Israel's Gaza incursion won't save its soldier

The following letter appeared in The Age on 30 June 2006. Again, this follows the new commitment to reproducing previously published works.

Israel's military incursion into Gaza in response to the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit is an ill judged action without hope of achieving its objectives. Israeli military sources claim the sole objective of the mission is the safe return of the captured soldier. To achieve this they have deployed significant armoured units in Gaza and conducted air strikes on Palestinian infrastructure. While such tactics indicate the strength of Israeli resolve, it is highly unlikely that they will achieve their objective. In the event that they discover the location of the missing man, he will almost certainly die alongside his Palestinian captors. A diplomatic approach with international involvement would be a preferable alternative to the current military action, with far greater prospects for success. Moreover, such an approach would avoid the terror and hardship that is a product of Israeli incursions into the occupied territories.