Anti-Israel remarks given rapid riposte

THE anti-Israel letter from Ian Beattie on April 26 warrants only a short recap reply as the propaganda he espouses has been previously debunked in detail in previous letters:

Israel has not “carpet-bombed Gaza”; Israel could have done if it wanted to but chose instead to fight house to house in order to minimise civilian casualties.

This is in contrast to what the

Allies did against Germany when we did carpet bomb cities such as Dresden; as well as dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We have no right to criticise Israel for their more humane response.

The huge number of civilian casualties in Gaza are a result of the terrorist group Hamas using their own people as human shields. They use the ensuing news footage in order to garner international support and more financial aid.

Comparing the Holocaust with what is happening between Israel and Hamas is unbelievable naivety.

Trying to blame Israel for “diverting the sympathy of the United States and its allies away from the urgent needs of Ukraine” is also unbelievably naive.

Who started this war by breaking the ceasefire by murdering and raping over 1,200 Israeli civilians, Mr Beattie?

Palestinians have been in control of Gaza since 2005; there is no Israeli occupying force.

History and archaeology confirm the Jewish people as the indigenous people of Israel; they can no more be “settlers” than Maoris can be “settlers” in New Zealand, or the Apache can be “settlers” in Arizona; or that Eskimos can be “settlers” in Greenland. An indigenous people cannot be either “settlers” nor “occupiers”.

It was the people of Gaza who voted Hamas into power; it is

Hamas who are refusing to release the Israeli hostages and therefore prolonging the war.

If the people of Gaza want peace, then they need to help in getting rid of Hamas.

Hamas exists to fight; Israel fights to exist.

Gareth Jones Tavistock, Devon