Who ever said violence never solved anything?

"Palestinian militants halt strategy of IDF abductions to secure prisoners
MOHAMMED NAJIB JDW Correspondent
Ramallah

Palestinian militant groups in the West Bank have suspended their new strategy to abduct Israel Defence Force (IDF) personnel to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails, Palestinian militant sources told Jane's on 13 July.

The sources said the abductions would be suspended until the resolution of the IDF operation in Lebanon.

The sources added they were concerned that the capture of additional IDF personnel could result in an unprecedented military response that would destroy the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority."

See? As I've maintained in the past, (stolen fron wherever) you can't make an omellete without breaking a few eggs. Hezbollah has more places to hide than Hamas, otherwise they'd likely be saying "uncle" by now too.

It comes down to a cost-benefit analysis, and in a way I'm encouraged by Hamas taking a step back, though admittedly they did it only after getting their asses handed to them again. However, the Israeli response in Gaza must pale in comparision to the steel flying downrange in Lebanon, and they must see how much worse it could be, and their supporters can too.

What this could mean, (optimistic, I know) is that Hamas has a sliver of rationalality to them as an organization, and from that there could eventually be some kind of arrangement made. Again, not likely, as the entire situation is the zero-sum thing I mentioned earlier.

The only real solution is an ethnic-cleansing type, and that's never popular with the losing side, nor (when they actually pay any attention) the international community. I should see if there are bets being taken on the next move (other than the stock markets), as I`m curious about, say, the odds on Israel attacking Syria, for example.

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