Desperate Palestinian civilians in Gaza, themselves hostage to Hamas, sabotage attempts to deliver supplies to them by looting and attacking distribution centers. Hamas hijacks supply trucks to steal humanitarian aid and sell it to starving and suffering Gazans at unreasonable prices. Meanwhile, Israel stops aid deliveries to inspect them for smuggled armaments. Neighboring Arab nations will not accept Gazans as refugees.

Israelis don’t rejoice when war casualties include innocent civilians. But they have had enough of the terrorist attacks they’ve endured since Israel was declared a nation. While in Israel, shortly after the 2001 bombing of a pizza parlor, I met a beautiful young girl, scarred for life, her body riddled with wounds from the nuts, bolts and nails used as shrapnel, like with the Boston Marathon bombs.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas — which tortured, killed, maimed and took captive innocent Israeli civilians — provoked the determination by Israel to rid Gaza of Hamas. Anyone who doubts that their own nation would not pursue such an enemy and fight to stamp it out should read about the unspeakable tortures perpetrated by Hamas and remember the U.S. war in Iraq after 9/11. This enemy hides among civilian populations, using them as human shields and preventing them from leaving areas that Israel has warned will be attacked.

Hamas, with the encouragement of Iran and Syria, joins al-Qaida, ISIS, ISIL, Boko Haram, Hezbollah, Al-Shabab, the Taliban and other terrorist groups seeking the destruction of Western culture.

Have sympathy for the innocents, but remember who the real enemy is.

Elaine Kahaner
Cape Elizabeth