Eighteen days and no end in sight. On Sunday Israeli troops pushed further into Gaza, as Israeli officials said they were closing in on accomplishing their objective of breaking Hamas, the New York Times reports.

Nearly 1000 Palestinians have been killed (including almost 300 children) and more than 4000 have been injured by the attacks perpetrated by Israel’s military forces.

The UN recently approved a resolution to condemning Israel for “mass violations of human rights of the Palestinian people.”  Hear hear.

The resolution also accuses Israel of targeting civilians and medical facilities, something Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has categorically denied since launching the offensive.

President Bush recently called for Hamas to stop attacking Israel in order for a “sustainable ceasefire” to come into place. Bush hasn’t been exactly secretive when expressing his support for Israel, however his reluctance to condemn their actions (minus saying that they should be mindful of “innocent folks”…) is pretty appalling.

Israel’s disregard for Palestinian civilians is obviously disappointing. So much for the concept of moral universalism. Protecting civilians should be a number one priority for them if they truly believe the war should be waged on Hamas and Hamas alone.

Israel is blasting Gaza to pieces, and saying their target is only Hamas and they want to make sure civilian deaths are minimal? Unbelievable and disgusting. Almost 400 women and children are dead and Israel says they are closer to reaching their goal than ever before.

Accomplishing a goal by these means is no victory. Israel has created a humanitarian disaster in Israel that has escalated to a point that is out of proportion with the damage that Hamas has inflicting on Israel.