Fine balance: crush Hamas, minimise civilian losses

The unprovoked attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas quickly has drawn out an ugly strand of anti-Semitism in Australia, especially among some on the green-left who preach justice and human rights. Like most Australians who follow politics, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip was not surprised by the Greens seeking to accuse Israel of war crimes in parliament on Monday, nine days after terrorists murdered about 1400 Israelis, including the elderly and young children, and captured 199 hostages. While the Jewish community expected such behaviour from the Greens, Mr Ossip said, Sydney teal independents Sophie Scamps and Kylea Tink “turned their backs on the Jewish communities in their electorates at their time of need”. So has Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie, who claims to decide every issue on merit, guided by evidence, community views and his conscience. It led him to the wrong position on Monday, described by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry as a “moral fog” that insulted the Jewish people.

The vote in parliament opened a deep split among the teals, with Allegra Spender (Wentworth), Zoe Daniel (Goldstein) and Monique Ryan (Kooyong) distancing themselves from the decision by Ms Tink and Dr Scamps to support the Greens’ amendment. Ms Spender, who represents the largest Jewish population in the country, found the Greens’ position “beyond comprehension”. It is. More Jews were killed by Hamas in one day on October 7 than on any day since the Holocaust, and Israel had a clear right to defend itself, she said. West Australian Labor senator Fatima Payman, who described herself last year as a “Muslim devout to her faith”, broke ranks with the government on Tuesday saying Israel’s right to defend itself could not come at the cost of the “annihilation of Palestinian civilians”.

Islamist terror also appears to have returned to the streets of Europe. In Brussels, a man claiming to be inspired by Islamic State shot dead two Swedes before a Belgium-Sweden soccer match on Monday. And late last week a 20-year-old man fatally stabbed a teacher and gravely wounded two other people in an attack at a school in the northern French city of Arras.

Jihadists have scant regard for preserving life, an attitude evident in Hamas’s disregard for its fellow citizens in Gaza. By invading Israel and attacking Jews house by house, it knew it was inviting a strong military reprisals. Full services to Gaza – water, power, fuel and food supplies – would be restored, Israel promised, if Hamas released those taken hostage. Hamas cruelly ordered Gazans to stay put after Israel urged them to move south for their safety. About 2800 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel began retaliatory strikes at the weekend. That toll could soar in coming days, however. The crises of hunger, thirst, sanitation, illness and serious injuries in the overcrowded strip is tragic. But some Palestinian supporters do not grasp how and why Hamas is the root of the problem.

In the long term, Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid has suggested an exit strategy – that after the war, the international community help the Palestinian Authority govern the territory short-term, possibly with the help of an international peacekeeping force. The demise of Hamas will be critical, as will the role of Iran, its backer. In his dash to Israel on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden rightly will urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza. The war of attrition will be slow, bloody and unspeakably brutal – home by home, room by room, in crumbling buildings, chief international correspondent Cameron Stewart writes. Mr Biden’s visit will encourage Israel. It will happen at a critical time when Hezbollah, also heavily backed by Iran, is increasing skirmishes on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Iran’s involvement increases the likelihood of a wider conflict.