Israel has not only the right but the obligation to protect its civilians from remorseless rocket attacks. Hamas, which took power in Gaza seven years ago, has been the instrument of that terror. The deaths of Palestinians, many of them children, are the direct and predictable outcome of Hamas's tactics and its use of civilians as, in effect, human shields. Instead of providing good governance and economic development, anticipating statehood, Hamas practises theocratic thuggery. Palestinians are paying an unconscionable price.

The Sunday Times