SIR – The death, destruction and repeated strategic setbacks brought about by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel raises a fundamental question for Palestinians and their allies: was it worth it (“Hope for hostage families as ceasefire agreed”, report, January 16)?
Arguably, every war imposed on Israel since 1948 has resulted in a worsening of the Palestinians’ situation.
The time has now surely come for Arab leaders to renounce this futile and self-destructive hostility to Israel, and to devote their energies and huge resources to building a better society for the people they purportedly represent and support.
Alan Tomlinson
Cheadle, Cheshire
SIR – Antony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, envisions a reformed Palestinian Authority leading a coalition of international partners to rebuild and administer Gaza after the hostilities cease (report, January 15).
This plan is doomed to failure, since the Palestinian Authority still pays the families of terrorists (via its “Martyrs fund”), while polls have shown that as many as 85 per cent of Palestinians support the October 7 attacks.
There also seems to be very little comment about the sheer inequality and perversion of having to exchange hundreds of terrorists in Israeli jails for scores of innocents, held for well over a year in inhumane conditions.
David Freeman
London EN5
SIR – The death, destruction and repeated strategic setbacks brought about by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel raises a fundamental question for Palestinians and their allies: was it worth it (“Hope for hostage families as ceasefire agreed”, report, January 16)?
Arguably, every war imposed on Israel since 1948 has resulted in a worsening of the Palestinians’ situation.
The time has now surely come for Arab leaders to renounce this futile and self-destructive hostility to Israel, and to devote their energies and huge resources to building a better society for the people they purportedly represent and support.
Alan Tomlinson
Cheadle, Cheshire
SIR – Antony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, envisions a reformed Palestinian Authority leading a coalition of international partners to rebuild and administer Gaza after the hostilities cease (report, January 15).
This plan is doomed to failure, since the Palestinian Authority still pays the families of terrorists (via its “Martyrs fund”), while polls have shown that as many as 85 per cent of Palestinians support the October 7 attacks.
There also seems to be very little comment about the sheer inequality and perversion of having to exchange hundreds of terrorists in Israeli jails for scores of innocents, held for well over a year in inhumane conditions.
David Freeman
London EN5