Push for Gaza cease-fire resolution is troubling

In response to Tom McAfee's letter, I respectfully raise some omissions from his point about city councils passing resolutions on an immediate ceasefire as Israel bombs Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

As others disrupt bridge traffic and some overwhelm city council meetings with divisive rhetoric (which I consider an abuse of our civil discourse), he did not reference certain important facts.

McAfee did not mention that Hamas still has Israeli hostages. The group includes Americans. They are prisoners languishing in tunnels with no access to the Red Cross or information about their well-being.

Israel has agreed to five cease-fire proposals mediated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Hamas has refused all. I think it is stringing everyone along. The Israeli public is in agony over their loved ones, but that all seems forgotten as people chant mindless slogans.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Gen. David Petreus

(who is the former military commander of our Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts) and John Spencer, the director of urban warfare at Westpoint, have all stated Israel has not violated international law.

Those leaders know there is a more difficult war to fight against Hamas. The terrorists hide in tunnels and appear to use the population of Gaza as human shields.

Most galling to me is that these people who disrupt our civil life and demand city resolutions want to dialogue and jointly work with their Jewish neighbors to develop humanitarian statements that consider both sides. They are, at best, polemicists. I worry that some, at worst, are antisemites who seek to divide our community.

Marin residents deserve better than this. I hope our elected representatives aren't intimidated or manipulated by those who have no answers to problems they do not understand.