Israel defiant as Gaza toll rises

It really does say something when an American President as fiercely pro-Israeli as George Bush condemns that country's actions, but even his administration has been forced to speak out as Israel's indiscriminate response to Palestinian rocket attacks continues.

With Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, due in Jerusalem tomorrow, a White House spokesman said: "The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume."

And, of course, if the White House are calling for the violence to end, it stands to reason that the rest of the world must be outraged.

Britain reacted by calling on Palestinians and Israelis to "step back from the brink". David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said: "Israel's right to security and self-defence is clear and must be reiterated and supported. But measures taken in response to rockets must be in accordance with international law, minimising the suffering for innocent civilians and maximising the scope for political negotiations to be restarted."

Miliband is reiterating the criticisms made during the Lebanon war that Israel is not taking sufficient care not to harm civilians.

Arab states were united in outrage. Pro-western Jordan, which, like Egypt, has a peace treaty with Israel, called the Gaza operations a "flagrant violation" of international law. Saudi Arabia, which brokered last year's revived Arab initiative backing peace with Israel, condemned what it called "mass killings".

In Rome, Pope Benedict told pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square: "Only by showing absolute respect for human life, even if it is that of the enemy, can one hope to give a future of peace and coexistence to both of those peoples who have their roots in the Holy Land."

Olmert has rejected the criticism and has vowed to carry on with the offensive, which has claimed 100 Palestinian lives in the last ten days. Why should anyone be remotely surprised that a war criminal like Olmert, a man who launched an illegal war against the people of Lebanon after two of his soldiers were kidnapped, a man who dropped thousands of cluster bombs on to Lebanon when everyone knew the war was coming to an end, why should we be surprised that he will, once again, shun international opinion and continue on a course of action which his own populace do not support?

This is a man who has remained in office with a popularity rating of 3%. What does he care about what people think of him?

The only answer to all of this madness is for Israel to begin negotiations with Hamas, something which Olmert has been refusing to do. One of the reasons for the world's almost unanimous condemnation of Israel's actions is the sheer pointlessness of the course Olmert has embarked on. He is literally killing people for no reason. Nothing will be achieved by this.

The rocket attacks will not stop because of what Olmert is doing. The only way for them to stop is for Israel to engage in a ceasefire. The people of Gaza are already suffering from the Israeli blockade, from the insane proposition that Israel can seek peace with half of Palestine whilst it conducts war against the other half.

It is no wonder that the world is united against this madness. Even Abbas, Olmert and Bush's supposed "moderate that they can do business with", has announced that he is suspending talks with Israel in protest at her actions.

Olmert has clearly learned nothing from his failed war in Lebanon when his disproportionate use of force killed many civilians and harmed Israel's reputation throughout the world.

Condi Rice flies in on Tuesday for a scheduled meeting on the peace talks. Ha'aretz are reporting that Olmert is planning to tell her that he will not be stopped:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will stress to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at their scheduled meeting in Jerusalem Tuesday evening that Israel reserves the right to act freely in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups. Olmert will also tell Rice that Israel is interested in continuing negotiations with moderate elements in the Palestinian Authority. In Olmert's view, Israeli military activity in Gaza in the past few days has got the message across that Hamas needs to rethink its strategy.

He thinks it's working... The man is not fit for his job.

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Tags: Olmert, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, rocket attacks