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Thomas Friedman
By Thomas L. Friedman
Op-ed, reporting from Erez, Israel
Israel is now in grave danger. With enemies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran, Israel enjoys the sympathy of much of the world, but it does not. Because of the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist coalition have waged war in Gaza and profession in the West Bank, Israel is becoming radioactive and Diaspora Jewish communities are increasingly at risk around the world.
I am concerned that the situation is about to get worse.
No independent user can simply deny Israel the right to self-defense after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis in a single day. Women have been sexually abused and young people have been killed in front of their parents and their parents in front of their children. Dozens of abducted Israeli men, women, young people and other elderly people have been held hostage in horrific situations for more than 150 days.
But no independent user can take a look at Israel’s crusade to destroy Hamas, which has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, about a third of them fighters, and not conclude that something happened in an extraordinary way there. Among the dead were thousands of young people, and among the survivors were many orphans. Much of Gaza is now a wasteland of death and destruction, starvation and ruined homes. Urban warfare brings out the worst in people, and this is true for Israel in Gaza. It is a stain on the Jewish state.
But Israel is not alone in creating this tragedy. The stain on Hamas is also black. This Islamist defense force began the confrontation on October 7 without warning, without cover or shelter for Gaza’s civilians, and it did so knowing full well that Israel would respond by bombing Hamas strongholds dug under houses, mosques and hospitals. Hamas has shown total for the lives of Palestinians, not just Israelis. But Hamas was already classified as a terrorist organization. He is not America’s best friend and has never claimed to practice gun purity.
That said, Israel’s standing in the world would probably soon suffer a very severe blow because of whatever made me fear its invasion from the start: Netanyahu sent the Israel Defense Forces into Gaza without a coherent plan to govern it after all. Dismantling Hamas or ceasefire.
In my view, there is only one thing worse for Israel, let alone for the rest of Gazans, than a Gaza controlled by Hamas: it is a Gaza where no one is in charge, a Gaza where the world expects Israel to restore order, but where Israel cannot or will not. This is not the case, so it becomes a serious and permanent humanitarian crisis.
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