Frank's Musings

Bombing Gaza civilians presumes that Hamas’s leadership is rationally concerned for its Palestinian people and will agree to return hostages in order to save lives. But bombing Hamas’s leaders in Qatar shows that Israel disdains their good faith.  Both events are like exterminating kitchen ants with a sledgehammer. Surely, the IDF would do a better job of protecting its own troops and collateral civilians when invading and occupying the entire Gaza Strip than by ordering Palestinians to save themselves.

Yes, the people of Palestine have the right to govern themselves; but they aren’t entitled to install a government of violent thugs--no more than the Taliban could turn Afghanistan into a training ground for Al-Qaeda. Although the existence of the Gaza Strip is only the result of happenstance, it certainly is time for the U.N. to step in and designate a temporary multinational (as well as inter-Arab) police force to remove Hamas and accede to a formal branch of the Palestinian Authority.