Matters Of Fact

 Letter to the editor:  Dear Editor: In the June 15 article "U.S.-built pier in Gaza wondering whether U.N. will keep delivering aid" (sic), I find the alleged concern about whether aid workers from "the U.N. and independent humanitarian groups ... could cooperate with the U.S. military-backed, Israeli military-secured project without violating core humanitarian principles of neutrality and independence" to be rather absurd given that most of the aid they deliver gets stolen by Hamas, effectively making them allies of that terror group. Sincerely, Alan Stein Submitted to the Hearst papers in Connecticut, June 15, 2024

Dear Editor: The editorial "Four hostages are free. Now, get to work on a truce" shows the Washington Post hasn't learned from the mistakes of the past. Hamas started wars in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021. Each truce led to Hamas not just rearming, but strengthening itself until it was able to perpetrate its barbaric massacre October 7. After that horrific pogrom, President Biden said Hamas must be destroyed. He was obviously correct. Until Hamas is effectively destroyed, there can be no permanent truce, no peace, and no reasonable hope for a better future for the people in Gaza, people who overwhelmingly approve of the crimes Hamas committed October 7. Meanwhile, I'd like to hear an explanation of how the ceasefire proposal President Biden curiously said was made by Israel provides for the elimination of Hamas. Sincerely, Alan Stein Submitted to the Washington Post, June 11, 2024

To the editor: In the June 7 Boston Globe article about an Israeli strike killing dozens of terrorists  operating out of a United Nations school in Gaza ("Israeli strike kills dozens at shelter"),  Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, is quoted as saying "attacking, targeting or using UN buildings for military purposes are a blatant disregard of International Humanitarian law." Aside from the fact that those buildings lost their protected status when they are used by terrorists, it has been known for many years that almost all UNRWA facilities in Gaza house or are located about terrorists, weapons, rockets or command facilities. Lazzarini's assertion leaves just two possible inferences: he is either incredibly incompetent or despicably complicit in Hamas' misuse of UNRWA. Sincerely, Alan Stein Sent to the Boston Globe June 7, 2024

Dear Editor: The editorial "What friends of Israel and the Palestinians should be demanding now" reminded me of the famous quote "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," generally attributed to Edmund Burke. Today, it might be modified to read "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is to implement a 'permanent' cease-fire between good and evil." There have been too many cease-fires to count between Israel and the Hamas terrorists controlling Gaza, each broken by Hamas, the most notable example being the barbaric massacre it perpetrated - with the help of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah and thousands of "innocent Gaza civilians" - on October 7. Yet another cease-fire, even if it's called a "permanent" one, will only lead to a repetition. In a brief moment of moral clarity in the aftermath of October 7, President Biden asserted Hamas must be eliminated. It was true when Pres...

Dear Editor: Unless one carefully reads between the lines of the coverage of the tragic fire in the humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi region, one would not know it was a result of Hamas storing munitions in the compound where Hamas commanders Yassin Rabia and Khaled Najjar were located and storing stolen gasoline in the humanitarian zone. Most probably incorrectly thought the deaths were caused by the Israeli strike hitting the two terrorists, unaware that it was a precision strike using tiny 17 kg bombs incapable of damaging the humanitarian zone located a mile away. Ironically, the pressure which led Israel to delay dealing with Hamas in Rafah before Ramadan, along with the transfer of massive amounts of "humanitarian aid" to Gaza - most of which was stolen by Hamas - likely played a role in the tragedy. It gave Hamas at least three extra months during which it reinforced itself with deadly arms smuggled in from Egypt and stockpiled deadly explosives around Rafah, likely i...

Dear Editor: The headline read "Netanyahu admits Rafah airstrike a 'tragic mistake'" and the article stated that an Israeli airstrike "set fire to a camp housing displaced Palestinians and, according to local officials, killed at least 45 people." After Hamas launched a barrage of rockets at central Israel, with some of my friends in Netanya hearing the booms of Iron Dome intersections barely a week after I left that city, Israel targeted two of the terrorists involved with two precision bombs, just 17 kg apiece, about a mile from the camp. Videos posted by Arabs in Gaza showed the explosions from the bombs were confined to those buildings, far from the camp. The people were killed thanks to a fire started by secondary explosions of rockets, munitions or incendiary devices belonging to Hamas or other terror groups in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu has made many mistakes. Falsely implying Israel bore any responsibility for the deaths in the Al-Mawasi designated hum...

To the editor: Just ten days after Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah, along with other Gaza terror groups and thousands of ordinary civilians, began the current Gaza war with their barbaric terror attack, Israel was being loudly condemned for killing more than 500 civilians in a missile strike on the Al-Ahli Hospital. Only later did the truth come out: No Israeli missiles struck the Al-Ahli Hospital. No Israeli missiles struck anywhere near Al-Ahli Hospital. Indeed, nothing struck the Al-Ahli Hospital; rather, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfired and instead of killing innocent Israelis, fell in a parking lot by the Al-Ahli Hospital and killed about a tenth of the number Hamas said an Israeli missile killed. One would have thought the world and the media would have learned a lesson. Sadly, it clearly hasn't. Immediately after a fire apparently claimed the lives of dozens of Arabs in the Al-Mawasi designated humanitarian area, once again Israel was blamed and widely ...