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Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 surprise terrorist attack on Israel, roughly 8,500 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have been killed, with thousands more injured and displaced. Israel’s full siege of Gaza, together with its ongoing strikes on the densely populated Gaza Strip, have led to a growing number of civilian casualties. Countries around the world — and the U.N. — are now calling for a humanitarian ceasefire to alleviate the acute shortage of water, food and other necessities inside the Gaza Strip, where some 2.2 million civilians are trapped.
Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich argues that the only way Israel can protect its citizens is by continuing to eliminate Hamas and completely destroying their organization, regardless of the potential unpopularity of the Israeli military campaign.
These were young people going out to have a wonderful evening, celebrating and supporting the concept of peace, and they were slaughtered by Hamas.
All of that will be drowned by pictures, articles, concern about proportionate responses. And my question is: If you know that 40 babies have been killed, what’s a proportionate response? If you know that entire families have been wiped out, what’s a proportionate response? If you know that the targeting was deliberate — and this [is] the key difference — the Israelis aren’t targeting innocent Palestinians in Gaza. In fact, the Israelis have for a week now been telling people, “Leave Gaza so we can go after Hamas.” And I think that Hamas has been saying, “Stay in Gaza so you can be human shields against the Israelis.” And that tells you all the difference.
The Israelis use their military to protect civilians. Hamas uses their civilians to protect the military. This is a huge problem, and I hope that the Israelis will persevere no matter what anyone else says. It’s their lives. It’s their country. It’s their tragedy, and they should pursue Hamas until it is completely wiped out.
