We are now at the end of day 12 of the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Remember that the June 1967 war lasted only six days. In that war, Israel was able to defeat Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and a few other Arab states that contributed some troops to the war against Israel. Israel's quick victory demonstrated to the world, and to the United States in particular, that they were mightier than they were in 1948. The victory not only crushed Arab Nationalism and unity, smashed Nasser's political relevance, and gained them huge territorial gains, but it also earned them the support of the U.S., who wished to use Israel as a bulwark against any possible Soviet Union incursion into the middle-east. Israel took the Sinai peninsula, the Golan Heights, and they also took control over the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. This war and the ongoing occupation has continued to influence the conflict in the region.



In the last few days, the violence in Gaza has escalated. An Israeli attack on a school in Gaza where the UN was sheltering about 350 civilians has resulted in the deaths of 40 people, injuring dozens more. This has been the third attack on schools in Gaza in the last twelve days. Most of those killed were civilians, according to paramedics, though Israel maintains that Hamas militants were using the school to fire rockets into Israel. Israel Defense Forces spokesman Brig. General Avi Benayahu said, "We face a very delicate situation where the Hamas is using the citizens of Gaza as a protective vest." The UN will begin investigations into the school bombing. John Ging, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said that the UN schools were all "clearly marked" with UN flags and that Israel had been given the global positioning coordinates of all school locations. Ging went on to say that, "We're demanding full accountability in accordance with international law and the duty of care that the parties to the conflict are obliged to adhere to." He also denied Israeli assertions that Hamas militants were using the school, saying, "So far we've not had violations by militants of our facilities." He insisted that the UN had vetted all civilians requesting shelter.
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Yesterday, Israel launched air-strikes against the Hamas governed Gaza Strip. F16's and Apache helicopters rained missiles down upon 150 targets yesterday and today, killing at least 280 people and wounding about 600 people (though some estimates are as high as 700). Israel's Defense Minister (and former PM) Ehud Barak said that the operation ('Operation Cast Lead') in Gaza were going to continue and expand: "This will not be a short operation. The war on terrorism is an ongoing one, and we will have to stand firm in order to change the situation in the south." The breakdown of the 6 month Egyptian-brokered truce ended December 19th, which Hamas failed to renew because of Israel's failure to uphold the terms of the truce. A tit-for-tat, eye-for-an-eye, escalation ensued, resulting in the violence over the past few days. Whereas there have been massive Palestinian casualties, only one Israeli has been killed and 4 have been wounded from the 110 rockets that Hamas militants fired into Israel.


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