"Ethnic cleansing" is such an ugly phrase.

Bemused smackdown of the day:

Under questioning from presenter Jon Snow of Channel Four news on the reasons behind Israel's bombing of Gaza's only power station -- thereby cutting off electricity to more than half of the Strip's 1.3 million inhabitants for many months ahead, as well as threatening the water supply -- Zvi Ravner denied this action amounted to collective punishment of the civilian population.

Rather, he claimed, the electricity station had to be disabled to prevent the soldier's captors from having the light needed to smuggle him out of Gaza at night. It was left to a bemused Jon Snow to point out that smugglers usually prefer to do their work in the dark and that Israel's actions were more likely to assist his captors than disadvantage them.

The rest of the piece is also worth reading, although the humour quotient dwindles quickly after that.

ABOUT THOSE GENEVA CONVENTIONS ... It's interesting to note that the deliberate targeting and destruction of civilian infrastructure is explicitly forbidden under the Geneva Conventions. Hey, even the wanks over at NRO understand that:

So exactly how are Islamic terrorists faring on Geneva’s “Do unto others” scorecard?

Well, the treaty’s provisions call for protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Al Qaeda targets civilians for mass murder and intentionally destroys civilian infrastructure.

Whoops, sorry ... apparently, that article refers exclusively to Al Qaeda terrorists, and gives Israel a free pass. My mistake. Sorry to disturb you. Carry on.