Dion Nissenbaum, "Israelis continue to back strong military response," McClatchy Newspapers, July 28, 2006.

"I am prepared to hail down hellfire on the Hezbollah terrorists, their aides, their collaborators, all those who turn a blind eye to them, and everyone who so much as smells of Hezbollah - and their innocent bystanders can die instead of ours," Rafi Ginat, the editor of Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest newspaper, wrote in Friday's edition. "We are in the middle of a war, and we have to win this war by trampling on Hezbollah underfoot and everything it represents. We have to strike hard - and we can allow ourselves to feel good about it."

[...]

Rafael Ezra's artillery is pounding unseen targets miles away with blast after deafening blast. But the 21-year-old Israeli soldier isn't too concerned about whether the shells are killing Hezbollah fighters or innocent civilians.

"Most of the people killed in Lebanon lived in Hezbollah neighborhoods," Ezra said while getting his hair shaved and listening to Arabic music as shells soared over a nearby hillside. "So I think they need to choose better where they live. People should know better."

[...]

Earlier this week, an Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations base, killing four unarmed peacekeepers. Eight Canadian citizens were killed last week as they tried to escape the attacks. Dozens of Lebanese citizens have been killed when Israeli planes hit convoys of civilians heeding Israeli warnings for them to leave their homes.

Israeli officials generally say they're sorry after such attacks. But their statements usually come with a "but."

"We will avoid harming innocent civilians, but we will look for Hezbollah members everywhere," said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who recently complained that the world was getting a "distorted picture in which the victim is portrayed as the aggressor.Recommend this Post

Sphere: Related Content