Israel, Palestinians Agree to Gaza Cease Fire

[Boston Critic]

Israel, Palestinians agree to Gaza cease-fire
Hostilities to end Sunday morning, spokeswoman for Israel’s Olmert says

BREAKING NEWS

Updated: less than 1 minute ago
JERUSALEM - Israel and the Palestinians agreed to a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Saturday to end a five-month Israeli military offensive and the firing of rockets by Palestinian militants into the Jewish state, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Saturday.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed the cease-fire, saying it would take effect at 6 a.m. Sunday.

Abbas telephoned Olmert late Saturday to tell him he had arrived at an agreement with all Palestinian factions to stop firing rockets into Israel from the coastal strip, Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.

She said Abbas asked that Israel reciprocate by stopping all military operations in Gaza and withdrawing its forces, and Olmert agreed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15894040/

Great news. It's a good thing Israel hung tough for a FULL ceasefire rather than accept Hamas's initial bogus offer. Let's hope cooler minds will now prevail.

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. I will hope for the best

n/t

[Kagemusha]

4. Better than the angry rejection I noted of an earlier offer

Seems like you have to beat people over the head to get them to accept cease fires lately.

[Boston Critic]

5. You have that backwards

Israel correctly rejected the bogus ceasefire offer which wasn't a ceasefire at all -- it was a demand that Israel halt all defensive measures in return for which Hamas promised only to stop the Qassam missile attacks.

Israel instead said they were ready for a FULL ceasefire on both sides, and the Palestinians finally agreed.

[Kagemusha]

6. I can understand the "promised only to stop Qassam" part but

that stuff about halting defensive measures uh, that includes artillery attacks, right? Just mentioning because what you wrote does have that war-is-peace, peace-is-war effect that I have a problem with at times.

But back to my subject line - I'm glad that what's on the table is a full ceasefire but, I'm still surprised Israel accepted. After all, it doesn't have its captured man back yet.

[Boston Critic]

7. Attacks on sites where missiles came from

Or is Israel simply supposed to allow the attacks and not fight back at all?

Talk about Orwellian logic.

[Kagemusha]

8. How specific is "where missiles came from"?

Er, I'm assuming you're aware of the artillery barrage that killed 19 Palestinians in one extended family (around those numbers..). It wasn't the exact location the missiles came from. It was just close enough that what appeared to be sloppy firing (as opposed to deliberate targeting) wiped the concrete with their blood.

You might wanna try waiting for a damned answer before stuffing one in my mouth and then adding, "Talk about Orwellian logic."

[Boston Critic]

9. Case in point

When Israel screwed up and killed innocent civilians they immediately expressed regret for this tragic event and began investigating what went wrong so it would not recur.

This week we saw the Palestinian attitude towards killing Israelis when they sent the world's first grandmother/suicide bomber who, fortunately, only end up blowing herself up.

The contrast is striking. Israelis try to avoid killing civilians are engage in public criticism when it occurs. Palestinians TARGET civilians, and celebrate when they succeed.

[Kagemusha]

11. You're stretching what happened to make it into better PR.

I would have liked for reality to reflect what you are claiming just now about Israel's behalf but, that does not reflect my recollection of the 48 hours after the incident.

HAVING SAID THAT, Palestinians targeting civilians is wrong, wrong, wrong, and should be condemned as such.

[Boston Critic]

12. Then you need to get better news sources

Israel will risk the lives of their own troops to avoid civilian casualties. Accidents happen in war. Israel doesn't celebrate them, it tries to find out what went wrong.

Glad to hear you're against the Palestinian and Hezbollah *policy* of targeting civilians.

[Kagemusha]

13. Oh come off it. Firing artillery isn't risking your neck.

The fire in that incident was a day late and a safety margin short. The safety range wasn't checked because no one cared enough to ensure that the job was done right. Such things are called incidents, not accidents.

I don't need weasel words like "*policy*" to be convinced of something. It is a terrorist tactic. There's no need to dress it up in strange linguistic clothing. Just for the record...

[Boston Critic]

14. Why are you whitewashing Palestinian terror?

It is what they INTEND to do. Israel tries to avoid civilian casualties. Sometimes they screw up, and then there is investigation to see what went wrong. When Palestinians kill civilians they celebrate because that's what they WANTED to do.

Your attempt to make it seem like Israel is no better -- and perhaps even worse -- than the Palestinian terrorists fails on its face.

BTW, which side violated the ceasefire this morning and which side held their fire to try to maintain it? Are you still attempting to argue that this is all Israel's fault?

[Kagemusha]

15. You, sir, are dreaming.

What part of "terrorist tactic" do you not understand? It is a tactic by choice. Whitewash? Save it. Save it!

And in case it is not clear, I never said Israel intends to kill civilians by artillery fire on purpose. I said Israel didn't try very hard not to kill civilians in this case and, therefore, civilians were killed. That does not make Israel worse, but you seem to have a logical fallacy problem whereby anyone who in the slightest criticizes Israel must, therefore, have a pathological need to prove that all evil in the conflict is Israel's fault. No, Israel just has its fair share of fault, no more and no less. If that's too complicated a position for you to understand, that is not my problem.

Because you see, I never attempted to argue that this is all Israel's fault, so I am not *still* attempting to argue it. What a "when did you stop beating your wife" question. Please.

[Boston Critic]

16. And you are prevaricating

There was a screw up. Israel's record of striving to AVOID civilian casualties is beyond question.
The Israeli government is investigating what went wrong.

When you say "Israel didn't try very hard not to kill civilians in this case" you are either misinformed or deliberately lying. It really is that basic. The notion that, as a "tactic" or "policy" Israel treats civilian casualties lightly is just plain false.

[Boston Critic]

10. delete duplicate

[ECH1969]

2. Islamic Jihad wasn't likely a party to the cease fire

which means it won't go anywhere.

[Boston Critic]

3. On the other hand

Abbas is now claiming to have made an agreement with "all Palestinian factions" and they agreed to reinstate the previously brokered Cairo agreement ceasefire.

We'll see.