A war with no winners

With more than 60 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza - nobody places higher value on the lives of its citizens than Israel - it is significant that a majority of the Israeli public wants the war in Gaza to continue. The prospect of rockets continuing to fall and armed terrorists appearing from hidden tunnels to kidnap women and children is apparently not an acceptable alternative.

With its pictures of broken, bleeding children, Hamas is beginning to win the propaganda war. There is no question that Hamas is using women and children as human shields. "Palestinian blood that is spilled is precious," said one Palestinian official, "but the goals for which this blood is spilled are even more precious."

It has now been proven that a number of tragedies - like that in a school playground in Shati refugee camp, where a number of children died - were caused by Hamas rockets fired at Israel which went adrift. Hamas rushed in, cleared the debris, and blamed Israel, leaving Israeli spokesmen to be shouted down by Western newscasters.

Hamas rockets have now been found hidden in three UN schools, as well as houses and mosques. Pictures of Israel shelling schools and mosques do not endear Israel to the public. Few people realise that the walls of fire rising from them come not from Israeli missiles, but from exploding rockets in the buildings.

This is a war in which there will be no winners. Israel may quieten Hamas for a while, but they will have worse to contend with in the future.