Operation Protective Edge / Israel was justified in its actions

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Position: Israel was justified in its actions

This position addresses the topic Operation Protective Edge.


For this position


Quotes-start.png Of course there is an asymmetry between Hamas and Israel. There will always be a technological gap between a ramshackle terror force with medieval religious views and a dynamic, liberal society. On 9/11, al Qaeda had box cutters. We had B-52s. Did that make us the unsympathetic Goliath to al Qaeda’s David? Quotes-end.png
From Hamas’ useful idiots, by Rich Lowry (New York Post, July 24, 2014) (view)
Quotes-start.png Life in Gaza is miserable now, but if Israel is permitted to prevail, circumstances can improve markedly. U.S.- and Canadian-trained security forces of the Palestinian Authority can take over key crossings and patrol Gaza’s porous border with Egypt. Rather than be funneled into Hamas’s war chest, international aid can be transferred directly to the civilian population to repair war damage and stimulate economic growth. Terrorist groups and their state patrons can be put on notice: The game has changed unalterably. Quotes-end.png
From Israel must be permitted to crush Hamas, by Michael Oren (The Washington Post, July 24, 2014) (view)
Quotes-start.png The depravity of Hamas’s strategy seems lost on much of the outside world, which — following the terrorists’ script — blames Israel for the civilian casualties it inflicts while attempting to destroy the tunnels. While children die in strikes against the military infrastructure that Hamas’s leaders deliberately placed in and among homes, those leaders remain safe in their own tunnels. There they continue to reject cease-fire proposals, instead outlining a long list of unacceptable demands. Quotes-end.png
From The U.S. should push for the disarming of Hamas in Gaza-Israel cease-fire, by The Washington Post editorial board (The Washington Post, July 23, 2014) (view)
Quotes-start.png Where are the roads and rail, the industry and infrastructure of the new Palestinian state? Nowhere. Instead, they built mile upon mile of underground tunnels to hide their weapons and, when the going gets tough, their military commanders. They spent millions importing and producing rockets, launchers, mortars, small arms, even drones. They deliberately placed them in schools, hospitals, mosques, and private homes to better expose their own civilians. And from which they fire rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Quotes-end.png
From The Truth about Gaza, by Charles Krauthammer (National Review, July 17, 2014) (view)
Quotes-start.png It was a ground war Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t want but fought with skill and care to try to avoid civilian casualties. The civilian deaths and injuries that did occur were the sole responsibility of Hamas’ total disregard for the safety of the people it ruled. Indian and French television outlets have broadcast video of Hamas terrorists setting up rocket launchers in a civilian neighborhood. Israeli troops told the Jerusalem Post of rocket launch tripods found in school playgrounds and anti-tank weapons in children’s bedrooms, of homes wrecked by Hamas booby traps and of strikes canceled to protect civilian lives. Quotes-end.png
From Hamas’ absurd claims of victory, by Steve Huntley (Chicago Sun-Times, August 6, 2014) (view)
Quotes-start.png Hamas’ long-term strategy for attacking Israel was to set the terrorist clock back by staging debilitating attacks on homes and kibbutzes via its extensive network of secret tunnels. One such plot, to take place on the Jewish New Year at the end of September, would’ve been a bold assault on multiple locations killing and/or kidnapping hundreds of civilians. The plot was uncovered and is now dead. Quotes-end.png
From Israel won, now it must stay strong, by John Podhoretz (New York Post, August 5, 2014) (view)
Quotes-start.png The shocking ability for anyone and everyone to witness much of the merciless carnage as it happens has also made crystal clear its logic. No matter what Israel or its defenders say, this is not about self defence, or tunnels, or rockets, or Hamas. It is, rather, a brutal colonial war waged on an imprisoned, blockaded, and besieged people who do not care to live on their knees. Quotes-end.png
From Out of the carnage of Gaza a new spirit: we are all Palestinians, by Karma Nabulsi (The Guardian, August 11, 2014) (view)

Against this position


Quotes-start.png The fate of Israel will be decided in people’s minds, in countries like ours, and on TV screens, not by bullets and high explosive. Each episode of this kind makes that future more doubtful. It is an illusion that a violent toughness is the only answer to threats. The really strong and brave man knows when to hold back. Just as it would have been more sensible to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza when they captured them in 1967, it would have been far, far better to let the Hamas rockets fall, to shelter from them and to let the world see how much better Israel is than its aggressive despotic neighbours. Quotes-end.png
From Israel’s bloody assault on Gaza is a dream come true for Hamas, by Peter Hitchens (Daily Mail, July 26, 2014) (view)
Quotes-start.png Hamas is now blamed for refusing to accept a ceasefire plan cooked up by Netanyahu and his ally, the Egyptian President Sisi, who overthrew Hamas’s sister organisation the Muslim Brotherhood last year and has since tightened the eight-year siege of Gaza. But having already suffered so much, many Gazans believe no further truce should be agreed without the lifting of the illegal blockade which has reduced the strip to hunger and beggary and effectively imprisoned its population. Quotes-end.png
From Gaza: this shameful injustice will only end if the cost of it rises, by Seumas Milne (The Guardian, July 16, 2014) (view)

Mixed on this position


Quotes-start.png In fact, we’ve seen this movie before: Israel responded to aggression by invading Lebanon in 1982 and 2006, and Gaza in 2008; each time, hawks cheered. Yet each invasion in retrospect accomplished at best temporary military gains while killing large numbers of innocents; they didn’t solve any problems. Quotes-end.png
From Who's Right and Wrong in the Middle East?, by Nicholas D. Kristof (The New York Times, July 19, 2014) (view)