Read This One More Time...

...and see if you don't agree that the United Nations has reason to believe that its relief and welfare operations in Gaza are the target of the Israeli offensive. Accordingly, UN spokespersons have been authorized to describe in detail the mass deaths of civilians that have occurred in the past 48 hours.

Ban Ki-Moon is calling for an investigation into the deaths of 40 Palestinians at a UN-run school that was shelled by the IDF. One of its drivers was killed at Kerem Shalom Thursday; two trucks were bombed Monday. The Red Cross was fired on at Netzarim Thursday during the second 3-out-of-48-hour ceasefire, and has halted relief operations.

20-odd dead aid workers per 200 dead Hamas fighters is a ratio indicative of targeting. The UN and Red Cross are targets, and are fighting back in the press. Whether that works, whether a media blitz has any sway at all over Ehud Barak, who's having the time of his life, is another question entirely.
I'm pretty sure we're past the point where language wars, negotiations, etc. have any relevance. The talking cure is dead. And if it's grim enough to convince the Vatican to use the phrase "concentration camp," yeah, no one's getting talked down from this war.

As soon as the first aid convoy was struck, that's when Israel's intentions were made plain. NGOs are the last barrier to Israeli supremacy in Gaza; they are the last people watching, as journalists are still verboten; absent Hamas, they are the only people who teach children, deliver water and take out the trash. When they disappear, Gaza disappears.

So look for more UN spokespersons to tell us more stories of children with their mothers' corpses, but don't look for any cease-fire until Gaza is swept and cleared.
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