Word: optional
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...more fighting rather than the peace that Israelis, and many Palestinians, long for. While Israel’s choice of attacking Hamas may not have been the best “strategic” decision in the long run, Hamas’s actions have not given Israel the option of a peaceful solution. The staff suggests Israel needs a “radically different strategy” for ending Hamas’ reign of terror, but neither it nor the international community at large has offered any real alternatives to military action against this terrorist group...
...Hamas’ rocket fire as unprovoked acts of terrorism, they fail to acknowledge the tortuous blockade as an underlying—though by no means invisible—cause of Hamas’ attacks. Moreover, American foreign policy has eliminated any possibilities for diplomacy, leaving Hamas with little option, given a starving population locked within the prison-like Strip. The accepted double standards that enable Israel supporters to support such a catastrophic response to one death under the pretense of “self-defense,” yet censure Hamas for using violence to call international attention...
...only if it includes the opening of the border crossings whose closure has kept Gaza in an economic chokehold. That's something neither the Israelis, nor Hamas' Arab and Palestinian enemies, have been keen to allow. The pounding being suffered by Gaza may force the issue, however. One option diplomats may seek would be to have the crossings be controlled by a neutral force. So, the closing days - however long they extend - of the Israeli campaign are principally about shaping the terms of a truce...
...Israel is prepared to ratchet up the pressure still further in the hopes that it will force a workable cease-fire. Saturday's attack was authorized two days in advance, and though no Israeli ground troops have crossed into Gaza thus far, that remains an option, according to Israeli officials. Dozens of Israeli air force planes remain in the skies above Gaza. "If they retaliate, they will feel it stronger, and the number [of casualties] on the Gaza side will rise," a senior Israeli military source told TIME...
...killers, baby killers are poster children for the death penalty," Hirschorn says, "and without the option of LWOP you could guarantee the death penalty." In the Houston cop killing case, the lawyers for defendant Juan Quintero initially attempted an insanity defense, citing a traumatic brain injury. Though the jurors rejected it and found Quintero guilty, Mark Bennett, a Houston defense lawyer argued on his blog "Defendingpeople.com" that the head injury testimony lingered in the minds of some jurors, who may have regarded it as a mitigating factor in deciding on a life sentence rather than execution...