Gaza update

Jules Crittenden suspects Glenn Greenwald of self-parody, although Greenwald's latest is actually one of his more rational exhalations. Perhaps his encounter with Hugh Hewitt steadied him. Or maybe he saw the light via the Sonny Corleone analogy. At any rate, there is no shortage of cruel irony in the latest news:

At least thirty people were reportedly killed and 53 wounded in an explosion in a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinians. The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops.
Troops inside Gaza The infantrymen returned mortar shell fire into the school grounds, the army said. Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site.

So, the United Nations builds a school in Gaza, which Hamas converts into a mortar base. (Michelle Malkin shows that this has been going on for months, and Ace has related thoughts.) As good an argument for defunding the U.N. as I've heard lately (of course, there are no bad arguments for defunding the U.N.). Other recent items:

• Steve Emerson ponders the "I (Heart) Hamas" bumper stickers plastered all over the New York Times coverage of the Gaza war.
• Egypt's Hosni Mubarak comes out forcefully against Hamas.
• Richard Cohen comes out forcefully against Hamas. (Nearly as surprising as Mubarak, although Cohen probably does not risk assassination by taking an anti-Hamas stance.)
• Ed Morrissey examines the parasitical nature of Hamas.
• Philip Klein explains how Israel protects its civilians.
• The war has achieved a basic military objective, namely disruption of the Hamas command-and-control structure. It appears that Hamas operations are now being directed from Syria.

Muqata has comprehensive coverage.