Thank you for reading the piece and for your comment. If you read my piece as a justification for continuing the war, please know that was not my intention. What I did attempt to communicate is that after Hamas attacked Israel, I understood why Israel wanted to eliminate Hamas.

Isreal's history with the Palestinians did not justify the October 7 attack and certaintly did not justify the atrocities that have been reported. Similarly, Hamas' actions do not justify the brutality of the way Israel has conducted the war.

I remain hopeful that the war will end and that both sides will fall a way to move past the history and find a way to co-exist.