Israel-Hamas war live updates: IDF intensifies assault on southern Gaza's main city
NBCJAN 2024
Report: Biden Not Interested in Year of War in Gaza
Image copyright: Leon Neal/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Israel's war against Hamas is surely just, given the atrocities the group committed during its Oct. 7 attack. However, Israel must take into account the innocent civilians in Gaza who are trapped between Israel's military machine and Hamas's terrorist fighters. Humanitarian aid entering the strip must be significantly increased, while heavy fighting, especially the airstrikes, must be reduced. Israel risks pushing Palestinians into Hamas's hands if it doesn't work to ensure the safety of civilians.
Pro-Israel narrative
Though this has been a tragic war, Israel must eliminate Hamas and restore deterrence with Iran and its proxy Hezbollah. Hamas's military capabilities and infrastructure must be eliminated to ensure Israel's security. To eliminate this capacity for terror, Israel has been forced to use blunt tools to route Hamas forces, as they are so deeply dug into Gaza's civil infrastructure. The international community consistently parrots Hamas propaganda, as Israel worked from the start to deliver aid to Gaza and find a solution to end this war.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Israel continues to demonstrate that its war is not against Hamas but against the Palestinian people as a whole. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, and Israel has effectively rendered large swaths of the strip uninhabitable. Israel is killing Palestinians at an unprecedented rate and has transformed Gaza into a bare and diseased wasteland. Though the US, Israel's biggest ally, wants to minimize the war's intensity, it must instead exert more pressure to end the war completely.