The war between Hamas in Gaza and the Israeli military must eventually revert to its previous state of armed ill will, whether by way of a formal ceasefire or just exhaustion. It is the sheer strategic pointlessness of it all that drives the watching world to despair. The firing of some 3,000 rockets into Israeli territory is a campaign of indiscriminate murder that has to be condemned. It can achieve nothing worthwhile, and will only further antagonise Israeli opinion. Israeli counter-attacks have killed dozens of Palestinians in what looks suspiciously like collective punishment of the whole community. If this is really the policy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it would be immoral and illegal. It could only harden Palestinian opinion.