By Dr. Shmuel Legesse

In recent days, the United Nations has once again demanded an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. The world calls for quiet—but often ignores the deeper truth: Israel is not fighting for conquest or power. Israel is fighting for survival.

No Israeli parent wants to see Palestinian children die. No Israeli citizen celebrates the suffering of another people. But every Israeli parent also wants their own children to live. That is the reality of this war, and it is why ceasefires that ignore the cause of the violence—Hamas’s unrelenting campaign to destroy Israel—are no solution at all.

Hamas has never hidden its intent. Its founding charter calls not for peace or coexistence, but for Israel’s eradication. Even now, its leaders speak openly of repeating October 7 “again and again” until Israel is gone. To demand that Israel simply stop defending itself, while such a foe remains armed and entrenched, is to deny Israelis the basic right that every nation claims: the right to life and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)