National Review senior writer Michael Brendan Dougherty, on today’s edition of the Editors, said Israel is in an “insane situation” with regard to humanitarian aid, in the wake of the country’s accidental strike that killed aid workers in Gaza.

“Everyone who wants to do humanitarian aid to poor suffering Palestinians — and there are many poor suffering Palestinians in this conflict — they have to coordinate with Israel,” Dougherty said. “They don’t really have a reliable partner in Hamas. . . . This is kind of this insane situation where the world opinion in a totally novel way expects Israel literally to feed the hand that bites them in war.”

Israel’s job in this war, he said, is to win, “and it’s defined winning the war is destroying Hamas. All other goals are secondary, including the humanitarian effort to help Palestinians.”

Israel, Dougherty said, doesn’t have to be the only entity aiding the Palestinians. “I think if you want to argue that there are people lacking in that,” he said, “look to Egypt, which is doing practically nothing for Palestinians.

“Bottom line: I think Israel is doing a very difficult job, very carefully, very sensitively. It is a very ugly job, though. I mean, war like this is terrible. And it compounds the evil act that happened on October 7, which initiated this conflict.”

The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.