On Saturday, Hamas launched a highly coordinated raid into Israel that caught the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completely unprepared, breaking through the barrier walls that had sealed Gaza from the rest of Israel. The operation was wildly successful from a tactical perspective. As the barbarity of Hamas’ operations continues to be made clear, the United States should remain sober and clear-eyed on its most important objective: preventing the war from spilling beyond Israel.
Within hours of the attack, President Joe Biden unequivocally declared that in this “moment of tragedy, I want to say to [Israel] and to the world and to terrorists everywhere, the United States stands with Israel.” The following day, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that a carrier strike group would be ordered to the region and that the U.S. would soon be “providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions.”
Israel was violently attacked by Hamas and by any standard has the right to defend itself. It is a wealthy, sophisticated, and democratic country and America’s partner in the Middle East. It is reasonable that we would assist the Israelis in defending themselves. But we also need to be clear-eyed on the predicament Israel finds itself in, and how difficult and time-consuming it will likely be for the country to end the war and recover.
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Events on Israel-Hamas
