Israel ready to negotiate peace

The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza arises from a long-stemming clash between the Israeli Defense Forces and the extremist Hamas government that claimed control over the Gaza Strip in 2007 from the more moderate Fatah government.
But the fate of the Palestinian people living in Gaza is unfortunately at the mercy of Hamas.

Israel is attempting to give the Palestinian people aid and end the horrendous treatment that Hamas provides to the innocent Palestinians living in Gaza.

The history of Hamas is one of violence, a direct quote from Article 7 of the Hamas Charter states.

The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, it said. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out, O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.

This reaffirms that Hamas mission is not to create lasting peace with the Israelis, but to kill the Jews.

The conflict that is now arising in the Middle East is in response to rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip into the state of Israel. Hamas has been indiscriminately firing them for the last 12 years, paying no heed to what or whom they are targeting.

Hamas has been known to use human shields to cause civilian casualties, in an effort to appeal to the international media.

The fact is, Hamas has killed three Israeli civilians and wounded 68, according to the Associated Press. These numbers would be much higher if the Iron Dome defense system did not exist in the state of Israel it is an anti-rocket defense system that is fired from Israeli soil to intercept and destroy the Fajr-5 rockets that Hamas has been firing into Israel.

Since the beginning of the Pillar of Defense, the operation Israel launched Nov. 13, Iron Dome has intercepted more than 325 out of 700 rockets fired, heading for civilian populations in major cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The only purpose of the rockets fired into Israel by Hamas is to kill Israeli civilians.

Israel is amassing troops on the border for a possible ground assault. A cease-fire was attempted when the Prime Minister of Egypt met with Hamas leaders on the situation. Yet during the meeting Hamas vowed to continue firing rockets onto Israeli soil, thereby ending any hopes of a cease-fire.
Unfortunately, the Palestinians casualties have been high, but more than 50 Hamas terrorists and leaders have been killed. Israel attempts to clear civilians from bombing sites before any
operation. Unfortunately, Hamas keeps women and children against their will, making them vulnerable to Israeli rockets another example of the mistreatment by Hamas to the people it
supposedly represents, and the reason why civilian casualties have been so high.

At the end of the day, what Israel truly wants is a lasting peace and to coexist with its neighbors without the threat of rockets hitting Israel on a daily basis. Israel is ready to negotiate unconditional peace, but it is up to Hamas to do the same.

Michael Kalmowicz is a sophomore majoring in international studies and Noah Peeri is a junior majoring in psychology.