The 'open mind' of Hamas leaders

Fox News:

As Israel warned of an escalation of its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the leader of the militant Palestinian group vowed Saturday that Israel had squandered any chance of settlement and negotiation.

Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal gave a fiery speech on the Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera condemning Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip, describing it as a "holocaust."

"You have finished off the last chance and breath for settlement and negotiations," he said, calling on Arabs to continue their protests to pressure their leaders and the international community. "We are living the hardest moments of the resistance now, we want another intifada in Palestine and on the Arab street."

Meanwhile, Israel pounded rocket sites and tunnels Saturday while its planes dropped leaflets warning of an escalation, and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas predicted a "waterfall of blood" unless all parties adhere to the U.N.'s call for a durable cease-fire.

Hamas fighters kept up attacks on southern Israel, launching 15 rockets. And with neither side ready to step down, the death toll in two weeks of fighting rose to more than 800 Palestinians, according to Palestinian medical officials, and 13 Israelis.

Flames and smoke rose over Gaza City amid heavy fighting.

Mashaal's comments come as a Hamas delegation is in Egypt, together with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to discuss an Egyptian cease-fire proposal and possible international monitoring force to enforce an agreement.

Mashaal said that any international monitoring force would be treated as "occupation" force and Hamas said that before any negotiations could take place, Israel had to halt attacks, pull out of the Gaza Strip and lift the siege of Gaza.

He did say, however, that the group would deal with any peace proposals with an "open mind."

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You have to wonder if it ever crosses the mind of Mashaal why Israel would ever except his terms for a ceasefire. What would Israel gain from such a deal. The fact is that Mashaal has noting of value to offer Israel. If Israel did all he said, he would still be at war with Israel and still be pushing his objective of destroying Israel.

On the ground in Gaza, Hamas continues to lose its key leaders and its only successes have been in a bogus victim offensive where it has falsely accused the Israelis of war crimes. Anyone who knows anything about war crimes would know that Hamas's strategy is a war crime on both offense and defense. Its offense consist of firing rockets toward Israeli noncombatants. Its defense consist of firing on the Israelis next to human shields in hopes of creating victims when Israel returns fire. Both are clearly war crimes.

As for Mashaal's "holocaust" charge, it is pathetic and insulting. If Israel was trying to kill Palestinian civilians their death toll would be in the hundreds of thousands instead of the hundreds. Hamas itself is primarily responsible for the civilian deaths. Mashaal's use of the word holocaust is fraudulent.

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