Liveblogging continues. Come back to this post throughout the day.
8:53 p.m. The latest fatwa: Israeli-Arab IDF soldiers in Gaza killed in line of duty will not get buried in Muslim cemeteries, nor are prayers for their souls permitted in mosques.
Silly me, I thought those racist Zionists banned Arabs and other minorities from serving.
8:31 p.m. Just found report in English about the Palestinian phosphorus shell found in Western Negev at YNet News.
8:23 p.m. Palestinian mortar shell landing in a western Negev community found containing phosphorus. Nobody injured, no damage caused. The name of the community is not being identified for security reasons. Details at Walla (in Hebrew).
7:42 p.m. Islamic hackers target blogs. See David Shamah's advice here and more here. Last year, internet security expert Gadi Evron discussed the cyberthreat to Israel, drawing important lessons from the cyberwarfare of the Russia-Georgia conflict.
6:52 p.m. British professor Frank Furedi looks at the European demonstrations against Israel and points out that protesters are "targeting Jews for being Jews," and that the distinction between anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish sentiment is blurred.
The most worrying development in Europe is not the visible signs of radical Muslim and far-Right vitriol directed at Jews but the new culture of accommodation.
What has emerged is a slightly embarrassed "see nothing, hear nothing" attitude that shows far too much understanding towards manifestations of anti-Semitism.
5:52 p.m. Note the disconnect between the Daily Telegraph's headline and photo caption. Do the multitude of shoppers and abundant food look like a humanitarian crisis? Via Brian of London.
4:59 p.m. This AP report debunking allegations that Israel illegally uses phosphorus shells has 81 Diggs; meanwhile, an earlier AP report posted on NPR's web site with the original claims has 1,251 Diggs.
Do lies have to viral while the truth does not? Make a difference and check out the followup now.
4:35 p.m. An Israeli satirical TV show, Eretz Nehederet, spoofed BBC coverage of the war. One of our readers uploaded the skit to YouTube and added a much-appreciated plug for HonestReporting. (The skit's in English, with Hebrew subtitles.
4:03 p.m. Earlier today, I wondered if Egypt had the guts to allow a foreign presence to monitor tunnel activity along its border with Gaza. But after reading Dore Golds' latest commentary, I wonder if the world has the guts to let Israel itself patrol the Philadelphi corridor.
3:54 p.m. A helicopter pilot identified only as "Capt. Orr" discusses Gaza airstrikes and civilian casualties with AP:
He said he has seen Hamas use civilians as its human shields, and he has held his fire in such cases. But he added that all those who accused Israel of targeting civilians were mistaken and misled by what they saw on TV. He personally has called off many airstrikes, even at the risk of letting a rocket-launcher get away, for fear of harming an innocent woman or a child. He said by doing so, he was following both his military orders and his own conscience.
3:41 p.m. Jeffrey Goldberg explains how the relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah is more complex than you thought, and what the implications are for the war.
3:29 p.m. Worth reading: slices of Hamas gunmens' lives in the NY Times.
3:20 p.m. The Washington Post picks up on constant feuding between NGOs and Israel.
2:28 p.m. BBC bureau chief Jeremy Bowen examines comparisons between the Mideast and Irish conflicts:
At different times the IRA planted bombs on the British mainland that killed people and did a lot of damage. The actions of the British security forces during three decades of the Troubles were very controversial, and still are today. Sometimes the British army killed innocent people.
But Britain never used heavy weapons, fast jets, air strikes and attack helicopters. Tracked armoured vehicles were very rarely seen.
Had the IRA fired thousands of rockets at mainland Britain for eight years while calling for the liberation of the entire UK, from the North Sea to the Channel, seized power without ever renouncing violence, and entrenched itself in Belfast, I'll bet we'd see a heavier show of British force.
2:40 p.m. A powerful statement, considering it comes from a senior editor at the Toronto Star, one of Canada's largest daily papers:
And while Torontonians on either side of the Middle East conflict rage or reflect on events in Gaza – with sit-ins and street protests and letter writers at full bore – the world's largest émigré community of Sri Lankan Tamils is wondering why it barely rates a mention in the Canadian media. For David Poopalapillai of the Canadian Tamil Congress, the disparity is inexplicable.
"Please write about us," he implored after phoning twice last week, even though he knows we disagree about the notorious Tamil Tigers. "No one is writing about the Tamils, and you've been there many times."
2:15 p.m. Does Egypt have the guts to back up its calls for a cease fire by allowing international monitors to look for tunnels along its border with Gaza?
2:06 p.m. I don't believe the Irish blueprint for peace applies to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jonathan Freedland is free to disagree. I do appreciate his candor addressing one of my concerns:
The next stage is the hardest. Adams has called on Israel to enter direct dialogue with Hamas, learning the Irish lesson that for peace to work it must include even those on the extremes. But it's not quite that simple. Republicans did not get their seat at the table until they had forsworn violence and agreed to pursue their goals by exclusively peaceful means. Israel could truthfully cite the Ulster precedent when it says it cannot sit down with Hamas until it renounces violence.
It's worth recalling that Israel had a "peace partner" named Yasser Arafat who supposedly renounced violence.
1:48 p.m. The International Court of Justice may be asked for an advisory opinion on Operation Cast Lead. I'm not aware of any advisory opinions on eight years of rocket fire, but as The Guardian notes:
Neither Israel nor the Palestinian territories are signatories to the Rome statute, which brings states within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
1:21 p.m. The International Red Cross debunks claims that Israel uses white phosphorus shells against civilians. AP writes:
"In some of the strikes in Gaza it's pretty clear that phosphorus was used," Herby told The Associated Press. "But it's not very unusual to use phosphorus to create smoke or illuminate a target. We have no evidence to suggest it's being used in any other way." . . . .
Herby said that using phosphorus to illuminate a target or create smoke is legitimate under international law, and that there was no evidence the Jewish state was intentionally using phosphorus in a questionable way, such as burning down buildings or consciously putting civilians at risk.
And NGO-Monitor wonders about Human Rights Watch, which has made the most noise about the phosphorus issue.
1:03 p.m. More rockets fired from Lebanon with Hezbollah's green light. President Michel Suleiman now has as good an excuse as any to crack down. He might do it too.
Will the MSM label Lebanese army operations in restive refugee camps as "disproportionate?" Naaaah.
12:45 p.m. Hamas web forums are censoring all comments about their own casualties, including names, stats and photographs. The IICC further adds that Hamas some fatalities aren't receiving proper burials
It should be noted that a similar policy was followed by Hezbollah in the second Lebanon war, when it purposefully did not publish the names of killed operatives, preferring instead to bury them in secret, without media coverage, to reinforce the “divine victory” myth it sought to create . . .
to avoid undermining the morale of Hamas operatives as a result of the death of many terrorists during the IDF's ground operations (according to IDF reports, more than 200 operatives were killed). With that in mind, and possibly owing to the difficulty of evacuating many bodies from the battlefield, it was reported that Hamas was not holding proper funerals for its fatalities.
12:22 p.m. This from AP:
Iranian authorities issued an order last week banning international companies from working in Iran if they are found to have any shares owned by Israelis.
If I purchase a minimal amount of stock in companies building Iranian reactors, maybe the mullahs will sanction their own nuclear program.
