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Misjudging Hamas/Israel war
Both the International Criminal Court and Mayor Zohran Mamdani have exhibited ignorance of the law as well as antisemitism. (“Mamdani lacerates Netanyahu while admitting he can’t arrest him,” online, July 22.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas broke a ceasefire and invaded Israel, attacking people attending a music festival and breaking into people’s homes, torturing and killing men, women and children. Hamas vowed to replicate this behavior a thousand times — a vow cheered by the people living in Gaza under Hamas rule. Yet, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the mayor of New York expressed a desire to act on the warrant.
Did they think that Israel was fighting too hard to protect its people? Were they unaware that the Israelis killed included people who had been driving Gazans into Israel to receive medical treatment? Didn’t the ICC and the mayor know that Major (ret) John Spencer, head of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, had lauded the IDF’s efforts (and success) in avoiding civilian casualties while fighting in a densely populated area where Hamas had deliberately embedded its extensive network of terror tunnels amid the Gazan populace, guaranteeing that Israeli efforts would have to be less than 100% effective?
Toby F. Block
Atlanta, Georgia
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