Israel exceeding limits of self-defence - de Marco

Israel is exceeding the limits of self-defence in response to an unwarranted attack by Hamas, according to President Emeritus Guido de Marco.

The way the Gaza Strip was being attacked made "martyrs" out of certain people who had provoked the crisis in the Middle East, Prof. de Marco said when contacted for a reaction to the bombings.

Around 400 Palestinians have so far been killed in the week-long campaign - which is a response to rocket attacks on Israel - and the UN believes 25 per cent of these are civilians. Outgoing US President George Bush has blamed the violence in Gaza on Hamas.

However, Prof. de Marco said the world would have to wait and see whether history would repeat itself two-and-a-half years after Israel launched its military offensive of Southern Lebanon, which had made "martyrs and heroes" of Hamas.

Some Middle East analysts believe the offensive is a cynical move to boost domestic popularity. Israel's elections are due to take place on February 10 after Tzipi Livni, currently Foreign Minister, failed to form a government in October to replace that of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Prof. de Marco said: "Yes, the election may be playing a part in the whole situation..."

The former UN General Assembly president, an expert on Middle East affairs, also agrees with comments that the current Israeli regime is being strengthened as a result of its attacks on Gaza.

Prof. de Marco emphasised the need for the forces of diplomacy to bring about a solution to the war, and applauded Europe's attempts to intervene.

However, Walid Nabhan, a Palestinian scientist who has been living in Malta for the past 18 years, is highly critical of Europe's political response to the attacks, and insisted that Europe was still reeling in "Islamophobia".

The 42-year-old, who comes from a family of refugees who fled to Jordan in 1948, said: "I'm angry, distressed and paralysed at the fact that I can't do anything amid this bloodbath," he said.

It took Mr Nabhan two days to track down his brother in Gaza. "He fled from his place... it's hell on earth there."

He narrates a story about his brother to show the extent to which Palestinians living in Gaza were cooped up in a prison-like environment, even though his brother openly opposes Hamas.

Eighteen months ago, Mr Nabhan's brother was diagnosed with cancer and required treatment abroad. It took him four months to obtain the necessary permits to seek treatment in Amman. After reaching the Jordanian capital, he was told it is too late.

"He is now waiting for death, cooped up in his own land like a prisoner - and there are hundreds like him. Even in times of war, you simply don't treat patients that way."

When he last visited Ramallah three years ago, Mr Nabhan said he felt like a stranger in his own country - he had to wait a month before being granted a permit.

Mr Nabhan said the Israelis had been preparing the offensive for six months, and that the Palestinians' rocket-firing was merely an excuse to unleash the onslaught.

"The rockets the people are firing from Gaza are like fireworks. They have nothing to fight with. In return, how can the Israelis punish 1.5 million people with no jobs and medication and who live in an area the size of Malta?"

Mr Nabhan said that the Israeli attack would only serve to create more radicalisation and sympathy for Hamas, a militant group, which he believes would have eventually toned down its stance towards Israel, the way Fatah did.

He claims the real reasons behind the attacks are the Israeli elections - "Palestinian blood is Israel's winning card, so much so that (Defence Minister) Ehud Barak has now surged ahead in the polls."

Yisrael Ohayon, 46, an Israeli who has been living in Malta for the past 14 years, dismisses claims that the attack was prompted by the elections and believes the Gaza attack should have taken place earlier.

For seven years, Hamas rockets have been raining on innocent Israelis, he said.

"Whoever argues that the Israeli response is heavy-handed has not lived in a country which has been under incessant rocket attacks," he says.

Like Hezbollah, he describes Hamas as a puppet regime of Iran - a convenient means for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attack Israel via remote control.

Mr Ohayon insists that Israel was attacking strategic points in Gaza and most of the civilian casualties were the result of Hamas using civilians as human shields. Hamas on the other hand had systematically been shooting at schools and civilians for years.

Israel should only stop its offensive once Hamas stops firing rockets, something Mr Ohayon believes will never happen.

"Now that we've started this, we can't stop and repeat what happened in Lebanon. It would be the equivalent of stopping an antibiotics course in the middle, and risking your health getting worse. This time we have to go all the way."

Mr Ohayon said the Palestinians had merely used Gaza as a launch pad against Israel, rather than attempt to build an infrastructure and make a living off it. But ever since the death of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian regimes had been rife with corruption and the millions granted by the EU had been squandered.

"The Palestinians are their own worst enemies," he said.

Mr Ohayon said Israel could not risk opening its doors to Palestinians, since history had repeatedly shown that terrorists had managed to infiltrate and wreak havoc.

So why has the West largely condemned Israel's attack on Gaza?

"The Arabs are good at manipulating the media and portraying themselves in a David and Goliath scenario," he said.