Would those who claim that Hamas will not negotiate care to substantiate that assertion, please.

"They don't do much to help themselves" and "neither side is blameless" and "Hamas chooses to be at war with Israel"...yeah, we get lots of this kind of talk, don't we. Well here's the reality. Israel has absolutely no intention, ever, of negotiating a solution to the Palestine issue. If you build an apartheid wall and continue to steal the best bits of Palestinian land for your settlements, your hand is clearly shown. The settlements are now so widespread that the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state has vanished. Hands up all those who think Israel will ever hand back a single settlement. Pigs might fly too. But, without giving back the land, there can be no meaningful negotiations.So it isn't going to happen. What's more, there is absolutely no political need for Israel to get round the table. Whatever outrages they choose to commit against any of their neighbours, including the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, they know they will always have the unqualified support of the US in terms of bankrolling their huge army. They know that, should anyone attack Israel, whether it be Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran, the west will rally with mighty support. They can do no wrong. They can do whatever they like and the yanks will keep the aid flowing. And the reason for that is that any politician in the US who speaks up against Israel in any way is toast. We have those powerful and totally undemocratic lobby groups such as AIPAC to thank for that. And the yanks with their dissing and their vetos make damn sure that the UN has no teeth either. And there's precious little pressure from any EU country to stay Israel's hand. But things are changing in the middle east. Egypt and Turkey are no longer Israel's friends and even Jordan is coming under pressure. If we don't intervene very soon (by threatening to withdraw Israel's military aid for starters) there is the real risk of a massive regional conflict. Mr Erdogan is the man to watch closely. I think he has ambitions to turn Turkey into a regional superpower, and Israel is somewhat in his way.