EDITORIAL — Israel must not become like Hamas

As of this writing the Israeli Defense Force has yet to make the much-feared ground incursion into the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas for their terror attack last October 7 that has claimed more than 1,400 lives.

Ahead of this they have been pounding what they say are Hamas targets and locations in the strip with missile attack after missile attack. The only problem is that Hamas --which some political pundits have called “Hides Among Mosques And Schools”-- is doing just that, using civilian and public buildings to house their bases and personnel.

And because missiles don’t discriminate between who is a terrorist and who isn’t the results have been terrible; an estimated 2,000 civilians killed, 700 of whom were children.

In this Israel-Hamas war, Israel must take care not to lose the moral high ground.

Yes, you read that right. At least for this conflict alone, the high ground should be given to Israel. The October 7 terror attack didn’t just hit military targets, it victimized innocent civilians as well, including children who didn’t have anything yet to do with their conflict.

Remember that we are referring to the context of the terror attack here and not the occupation issue in general. Like we said in an earlier editorial, that broader issue is harder to figure out.

With that said, Israel should not go beyond hunting for Hamas in taking their rightful revenge. By this we mean it should not pay Hamas back with the same coin by targeting civilians.

Like we mentioned before, not everyone in Gaza, the West Bank, or the Palestinian nation supports Hamas or buys into their goal of eliminating Israel as a nation. Even the official Palestinian government has already come out to condemn the Hamas attack, although belatedly.

Considering everything we have seen, this conflict will not be a short one. Many of those civilians caught in the crossfire will have to suffer for a long time. Imagine how many more will be killed if Israel doesn’t hold back in their ground incursion.

Israel must do everything it can to make sure civilians don’t get caught in the conflict. In waging their own war against terror and to protect the future of Israel, Israel must not become like Hamas.