The ironic thing in all this is that, this week, during the Great Adventures Bible study group, the subject was about Moses and the Exodus, which included sending spys into the promise land.
If I remember right, 12 spies, and only Joshua and Caleb said take em down. I wonder if these people living in the promised land were descendents of Ishmael? If so, I think the whole conflict carries on today, but I can see why God ordered their complete destruction, because one generation who wanted to kill them, would just breed another generation who wanted to kill them. This Israeli/Palestinian conflict will not end till one side is wiped out.