Hamas Must Be Punished, But the Palestine Question Demands Answers
Israel needs to reach a settlement with Palestinians.
An emergency worker carries an injured child to hospital following Israeli airstrikes in the Rimal district west of Gaza City, Gaza.
Photographer: Ahmad Salem/BloombergA bunch of Harvard student groups issue a statement putting the blame for Saturday’s wanton massacre of civilians by Hamas “entirely” on Israel. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin blames the US, while Republican presidential hopefuls are accusing Iran. Meanwhile, Israel’s defense minister says it’s all about the “human animals” in Gaza; Hamas, the group of animals in question, blames the existence of Israel.
When it comes to the deliberate slaughter of civilians, those who pull the trigger are always responsible. Yet collectively, these attempts to assign blame for Saturday’s orgy of violence go to the heart of the problem facing Israel’s new “war management cabinet,” formed on Wednesday with Benny Gantz, an opposition leader and retired general: What comes after crushing Hamas? That’s best addressed before the Israeli Defense Forces send tanks among 2 million Palestinians in Gaza.