The Israel Palestinian and Hamas Conflict - I struggle with this and what should be done.

 

The problem is that people no longer understand the history or even desire to look at it. Here is a brief synopsis of how Isarel came to be. It only scratches the surface of the hate and fear the sides have for each other over centuries. State of Israel proclaimed | May 14, 1948 | HISTORY

Because people don't want to know more, they see only limited aspects on their chosen media and simplistically see only 3 players:

> Israel - initially the victim of a cowardly and vicious crime, and now perceived as oppressor.
> Hamas - a terrorist group who openly state they want extinction of all Jews and will never stop.
> Palestinians - a mixture of a minority who support Hamas and a majority who simply wish to live (like most of us)

The terror of the Hamas attack is quickly forgotten here.
The daily reporting of Israel trying to root out all of Hamas keeps that fresh in American's minds. Especially when they see all the collateral damage and loss of life (esp. children). So many then forget the initial terror and focus on the on-going horror of war. They forget this is also going on in Ukraine in comparable numbers and any place with armed conflict.

This link below that explains the history of Hamas in Gaza and the plight of the Palestinian - it is good reading.

Was Hamas elected to govern Gaza? Here's what happened in the last Palestinian election. (slate.com)

Now - here is the tough part... What would I do if I were Israel. Let's look at it on a scale I can appreciate.
A masked person comes at night into my home and murders my wife, one of my 3 sons, and kidnaps 1 of my 3 daughters. Of the eight of us only I and 4 children remain. They depart leaving a note that says "You must die. We will come back until all of you are dead." And all I know for certain is that they reside somewhere close within my community. Now here we would involve the Police, the FBI, but there are no world Police, and these captors have guns and places to hide and are willing to kill anyone who tries to find them.
Such is the situation Israel faces and their decisions - like mine might be - are not always clear. Flawed by the worry of those captured and of also those that might be attacked again.

People forget this perspective. This is a situation with no simplistic answer.