Aiding Gaza doesn’t mean aiding Hamas

Bret Stephens

- Bret Stephens

First and most obviously: The government of Israel needs to rush, in abundant quantities and to immediate and undeniable effect, food and medicine to the places in the Gaza Strip that desperately need them.

This is as much a matter of self-interest as it is of humanitarianism. Few things hurt Israel more than the global perception, however tendentious, that it's deliberately starving kids. Nothing helps Hamas more, either. Whatever benefits Hamas might derive from the aid pale next to the propaganda boon it has achieved through the starvation narrative, even if it's Hamas itself that bears the final responsibility for causing and perpetuating Gaza’s misery.

But then what? There are three options. The first is a negotiated settlement. Until just two weeks ago, the prospect of a ceasefire appeared to be tantalisingly close. Then Hamas hardened its stance. It has flatly refused to disarm until a Palestinian state is created. It has also posted atrocity videos of hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, visibly starved and nearing death, which were guaranteed to spark anguish and outrage among Israelis, though the rest of the world barely seemed to notice. “Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,’ Steve Witkoff, the US envoy, said after withdrawing from talks.