Gaza and the Brutal War on Children

As if this story wasn't bad enough.

Children, who make up more than half of crowded Gaza's 1.4 million people, are the most defenseless victims of the war between Israel and Hamas. As many as 257 children have been killed and 1,080 wounded — about a third of the total casualties since Dec. 27, according to U.N. figures released Thursday.

And this story not horrifying enough.

In one house they discovered four small children, alive but too weak to stand, next to the bodies of their dead mothers. In all there were 12 dead bodies lying on mattresses.

Now we have this disaster.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepened yesterday when the main United Nations aid agency suspended its work in the Strip after one of its drivers was killed by an Israeli tank shell.

In a miserable little enclave full of desperately poor and injured people, with no power, no water, no proper sewage service, not enough doctors or medical supplies, not enough food, and nowhere to run from the bombs.

Now I admit my bias. My heroes are doctors, nurses, ambulance attendants, and relief workers not soldiers.

So I have no time for the thugs from the military wing of Hamas who are only hurting their own people with their rocket attacks on Israel. Just like I have no time for the Israeli politicians and generals who launched such a brutal assault on such a miserable little place like Gaza.

Or the callous soldiers who didn't lift a finger to help the poor children starving next to the corpses of their mothers. Or the lousy cowards who killed a humble truck driver bringing food to the hungry.

I hold them all in contempt.

But one thing is for sure, this madness has gone too far. We need an immediate ceasefire. We need a humanitarian corridor.

For the sake of human decency.

This brutal war on children cannot be allowed to continue....