We should all be concerned about the humanitarian consequences of Israel’s constant bombing and siege of Gaza, and its military evacuation order for over a million people in northern Gaza and Gaza City and then the bombing of these fleeing evacuees. If Israeli does invade Gaza, expect many more casualties.
In Gaza, more than 5,000 people have already been killed — including nearly 2,000 children — and another 13,000 injured, and countless have lost their homes. At least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 others have been injured in Israel, mostly on the Oct. 7 initial attack.
While this bloodshed in Gaza is occurring, President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin and other White House officials keep repeating the same old mantra — "The United States has Israel’s back.” Their words are supported by two U.S. aircraft carriers with supporting ships standing by off Israel’s coast.
Their seemingly unqualified support for the bloodshed and dispossession Gaza civilians must end. Clearly, the Hamas attack on Israel is and was reprehensible but no righteous cause justifies the continued bloodshed and dispossession of innocent civilians on either side. Israel has a right to defend itself but Israel’s response has now gone way beyond defense; it is now vengeance or collective punishment, and the U.S. is complicit by simply standing by.
Hamas never recognized Israel’s right to exist and committed itself to uncompromising armed struggle. Hamas’s political aim seems be to destroy any chance for peace and normalization while Israel is determined to eliminate Hamas altogether. These goals haven't changed. Thus, a cease fire between Hamas and Israel seems unlikely, at least in the near future.
The war is already escalating. antitank missiles were fired from Lebanon into three areas in Israel; Israeli forces responded with tank and artillery fire and struck a Hezbollah observation post. And the Pentagon reported several drone attacks on U.S. military positions in Iraq and Syria. The longer the conflict continues, the more likely the conflict will widen even further.