As Israel's politicians and media debate whether or not to launch a ground invasion, one leading pundit – Erel Segal of Maariv – asks a simple question: why does Israel continue to supply Gaza with electricity and water?
"As it faces the Hamas and Jihad low-lives who hide among children's diapers and women's veils," writes Segal, "Israel not only fails to strike vital infrastructure, but even supplies the electricity that serves for producing the weapons that are used against it."
Segal says that it is clear that Iran, which is suffering from international sanctions that Israel has orchestrated, is behind the recent escalation in Gaza. He notes, however, that the U.S. is not without blame either, as its bases protect Qatar, which is Hamas's chief financer.
"Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who lack moral compunctions, fired into population centers out of population centers, and presented a dangerous equation vis-à-vis emasculated Israel, whose hands are tied. Anyone who thinks he can play an elegant game of chess when he faces bloodthirsty savages is wrong," he added, in an allusion to Israel's chess-playing prime minister.