Middle East

Palestinian militants and Israelis soldiers along Gaza Strip can't wait to carry out terror on innocent man, woman and children after the six months ceased fire agreement brokered by Egypt expired a week ago; attacked from both parties are causing massive civilian casualties in each other territory. Israeli air strikes pounded targets in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday and continued into the night, retaliating against Palestinian militants who have been escalating rocket attacks against southern Israel in the past few days. At least 225 people are killed and 400 are injured.

The exchange of accusations came as bodies piled up on the streets of Gaza City, where hospitals and medical personnel were overwhelmed by the influx of wounded. Both sides continue their usual blame on each other for violating the term of the six-month truce.

The fact is that unless the Israelis and Palestinians are prepared -- which they're not right now -- to take the political decisions required to overcome the gaps and their differences in a civil way, there is nothing much president-elect Obama can do to stop the escalating violence at this moment. If UN sincerely want to have an everlasting peace in that region of never ending violence, the first step that need to be done is to stop supply of fire arms from foreign powers like USA, UK, Syria and Iran toward the conflicting parties before any meaningful resolution can work. By limiting their ability to an easy access of weapon of war, UN at a very least will be able to contain the violence from escalating and carry out for an extended period of time. Learning from the experience of the past, in order for UN peaceful resolution to work, world community should demand the above countries stop empowering the Palestinian and Israel of their military and financial aids immediately.