After the Gaza War

“I say Hamas is the cause, in the first place, of all wars!”

—Palestinian girl speaking emotionally about the death  of her family members killed in an Israeli bombing raid

“It sounds more like a joke than a serious proposal. What does [the ceasefire] mean? They want our agreement that after a year they will have the right to start shooting again.”

―Israeli President Shimon Peres on Hamas’s one-year ceasefire suggestion

“What are we supposed to do in the face of armed men taking our aid by force? We’re not armed. We don’t have a private army or a security force, so we do what we can…It’s up to the authorities in Gaza; it’s up to everyone involved in the delivery of aid to make sure it goes to the intended beneficiaries.”

―United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness on Hamas’s seizing of humanitarian aid, which was later returned

“We’re not interested in returning to a stage where they [Hamas] have rocket attacks and we retaliate; we want to change the situation. We want to make the security situation on the ground such that the people in Ashkelon don’t suddenly wake up to a rocket. This can’t continue, and we won’t allow this to continue.” Eisin said there are no easy military or diplomatic answers to the conflict. “If it was easy, both sides would have arrived at it long ago.”

―Government spokesperson Col. (res.) Miri Eisin on the rocket attacks and Israeli response after the Gaza conflict