Hamas and Israel, bailing out Argentina
Relatives and friends attend the funeral of slain hostage Ronen Engel after his body was returned from Gaza as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas at Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Leo Correa
Hamas lit the fuse and Israel answered
If your neighbor intimidated you relentlessly for decades, and actually killed someone in your home, you wouldn’t just take it [“War’s true cost seen in Gaza’s ruins,” Letters, Oct. 15].
Hamas hit the final boiling point with Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Hamas had embedded its military among the Palestinian people. They used the Palestinians as shields — in schools, hospitals, and elsewhere. Hamas treated its own people as disposable.
After the ceasefire, Hamas executed people in the street in front of the population because they were sympathetic to the Israelis.
This was not ethnic cleansing. The Israelis made their homeland safe from future attacks.
It is regrettable that civilians died. Where was the outrage on Oct. 7, 2023, in support of the murdered Israelis?
— Martin Smulison, Oceanside
Palestine is not an “Indigenous people” or country. Israelites are Indigenous people to the land of Israel. Usually they are of the Jewish faith. Muslims, along with many other religions and nations tried to destroy the Jews/Hebrews/Israelites, hence most of us live in the diaspora.
The Jewish people have tried for centuries to reclaim this land, which we never left, giving up land and sometimes power to live in peace. The most recent assault, which many people seem to refuse to remember, was when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, kidnapping and murdering innocent people.
Had Hamas released the hostages and the dead two years ago, the military action would have likely ended. If in fact the people living in Gaza want peace, they need to banish Hamas from the land Israel gave them. Israel has every right to protect its borders.
— Susan Scharf, Flushing, Queens
Argentina is funded, but not U.S. care
What is wrong with this picture? President Donald Trump is willing to spend $20 billion of taxpayer money to bail out Argentina but wants to cut subsidies to the Affordable Care Act [“Trump threatens Argentina aid,” Nation & World, Oct. 15].
It would cost a fraction of that amount to restore the funds that Congress has cut. It is time that Republicans started to negotiate with the Democrats so the government will reopen before more damage is done.
— Joseph Januszkiewicz, Mastic
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