Making Hamas pay high price is Israel’s only realistic option

I refer to the letters “Israel’s actions also to blame for Gaza conflict” and “‘Experts’ should provide fairer analyses of situation” (July 18). Israel is sandwiched between an unfriendly West Bank and a Gaza bent on destroying the Jewish state.

If Israel had given free rein to Hamas, Gaza would by now have enough deadly rockets and weapons to bury Israel. Despite the tight control over the movement of goods and people, thousands of arms are smuggled in through tunnels. Imagine if Gaza were totally open.

Israel has every right to protect itself, its citizens and its economy. Gaza and the West Bank are adjoining to Israel; it is easy for Hamas terrorists and Palestinian militants to launch attacks. Israel’s only option is to make Hamas pay a painful price for such attacks.

Hamas must take responsibility for inviting collateral damage via air strikes. By launching rockets from heavily populated civilian areas, instead of uninhabited ground, Hamas is guilty of using human shields.

The international community may be politically correct in wanting Israel to leave Gaza, but this would not help to make Israel safe and her borders secure.

Ultimately, it is Israel that must deal with Gaza and the West Bank, those rocket attacks and the cold-blooded killings of its citizens that the international community is not able or not interested to prevent.

The building of Jewish settlements is Israel’s strategy to create a bigger buffer. The resettlement of Palestinians in the West Bank is for security reasons and imperative for Israel.

Should Gaza come under Israeli control, it would be one fewer source of rocket attacks. The international community must find a balance acceptable to Israel, one that frees it from a West Bank and Gaza pincer threat.

Jordan’s and Egypt’s previous major wars with Israel were in the 1960s and ’70s; their armies were annihilated. Both nations have chosen peace and have enjoyed peace since. Recently, Israel offered to defend Jordan against any Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attack.

The Palestinian Authority should emulate Jordan and Egypt. The sooner it pursues peace with Israel, the better for the Palestinians. They need schools, hospitals, jobs, commerce and homes — not unending conflict.