NEW YORK -- The recent unjustified killings of Palestinian civilians -- several children among them -- have not only raised the anger of the Palestinian population but also some of Israeli civilians. More importantly, those brutal killings endanger the withdrawal negotiations and threaten to condemn them to nullity at a moment when they are more needed than ever before. Unless the Israeli government assumes responsibility and punishes those guilty of the crimes and the Palestinians change their destructive policies, peace in the Middle East will never be achieved.
The killings of Palestinian civilians by the Israel Defense Forces have sparked a debate about Israel's policies and the effect of the occupation not only on Palestinians but also on Israel's civilian society itself.
According to the Israeli human rights group B'tselem, 36 bystanders, many of them children, have died since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising. According to Mousa Abu Hashash, a researcher for B'tselem, "When things are quiet Sharon tries to provoke Hamas and others to react, because none of them wants negotiations to succeed."