Israel is being accused of genocide because of its scorched-earth retaliation for the OCT 7 attacks by Hamas. Israeli leadership says it will continue hunting down Hamas until they no longer exist as a threat. Hamas hides behind civilian infrastructure, building tunnels, command centers and weapons caches under hospitals and schools -- using civilians as shields.
No one with a shred of empathy would deny that the level of human suffering in Gaza is appalling. Civilians are starving because much the aid sits in trucks and cannot be safely delivered to the needy.
Such a complicated situation, with the civilian population being squeezed by two sides that care less about the people than they do staying in power. Many world leaders have called on Israel to stop the bombing and allow aid to be delivered to the the starving populace.
But I seldom hear any mention of the Gazans' equally uncaring enemy -- HAMAS.
If they had released the OCT 7 hostages as Israel and others have demanded, many lives could have been saved and the incentive to bomb Gaza into a pile of rubble would have been removed.
And so perhaps the real tragedy of Gaza is that HAMAS still hides behind the skirts of civilians. Until they release the remaining hostages, Israel will not stop bombing.
So while you are condemning Israel for siege tactics, please consider condemning HAMAS as an equal enemy of the Palestinian civilians who lived in what used to be Gaza.
