I think you missed my point, which is my fault because I was trying to be oblique as i did not want to create a debate down a new rabbit hole. My apologies. But my response was about your point of making death the stakes. i think Hamas did just that to maneuver Israel into such a fight. I believe they were successful in their strategy and were counting on the street, Egypt/Jordan and the gulf states, and their fellow travelers in the west to pressure Israel into withdrawing in defeat. It didn't work, I thought it would, and now death are the stakes and they are in the game. Whatever your opinion of the morality of that.