Letters / When will enough be enough?
Out driving on Sunday, I was listening to the car radio which carried a horrific story from Gaza about a doctor, using a pair of scissors, amputating his niece’s leg without anaesthetic.
Later, there was a piece about an Israeli who had gone to jail as a conscientious objector, he said peace was the way forward, that ‘there is no military solution’ to the conflict.
Hamas committed a horrible crime on 7 October 2023, killing innocents, kidnapping innocents.
But what Israel is doing now is no better; chasing Palestinians from their homes to ‘safe areas’ which are then bombed, cutting off food supplies, cutting off the water supply, blocking the internet, attacking hospitals, just seems spiteful. Not all two million Palestinians are Hamas supporters, but they all get to suffer.
25,000 Palestinians are dead, an unknown number are injured, when will enough be enough?
Trying to defeat Hamas is a reasonable objective, but the methods are questionable.
These will drive more Palestinians into Hamas ranks. When Israel finally leaves Gaza, will there be less or more support for Hamas in the general population? Likely more, as all will have suffered, and so many will have lost family members.
What is the alternative to Israel and Palestine agreeing that each has the right to exist? Ongoing war forever and a day.
Pushing more Palestinians into the Hamas camp is a strange tactic from Israel. Why not try jaw jaw rather than war war?
Kidnapped Israelis in Gaza would probably prefer jaw jaw. In Gaza, the shooting and killing of three kidnapped Israelis carrying a white flag raises the question of whether this is the standard protocol for IDF soldiers. The kidnapped, and their families, are in a hellish situation not helped by their government.
The main problem in Israel is the prime minister. He has taken political chicanery to new, absurd levels, you cannot help but think that punishing the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank is a cynical part of his next election campaign.
Countries can be lucky in their leaders in times of crisis; Israel is not.
Brian Nugent
Hamnavoe
Secretary
Sovereignty
