“How is Israel supposed to do it?” [updated]

"As the days pass ... the world’s sympathy for Israel and its residents butchered by Hamas is morphing into sympathy for the Palestinians. And indeed, Palestinian civilians deserve sympathy for being the victims of Hamas as well. But as most people agreed—and many still do—after the attack Israel had little choice but to uproot Hamas once and for all.
    "The question I’m asking is this “How are they supposed to do it?” ...
    "Israel will not survive unless it can defend itself. Yet when it tries, it gets harshly criticised. NONE of the strategies listed above ... will [avert the death of civilians as a byproduct, particularly because Hamas uses its citizens as human shields and isn’t really concerned whether they die]; nor [will any] avoid criticism of Israel, mainly because many, at least on the Left, despise Israel: not just the government, but the country’s mere existence. I have reluctantly concluded that those who criticise Israel for any method it uses to defend itself, no matter what that method may be, share the Palestinian view that Israel needs to be erased. These people give lip service to the view that Hamas needs to be erased, but they’re lying about the object."

~ Jerry Coyne, from his post 'A few thoughts on the war'

"As Arabs, our message to the world cannot be restricted to eliciting global sympathy for the children of Gaza. We cannot depict ourselves as helpless children, behind whom we hide our failure to control our Hamas thugs who massacred 1300 non-combatant Israelis. This is a moral failure ...
    "The Palestine disaster (nakba) is not a disaster of land loss or military defeat. It is a disaster of absence of leadership that can articulate the Arab alternative to war and death. We ask the world to stop the Israeli war on Hamas, but what do we offer as an alternative to stopping the war? Just let those Hamas thugs who massacred 1300 Israelis get away with their crime (because there is a history of dispute)? Ask Israel to go back to October 6? Knowing that Hamas can break out of the Gaza fence and repeat its massacre any minute? Hamas must go. We Arabs must help get rid of it, and most importantly, we must show that we have a plan for the day after Hamas."

~ Hussain Abdul-Hussain

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* "Following a litany of failures, Israel must now contemplate a menu of bad options."
    The Gazan Gordian knot - Shmuel Bar, QUILLETTE