Oh Bbruce, come on! "Selective bombings"?? Yes, selected schools, selected hospitals, selected apartment blocks. A bit like throwing a grenade into one CORNER (hence the 'selection') of a crowded room.

Civilians in the same location as valid military targets? Gaza is so tiny and cramped and overcrowded that I don't think Hamas (or any of the other militant organisations) have any choice but to operate alongside the civilian population.

And if that is a good criteria, not only are most of Israel's adult population also military or ex-military, they also live alongside numerous military bases all over Israel. That makes them legit targets also, right?

"Why is it that when Hamas shells Israelis civilians, there was not outrage or even comment, yet when Israel shells Hamas morters placed BY HAMAS amoung civilians there are cries of protest?"

Well, here's one - let it go on record that I protest the deaths caused by these rockets.

But there's also an issue of proportionality here. What if the boot was on the other foot and Palestinians were fiercely attacking Israel with helicopter gunships, bombs, tanks missiles etc., and causing thousands of civilian casualties, do you seriously think I'd be saying "oh well, they deserve it"? Do you seriously think I wouldn't be protesting against the barbaric killing of Israeli citizens?

The Palestinian rockets have murdered a handful of people - and once again, I abhor that. If one of them landed on my wife or family, I can't even begin to imagine how it would tear my life apart.
But is it justified to kill indiscriminately in response? Over the last few decades Israel has been teaching its neighbours how it expects to be treated in turn should things ever swing the other way.

But there's more to all this than just 'who started it' or numbers killed, or a war carried on by hardliners in each camp. There are root-cause issues of justice, national and social. There's the issue of illegal settlements (West Bank) and no right of return for palestinians who left or were expelled way back in the mists of time' (1940s) - or of Jews who were subjects of pogroms in the same area, for that matter - the blockade of Gaza making it, yes, into an open-air prison (i.e a place where you can't enter or leave at will, as we are all entitled to do in our own countries, issues of criminality aside), etc., etc., Unless these are tackled the bodies will continue to pile up.

It seems those taking the same line as the Israeli government and military believe that one dead Israeli is worth 100 dead palestinians, and that military force will solve all of these issues, not justice or fairness or dialogue. How much longer will these war-hawks be allowed to go on wrecking the world before people get sufficiently sick of them to do something about it?