Many people seem pretty certain in their opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but I mostly have questions for both sides. Here are some for supporters of Israel: If showing dead civilians is part of Hamas’ plan, why is Israel helping Hamas by killing civilians? Are the benefits to Israel of destroying Hamas tunnels and killing Hamas soldiers greater than the harm of intensifying the rocket fire, losing dozens of IDF soldiers in battle and increasing hatred of Israel in Gaza and around the world? Is this war better than the truce that Hamas offered?
Would this war have happened if Israel had not arrested hundreds of Hamas members in the West Bank? Is Fatah-Hamas reconciliation the death of peace negotiations, as the Israeli government claims, or an opportunity to move more of Israel’s enemies from violent struggle to nonviolent struggle?
BARRY KLINGER
Potomac
Just to clarify, I didn’t mean to imply that Israel is intentionally killing civilians. I meant “conducting attacks which inevitably kill civilians who are in the vicinity of military targets.”