When Hamas declared war on Israel on 07 October 2023, Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas . . . and a war it is, not a police action, not a political disagreement.

Hamas isn’t trying to gain more freedom for Palestinians. The goal of Hamas is explained by the New York Times:

The goal of Hamas is the annihilation of Israel. So, if you are going to say that Israel must not _______________ in response to Hamas, then do tell what Israel should do instead.

It isn’t enough to insist that Israel should conform to international laws.

Israel has already tried that, just as Israel has already tried peaceful means to end conflict.

No, it isn’t fair to starve children during a war.

However, whoever told you that life is supposed to be fair lied to you.

Hamas has demonstrated that it will use any means possible to annihilate Israel.

It would be naïve to think that Hamas isn’t willing to sacrifice children living in the Gaza Strip in order to achieve its goal.

Being that Hamas governs the Gaza Strip, Hamas’ leaders had to have known that Israel would launch military strikes in the Gaza Strip in reponse to what Hamas did on 07 October 2023. Hamas’ leaders had to have known that Israel would cut the Gaza Strip off from anything that would help Hamas to survive.

If Hamas can obtain weapons and ammunition, then Hamas should also be able to obtain what people in the Gaza Strip need for physical survival.

Hamas governs the Gaza Strip. So, Hamas is responsible for the survival of people living in the Gaza Strip.

The party that starts a war is responsible for the survival of its own people, not the party that was initially attacked.

No, I am not heartless. I grieve for all of the innocent parties caught up in wars.

At the same time, I am also a realist.

Laws are based on the way that things were when those laws were enacted. Laws tend not to account for changes taking place after the laws were enacted.

Hamas isn’t fighting the kind of war that was fought during WWII, and Israel is fighting for survival at a time when international laws aren’t protecting Israel.

If international laws and other nations aren’t directly helping Israel to survive this current war, then Israel will do whatever it must do in order to survive, and Israel doesn’t need the approval of outsiders before doing so.

That bit of reality doesn’t make me happy. Then again, it isn’t Israel’s responsiblity to make any outsider happy.

If you are not a citizen of Israel, then you are an outsider, even if you have military experience and training. You are not the party that is fighting to literally stay in existence.

If an enemy were trying to inflict physical harm on you, and if nobody else were in a position to defend you, then you, too, would do whatever it takes to stop that enemy from physically harming you.

That is what war is, and that’s the situation that Israel is currently in.

So, if you disapprove of what Israel currently does in self defense, then the problem is yours, not Israel’s. After all, it isn’t your life that is on the line.

Hamas is the villain here. All victims of this particular Middle-East war are victims of Hamas, including the children living in the Gaza Strip. The blame belongs to Hamas, not to Israel.