The Truth About Israel’s War Against Hamas
It’s been said that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even has its boots on. Much of what we’re hearing these days about Israel vindicates this claim.
On October 7th of last year, Israel was attacked in one of most vicious and vile assaults ever carried out by one people against another. Approximately 1,200 people were murdered, while scores more were wounded, injured, and kidnapped. Israel responded as most other nations would: by seeking to destroy her enemy — thousands of Hamas terrorists.
Now, Israel is being accused of conducting “genocide” in her fight against Hamas. This is a lie that needs to be put to rest.
First, let’s consider a basic question: Does Israel have a right to defend herself? Of course! Not seeking to destroy Hamas, a terrorist organization whose sole purpose in being is to destroy the Jewish state, would be to leave Israel’s people prey to the group’s next attack.
In Exodus 22:2-3 (ESV) we read, “If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him.” Also, Paul tells the church in Rome that government “does not bear the sword in vain” (Romans13:4). These passages and many others demonstrate that just as an individual has the right of self-defense, so — by extension — does a country. A government not defending her people would be an act of cowardice and gross irresponsibility.
Dr. Eric Patterson, the former dean of Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, has noted, “(T)he culture of death [in which] Hamas raises its own young people” is “a culture … that glorifies martyrdom and that involves killing other nations’ civilians.” So, concludes Patterson, “When it comes to Israel … they’re perfectly just to be prosecuting this war.”
Second, what about the charge that Israel is committing “genocide” against the Arab population of Gaza? Genocide is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race.” Examples of genocide include the attempted annihilation of the Armenian people by the then-government of Turkey in 1915 and 1916, the mass slaughter in 1994 of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda, and the organized, sophisticated mass murder of six million European Jews by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.
The people of Gaza are not a unique, distinct ethnic or racial group. They are among the approximately 465 million Arabs in the world. The idea that Israel wants to kill them all — commit genocide — is absurd. Also, Israel has no desire to destroy the population in Gaza. In fact, Israel is going to great lengths to protect civilians, as she seeks to eradicate the cancer that is Hamas.
The government of Israel claims to have killed about 15,000 Hamas fighters since the war began, but as many as 12,000 might still remain. Tragically, at least 12,000 Palestinian Arab civilians also have been killed. Some estimates say this number is significantly higher.
The death of non-combatants in war is always a tragedy. Throughout history, women, children, the elderly, and the infirmed have too often been the unintended — but sometimes intended — victims of wartime brutality. Yet, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have sought actively to protect Gazan civilians.
The IDF has placed tens of thousands of evacuation phone calls and dropped more than seven million evacuation leaflets. Tens of millions of text messages and voicemail recordings have been made — all to warn noncombatants to leave before the IDF begins various combat operations.
Additionally, Israel has sought to provide humanitarian aid in huge quantities to the people of Gaza. This is unprecedented in warfare: a belligerent power providing the non-combatant population of its enemy with food, medical supplies, living quarters, and other relief in real time.
All countries have difficulty in wartime avoiding civilian deaths, and Israel certainly has made mistakes. No nation is above accountability for its actions in wartime. However, the death of Gaza’s civilians is a means to Hamas’s chief end — the destruction of Israel.
As Hamas’ top official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar planned the October 7th massacre. After his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31, 2024, presumably by an Israeli airstrike in Iran, Sinwar was named the new head of the terror group. His public comments show little concern for Gaza’s civilian death toll.
On June 10, The Wall Street Journalreported that Sinwar wrote in an April letter to a Hamas colleague that a large number of deaths among his people would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.” In another message, he called noncombatants who died in Gaza “necessary sacrifices.”
This attitude is not new. Three Hamas leaders, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Mashaal and Abu Marzouk, have a combined estimated net worth of $11 billion. Additionally, a Saudi magazine has estimated that 1,700 Hamas officials are millionaires. As tens of thousands of Gazans live in poverty, their so-called “leaders” siphon international relief funds and receive generous financial support from their sponsors in Iran.
Hamas is not only viciously anti-Semitic; it is also composed of well-armed cowards. Hiding behind women and children, the elderly, and the hospitalized, its fighters are prepared to murder Jewish infants but much less ready to battle actual warriors — the stout men and women of the IDF.
Christians should pray that Hamas’ leaders and fighters will repent, believe the Gospel, and turn from their agenda of slaughter and cruelty. We should also ask that, as this dreadful conflict continues, God will safeguard Israel from Hamas to her west, Hezbollah to her north, and Iran to her east.
John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, wrote in Newsweek, “(B)y my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history. … The IDF has telegraphed almost every move ahead of time so civilians can relocate, nearly always ceding the element of surprise. This has allowed Hamas to reposition its senior leaders (and the Israel hostages) as needed.”
Again, Christians should pray for the protection of both Israel and civilians in Gaza. As believers, our hope should be that Hamas terrorists will repent and come to faith in Jesus. As for American national policy, we have a historic commitment to defend the State of Israel. We must not now, nor ever, break it.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-revises-death-toll-oct-7-hamas-attack-around-1200-2023-11-10/
https://nationalsecuritynews.com/2024/01/eric-patterson-exclusive-the-just-war-tradition-quest-for-peace/
https://www.newsweek.com/israel-has-created-new-standard-urban-warfare-why-will-no-one-admit-it-opinion-1883286
