'As for intention, the Israeli intention is clear; we don't need to listen to what Israel says, just watch what they've done and are doing. Israel wants the best land and resources, the water and the fertile plains; they want to rob the Palestinians of East Jerusalem, expelling them from their homes and neighbourhoods. Israel continues to expand the illegal settlements on the West Bank and build infrastructure connecting these outposts to the rest of Jerusalem. All the while they demolish Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and carry out excavations undermining their foundations. They block Palestinian roads and cut them of from their land and villages. The Israelis are not offering Palestinians a viable state; they want to herd them into 3 separate, disconnected Bantustans.

We often hear the refrain, "Israel doesnt target civilians." In the context of a large-scale military assault on the densely populated city of Gaza, this is mendacious. Repeat that lie to 4 year-old Samer Abed Rabbo who in all likelihood will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, a quadriplegic, after her spine was smashed with an Israeli bullet. The same incident left her two sisters, Amal, 2, and Suad, 8, dead - shot and killed by Israeli soldiers. First the tanks shelled their house, and then, as their grandmother led them outside waving a white flag, they were spattered with Israeli machine gun fire. The Israeli soldiers had murdered Amal and Suad, while little Samer was left hanging to life by a thread. As she lay in the dirt barely breathing, the tanks rolled on to the next target, the Israeli soldiers displaying a callous disregard for Palestinian lives.

All killing of civilians is reprehensible. But the greatest obstacle to peace is Israel.'

Avi Shlaim, Oxford Professor of International Relations