Hamas are justified in their actions

I will use your definition, I do not have to applaud Hamas' actions merely I have to show that they are 'valid' under the circumstances. I will now begin with some rebuttal, which hopefully addresses every point you have made. Rebuttal 1. I will address the example you have given me, at no point did the Hamas leadership take responsibility apart from the leader of the military wing of Hamas; who unsurprisingly was in exile and who's evidence is doubted by experts including Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations. One of the suspects were tortured to say that they were going under orders of Hamas. In fact even Mickey Rosenfeld who is an Israeli police spokesperson conceded that the kidnappings were not undertaken under orders from the Hamas leadership. 2.The firing of rockets was not in anyway unprovoked. Israel arrested around 350 Palestinians, and killed 5 following the abduction of the 3 teenagers. 3. That is not the purpose of the construction of tunnels. These tunnels were constructed to smuggle resources into the Gaza strip because of the incredibly strict barricade of Gaza by Israel. The materials which are required to build bomb shelters are not even allowed in. This means it is justifiable as they are using it to receive resources which the Israeli blockade doesn't allow; fuel prices have risen rapidly in Gaza and fuel is very necessary in Gaza for desalination of the water. You are imposing a purpose onto these tunnels which isn't true. 4. Hamas are gripped in a conflict, they are utilising their funds in a way which they see fit. I would say that their spending is justifiable on military as Israel has probably the single biggest negative influence on their residents. They cannot improve their infrastructure owing to the blockade which Israel has imposed on Gaza which prevents building materials entering Gaza. You must also bear in mind that the residents of Gaza elected Hamas, and thus their spending and what they do is what the people of Gaza want and voted for. 5. Killing civilians without enough evidence and in fact without a trial rings rings true with how Israel treated the suspects who apparently abducted the three Israeli teens. If you could post a source which showed that I would rebuttal it however not one of them does and your third source doesn't even exist. 6. There is no evidence that human shields are being utilized. 2 BBC reporters Orla Guerin and Jeremy Bowen have both claimed that they have seen no evidence of them in the Gaza strip. The 'evidence' shown by IDF footage is quite easily explained by the fact the Gaza strip is 360 km" and contains 1,816,379 people, this is a ridiculous amount of overpopulation and means that of course there is going to be some overlap between missile sites and some public sector buildings. Evidence from IDF is unreliable as they will only highlight areas where this overlap is the case 7. The use of testimony of one MP is not respective of all of Hamas' viewpoint and Hamas' policy on human shields. It would be as if I used Israeli lawmaker Ayelet Shaked to be representative of Israelis foreign policy (who called for the extermination of all Palestinians and called Palestinian children 'little snakes') 8. I stated in my introduction that I did not count the Hamas charter and am only referring to Hamas in recent events. 9. Israel have also utilized propaganda like for example paying students to defend them online. Hamas and Israel are in a war and it is fair if Israel decide to use propaganda to further their cause, for Hamas to do the same is justifiable. Justification for Hamas' actions Hamas are dealing with a country which were recently deemed the 4th least acceptable by the UN. Israel have frequently broken rules laid down by the Geneva convention like for example torturing suspects, they have used weapons such as DIME bombs- bombs which serve no other purpose but to cause harm to civilians owing to the fact that they cause little collateral damage but the tungsten based shrapnel that they leave is irremovable from bodies. They also have been reported to have used white phosphorus which burns flesh. Israel is not playing fair so it is justifiable for Hamas to commit a few minor crimes to level the playing field. Some of the more outrageous statements made by Hamas in response to, for example the synagogue killings, are understandable and valid when you take into account how greatly Israel has crippled Gaza. These responses are born out of anger and hatred of Israel because of what they have done. Israel have also provoked Hamas and the people of Palestine with their measures, such as the closure of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the arrest of around 350 Palestinians following the kidnapping of the three Israelis teens. You could even say Hamas have been lenient in their demands, their 10 conditions for a 10 year truce are very reasonable: 'Withdrawal of Israeli tanks from the Gaza border. Freeing all the prisoners that were arrested after the killing of the three youths. Lifting the siege and opening the border crossings to commerce and people. Establishing an international seaport and airport which would be under U.N. supervision. Increasing the permitted fishing zone to 10 kilometers. Internationalizing the Rafah Crossing and placing it under the supervision of the U.N. and some Arab nations. International forces on the borders. Easing conditions for permits to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque. Prohibition on Israeli interference in the reconciliation agreement. Reestablishing an industrial zone and improvements in further economic development in the Gaza Strip.' These demands would not be hard for Israel to meet and their continued provocation of Hamas shows they are clearly not interested in a two state solution and thus peace. Finally I would like to shed some light as to why Hamas responds with attacks anyway when they seem fruitless thanks to Israel's iron dome and might seem unjustifiable as it leads to the death of their own civilians. This is a scenario where Hamas are doomed if they do and doomed if they don't, Israel's illegal settling has been incessant and has now consumed almost all of Palestine. If Hamas did not respond with rocket fire, Israel would have continued to provoke them till they attacked them and they had the justification to steal more of Gaza's land. It is no coincidence that this conflict has occurred just when oil was discovered off Gaza. Sources: http://www.theguardian.com... http://www.theguardian.com... http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk... http://honestreporting.com... http://electronicintifada.net... http://www.bbc.co.uk... http://www.freerepublic.com... https://www.middleeastmonitor.com... http://www.theguardian.com... http://www.theguardian.com... http://mondoweiss.net... http://www.globalresearch.ca... http://www.globalresearch.ca...