Killing of Hamas Leader

Re “Gaza Inflamed After Israeli Raid,” July 24: If Salah Shehada, the top Hamas official targeted in the raid, knew he was a target, why did he choose to locate in the middle of a residential area, surrounded by his family and other children as well? This is, sadly, typical of the operation of the Palestinians in the territories, who are known to hide munitions under schools and in homes, using their own children as human shields.

Of course the loss of life, especially the loss of children’s lives, is a horrible tragedy, no matter how or to whom it happens. A lasting peace will be reached only if both sides come to the table sincerely, without the rhetoric reported in your article of guaranteeing that every Jewish home in Israel experiences a funeral.

Leslie M.B. Cole

Los Angeles

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If Osama bin Laden were in an apartment building, would we bomb it?

Joseph Grodsky

Los Angeles

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Had Yasser Arafat arrested Shehada, the man directly responsible for hundreds of attacks against Israeli civilians, the deaths would not have occurred. The extrajudicial killings by Israelis are an imperative, since Arafat won’t arrest murderers in his midst.

Shehada lived by the sword and endangered his family and others by his inhumane acts against Israelis. He’s to blame for the deaths in Gaza.

Jack Salem

Los Angeles

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Words of condemnation by President Bush over the fatal attack on Shehada are an insufficient response. All efforts leading to a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have utterly failed, and additional exhortative rhetoric by our president is a fruitless gesture.

Both the Palestinian Authority and Israel have received economic sustenance from the U.S., and military succor is constantly supplied to Israel over the years. Real progress may be achieved in efforts for peace if all tangible aid is withheld from the combatants until the interminable violence ceases.

Bert Winthrop

Los Angeles

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I don’t understand why the Palestinians are so upset over the deaths of the nine children killed in the air raid. They don’t seem to get so upset over the deaths of Israeli children killed in suicide bombings.

Matthew Klipper

Hollywood

How many more Palestinian and Israeli innocents have to die before Israel realizes that its brutal occupation has to end?

Todd Gallinger

Huntington Beach