The Hamas attacks on October 7th cost the lives of some 1,200 Israelis, saw over
240 men, women and children taken hostage, and left the nation in shock and mourning. Israel’s initial decision to
retaliate militarily was justified and internationally endorsed, but we are now over three months removed from that
horrible day.
At this point, the continuation of the war endangers Israel’s national security interests, threatens to lead
to a wider regional war, and has made Gaza utterly uninhabitable, plagued by death, hunger, and disease. The scope
and duration of Israel’s response, and its lack of a “day after” strategy that would harness its military response
to a clear political objective, has cost Israel dearly and caused shocking carnage and immeasurable suffering for
Gazan civilians, most of whom have been displaced from communities now reduced to rubble. The United Nations
has said that hunger is widespread and the threat of starvation is imminent in Gaza. The healthcare system
has collapsed, and disease is spreading.