Israel and Hamas on Brink of War

Hamas and Israel are on the brink of war - again. Hamas sent 45 mortar shells into Israel on Thursday, one of which targeted a school bus and critically injured a 16 year old boy. Israel retaliated with strikes on the Gaza Strip and 10 Palestinians are now dead. Hamas declared a ceasefire on Thursday night but at least six mortar shells were fired from Gaza yesterday. The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, condemned the bus attack but urged Israel to act with ''maximum restraint''.

So why did Hamas do this? Hamas' Qassam Brigades military wing said it attacked the bus ''as a first response to the crimes of the occupation and the assassination of three senior members of the organisation in Gaza on April 2''. But the death of one of their most senior operatives, Abdul-Latif Ashkar was a crucial factor - he took the place of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh - you will remember him as the man killed in a hotel room in Dubai, supposedly by Mossad and the assassins were caught on hotel security footage and shown around the world.

Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in Europe, said there were now thousands of rockets aimed at Israel and vowed to deploy all force necessary to prevent harm to Israeli civilians.

John Howard once said "The personal affection I have for the state of Israel, the personal regard I have for the Jewish people of the world will never be diminished. It is something I value as part of my being and as part of what I have tried to do with my life."

Of course Israel have made mistakes but have a good look at Hamas. They are dedicated to the destruction of Israel and deny that the holocaust ever happened. I think we need to take sides in this conflict and if Australia is looking for a powerful, trustworthy ally, we could look no further than Israel.