Latest Breaking News

...Israeli government does not deserve to annex extra territory just because they have a lot of religious fundamentalists who claim to think that their favorite mythological character gave them the right to occupy that extra land any more than Hamas has a right to destroy Israel in service of its chosen belief system.

Ultimately, Israel had a right to open offensive action against Hamas, but at the rate that they are carrying this operation out and due to the seeming circumstances in Gaza (famine, war crimes, etc.), it is hard to see Israel either getting the remaining hostages back or deciding to stop this before they seem likely to kill 100,000 to 500,000 people in Gaza. Even if it were arguable that what is happening now is not directly a willful genocide, continuing this operation much longer will likely be undeniably so, and it is unlikely that anyone will forgive Israel for that act. So, Israel, by taking the course that it seems irrevocably to have chosen in response to Oct. 7, is likely doing severe harm to its own future.

Additionally, it does not help that Israel does not allow foreign journalists into Gaza to report. So, there is no credible source of reliable information available: the restriction makes the situation appear to be purely a battle of Hamas propaganda versus Israeli propaganda. Add to that the fact, that Israel seems often "accidentally" to kill people who are peace activists (Rachel Corrie), journalists (Shireen Abu Akleh), or sailors from friendly nations (the USS Liberty), and one has to take what is reported by the IDF with almost as much salt as what one hears from the Hamas-run sources.

There has to be a ceasefire now, a flood of humanitarian aid, a plan to replace Hamas with a neutral authority strong enough to permanently exclude Hamas, and much more likely than not, a change in the Israeli government from its right-wing fundamentalist coalition to one that is much more centrist and understands the need for building a future for both Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Lastly, if you don't think that the fundamentalists in Israel are as much of a problem as Hamas, please recall who killed Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin on the brink of the Oslo peace accords. It was Yigal Amir, a right-wing fundamentalist Israeli. Had Rabin not been assassinated, it is quite possible that things might have gone quite a bit differently during these last thirty years.