Madam, - Lawrence Power's letter of June 14th concerned the death of most members of a family having a picnic on a beach in Gaza, reputedly because of an Israeli Air Force strike.
First, he neglected to explain the reason for the Israeli Defence Force's continued targeting of sites in Gaza - as a response to the daily rocket attacks on cities such as Ashkelon and Sderot. While the IDF does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties, the terrorists in Gaza, with the backing of Hamas, not only attack civilian areas in Israel, but do so from within Palestinian civilian areas. What, I ask Mr Power, is Israel to do?
More importantly, the IDF has concluded that the deaths were not only not caused by Israeli forces, but were probably caused by a Palestinian explosive device.
Surely a slight pause before lambasting Israel for defending itself against constant threat would be wise. - Yours, etc,
JOHN LALOR, Tel-Aviv, Israel.