Israel to Holmes: Wadd Are You Talking About?

The Israelis aren't taking kindly to comments made by U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes.

Who can blame them?

Israel criticised on Monday comments by a visiting United Nations envoy, accusing him of equating Israeli military operations in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with the rockets fired by militants into the Jewish state.

Israel's public rebuke of U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes underscored long-standing tensions between Israel and the world body, which has described Israel's blockade of the impoverished Gaza Strip as "collective punishment" -- banned under the Geneva Conventions.

Holmes rejected the criticism.

Israel said that at issue were comments Holmes made during a visit on Sunday to the Israeli border town of Sderot, a frequent target of rocket attacks from Gaza. Holmes called for an end to the salvoes but urged Israel not to launch a large-scale military offensive in response.

"I've seen terrible things in Gaza on their side, and suffering of their civilians there. And here I can see the suffering of the civilians on the Israeli side in Sderot. We have to break that cycle of violence," Holmes said.

The director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, Aaron Abramovich, protested at Holmes's reference to a cycle of violence during a meeting in Jerusalem on Monday.

"The use of expressions such as these creates an analogy between the terrorists and those who are defending themselves against terror," Abramovich told Holmes, according to a statement issued by Israel's Foreign Ministry.

The statement added: "Holmes' remarks do not serve the interests of peace, as they may unwittingly encourage terrorists to believe that the international community will exert pressure on Israel, instead of dealing with the roots of the violence."

Holmes, who sought meetings with Israel's foreign and defence ministers but was turned down, said he stood by his comments in Sderot.

When last seen, Holmes was wringing his hands over the grim situation in Gaza, as if the Israelis are responsible for conditions in that hellhole.

UN Official: Gaza Situation 'Grim'

So whose fault is that?

The U.N.'s top humanitarian affairs official visited Gaza Friday and said he was shocked by the "grim and miserable" humanitarian situation there. He urged that the territory's borders be opened to relieve the suffering.

John Holmes, the United Nation's undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, toured Gaza's largest hospital where he spoke to dialysis patients and saw the neonatal ward.

"I have been shocked by the grim and miserable things I have seen and heard about during the day," Holmes told reporters during a news conference at the main U.N. compound in Gaza.

OK, Holmes, here's the deal. These people are terrorists and are trying to murder Israelis on a daily basis.

So the situation they're in is entirely their own fault.

Not the Israelis, not the United States. It's their problem.

At what point will you ever realize this?

"These grim and miserable things are the result of the current restrictions on the crossings into Gaza, and the very limited amounts of foods and other materials being allowed in," he said. "So what is essentially needed is an opening of the crossings, a lot more goods coming in."

Apparently, they're incapable of producing anything other than misery, murder and mayhem, and nothing ever comes out other than rocket-fire and terrorists.

Of course, if Holmes and his co-sympathizers want to see a resolution to this grim situation, there is a solution.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said an improvement depended on an end to rocket fire.

"If terrorists in Gaza were to cease firing rockets into Israel, trying to kill our people, the situation could very quickly return to where it was," Regev said.