Who started this war? Even G-8 powers, some Arab states agree

By Ed Koch
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
It's long been said that when war comes, truth is the first casualty. War has come to Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. Let us remember the truth about how this war started.

In Gaza, Hamas terrorists dug a half-mile tunnel into Israel, killing two Israeli soldiers and taking one prisoner. The Israeli army responded by counter-attacking the Gaza Strip, which is now ruled by a Hamas government. Since its recent election to power, the Hamas government has not only refused to recognize the State of Israel, it has restated its goal of destroying Israel and replacing it with a single Islamic state running from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Hamas will not recognize any prior agreements made by Arafat with Israel. The Hamas regime has publicly endorsed the use of terror — the killing of Israeli civilians in Israel — to achieve its goals.
Israel is now engaged in destroying the ability of the Hamas government to achieve those goals. Israel is seeking to make it as difficult as possible to wage a war of terrorism against Israel, including the firing of missiles into Israel. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has entered the Gaza Strip from which it had totally withdrawn, having painfully removed every Israeli and destroyed every Israeli settlement in Gaza, leaving that area, which was occupied in biblical days by the Philistines and, their champion, Goliath.

The Western world in different degrees has responded with an understanding of the need for Israel’s response to Hamas’ acts. President Bush has from the beginning of the hostilities repeatedly said, “Israel has a right to defend herself. Every nation must defend herself against terrorist attacks and the killing of innocent life."

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