Netanyahu: Picture of Bleeding Baby Says It All

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement to the international media Thursday afternoon, in which he said Israel would continue to do its best to avoid civilian casualties on the enemy side, despite the fact that the enemy is targeting Israeli civilians and hiding behind its own. He also thanked world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama for "understanding" Israel's right to defend itself.

Expressing regret for the victims on both sides of the conflict, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday there was "no justification" for the violence on the part of Hamas, saying it "does nothing to help the Palestinians."

Carney's statement, given to reporters aboard Air Force One as it carried the president to New York, followed a telephone conversation the night before between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Obama called Netanyahu to "make every effort to avoid civilian casualties," while stressing Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas' attacks, the White House said.

The two leaders agreed that Hamas needed to stop attacks on Israel to "allow the situation to de-escalate," the statement continued, putting the blame for the outbreak of violence squarely in the hands of the Islamist movement.

The way the IDF operation unfolds may depend on the number of civilian casualties caused to Hamas and its ability to expoit that in order to create pressure on Israel to stop punishing it militarily. This pressure has proven highly effective in the past, especially given the Israeli press's tendency to highlight casualties on the enemy side, thus providing grist for the anti-Zionist mill.

In the past, emphasizing enemy civilian casualties acted to weaken national resolve to go on fighting. Listening to Israeli citizen's talking on the radio,however, the impression given is that they want to destroy the ability of Gazans to launch rockets at whatever price. When a broadcaster mentioned that Gazan's are not all Hamas terrorists, the retort of the person interviewed was that the Gazans elected Hamas in democratic elections and knew exactly what they were doing. Others called to turn off the electricity in Gaza.