Broadside: Israel's Side of the Conflict

Israeli Consul General to New England weighs in on the latest in the violence between Israel and Palestine

There are two ways to sum up where things stand in the latest Middle East violence.

You could compare the death tolls: Tuesday, Hamas rockets claimed their first victim; meanwhile, Israeli air strikes and shelling have killed 204 Palestinians in nine days of fighting.

Or you could point out that faces and names - not numbers - are what matter to families burying their dead.

Wednesday, Palestinians marched through the streets of Gaza with the bodies of five people killed overnight. And in Israel, hundreds gathered for the funeral of a 37-year-old aid volunteer who was killed Tuesday by a mortar fired from Gaza.

Is the conflict just getting started, or is there a cease fire in sight?

Broadside will host both sides in the conflict, and on Wednesday, Israeli Consul General Yehuda Yaakov weighed in on if the conflict is just getting started or if a cease fire is in sight.

Yaakov says one life lost is one life too many - even for the children in Gaza.

"Israel wanted a diplomatic resolution of the crisis at the moment, and that's why we accepted the cease fire two days ago," he said.

Hamas has not accepted the cease fire offered by Egypt or the five-hour cease fire.

"For the last couple of weeks, the Israeli government has had to defend its Christian, Muslim and Jewish civilians and that has to be at the top our list," Yaakov said.

Thursday night on Broadside will feature the Palestinian side to this conflict, so tune in at 6 p.m.

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