The Nexus

Once again, the Middle East is on the edge of erupting into all-out war.

By attacking Israel with rockets and killing two citizens, Hamas, the terrorist organization that has control over Palestine, prompted an overblown, ferocious backlash from Israeli military forces on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has prompted even more resentment in the Middle East than there had been before with its out-of-proportion response.

Despite Israel’s counter-attack, missiles continued to fire from Gaza, prompting Israel to bomb Palestine even more, and Israel eventually sent ground troops into Palestine.

By then, 345 Palestinians had been killed, according to the U.N., while only two Israelis lay dead.

By the time the cease-fire was declared, according to the U.N., more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed, over half of whom were citizens, while 13 Israelis, 3 of whom were citizens, were killed.

Of those 1,300 Palestinians, reportedly about a third of them are children.

This shocking number of child deaths really puts a spotlight on Israel’s irresponsible behavior in their attacks on Gaza.

To argue on Israel’s behalf, one would have to ignore the fact that Israel attacked Gaza in an inappropriate manner, ignoring its obligation to minimize civilian casualties.

Instead Israel attacked Palestine widely, bombing mosques and colleges, many of which were not hiding rockets, but networking sites aimed at gaining more members of Hamas.

Even if Israel believed that Hamas was housing its leaders in the mosques and colleges, Israel should have still held off since it is usually considered completely inappropriate to attack holy places and colleges in warfare, especially when fighting against a religiously-charged organization.

Israel also reportedly dropped white phosphorus bombs, which release noxious white phosphorus clouds. These clouds, when in contact with humans, cause extremely deadly burns and other health problems.

Because of the broad toxic reach of the white phosphorus bombs, it could hardly be claimed that Israel made a focused attack on Hamas.

So now the question is: what is the alternative to these widespread attacks for the Israelis, allowing them to protect their country without committing the atrocities they have in the recent past?

If and when the conflict returns, Israel needs to make sure it uses more tactical strikes.

It is necessary for Israel, and for the world, to realize that it will not be able to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas.

Even if some members are left alive, those members will undoubtedly recruit more to the cause.

Most importantly, Israel needs to be more open to peace talks than it has been in the past.

It needs to actually try to compromise with the Hamas, no matter how deplorable the organization may be.

We can’t expect peace for long, and when the war does come back, keep a closer eye on Israel’s actions. You can be sure that Israel is going to overreact once more.

And so the cycle continues. A new conflict will erupt.