Thread by @D_G_Alexander

1/6 Hamas’ barbarism on October 7th set a diabolical trap for Israel. No government on earth would tolerate murder & hostage taking. Amid the catastrophic heartbreak & trauma, the strategic issue for Israel is not the right to retaliate, but the right way to retaliate.

2/6 Israel’s right to self defence is clear. So too are the painful lessons of history. Hamas are manifestly not the Palestinian people. International humanitarian law matters & so too does international support. How the war against Hamas is waged matters.

3/6 A full scale IDF ground incursion involves huge risks & immense civilian suffering. I’ve seen the terrible human costs of a previous incursion into Gaza at first hand. The life of a Palestinian child is worth no less than the life of an Israeli child.

4/6 As truly horrifying civilian casualty numbers mount what is Israel’s “Day after” strategy? What is the alternative political authority envisaged after, as is hoped, Hamas is destroyed? What is the political strategy to follow the military strategy?

5/6 So diplomacy like @SecBlinken’s visit today is & remains critical. First, to establish the conditions to protect the civilian population. Second, to avoid the risks of escalation into a much wider regional conflict: Hellish as the situation is, it could still get worse.

@SecBlinken 6/6 And third, because politics inevitably needs to replace violence. If not, a spiral of continued conflict will simply reinforce the insecurity of Israelis and the humiliation of the Palestinians. That can lead only to further appalling suffering.