bank payoffs. They get funded by Iran to do this and cause more trouble to Israel and discord in the Arab world too. I am absolutely baffled by the way that so many at DU love Hamas. Hamas is scum. Hamas' government made the decision to end the ceasefire send out 60 mortar rockets per day against Israel. Why did they do this? For fun? No. Because they expected Israelis to panic and evacuate the country so they could take it over? No. They wanted Israel to respond and they got it. They love using their own citizens as pawns. Again, why do so many at DU love Hamas?

[Vegasaurus]

10. It's disgusting that people on DU protect and defend terrorists

as well as rogue dictatorships and countries that are the worst human rights offenders in the world.

Hamas is a disgusting group of murderous terrorists, who put their citizens at risk every single day.

The best thing that Israel could do would be to break them up completely.

Perhaps then the Palestinian people could get a decent government that might actually have real humanitarian concerns for them.