No matter how much people may say that Israel shouldn't continue to fight Hezbollah in Lebanon, they have to.
Reasoning with Hezbollah or other terrorists organizations doesn't work. Giving them land back and leaving their own homes doesn't work. Israel didn't fight back just because of two soldiers being taken by Hezbollah and six killed by them. It is just the last straw. They have to defend themselves. If Hezbollah are in Lebanon, then that's where they have to go to get them. Hezbollah shouldn't have been allowed to stay there. Hezbollah shouldn't have fired rockets into Northern Israel. I'd like to see the terrorists gotten rid of. It seems to me that this is a war that makes sense, unlike Iraq.

i just have one question for the peace lovers. How do you make peace with someone who wants to kill you. I bet that you hope israel disapers and the world would be peacefull. Just come out and say it or at least drink and then come out and say it.
The reason the civilians are dead because hezballah uses them as human sheilds, The army doesn't target civilians but tries very hard to avoid such incidants.

First thank you for this wonderfull story of courage. Thanks to the family that is fighting for all of us. I pray that your son and the idf succeed and come home from their mission.
thank you

in reading some of the comments it is apparent that many of those making comments either do not know anything about the history of Israel, starting in 1948, they know and don't care, or they know and choose to ignore it. Minor history lesson: in 1948, the UN declared the partition of what was then Palestine, in which the State of Israel was created. Pres. Truman immediately recognized the new state on behalf of the U.S. Also, FIVE arab states immediately declared war on the new state intending to drive all Jews into the sea. These arab states also told all arabs to leave because after the war ended and Israel was destroyed, they could come back and not only regain their old neighborhoods, but they would also have all of the property which had been occupied by the Jews at the time of the partition. What also seems to be ignored by so many today is that the Israelis begged arabs living in the newly created state not to leave telling them they would have all legal rights as citizens. The great majority of them nevertheless believed their arab bretheren and left.
58 years later, Israel is still here; Jordan and Egypt saw the light and made peace. Anwar Sadat, of Egypt first saw the light, made peace with Israel, shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Menachem Begin and was assassinated by extremists in his own country for his courage.
Further, Israel probably has the highest standard of living in the Middle East, is the only democracy in the area and has an enormous amount of companies from all over the world not only doing business with it but maintaining factories in the country: Microsoft, Intel, etc., to name just a few.
And, what do the Arabs, not only those in Palestine have? Ignorance, poverty, envy, hate, and nothing. Has anyone ever asked why the oil rich arab nations (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.) never helped their brethern in Palestine to improve their lot, get educated, learn democracy, attrach venture capitsl, etc.? Those, and other arab countries are great at giving the Palestinians money with which to create terror (suicide bombing, etc.) but not to truly help their fellow. I suggest to you that when the arabs learn to love their children more than they hate their enemies, then there will be peace.

Tatyana, Brooklyn

P-lease... Israel accomplished such thing at GREAT EXPENSE from the US. Please give the US tax payers the credit we deserve.

It's a myth that israel was created from the dessert and from nothing except by the hard work of its citizens. I'm sure the few hundred billion dollars the US has been coerced into giving has a little to do with it? Israel would be nothing without US support...

"I am curious as to how one makes peace with a culture of extremists who believe the road to salvation is becoming a martyr"

I think they're martyrs. They see generations of their families living in squalid refugee camps, herded and walled off by, no hope in sight. they don't have fancy american bought military weapons so they must use what they have... their bodies as bombs. If anything, they are sacrificing themselves for what they hold dear including their families and their society for a different and more hopeful future.

This is what happens when you drive a people to the edge.

I am curious as to how one makes peace with a culture of extremists who believe the road to salvation is becoming a martyr. How does one become a martyr? By putting others before oneself? charity work in homeless shelters? making sacrifices so that others can have a better life? No. The answer is to strap explosives to yourself and run into the most populated area of "infidels" you can find and detonate. I guess the more you take with you the higher your "rank" in the hereafter? When people are taught from the time they can walk and talk that this is acceptable and even holy behavior, how can one tell them any different? If there were peace, how would they get to their heaven? My guess is that those who have chosen this path are getting a real shock when they find out where they really have ended up. Too bad hell doesnt have a "scared straight" program......

I am still waiting for Bush to ask for a cease-fire in the region but he won't because he wants to plan out a lasting peace.

How arrogant is Bush when he thinks he can, in a few weeks, come up with a plan that will end the conflict in the Middle East that has been going on for over three thousand years?

Meanwhile the dying, on both sides, goes on and on.

having been to Israel and seen first hand how close Israelis live to people who want to destroy them, I am not at all surprised by their reaction to the Hizbullah incursion. When Israel was first founded, per a U.N. resolution, it was immediately attacked by several Arab countries who wanted to "drive the Jews into the sea". 58 years later, not much has really changed.

As a mother I could not supress my tears, and my hart goes to this brave and wonderful family.
I'm not Jewish, but when I was reading about them, I wish I was.

I applaud the brave Oren family; they understand that freedom is not free. (Unlike their complacent American "allies" who won't lift a finger to fight our common enemies in Iran and Syria.)

If anybody could say "cruel israel occupation", that person does not have brain and decency to admitt the truth. The land for the State of Israel was given to Israel as a land of their ancestors, whether anybody likes it or not. Look what they did on that little strip - Prosperous state. And what did the palestinians do, regarding that they've been there for much longer? Nothing. They do not want to work and create. What they are very succesful in, it is in teaching their young people how to throw stones and terrorize their neighbours. Stop terrorize Israel and you'll see that Israel is the most peaceful country in the world.

"...to live under unhumane conditions under the cruel israeli occupation." It is really a shame how little the outside world knows about the lives of the Middle Eastern populous. Sunni, Sheit,Hazbollah,palestinian,Muslim,Jew,etc,etc, The fact that all are human beings seems to be forgotten. The difference is that a wise person lives to better themselves and to direct their off springs to become better than they were or are. To leave to world a better place. For countless decades certains peoples were taught nothing but hated, were kept in squalor, to be used as pawns. That the only mertits were to die as a martyr. What type of human being can think like this? Only those that have been indoctrinated to believe that there is glory in death. What sort of parents (mothers in particular)can think that it is glorious for their child to blow themselves up on a bus or in a market place filled with innocent people?
Two years ago Lebanon entered into a UN agreement 1559 signed in Syria to replace vacating Israeli troops with Lebanese soldiers, to prevent foreign milita from takin gover. This NEVER happened. The Lebanese government along with supportive neighbors fed and supplied a terroist regime. This was a festering cancer that has bled and now destroyed much of the country. Lebanon had a responsibility to govern itself. Now they crey "foul?" How dare they or any neighbor blame this mess on Israel. They only need look as far as themselves.

Oh, I'm so heart broken about the poor Iraelis!!! I succomb to tears when I think of all the money we as American tax payers, who really don't give a rats _ss about the israelis!!! Have to pay, for those Welfare Reciepients to buy there fancy American made weapons so they can KILL poor innocent children in Lebanon!!! Somebody should paste a swastika right on there foreheads, because oh they bring me back so many memories of someone very dear to them! HITLER!!! That's exactly what those crying, feel sorry for me muderering Jews remind me off!!!

It's admirable the sacrifice this one family is making, especially since they chose to move to Israel.

But, what about the people on the other side whose children are being killed daily? They have no option, they're in their homeland, now being driven away. If you look at the body count it looks like 46 Hezboullah (Sp?) have been killed to 700 plus civilians (none combatant men, women and children) They're just trying to survive day to day.

In the end what they will end up with is destroyed/bombed out villages, towns, cities. Another multitude of people displaced and living in refugee camps.

So who is sacrificing more?.......

While I admire the dedication of the Israeli people to defend their country, I fail to see how putting on a military uniform and killing is somehow going to secure a future without war. Unfortunately, I fear that whats happening to the Lebanese civilians is only emboldening Hezbollah and securing a future with war. It has not worked in the past and it will not work in the future. Violence only begets violence. Let's try something different.

Unlike Sally Oren and her family, the poor of Lebanon do not have anywhere else to go and are trapped in this horror. I am more concerned about the slaugter and immense suffering of the innocent and poor civilians in Lebanon. It seems the poor always have to suffer so the rich and well to do can feel "safe." Also, I feel that there will never be peace in the Middle East because once the jews were exiled by God from the holy land, they were forbidden by God to establish a nation or soverignity in the holy land and were so ordered by God to remain in exile until the messiah comes. Has the messiah come? No! The messiah has not come but since the establishment of Israel in 1948 great suffering and strife have come to the Middle East which had previously enjoyed peace and brotherhood between Arabs and Jews. Contrary to what most people think, there are many jews who do not support Israel because they know its existence is against the wishes of God.

what about the innocent women and chidren being killed in lebanon?
800 + civilians killed so far in lebanon and it seems that no one gives a damn
its just sad how narrow minded, selfish and so one sided this report is, not to mention the support letters.

This wonderful story typifies the heat and spirit of the Israeli people. My great uncle was a Czech / American volunteer in the war of independece in 1948. No matter how painful Israel has stood her ground in the past and will continue to do so. The criticks are many these days, but they will always be there. They have no solution that lead to peace, but can be the first critisize at the first oppertunity. The men and women, young and old of the IDF fight for us all. This is but one more battle in the war against terrorists. One thing I have learned about the people of Israel and the IDF, is that they deplore the killing of innocence. We pray every night and day for a swift and lasting solution to this conflict. We pray every night and day for a safe return of Gilad, Ehud, and Eldad. May god bless us all.

Shalom

The Israelis have accepted the fact this is a war. Unfortunately, many Americans refuse to confront the reality of war the terrorists have thrust upon us--whether at home or abroad. The appeasers say "Stop the fighting and begin the talks". With whom are you going to negotiate--there is no nation state involved.

Wow! Christians supporting war and the subjugation of another human being! I find this very disturbing. I appreciate Ann's article and the fact that the Jewish people of Israel desperately want to live in peace, but the problem goes much deeper than the current conflagration. I would invite Ann to talk to some of the Palestinian families who are living in abhorrent conditions, who have been under Israeli occupation for decades. They also want peace. They also want to raise their children with the hope that their children can better their lives. So I say, especially to my Christian brothers and sisters, that the "sword" is not the answer. Rather, it is time for Israel to make peace multilaterally with their Palestinian neighbors. A fair and equitable peace that will lead to security for this Israeli family, and security for the Palestinian families that share the same aspirations and hopes.

thank you Ann for showing the Israeli side of the picture. The bleed and read gets alot of attention and not enough focus is placed on the fact all Isreal wants is to live alone in peace.Why else would american citizens leave home to live in a place that is at war.
When the war is over, how about doing a story on Israels' robust economy, on their stock exchange or advances in the fight against global warming. The world needs to see the whole Israel.they are saving us all from a return to the 7th century.

i wish she loved the world like she loved israel. the world is not israel, and israel can choose not to send them. why does she love a country that would take her children into an unnecessary war? it is the same reason i am troubled by my own country. did you feel a sense of urgency there at the kitchen table over coffee? or did you just feel the crushing suffocation of the familiarity of this war that some people cannot allow to end?

Get real, Ann Curry. If it wern't for Hezbollah and Hamas, the Israelis would have taken over Lebanon and Palestine a long time ago. Where's the other side of the story? I am proud the Arab world is finally taking a stand against corporate America and their allies. What concerns me is the lack of support from Iran and Syria. Israel is the true invader here!!

This is a heartening story of how good, decent people have chosen to fight rather than to succumb to the religious totalitarianism of Hezballah and Iran. The former seek to live a full and vibrant life. The adherents of the latter seek their paradise in the afterlife.