Following the horrific attack and slaughter of innocents by Hamas against Israeli civilians last weekend, the leaders of the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and Italy issued the following joint statement:

“Today, we — President Macron of France, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Sunak of the United Kingdom, and President Biden of the United States — express our steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism.

“We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism.  In recent days, the world has watched in horror as Hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes, slaughtered over 200 young people enjoying a music festival, and kidnapped elderly women, children, and entire families, who are now being held as hostages.

“Our countries will support Israel in its efforts to defend itself and its people against such atrocities. We further emphasize that this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage.

“All of us recognize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and support equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But make no mistake: Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed.

“Over the coming days, we will remain united and coordinated, together as allies, and as common friends of Israel, to ensure Israel is able to defend itself, and to ultimately set the conditions for a peaceful and integrated Middle East region.”

Well said, and hopefully this horrific development is not going to engender a reaction that is equally terrible. We solemnly hope that Israeli counter offensives, as justified as they may well be, will not indiscriminately target Palestinian civilians in Gaza. No less than the esteemed journalist commentator of the New York Times, Tom Friedman, has noted that Israel’s current leader, Bibby Netanyahu, has a mind set almost identical to that of Donald Trump in the U.S. and that means this current crisis could escalate into more crimes against humanity to an unprecedented degree. 

The nations who signed the joint statement quoted above have a massive collective responsibility to work this crisis through to a peaceful resolution.

We are troubled by the ways in which some superpowers, not just Iran but Russia, may be working in the background to incite and inflame this as a proxy crisis. After all, it comes just as the U.S. is being called to meet the demands for the defense of Ukraine, and with it NATO, against the ongoing Russian barbarism there.

By way of Moscow agent Trump, key Republicans are effectively doing Moscow’s bidding in the Congress, blocking the appointments of key military leaders and attempting to cut funding to the historic effort to defend democracy in Ukraine.