Gaza ceasefire wrong moral choice

Your editorial, “To keep on killing in Gaza is wrong” seems, on the surface, to be such a difficult sentiment to argue against. How could anyone with a moral bone in their body not want an end to this horrible war? And yet, in this case, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza is tragically the entirely wrong moral choice.

A ceasefire can only work if both sides of a conflict are committed to peace. And even the most cursory understanding of the situation makes it clear that it is Hamas who are committed to perpetuating this war, not Israel.

There’s a constant refrain you hear that “the war didn’t start on 7 October, 2023”, but this particular war did, when Hamas broke into southern Israel and proceeded to rape, torture, mutilate and kill 1 200 Israelis, and took 253 hostage.

Yes, this conflict is older than that, but Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza in 2005, whereupon Hamas was voted into power two years later and have used the intervening years to turn Gaza into the largest terrorist base on earth.

There was a ceasefire on 6 October and Israel did not break it, Hamas did, while publicly vowing to continue breaking any ceasefires or peace agreements until Israel is no more.

What is being called for is not a “ceasefire” but Israel’s unconditional surrender in a war it did not start. Even if the remaining hostages are released in this ceasefire deal (which would also involve freeing hundreds of convicted terrorists from Israeli prisons), it will allow Hamas the chance to regroup and begin work on their next vile attack.

This is not peace and there won’t ever be peace as long as Hamas remains in power.