Hamas has every bit as much of a right to prepare for war as the IDF. Do you seriously expect them to roll over and give away their only bargaining chip? One can say with complete accuracy EXACTLY the same thing about Israeli procurement of artillery munitions, small-arms ammunition, and bulldozers, etc. If Israelis thought that the cease-fire was violated by Hamas preparing to defend Gaza, they are staggeringly self-righteous and arrogant fools. I have not seen any credible evidence that Hamas violated the cease-fire first, and I am unconvinced that they made no good-faith efforts to prevent other groups from doing so. The Israeli government has a long history of brazen lying. They may be telling the truth this time, but I won't believe it until I see credible evidence, or substantiated reports of such evidence from neutral observers.

Tragically, violence is the tool that ejected Israeli colonists from Gaza, not negotiations, because the ruling parties of the Israeli state were unwilling to let its representatives sit down at the table, any table, with the good-faith intention of working towards a stable and just peace. The threat of violence is the only tool Hamas has to force Israelis to take Palestinians concerns seriously. One of the reasons that the PA has so little credibility is because there is a crystal clear temporal correlation between extended sham 'peace' negotiations and increases in Israeli ethnic cleansing and colonization. The whole point of REAL negotiations is to come to an agreement to NOT use military forces.

It appears now that 'the horse has left the barn'. Israelis and American Zionists are too worked to exercise either good sense in the quest for peace or compassion for the innocent, and after the recent slaughter, I doubt many Palestinians are either. The extremists have their war, their victory. Now the innocent will die in increasing numbers, and not just in Israel and and the OPT, and when the war ends, as it must eventually, the mountain of reeking corpes will not belong just to the extremists, but to those who have called themselves moderates, and have not opposed the rising crescendo of doom.

A pox on both your houses

It appears now that 'the horse has left the barn'. Israelis and American Zionists are too worked-up to exercise either good sense in the quest for peace or compassion for the innocent, and after the recent slaughter, I doubt many Palestinians are either. The extremists have their war, their victory. Now the innocent will die in increasing numbers, and not just in Israel and and the OPT, and when the war ends, as it must eventually, the mountain of reeking corpses will not belong just to the extremists, but to those who have called themselves moderates, and have not opposed the rising crescendo of doom.

We've heard it a million times. We in the west get to ignore the mutual suffering and mutual aggression.

We get to play games like "noone proved it me".

Hamas HAS other alternatives, but they do not fit political militancy. And militancy is their stock in trade. Without militancy, they are Fatah or only a Muslim charity.

You enable them and the worst cycle of sentiment, by saying that their only option was violence.

The difference between an extremist and a moderate is that an extremist is numbed by their anger and ideology and do not care who is harmed. A moderate cares ALL OF THE TIME, and to EVERY PARTY.

I am personally publish in multiple locations on the web, and my comments elsewhere include criticism of Israeli actions.

HERE, I note the renunciation of the term "cycle of violence".

BOTH Israel and Hamas are engaged in internal political campaigns, and in both cases the violence that they undertake on civilians IS a political advertisement.

Let's test your claim to moderation by seeing if you have any concern for the Palestinians at all….

"We will participate fully with the Palestinian Authority, and fully adhere to laws and agreements that prior administrations of the Palestinian Authority has implemented."

"We will use all international and bi-lateral methods to assert a mutually healthy peace with our neighbor Israel."

"We recognize that we have participated in a cycle of violence, that has been and is avoidable, IF we apply diplomatic means to accomplish our social objectives."

"We respect Judaism and regard it as a valid religious path in the world, and will defend Jews rights to practise as Jews in the areas of our jurisdiction, and in our relations with other Arab communities."

"We will continue to assert for the rights of Palestinians for equal due process under the law, for all current and historical legal claims."